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Regulating Global Markets (LAWS90063)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability(Quotas apply)
June
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As markets are increasingly globalised, there is an accompanying diffusion of sites of regulation and governance. Diverse actors and organisations – public and private, national and international, spanning jurisdictional boundaries – compete for the authority to define and operationalise the rules for the conduct of global commerce. These developments raise a number of fundamental questions for lawyers: how is regulatory authority distributed in global markets, and how should it be? How are completing claims to such authority mediated and resolved in practice? And what role does law play in shaping the dynamics of global markets?

This subject helps students think about these questions from a number of different perspectives. Students are introduced to the range of techniques and institutions that currently exist to address regulatory controversies and to set the conditions for regulatory coordination. In addition, students are asked to engage with some of the deeper questions of normative political and social theory raised by the operation of these techniques and institutions, through readings drawn from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, science and technology studies, politics and law. This technical and theoretical material is set side by side with, and explored through, a series of four grounded case studies, typically drawn from contemporary global markets in financial services, tobacco control, biotechnology, carbon trading, fisheries and energy. The subject develops understanding of ‘fragmentation’, which in this context refers to the proliferation of sites of global governance, as well as the theme of ‘expertise’, which signals an interest in contemporary re-articulations of the power-knowledge nexus. Regulating Global Markets will be of interest to lawyers whose practices support international businesses, students who are engaged with contemporary political questions around economic globalisation and the backlash to it, and anyone with an interest in questions of political and social theory as they relate to international law.

There will be four case studies addressed in the subject, the content of which may change from year to year. Illustrative topics include the global dimensions of:

  • The regulation of legal cannabis
  • The regulation of biotech foods
  • Currency manipulation
  • Tobacco control
  • Financial stability
  • The industrial policy of climate change
  • Global fisheries management
  • Public support systems for energy (both renewable and fossil-fuel based)
  • Foreign investment in agriculture and infrastructure services.

The theoretical writing will be organised around four themes, which may include some of:

  • Global constitutionalism
  • Empire
  • Sociotechnical imaginaries
  • Reflexivity
  • Regime interaction
  • Expertise studies
  • International governmentality studies
  • Global administrative law
  • New governance
  • Global experimentalist governance.

The law and institutions covered in the subject will depend on the case studies chosen. However, students can expect a significant part of the subject to focus on such institutions as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Food and Agricultural Organization, the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the World Health Organization, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and their related bodies of law.

Intended learning outcomes

A student who has successfully completed the subject will:



  • Have an advanced and integrated understanding of the principal legal methods and techniques that deal with the fragmentation of international law
  • Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess contemporary thinking about the structures of global governance from disciplines such as sociology, science and technology studies, politics and law
  • Be an engaged participant in debate regarding expertise and the profession of international law and economics
  • Have a sophisticated understanding of sociological accounts of the origins of fragmentation, and provide an account of challenges to which fragmentation gives rise such as forum shopping
  • Have an advanced understanding of four specific areas of global market regulation, including a detailed understanding of the relevant governance institutions, the governing legal frameworks, the most important techniques of governance, and the core gaps in our knowledge of how they operate
  • Have the cognitive and technical skills to independently examine, research and analyse specific theorists and theories of contemporary global governance
  • Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information regarding global governance to relevant specialist and non-specialist audiences
  • Be able to demonstrate autonomy, expert judgment and responsibility as a practitioner and learner in the field of global governance, and to ground a critical response to theoretical accounts of global governance, at both the positive and normative levels.

Last updated: 31 January 2024

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Recommended background knowledge

Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 31 January 2024

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

Class participation

Throughout the teaching period10%

In-class presentation

  • 10 minutes
Throughout the teaching period10%

Research paper on a topic approved by the subject coordinator

  • 5,000 words
21 August 202480%
Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance Throughout the teaching periodN/A

Last updated: 31 January 2024

Quotas apply to this subject

Dates & times

  • June
    Mode of deliveryOn Campus (Parkville)
    Contact hours
    Total time commitment150 hours
    Pre teaching start date 6 May 2024
    Pre teaching requirementsPlease refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.
    Teaching period 3 June 2024 to 7 June 2024
    Last self-enrol date10 May 2024
    Census date 4 June 2024
    Last date to withdraw without fail12 July 2024
    Assessment period ends21 August 2024

    June contact information

    Lecturer

    Kojo Karam (Coordinator)

    Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
    Phone: 13 MELB (13 6352), International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
    Website: law.unimelb.edu.au

Time commitment details

136-150 hours The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.

What do these dates mean

Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:

  • Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
  • And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
    - Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).

    Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.

Additional delivery details

This subject has a quota of 30 students.

Enrolment is on a first come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.

Students should note priority of places in subjects will be given as follows:

  • To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
  • To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.

Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.

Last updated: 31 January 2024

Further information

Last updated: 31 January 2024