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CREDIT HOURS: 3

As one of the primary sources of law, legislation is one of the basic working tools of the lawyer. Building on the First-Year Public Law course, the Legislation course attempts to give the student a more detailed view of the role of legislation in the legal process. The course has two major focal points. One is directed towards giving the student a better appreciation of how a statute is created, including the basic underlying policy decisions upon which it is based, the statutory scheme developed to carry out the legislative process, and the problems faced by the drafters in translating general ideas into specific unambiguous language. The second major emphasis is directed towards giving the student an appreciation of the court techniques involved in judicial interpretation of statutes. The rules of interpretation can be stated very easily. To appreciate how they are used by the courts is much more difficult. Understanding gained in this course should be related to other courses and areas of the law where legislation plays an important role, e.g., Constitutional, Administrative, Taxation Law. The course may help to increase appreciation for appropriate use of language in legal work of all types. The course is conducted by discussion of assigned readings and the presentation and discussion of proposed legislation drafted by the students. Each student will prepare a major paper consisting of a draft of proposed legislation and an explanation of the draft, including such matters as the need for the legislation, the problem(s) to which it is addressed, its constitutionality, the underlying policy supporting the legislative choices and the relation of the proposed draft to the legal context (i.e., the common law and other statutes).

Prerequisite(s):Ìý±·´Ç²Ô±ð.
Co-requisite(s):Ìý±·´Ç²Ô±ð.
Assessment Method: Major research paper.
Restrictions:Ìý±·´Ç²Ô±ð.