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2021 Legal Method Teaching Plan

The document outlines the teaching plan for the first year B.Com LL.B program at Tamil Nadu National Law University. It includes 5 modules that will be covered over the course of the year. Module 1 introduces concepts of law and legal reasoning. Module 2 covers the institutional structure of law and government in India. Module 3 focuses on reading and interpreting statutes. Module 4 addresses reading, understanding, and analyzing judgments. Module 5 examines law in context relating to women, policy, and morality. Readings and exercises are listed to supplement each module.

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86 views4 pages

2021 Legal Method Teaching Plan

The document outlines the teaching plan for the first year B.Com LL.B program at Tamil Nadu National Law University. It includes 5 modules that will be covered over the course of the year. Module 1 introduces concepts of law and legal reasoning. Module 2 covers the institutional structure of law and government in India. Module 3 focuses on reading and interpreting statutes. Module 4 addresses reading, understanding, and analyzing judgments. Module 5 examines law in context relating to women, policy, and morality. Readings and exercises are listed to supplement each module.

Uploaded by

Athisaya cg
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli

Legal Methods 2021-2022


Teaching Plan
First Year, B.Com LL.B
Instructor: Sumedha Ray Sarkar

Please Note:
● Readings: These represent the theoretical foundations, concepts that will be studied in class
● Exercises: Marked (E), Exercises are the practical application of the text/theory studied and will involve
class participation and/or written work.
● Legal Research Resources, Types of Sources - Primary, Secondary, Doctrinal, Non-Doctrinal,
Preparation of Briefs, Legal Opinions, Citations and Plagiarism will be interspersed across the modules
and covered at appropriate points.
● All Judgments will be provided as excerpts or in the form of exercise handouts.

Module 1: Introduction to Law: (14 hours)


a. What is Law and Why do we Study it?
i. The Law as Stories and Choices
1. The Trolley Car Problem (E)
b. The Place of Law
i. The Price Gouging Issue (E)
c. Judges, Judgments, and Interpretation
i. The Speluncean Explorers Case (E)
1. Natural Law and Positive Law
d. Types of Legal Reasoning
i. Dimminaco A.G. v. Controller of Patents & Designs (E)

Readings:
1. Michael J. Sandel, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, Allen Lane (2009),
Chapter 1
2. Lon L. Fuller, Speluncean Explorers, Harvard Law Review, vol. 62, no. 4 (1949) pp.
616-645.
3. Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning, Chapter
1
4. Ellsworth, Legal Reasoning in The Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and
Reasoning (Holyoak and Morrison eds., Cambridge University Press, 2005).
5. Mark L. Roche, Why Study the Liberal Arts?

Module 2: Institutional Structure of Law and Government (4 hours)


a. The Indian Legal System
i. Common Law
b. Constitution and Constitutional Law
c. Ordinary Law
i. Process of Legislation
ii. Public and Private Law
iii. Substantive and Procedural Law
d. Separation of Powers

Readings:
1. Granville Austin, The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation, Oxford
University Press
2. Mahendra Pal Singh and Niraj Kumar, The Indian Legal System: An Enquiry, Oxford
University Press (2019)
3. Kamala Sankaran and Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Towards Legal Literacy: An Introduction
to Law in India, New Delhi, Oxford University Press (2008)
4. Dr. Rakesh Kumar Shrivastava, A Guide to India’s Legal Research and Legal System,
Hauser Global Law School Program, New York University School of Law, (April
2014)

Module 3: Reading and Interpreting Statutes (15 hours)


a. Structure and Function
i. Parts of a Statute
ii. Understanding Purpose and Policy
iii. Confronting Ambiguity
b. How to Read a Statute
i. Reading Single Provisions
a. Prize Competitions Act, 1955. (E)
ii. Reading Statutes as a Whole
1. Scheme
2. Contradictions
a. Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. (E)
c. Interpretation of Statutes
i. Forms of Interpretation
1. Literal, Purposive and Subcategories
a. Church of Holy Trinity v. United States 143 U.S. 457
(1892). (E)
b. Rananjaya Singh v. Bajnath Singh, 1954 AIR (SC) 749 (E)
2. Deduction and Analogy
a. Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab AIR 1958 SC 465 (E)
b. Govindaswamy v. State of Kerala MANU/SC/1004/2016
(E)

Readings:
1. Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing and Analysis, 4th Ed. Aspen Coursebook Series,
Wolters Kluwer
2. G. P Singh, Principles of Statutory Interpretation
3. Guide to Reading, Interpreting and Analysing Statutes, The Writing Centre,
Georgetown University Law Centre (2017).
4. A.T.H. Smith, Glanville Williams: Learning the Law, Sweet and Maxwell, 2010
5. Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning

Module 4: Reading, Understanding and Analysing Judgments (15 hours)


a. Precedent and Stare Decisis
i. Courts and Bench Strength
1. Four Judges Cases (E)
b. IRAC, CRAC, Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dicta
c. Synthesis of Judgments
i. Overruling and Distinguishing
1. Naz Foundation (2013), NALSA (2014), Puttaswamy (2018),
Navtej Singh Johar (2018) (E)
Readings:
1. Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning, Chapter
7
2. Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing and Analysis, 4th Ed. Aspen Coursebook Series,
Wolters Kluwer

Module 5: Law in Context: (9 hours)


a. Law and Women
i. Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya, judgment on 17th February,
2020
ii. Saroj Rani v. Sudarshan Kumar Chadha 1984 AIR 1562
b. Law and Policy
i. National Education Policy 2020
ii. Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association and Ors v. Union of India
MANU/SC/1183/2015 (E)
c. Law and Morality
i. Obscenity and Hicklin’s Test
ii. Duttee Chand’s CAS Award (E)

Readings:
1. Bartlett, Katherine, Feminist Legal Methods 103(4) Harvard Law Review (1990)
2. Peter Cane, The Constitutional and Legal Framework of Policy-Making, in The
Golden
Metwand and the Crooked Cord: Essays in Honour of Sir William Wade QC (1998).

Core Textbooks:
1. Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing and Analysis, 4th Ed. Aspen Coursebook Series,
Wolters Kluwer
2. James Holland and Julian Webb, Learning Legal Rules, 8th Ed., Oxford University
Press, 2013
3. A.T.H. Smith, Glanville Williams: Learning the Law, Sweet and Maxwell, 2010
4. Granville Austin, The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation, Oxford
University Press
5. G. P Singh, Principles of Statutory Interpretation
6. Michael J. Sandel, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, Allen Lane (2009)
7. Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning

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