Optional Bachelor Courses

Courses 2009-2010: Law and Governance in Dev. Countries (Feb - Mar 2010)
Law & Culture                                     (Feb - Mar 2010
Law and Governance in Indonesia          (Apr - May 2010)
Law and Governance in Africa                (Apr - May 2010)
Sharia and Nat. Law in the Muslim World (Apr - Mar 2010)

Introduction to Islamic Law  (part 1: Sep - Dec 2009
                                         part 2: Feb - May 2010)

From 2004 on all the courses offered at the Van Vollenhoven Institute are taught in English.
Students from the Leiden University can register for all courses through U-Twist. Students from other universites have to contact the 'Onderwijsinformatiecentrum' at our university, tel. 071 - 5278787.
Information for foreign students can be obtained from the Office of International Law Programs, tel. 5277609

Law and Governance in Developing Countries: In the first block of the second semester of 2009/2010, professor Jan Michiel Otto will teach the 10-lecture course ‘Law and Governance in Developing Countries’. The central objective of the course is to present and appraise the formation and functioning of legal systems in developing countries and their effectiveness in contributing to governance processes and development goals. This involves the analysis of interrelationships between law, governance and development (LGD), and some of LGD’s main problems including legal pluralism, legal transplants, administrative and judicial implementation and enforcement of law. The course introduces the core concepts and interdisciplinary nature of the LGD domain and LGD approaches

Law & Culture: This course explores the relationship between law and culture – a topic that through globalisation, a perceived ‘clash of civilizations’, and the problems of an effectively multicultural society has become increasingly relevant. How should criminal law deal with the cultural background of those who have committed a crime? Can you copyright ‘culture’? Is law itself a ‘codification’ of cultural norms and values, or can law be used to change culture? To what extent can law facilitate multiculturalism?
Lecturers from various backgrounds will address such questions, combining legal with sociological/anthropological approaches. They will use ‘real life’ cases to clarify the theoretical issues raised, including many taken from developing countries, where the above questions have been even more pressing than in western societies.
Students are expected to prepare well and participate actively in the classes, which combine lecturing, discussions and assignments.
The course will take place in the first block of the second semester 2009/2010.

Law and Governance in Indonesia: In the second block of the second semester of 2009/2010, dr. Adriaan Bedner will teach the course ‘Law and Governance in Indonesia’ This course aims to give students basic knowledge of the Indonesian constitutional and legal system in its social, political and economic contexts, focusing on theoretical issues such as constitutionalism, decentralisation, the role of customary and religious law, and their impact in daily life. PhD students from the VVI will give guest lectures on the specific topics of their field research.

Law and Governance in Africa: In the second block of the second semester of 2009/2010 Janine Ubink will offer a 10-lecture course on ‘Law and Governance in Africa’. From a socio-legal approach, the course will introduce similarities and differences in systems of law and governance in African countries and explored the complex relations between law, governance and change. What role did ‘customary law’ play in colonisation? What does the changing role of the state in Africa – constrained by the international legal and socio-political system, challenged by chieftaincies and decentralised local governments – mean for law’s ability to bring change? How do other legal systems such as religious law, traditional law, and international human rights interact with state law in the management of natural resources like land and water? Special attention will be given to the discussion of selected case studies, including the reconstruction of the Angolan state, the role of law in socialist and post-socialist Tanzania, the management of land in Ghana, successes and failures of legal development cooperation, and the new relevance of traditional authorities in Africa.

Sharia and National Law in the Muslim World: The relationship between sharia and national law has been a major issue in each of the more than 40 Muslim majority countries which gained independence during the 20th century. Some countries, such as Turkey, opted for a secular approach. Others, like Saudi Arabia, chose to pursue the path of classical sharia as the foundation of their national law. Most countries opted initially for an intermediate solution. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran, there has been much concern about global tendencies to Islamize national law, and the repercussions for women, minorities, freedom of religion. and human treatment of criminals. This course addresses and compares legal developments in five or six selected countries, i.e. Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Indonesia. It records actual processes of change and reform, whether diverging or converging with rule of law and human rights. It explains major issues of constitutional law, family law, and criminal law, and how legal institutions have decided about such issues, as well as how religious and political forces have influenced the formation and functioning of the law. At the same time this course sheds light on how Islamic law is actually studied and developed by religious scholars, as opposed to how professional, secular jurists study and shape national, secular laws.

Introduction to Islamic Law: Prof. Léon Buskens yearly teaches his course ‘Intoduction to Islamic Law’. This course consists of two parts.
The first semester of 2008/2009 is dedicated to the history of lslamic law and contemporary debates. Islamic law is studied as a social and historical phenomenon, without opting for any internal normative position. Attention is given to the multiple perspectives and approaches which are possible: legal, social, historical, and normative. After a discussion of Islamic theories of jurisprudence, the successive stages of development of Islamic legal thinking and practice are analyzed: formative, medieval, early modern, modern, and post modern. The relevance of knowledge of Islamic law for contemporary debates in the Netherlands and the world at large is stressed.

During the second semester of 2009/2010, a systematic overview of the main fields of Islamic law is presented: law of contract, state law and government, penal law, commercial law, international relations, the position of religious minorities, and Islamic law and human rights. Special attention is given to family law.