General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3295 |
| Course name: | Law and Government |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Not applicable |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | LLAW2001 Constitutional Law; LLAW3093 Administrative Law |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
Law and government are old companions, yet uneasy ones. Courts speak the language of principle while inhabiting a world of power; governments wield power while coveting the legitimacy law confers. Law and Government maps the contested borderland between them. Over the semester, we travel from foundations to frontiers: rival conceptions of law in ancient and modern political thought; the political foundations of constitution-making and change; the global ascent of judicial power; the behavioural science of judging; law’s fraught coexistence with authoritarian rule; the migration of legal ideas, actors, and institutions across borders; the making and unmaking of citizenship; the political economy of administrative law; the rise of ‘fourth branch’ institutions; the legal profession and legal mobilisation; the interdependence of international law and international politics; and, on the horizon, algorithmic systems quietly rewriting law and governance. Synthesising theoretical, empirical, and doctrinal materials across disciplines and jurisdictions, we put two familiar intuitions to the test: that law is a fortress sealed against the currents of politics, and that it is ‘politics by other means’. Law and politics, we shall find, are mutually constitutive, at home and abroad alike.
1.3 Course teacher
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Trevor Wan | trevorwan@hku.hk | CCT 305 | By email |
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 attendance | 5% | n/a | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| In-class reading syntheses | 15% | 1, 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Mid-term assessment | 35% | 1, 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Research paper | 45% | 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).
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/