Japanese Law (LAWS90244)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2025

You’re viewing the 2025 Handbook:
Or view archived Handbooks

Overview

FeesLook up fees

This course provides you with an overview of the operation of Japanese law and practise in what is traditionally described as a so-called civil law system. The course also addresses questions of legal theory and comparative law, and will introduce you to practical ways of approaching comparative law through analysis of some of the sociological and economic theories and debates about the nature and role of law in Japan. Your participation provides an opportunity for you to read and think about approaches to, and limitations of, comparative study of Asian legal systems.

Law and practice are the foci of this course. You can expect to make extensive use of Japanese legislation and legal writing, as well as survey literature from sociology, history or politics. Based around a range of English-language resources, we use a range of teaching methods in this course, including lectures, seminars, class discussion, film, documentaries and the Internet.  

Intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should have:

  • A sophisticated understanding of a range of areas of Japanese law and legal system which can be applied to critically analyse and evaluate issues arising in contemporary Japanese law and legal system.
  • Demonstrated an ability to critically analyse, engage with and evaluate key debates about Japanese law and legal system, including its institutional structures, procedures and law-making processes.
  • Better reflect on their learning about Australian law and legal system by comparison with their learning about Japanese law and legal system from this course.

Generic skills

On completion of the subject, students should have developed their skills in the following ways:

  • the ability to read and analyse a range of sources critically to formulate and articulate independent views which integrate current scholarship on Japanese law and legal system;
  • the ability to find Japanese statutes and cases via English-language sources and use them effectively to interpret, evaluate and solve legal problems;
  • for those students undertaking the research essay, the ability to conduct in-depth research independently and write up research findings based on well-developed arguments;
  • ability to respond to, and effectively communicate, both orally and in writing, nuanced arguments about Japanese law and legal system;
  • the ability to plan and manage time to enable an advanced contribution to class discussion and achieve successful assessment outcomes; and
  • intercultural sensitivity and nuanced understanding of issues arising in another legal system.

Last updated: 4 March 2025