Jonnette Watson Hamilton

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LAW 401.01: LEGAL PERSPECTIVES

WINTER TERM 2004

COURSE SYLLABUS

January 14: Problem: Unfit to Stand Trial?
R. v. C.W., [2001] A.J. No. 1123 (Alta. Prov. Ct.) 

January 16: Background Concepts: Moral Philosophy 
Murphy and Coleman, Philosophy of Law, rev. ed. (Boulder, Co: Westview, 1990) 

January 21: Background Concepts: Political Theory
Social Contract and Natural Rights Theory 
Sauvé
v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) 2002 SCC 68 

January 23: An Overview of Canadian Legal Theory
Richard Devlin, "Jurisprudence for Judges" (2001) 27 Queen’s L.J. 161 
Law & Economics 72

January 28 and January 30:
Natural Law Theory 
Brian Bix, "Natural Law Theory," in A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999) 
Legal Positivism 
Mark Tebbit, Philosophy of Law: An Introduction (London: Routledge, 2000)
George L. Fletcher, Basic Concepts of Legal Thought (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) Legal Realism 
Keith C. Culver, Readings in the Philosophy of Law (Broadview Press, 1999) 
Patricia Ewick, Robert A. Kagan, and Austin Sarat, "Legacies of Legal Realism: Social Science, Social Policy, and the Law" 

February 4: Natural Law, Legal Positivism and Legal Realism Applied
Lon L. Fuller's "The Case of the Speluncean Explorers" (1949) 61 Harv. L. Rev. 616 

February 6: Natural Law, Legal Positivism and Legal Realism Applied (con’t) 
Anthony D’Amato, "The Effect of Legal Theory on Judicial Decisions" (1999) 74 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 517 
Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) 2002 SCC 68 

February 11: Natural Law, Legal Positivism and Legal Realism Applied (con’t) 
Rodriguez v. B.C. (A.G.) (1993), 107 D.L.R. 4th 342 (SCC) 
Wake
v. Northern Territory of Australia, [1996] 112 S.C.N.Y. 166
Airedale NHS Trust v. Bland, [1999] A.C. 789 169

February 13: Interpretation of Rules: The Hart-Fuller Debate 
H.L.A. Hart, "Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals," (1958) 71 Harvard Law Review 593 
Lon L. Fuller, "Positivism and Fidelity to Law - A Reply to Professor Hart," (1958) 71 Harv. L. Rev. 630 

Reading Week: February 17 - 21

February 25 and 27: Analytical Jurisprudence: Hohfeld’s Fundamental Legal Concepts 
Joseph Singer, "The Legal Rights Debate in Analytical Jurisprudence from Bentham to Hohfeld" (1982) Wisconsin Law Review 975 
Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld, Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning, (1917) 27 Yale L. Rev. at 28 
Glanville Williams, "The Concept of Legal Liberty" (1956) 56 Col. L. Rev. 1129 

March 4: Hohfeld’s Basic Legal Concepts Applied 
R
. v. Marshall, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 456 

March 6: Liberalism 
Michael Sandel, Liberalism and its Critics (New York: New York University Press, 1984) 
Rawls’ Theory of Justice 
Libertarianism 

March 11: Liberalism Applied: Equality Rights
Law v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1999] 1 S.C.R. 497 

March 13: Law & Economics 
Jacob S. Ziegel, "What Can the Economic Analysis of Law Teach Commercial and Consumer Scholars?" in Commercial and Consumer Law: National and International Dimensions, R. Cranston and R. Goode, eds. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) 
Michael I Trebilcock, "Economic Analysis of Law," in Canadian Perspectives of Legal Theory, R. Devlin, ed. (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 1991) 103 

March 18: Law & Economics Applied 
Peter Suber, The Case of the Speluncean Explorers (London: Routledge, 1998) 

March 20: Feminist Legal Theory 
Kathleen Mahoney, "Theoretical Perspectives on Women's Human Rights And Strategies for Their Implementation" (1996) 21 Brooklyn Journal of International Law 799 

March 25: Feminist Legal Theory Applied 
Jennifer Nedelsky, "Reconceiving Rights as Relationship" (1993) 1 Review of Constitutional
Studies 1 
Naomi R. Cahn and Laura W. Stein, "The Case of the Speluncean Explorers: Contemporary Proceedings" (1993) 61 George Washington Law Review 1755
 

March 27: Critical Legal Studies 
Keith C. Culver, Readings in the Philosophy of Law (Broadview Press, 1999) 
Allan C. Hutchinson, "Crits and Cricket: A Deconstructive Spin (Or Was It a Googly?)" in Canadian Perspectives on Legal Theory, R. Devlin, ed. (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 1991) 

April 1: Critical Legal Studies Applied 
Miller
v. Jackson, [1977] 3 All E.R. 338 (C.A.) 317
Allan C. Hutchinson, "Crits and Cricket: A Deconstructive Spin (Or Was It a Googly?)" in Canadian Perspectives on Legal Theory, R. Devlin, ed. (Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 1991) 181

April 3: Aboriginal Legal Theory 
Mary Ellen Turpel, "Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian Charter: Interpretive Monopolies, Cultural Differences" (1989-90) 6 Canadian Human Rights Yearbook 3 

April 8: Aboriginal Legal Theory Applied 
R. v. Marshall, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 456
Law v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1999] 1 S.C.R. 497 

April 10 Review: Rights Re-Visited 
Mark Tebbit, Philosophy of Law: An Introduction (London: Routledge, 2000) 

Appendix 
Charter of Rights and Freedoms and s. 35 Constitution Act (1982) 

 

This page was  created by Professor Jonnette Watson Hamilton. 
Last updated 08/26/2007 .