Course Type

Lecture

Course Language

English

Course Organization

This course will be held as an intensive course during one week in June.

ECTS-credits

4 (if exam has been passed)

Frequency

This course will be taught at irregular intervals. It will be available in the summer term 2015.

Time Schedule and Course Venue

An up-to-date electronic course catalogue for the summer semester will be available on the website http://www.fu-berlin.de/vv from late February to mid August. Please select "Fachbereiche" - "Rechtswissenschaft" - "Staatsexamensstudiengang" and "Rechtswissenschaft" in order to access the Law courses.

Content of the Course

Who should the judges be? How should they be appointed? Once on the bench how do they go about making decisions? What persuades judges to agree with one side of the case? What role do appellate courts play in a judicial system? What is the purpose of a constitutional or supreme court? These are some of the questions to be examined in this course. Taught by Essex University's Dr. Richard Cornes, the course will draw on comparative material from Australia, Canada, the US, the UK and France to examine the judicial function. In addition to comparative analysis the course will draw on insights into the structure and operation of the judicial branch from political science and sociology. The course will be of interest both to those who seek to work in the courts as well as candidates contemplating further academic study of the judiciary.

Course Registration

Enrollment is limited to 25 participants. Prior registration is mandatory. Please register per e-mail with Grit Rother at: g.rother@fu-berlin.de by April 10th, 2015, 12 p.m. (noon). The information whether you will be admitted to this course or not will be released in the afternoon of April 10th. 
As long as there are still seats available after April 10th, they will be allocated according to the principle "first come, first served" if you register via e-mail by May 4th, 2015.

Exam

The assessment will be a take home examination.

Registration for the Exam

Students have to register for the exam with the course instructor. They are not required to register formally at the Examination Office.