LAU44161 Current Issues In Constitutional Law

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, students should be able to:

• Critically and contextually analyse in detail leading cases in Irish constitutional law;
• Competently distil differing judicial positions in contentious judgments, and identify the broader context of those positions;
• Present complex constitutional law issues, and judicial reasoning relating to those issues, in a clear and compelling manner;
• Coordinate effectively with classmates in preparing presentations;
• Discuss current constitutional law issues in their political and social context;
• Critically analyse contextual issues in constitutional law on a thematic basis, tracking trends and developments over time;
• Make independent and original contributions to constitutional law discourse;
• Develop an awareness of the political and broader practical implications of constitutional litigation;
• Understand the role of the constitutional litigant and litigator in legal practice.

Module Learning Aims

Current Issues in Constitutional Law is a skills based course, designed to promote critical engagement by Sophister students with constitutional issues through close reading of major cases. Such cases, and complementary academic materials, will serve as a vehicle for exploring themes that run through constitutional law. The aim of this course is to deepen students’ knowledge and legal skills in constitutional law.

Module Content

This course will adopt the reading group format, which focuses on collective text analysis and student-led discussion of principles, themes, and impacts of major constitutional decisions. Students are assigned advanced reading, including cases and academic commentaries, with one or two students chosen to deliver a springboard presentation each week, which will catalyse a class discussion on the issues raised by the assigned readings. The lecturers will act as facilitators, contributing opinions and posing questions to tease out additional issues and deeper analysis, but will eschew the ordinary lecture format. Essential to this format is a small group of students. As a result, student numbers will be capped at c. 20 students.

The key materials for the course will be prescribed decisions of the Irish Superior Courts, as well as academic materials on Irish and comparative constitutional law. The course will concentrate on topical issues, incorporating major developments in constitutional law on an on-going basis.

The focus of the course will be on thorough individual reading of major cases and group discussion and analysis, through which the class can collectively explore major themes in constitutional law. The course will enhance students’ research abilities, their critical analysis of legal materials, their legal writing, and their communication skills. It will challenge them to think about constitutional law at both the detailed micro level of discrete problems and the broader macro level of cross-cutting thematic issues.

Recommended Reading List

Circulated in advance of each class.