GRA 6281 Legal Method and Law and Economics
GRA 6281 Legal Method and Law and Economics
The course introduces two subjects; the legal method (12 hours) and Law and economics, including economic theory (18 hours). The last 6 hours both course coordinators will take part in the teaching and address the mixture of the two – what is the relevance and weight of economic arguments/ aspects when interpreting Norwegian law? We will also discuss ethical aspects and explore alternatives to efficiency and law and economics aims for legal statements.
The legal method part will ensure that the student acquires knowledge on how legal reasoning takes place. During the course, the student will learn to identify legal issues in a case, how to find a legal basis (and hence the; learn how to find a rule through the interpretation doctrine), set up a discussion, subsume, and conclude in a case. The course will also give the student knowledge about legal concepts, provide information about the different legal sources, how to weigh the sources, and offer insight into the doctrine of relevance and weight. Introduction in the legal method will also include knowledge about EU-law and its influence on "the Norwegian legal method."
The exchange of goods and services are fundamental for value creation in modern economies. Legal norms and systems (including enforcement mechanisms) are formal institutions of importance for the coordination of economic activities and use of resources, whether through markets or in organizations. The course aims to combine the two disciplines of economics and law to examine fundamental rules governing the economy.
Legal rules of property, contract and tort law incentivize individuals’ behavior. The course employs basic microeconomic theory to analyze how legal rules affect the behavior of individuals and firms and the development of the economy. This insight is also crucial for individuals and firms when choosing a contract and choosing an organization or a company form.
Topics to be covered include the economic impact of law institutions such as district court, contract law, compensation (in and out of contract), intellectual property rights and the regulation of anti-competitive conduct (the competition law). The interaction with industry regulation and public law subjects such as tax and environmental law is considered.
After attending the course, the student will have acquired knowledge of:
- the Norwegian and the European legal system
- legal method and different sources of law
- how to address the difference between descriptive (de lege lata) and normativ (de lege ferenda) legal method, and their overlapping surfaces
- basic microeconomic theory to analyze how legal rules affect the behavior of individuals and firms and the development of the economy
- the economic impact of law institutions
- whether law and economics is a relevant legal perspective in Norwegian law today and whether it should be
The content in the course will bring the students into the heart of some of the current, difficult legal discussions in Norway today.
After attending the courses, the student will have learned how to:
- use legal method to identify legal issues in a case or a situation
- be able to define relevant legal grounds and interpret and apply laws and other relevant sources of law
- set up a discussion, make a subsumption and come to a conclusion in a case
- be able to place the economic and legal analyzes in a context
- recognize the economic implications of a legal problem.
- assess the efficiency effects of legal rules and policies.
After attending the courses, the student will have the following general competence:
- address the legal constraints in an economical analyze.
- and the options relevant to economic and commercial assessments in a judicial analyzes.
- be able to discuss ethical aspects and explore alternatives to efficiency and law and economics aims for legal statements.
The competence from the legal method part of the course will be of importance through the entire study, independent of the subject matter of law the student immerses into.
- Law and fairness
- The legal system,
- Traditional, modern Norwegian legal method
- Relevant legal sources, the interpretation doctrine, the doctrine on relevance and weight
- The Competition law
- Transaction costs and the Coase theorem.
A variety of learning methods will be used, from regular lectures to webinars, and discussions of cases and questions on digital platform in class.
There will be arranged for one written assignment where the students will be able to hand in a task that will be reviewed by the teacher and thereafter gone through in class. The student will also practice how to perform her assignment orally, since discussing law orally is a very important part of being a legal practitioner.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Exam code: GRA 62811 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Other in classroom | 2 Hour(s) | Video: For introduction and expectation regulation, and for repetition purposes. |
Prepare for teaching | 85 Hour(s) | Everyone has to read the specified curriculum before class. |
Teaching | 36 Hour(s) | We expect everyone to meet in class every lecture. |
Group work / Assignments | 32 Hour(s) | Work in groups, individual hand ins, review in class. |
Webinar | 2 Hour(s) | Repetition and questions to be answered. |
Examination | 3 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.