Universität Wien

030541 KU Comparative Constitutional Studies (2023S)

The Austrian Constitution in an International Setting

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
MIXED
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 14.03. 16:45 - 17:45 Digital (Kickoff Class)
  • Tuesday 13.06. 09:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum SEM44 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum 4.OG
  • Wednesday 14.06. 09:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum SEM34 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 3.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course is part of the Comparative Constitutional Studies lecture series held by Prof. Manfred Stelzer. It is designed to enable students to engage in a comparative discussion of constitutional systems from a wide variety of jurisdictions such as the UK, Germany, Australia, China, the USA, Finland etc, based on a series of books cited below. This part of the lecture will focus on "The Austrian Constitution in an International Setting": With the Austrian Constitution being the point of reference, this course will allow for a discussion of a variety of different subject areas as well as aspects of comparative constitutional law in greater depth - a considerable advantage for those attracted to this field.

Assessment and permitted materials

Country-by-country, selected jurisdictions are reviewed on the basis of the same pre-selected range of themes. From this pre-selection of subject areas of constitutional law, the students will prepare oral presentations on different countries (one country per student), one of which being Austria as a reference point for the other countries ("The Austrian Constitution in an International Setting").

However, if the course must be held online due to the current situation, students will have to prepare short articles (about 5 pages) instead of presentations and upload them to the Moodle platform. Moreover, it will be mandatory for all students to read all the papers shared by the participants. Two discussion rounds will take place online via video conferences. In the first session, each paper will be discussed and questions can be raised with the author of the respective paper. For the second session, a list with questions on specific topics of comparison will be shared in time allowing students to prepare them for the discussion.

Active participation in class is mandatory to complete the course. Progressively, with each new system discussed, students will learn to recognise differences and similarities from the sequence of systems.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements:
Performance in all tasks (participation in class, presentation and handout) is mandatory to complete the course. If the course is held online, the tasks consist of participation in both online sessions and submitting a short paper.
Attendance is compulsory throughout the entire sessions including the preliminary discussion.

Evaluation criteria:
The course assessment is based on a point system: Reflective participation in class (5 points), quality of oral presentation (4 points) and handout (1 point).

If the course is held online, the following point system applies: Reflective participation in class (3 points), quality of the short paper (4 points) and capacity to answer questions relating to the paper (3 point).

Limit to pass the class in both cases: 6 points.

All students who have been assigned a course seat and appear in the preliminary discussion will be assessed unless they have withdrawn in a timely manner by ..... (date will be announced at later time).

Examination topics

Students are expected to read the course materials relevant for the topic of their presentation. If the course is held online, students are also expected to read the papers shared by the other participants and prepare for the two discussion rounds.

Reading list

The books of the constitution-series “A Contextual Analysis” by Hart Publishing serve as the basis for the short papers. The students may alternatively use other reliable academic sources as well.

- Leyland P., “The Constitution of the United Kingdom - A Contextual Analysis”, 3rd Ed, Hart Publishing, 2016
- Henderson J., “The Constitution of the Russian Federation - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2011
- Harding A., Leyland P., “The Constitutional System of Thailand - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2011
- Stelzer M., “The Constitution of the Republic of Austria - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2022
- Husa J., “The Constitution of Finland - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2010
- Matsui S., “The Constitution of Japan - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2010
- Heun W., “The Constitution of Germany - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2010
- Saunders C., “The Constitution of Australia - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2010
- Klug H., “The Constitution of South Africa - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2010
- Sidel M., “The Constitution of Vietnam - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2009
- Tushnet M., “The Constitution of the United States of America - A Contextual Analysis”, 2nd Ed, Hart Publishing, 2015
- Harding A., “The Constitution of Malaysia - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2012
-Butt S., “The Constitution of Indonesia - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2012
-Zhang Q., “The Constitution of China - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2012
- Popelier P./Lemmens K., “The Constitution of Belgium - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2015
- Boyron, S., “The Constitution of France - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2013
- Navot, S., “The Constitution of Israel - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2014
-Selejan-Gutan, B., “The Constitution of Romania - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2016
-Webber, J.; “The Constitution of Canada - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2015
- De la Garza, S., “The Constitution of Mexico - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2013,
-Tan, K., “The Constitution of Singapore - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2015
-O’Brien, D., “The Constitution of the Commonwealth Caribbean - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2014
-Doyle, O., “The Constitution of Ireland - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2018
-Ferres Comella, V., “The Constitution of Spain - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2013
-Yeh, J., “The Constitution of Taiwan - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2016
- Thiruvengadam, A., “The Constitution of India - A Contextual Analysis”, Hart Publishing, 2017

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 11.05.2023 11:26