Elements of Legislation (LAWS70417)

Do judges make law? If they do, how is the law that they make different from that which legislatures make? Do legislatures have intentions? In legal systems that subscribe to the principle of legislative supremacy, are there any limits to what the legislature can enact? Is it better that courts be constitutionally entitled to review the legality of laws that legislatures enact? Absent this entitlement, what can courts do with those laws? This course has students consider these questions by examining the law-making functions of legislatures and courts, idea of legislative intent, the concepts of legislative supremacy and judicial review, the concept of ex post facto law and the core principles of statutory construction.

Principal topics will include:

• Enacted and judge-made law
• Legislative intent and supremacy
• Ex post facto law
• Judicial review of legislation
• Statutory interpretation.