Optional Bachelor Courses

The Van Vollenhoven Institute offers thematic and regional courses that attract both Dutch and overseas students.

Courses 2008-2009: Law and Governance in Developing Countries  (October - November 2008)
Law and Governance in Indonesia                   (September - November 2008)
Law and Development in China                       (February - March 2009)
Law and Governance in Africa                         (February - March 2009)
Legal Systems Worldwide                               (April - May 2009)
Introduction to Islamic Law                      (part 1: September - December 2008
                                                             part 2: February - May 2009)

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 semester of 2008/2009, 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 and Governance in Indonesia: In the first semester of 2008/2009, 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 Development in China: the Rule of Law: In the second semester of 2008/2009, dr. Benjamin van Rooij will teach Chinese law, focussing on China’s post-1978 legal reform programme and how it affects rule of law development. Students will study current developments, partly through the prism of China’s long legal history. The course will focus on law in traditional China; communists and law; constitutional development, lawmaking, adjudication, administrative law in practice, and criminal law amendments; the enforcement of environmental law; law at the grassroots; and the one child policy and human rights.

Law and Governance in Africa: In the second semester of 2008/2009 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.

Legal Systems Worldwide: The 10-lecture course ‘Legal Systems Worldwide’ will be given in the second semester and is aimed at acquainting students with the key features of legal systems from around the world. Since most students are to some extent familiar with the legal systems of the EU and North America, the course will focus on other systems, including those of China, Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia. The course, grounded in comparative law, combines several well-known approaches, i.e. ‘law families’ (David), ‘elements of style’ (Zweigert and Kötz) and ‘patterns of law’ (Mattei), and consisted of lectures, assignments and presentations. Janine Ubink is the coordinator of this course.

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 2008/2009, 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.

23/10/2008