Unit of Study LAWS4008 Theories of Law (2025)

Unit description

Identifies and evaluates theoretical frameworks within the philosophy of law that inform legal knowledge and practice. This unit engages students in critical analysis of philosophical perspectives and their implications for law, legal institutions, and legal practices. This includes the making, application, and interpretation of laws to enable a better appreciation of the development of policies underlying law. The ethical and socio-political consequences of the practice of lawyers also features prominently. The ethos of this unit is critical evaluation of legal theory, its application and exploring the possibility of harmonising positivist and critical approaches. This occurs by treating each philosophical approach to law as capable of informing problem solving on facts drawn from true to life situations and identifying weaknesses that can be overcome by deploying other traditions creatively. 

Unit content

Module 1: Foundational Approaches to the Law: Natural Law and Legal Positivism

Module 2: Critical and Normative Realism: Continental and American Variants

Module 3: Critical Legal Theory: Socio-politics of Class, Race and Gender

Module 4:  Postmodern Theories and Perspectives: Deconstruction and Semiotics

Module 5: Eco-jurisprudence: Reconceptualising Human Relationships to Nature

Module 6: Colonial Experiences as Legal Theory: The Authenticity Question