Module #4. 2013.
Criminal Law Division
Zinaida M. Pogosova
Senior Lecturer
Ph.D. in Law
mob.8 926 539 20 70
Redesigned Course Proposal
Course Title / Topical Issues of Criminal Law-makingContext of your course / The course is designed specifically for 4-th year students specializing in criminal law at the law department (to receive a specialist’s degree, students complete five years of study). The course is mandatory, not optional. It includes 10 contact hours, 34 self-study hours, and is taught in the fourth module (from April to June). The group of students includes about 20 members. Students who pursue the criminal law specialization have prior knowledge in all major fields of law, such as constitutional law, criminology, civil law, and entrepreneurial law. After graduation, many of them are going to work in law-enforcement agencies, and some of them want to be judges or advocates. So, after studying the course they expect to be able to operationalize in real-life situations with practical skills and knowledge.
Aims / The course introduces students to how the limits of criminal law are determined, teaches them how to amend the criminal code and to understand the initial nature of criminal law. The goal is to prepare students to succeed in the logical application of criminal norms and in the labelling process, regardless of whether they serve as prosecutors or defenders.
Intended Learning Outcomes / On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. recognise a “minimalist” conception to flexibly avoid irrationalities of criminal law;
2. conclude and justify what behaviour constitutes criminal conduct;
3. criticise constructively the criteria to be taken into account when modeling crime;
4. evaluate existing principles and ideas informing decisions to criminalise and apply them creatively;
5. present an argument confidently in front of an audience;
6. produce a joint/integrated written assignment through professional communication and cooperative work with colleagues as part of a team towards a common goal.
Assessments / The course includes small group sessions and final oral exam (in a form of the project presentation).
Assessment activities are as follows:
Formative assessment focuses on the following skills: producing a critical review of the application of geological mapping to the theory of crime and of criminalization; participating in class activities, such as analyzing contemporary processes of criminalization, principles and ideas informing decisions to criminalize, engaging in peer reviews and group work, presenting oral reports, and taking part in class discussion; producing PowerPoint slides; producing a first draft of the rationale of decision to criminalise/decriminalise any conduct; producing a final draft of the rational in light of instructor’s and peers’ feedback.
Students receive instructor’s feedback on all of the above activities. The verbal feedback is provided to each student after completion of their current tasks during scheduled meetings/office hours. The feedback to a critical review, a classification/systematization, a rational draft is provided in the written form.
Students are expected to create the final project in each of the 4 groups, with about 5 team members per group. The result of students’ research must be in the written rationale of the decision to criminalise or decriminalise any human behaviour accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. Students are expected to defend their project verbally. Both rationale and oral presentation should be in English.
Percentages for these kinds of activities are as follows:
· Critical review: 5%
· Classification/systematisation: 5%
· Small group sessions (reports, discussions, and simulation exercises): 40%
· Final exam (results of group work): integrated rational: 40%
oral project presentation: 10%
Curriculum / The curriculum is organized in ways that allow to distinguish unwanted from legitimate behavior and crimes from torts.
1. Crime and Criminal Law Reform: A Theory of The Legislative Response.
2. Can Criminal Law Be Controlled?
3. Decisions to Criminalise.
4. Codification of the Criminal Law: An Attainable Ideal?
5. Irrationalities Of American Criminal Codes.
6. Abolishing Some Absolete Common Law Crimes.
7. Competing Theories of Blackmail: An Empirical Research Critique of Criminal Law Theory.
8. The Communicative-content Theory of Criminal Law. The Language of Criminal-law Acts.
9. Projection of Criminal Law Function
10. Mobbing; Sexual Harassment; Molestation; Criminal Liability of Legal Entity.
Teaching and learning activities / Contact sessions / TLAs (coursework) / Home task (preparation) / Topic
Week 1 / Introductory lecture on crime and criminal law reform / Produce a critical review of the application of geological mapping to the theory of crime and of criminalization (500 words), e-mail it to instructor 2 days before the next contact session / 1
Week 2 / Introductory lecture on limits of criminal law; peer review and discussion of the critical reviews; feedback received from instructor and peers / Define unwanted behaviour which must be criminalized, produce 3 PowerPoint slides where you explain why you decided this conduct to be prohibited by criminal law / 2
Week 3 / Lecture-discussion: decisions to criminalise (contemporary processes of criminalization, principles and ideas informing decisions to criminalize); and discussion of the PowerPoint presentations; feedback received from peers and instructor / Summarise main principles and ideas informing decisions to criminalize using the reading list sources / 3
Week 4 / Lecture-discussion: codification of the criminal law (common law/civil law dichotomy; comparative study); peer review of summaries; feedback received from peers / Find essential reasons of failed attempts at codification and list the terms of attainable criminal codification / 4
Week 5 / Lecture-discussion: irrationalities of American criminal codes; peer review and discussion of the relevance of found reasons for failed attempts at codification; feedback received from instructor and peers / Produce a classification/ systematization of variety of kinds of logical irrationalities and internal inconsistencies of any American criminal code (due in two weeks), e-mail it to instructor / 5
Week 6 / Lecture-discussion: abolishing some absolete common law crimes / Find arguments for the abolition of failure by a common innkeeper to provide board and lodging; contempt of the sovereign; embracery; and refusal to serve in public office. / 6
Week 7 / Lecture-discussion: competing theories of blackmail / Summarise main pieces of evidence and counter-arguments for the competing theories of blackmail; complete a summary in pairs / 7
Week 8 / Lecture-discussion: the language of criminal-law acts; peer review of three systematizations; individual conferences followed by feedback; feedback received from instructor during office hours / Complete a full systematization considering received feedback / 8
Week 9 / Lecture-discussion: projection of criminal law function / Draft an integrated rationale of decision to criminalise/decriminalise any conduct (700 words) and prepare a 3-minute oral report; e-mail drafts to instructor 2 days before the next contact session / 9
Week 10 / Lecture-discussion: mobbing; sexual harassment; molestation; criminal liability of legal entity; oral reports of rationale; feedback received from instructor and peers; feedback provided by instructor on integrated rationale / Considering received feedback on rationale and presentation, revise it and prepare group presentation and rational (due in two weeks) / 10
Resources / Core reading
1. Graham McBain. Abolishing Some Absolete Common Law Crimes. King's Law Journal. 2009, 20, 89-114.
2. Paul H. Robinson, Michael T. Cahill & Daniel M. Bartels. Competing Theories of Blackmail: An Empirical Research Critique of Criminal Law Theory. Texas Law Review. 2010, 89:291, 291-352.
3. Darryl K. Brown. Can Criminal Law Be Controlled? Michigan Law Review. 2010. 108:971. 971-992.
4. Jenny Lavery. Codification of the Criminal Law: An Attainable Ideal? The Journal of Criminal Law. 2010, 74, 557–578.
5. Rosemary Cairns Way. Constructing Crime: Contemporary Processes of Criminalization (Edited by Janet Mosher and Joan Brockman. Toronto and Vancouver: UBC Press. 2010). Canadian Journal of Women & the Law. 2011, 23, 365-374.
6. Shlomit Wallerstein. Criminalising Remote Harm and The Case of Anti-Democratic Activity. Cardozo Law Review. 2007, 28:6, 2697-2738.
7. Paul H. Robinson, et al. Irrationalities of Americal Criminal Codes. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. 2010, 100, 710-764.
8. Stuart P. Green. Is There Too Much Criminal Law? Ohio State Journal Of Criminal Law. 2009, 6:737, 737-749.
9. D. A. Andrews. The impact of nonprogrammatic factors on criminal-justice interventions. Legal and Criminological Psychology. 2011, 16, 1–23.
10. Ekow N. Yankah. A Paradox of Overcriminalization. New Criminal law review. 2011, 14-1, 1-34.
11. Roger A. Shiner. Crime and criminal law reform: a theory of the legislative response. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. 2009, 12-1, 63–84.
Further reading
· Baker, D.J. The Moral Limits of Consent as a Defense in the Criminal Law. (2009) New Criminal Law Review. 2009, 12-1, 93–12.
· Ferguson, P., McDiarmid, C., Scots Criminal Law: A Critical Analysis. Dundee: DUP, Chapters 1–4. 2009.
· Husak, D., Overcriminalization: The Limits of the Criminal Law. Oxford: OUP (2008).
· Marshall, S.E., Duff, R.A. Criminalization and Sharing Wrongs. 1998. Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence. 11-7.
· Stewart, H. The Limits of the Harm Principle. Criminal Law and Philosophy. 2009.
Course review and evaluation / Formative evaluation: brief 2 minute papers with students’ comments and suggestions; students’ attendance; natural feedback received from students; assessment of written and oral students’ assignments.
Summative evaluation: the rating system of our university to obtain students’ feedback and comments after completion of the course.