LAU44009 LAW AND EMPIRE

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate specialised, self-directed knowledge of an area of law through examination of a ‘real-life’ legal research problem or a theme within a research group.
• Collaborate with peers and act in leadership roles.
• Constructively evaluate the work of others.
• Synthesise and evaluate a variety of legal research methods, legal sources, findings and analysis.
• Critically analyse an area of law through independent research.
• Consult with and respond to the needs of research users.
• Effectively communicate research findings.

Module Content

Just as law was central in structuring and legitimating imperial expansion, so too was law used in resisting and ending colonialism, and is still used today both to address ongoing harms caused by colonisation and to challenge modern-day forms of imperialism. The focus of this research group will be on the historical, jurisprudential, doctrinal, and modern-day manifestations of law’s role in creating and resisting empires and colonialism, broadly defined. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• The changing legal justifications for conquest;
• The “doctrine” of terra nullius;
• The role of property law in colonialism;
• The doctrine of reception;
• The legal relationship between colonies and the imperial centre;
• The role of the corporate form in colonialism;
• The rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• Cultural property issues;
• Citizenship law as a site of (de)colonialism;
• The role of the UK’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council;
• The law’s role in decolonialising.

Students should contact the academic leader to discuss potential topics and to be given some reading specific to their chosen topic.

Assessment Details

• Individual Project: 85%
• Group Presentation: 15%
• Reflective Journal: Pass/Fail
• Participation: Pass/Fail