FACULTY

OF LAW

LA369 ENGLISH LEGAL READING AND RESEARCH (SEC8100/02)

(3 credits)

COURSE OUTLINE Semester 2, 2011

INSTRUCTOR Name: Loca4on: Telephone: email: Facebook: Course Website:

Mr Chacrit Sitdhiwej Room 617, Faculty of Law Building, Rangsit Centre 02 696 5129 (work) SChacrit@tu.ac.th Facebook.com/SChacrit/ SustainableClasses.net/ 1

COURSE OBJECTIVES
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
According to the Course Descrip4on, this course is designed to provide a prac4cal forum for studying and prac4sing reading documents in the legal profession eg textbooks, ar4cles and law reports of dierent jurisdic4ons. Students will also be given prac4ces in researching laws of foreign jurisdic4ons.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The con4nuing development of good inter-personal and communica4on skills is widely recognised as important for all graduates. This course specically seeks to develop students abili4es to work in groups, make group presenta4ons and write personal reec4on reports.

GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES

This course aims to provide students with a number of graduate a\ributes, including: Knowledge To develop an understanding of: the arrangements of collec4ons of the major legal systems of the world; the fundamental arrangements of the common law precedent; the precedent and principle in the European Court of Jus4ce; the rela4onship between the European Community law and English law; the use of legisla4on and cases; and the selected emerging elds of law such as compara4ve law, cyber law, energy law, environmental law, gene4c law, planning law and the Law of the Sea. Intellectual and Social CapabiliAes To develop: the skills to nd, cite and use the sources of law of major legal systems of the world; the cogni4ve skills to analyse, evaluate and synthesise informa4on from a wide variety of sources and experiences arising among class par4cipants so as to iden4fy and address appropriate legal and related issues; an awareness and apprecia4on of the poli4cal and socio-economic context of the selected emerging elds of law; cri4cal thinking and problem solving skills; oral and wri\en communica4on skills of high order, including the use of appropriate modern communica4on technologies; the capacity and commitment to learn and maintain intellectual curiosity, and to engage in life-long personal and professional learning; and familiarity and prociency in legal research techniques, including the appropriate use of modern research technologies. ACtudes and Values To develop: the capacity to be informed, responsible and cri4cally discrimina4ng in rela4on to the development and applica4on of English legal reading and research; and an understanding of social and cultural diversity, and sensi4vity of the opera4on of the law and legal structures in development and applica4on of law.

COURSE OVERVIEW
READING
A set of reading materials will be provided. You must read the materials for each class prior to your par4cipa4on in that class. 2

Textbooks

There are no recent general textbooks on English legal reading and research. However, two texts are recommended. These are: Ian Mcleod, Legal method, Palgrave (Hamshire, 2007); and Emily Finch and Stefan Fanski, Legal skills (Oxford, 2007).

CLASSES

Students in this course are expected to a\end all classes throughout the semester. Classes will be held at 11am in Room L405 every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 January 2012 for 14 weeks. Each class involves a 1.5 hour lecture/workshop. Please note that classes 17 and 20 (Saturdays 3 and 10 March 2012, respecAvely) will be held at 1.30pm. Each of these two classes will be a 3 hour lecture/workshop. The University requires these classes to make up the missing classes caused by the recent major water ood. Topics

SUSTAINABLE CLASSES AND FACEBOOK

Sustainable Classes <SustainableClasses.net/> is the website the instructor has created and used to aid student learning experience. It provides students with an access to certain course contents and materials. Facebook, the worlds most popular social network, allows students and the instructor to communicate and share their views fast and conveniently. The instructors Facebook site is at Facebook.com/SChacrit/. Students are encouraged to take advantage of these online services.

CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION

Please visit Sustainable Classes and Facebook regularly. Course-related announcements are communicated via these tools. The instructor will be available for consulta4on throughout the semester in Room LA617 from 9.00am to 11.00am every Tuesday and Thursday. In order to develop your communica4on skills of high order through the use of appropriate modern communica4on technologies, you are encouraged to contact the instructor via email or Facebook.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment for this course will be made up of: (1) class a\endance; (2) class par4cipa4on; (3) personal reec4on; and (4) nal exam. Students must sa4sfy all the requirements to pass the course.

CLASS ATTENDANCE (5%)

A\endance at classes is compulsory and assessed in order to provide you with a be\er founda4on for undertaking your personal reec4on and nal exam. There are 30 classes for the semester. 24 out of 30 class a\endance is required as a compulsory requirement of undertaking the nal exam. Students will be marked pass or fail at each class. You must aVend at least 24 classes to pass your overall class aVendance and to be eligible to undertake your nal exam. There will be an a\endance sheet to sign as proof of a\endance at each class. It is essenAal that you sign this sheet every class. If you do not sign the sheet for the relevant class you will be deemed to have not a\ended. Class a\endance will be worth 5% of your nal mark. Students who do not sa4sfy the requirements will be permi\ed to pass only on the submission of wri\en work in lieu of class a\endance and if a genuine reason is given for missing more than the allowed number of classes.

CLASS PARTICIPATION (30%)

Each class the instructor will note if you are present and will assess your level of par4cipa4on in the class ac4vi4es. A\endance alone is not equivalent to par4cipa4on. Each class you will be assigned one of the following grades, based on evidence of prepara4on for the class and your contribu4on to the ac4vi4es: Excellent (7.5-10), Good (5-7), Poor (1-4) or Zero (0). At the end of semester, the best 20 of the 30 class marks will be taken and averaged for your par4cipa4on mark. This will be worth 30% of your nal mark. Class ac4vi4es over the semester are designed to improve students knowledge and understanding, communica4on skills and graduate a\ributes men4oned earlier in the Course Objec4ves. Par4cipa4on marks provide a basis for assessing students ability to intelligently discuss and debate the course ma\ers and their applica4on. Par4cipa4on marks also assess students oral communica4on skills. A guide to the award of par4cipa4on is as follows: Zero (0) no evidence of prepara4on or contribu4on to small group of larger class discussion. Poor (1-4) evidence of some prepara4on but no or very li\le contribu4on to small group or larger class discussion; poor quality of contribu4on displaying li\le understanding of the issues and demonstra4ng poor oral communica4on and legal skills. Good (5-7) evidence of good prepara4on, ac4ve contribu4on to small group discussion; contribu4on of a quality that displays a reasonable to good understanding of the course ma\ers, and good oral communica4on and legal skills. Excellent (7.5-10) evidence of thorough prepara4on, ac4ve contribu4on to small group discussion and par4cipa4on in the larger class; high level understanding of the course ma\ers and cri4cal analysis, evidence of excellent oral and legal skills. 4

PERSONAL REFLECTION (35%)

A set of personal reec4on, comprising a learning journal and a compilaAon of terms and expressions learned in the course, must be submi\ed at the Law School Student Aairs Oce on the second oor by 4.30pm on Thursday 12 April 2012. This will be worth 35% of your nal mark. The personal reec4on is designed to promote each students abili4es to realise and understand his/her strengths and weaknesses in rela4on to English legal reading and research, and to keep pace of his/her development in rela4on to the course, as well as his/her academic and professional capaci4es, while being aware of the relevant opportuni4es and threats. The personal reec4on will also assess wri\en communica4on skills the ability of students to write clearly and concisely about their strengths, weaknesses, opportuni4es and threats, as well as their development.

FINAL EXAM (30%)

Final exam will be held at the last class ie on Thursday 12 April 2012. This will be worth 30% of your nal mark.

PLAGIARISM AND OTHER FORMS OF CHEATING

Plagiarism is a serious act of academic misconduct. Plagiarism is a serious ma\er and is treated as such by the Faculty of Law and the University. Please be aware that academic dishonesty (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for refusal by the industry to admit a person to prac4ce as a legal prac44oner. Plagiarism and academic honesty are also essen4ally aspects of ethical and honest behaviour, which are central to the prac4ce of law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer. The instructor adheres strictly to the Faculty of Laws and the Universitys policies, rules and guidelines on examina4ons, assessment, plagiarism and chea4ng in examina4ons and related forms of assessment.