General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3235 |
| Course name: | Punishment and society |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Not applicable |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | Not applicable |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course will explore the institution of punishment from a philosophical perspective.
The first part of the course will focus on the question of justification of punishment (i.e. what provides the positive reason and right for setting up the institution of punishment?) Deterrence, Self-defence, Retribution, Consent, and Forfeiture theories will be covered.
The second part of the course will explore the question of distribution of punishment (i.e. who should be punished and by how much?). Topics that may be covered include the following: Should successful crimes be punished more than failed attempts? Should poverty, youth, or repentance be mitigating factors? Should previous criminal records be taken into account in sentencing? How should we sentence offenders who commit their crimes under civil disobedience?
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Peter Chau | pscchau@hku.hk | CCT 706 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain the major justifications of punishment offered in the literature and the standard objections against them.
CLO 2 Describe and explain some traditional philosophical issues in punishment (e.g. should poverty be a mitigating factor); Understand what position different jurisdictions take concerning those issues.
CLO 3 Apply theoretical principles on punishment to critically assess existing sentencing practice.
CLO 4 Demonstrate an awareness of how punitive justice is connected to other forms of justice.
2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Term paper | TBC | 50% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Final exam | TBC | 50% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/