General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3295 |
| Course name: | Law and Government |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Not applicable |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
In Law and Government, we embark on a journey through cutting-edge debates that lie at the nexus of law and political science. We delve into a wide spectrum of topics, including the political conception of law in ancient and modern philosophical traditions, tensions between judicialisation and the popular democratic process, the politics of constitutional review, constitutional design and change, legality under authoritarian governance, legal, attitudinal and strategic models of judicial decision-making, administrative law and bureaucratic politics, the logic of ‘fourth-branch’ institutions such as the Ombudsman, the politics of the legal process and legal profession, the interdependence between international politics and international law, and algorithmic law and governance. Synthesising theoretical, empirical, and doctrinal materials across various disciplines and jurisdictions, this course critically confronts conventional notions that law is a self-contained system insulated from the currents of politics, or is reducible to a crude instrument of political power. Ultimately, we are invited to rethink how law and politics are constitutive of each other in multi-faceted ways at both the domestic and international levels.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Trevor Wan | trevorwan@hku.hk | CCT 305 | By email |
1.4 Course Outline (for elective course)
| Please click the link here for the course outline (HKU Portal login requried). |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Acquire a foundational and critical understanding of the interdisciplinary conversations that define the scholarly study of law and politics.
CLO 2 Assess the core theories, debates, and dilemmas of law and politics through creative and original use of theoretical, doctrinal and empirical materials.
CLO 3 Appreciate the varied ways in which the multi-faceted interplay between law and politics manifests across jurisdictions, time, and space.
CLO 4 Apply methodologies drawn from diverse disciplines, including political science, to explain legal phenomena and judicial behaviour.
CLO 5 Develop analytical frameworks to interpret, dissect, and address emergent issues of law and governance in real-world settings.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Seminar participation | 15% | n/a | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Mid-term assessment | 35% | 1, 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Research paper | 50% | 1, 3 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| *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). See also Course Outline above.
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/