Module description
*The only exception is for fourth year students on the LLB with American Legal Studies: students who on their third year abroad have studied US Constitutional law at an American Bar Association accredited US law school are not eligible to take this module. If you have any questions as to your eligibility in this respect, please contact the course convenors.
This course offers an introduction to US Constitutional law. This course is designed to provide a solid foundation in the constitutional law of the US both for commercial lawyers, and for lawyers interested in public law and human rights. In addition to examining questions of interpretive method, the course focuses on the powers of the federal government and the allocation of decision-making authority among government institutions, including federalism and separation of powers.
Assessment details
Examination (100%)
Educational aims & objectives
The aims of this course are:
Term One:
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to examine the authority and role of the Supreme Court; the relationship between the nation and the states in the federal system; the commerce power and its limits; other national powers, such as taxation, spending, war, treaties, and foreign affairs; the federal limits on state regulation of inter-state commerce;
Term Two:
- to examine the separation of powers; to address fundamental rights protection, in particular due process and equal protection.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students should:
- understand the principles and design of the constitutional system and government of the United States.
- be able to identify US Constitutional issues.
- understand the nature and limits of US Constitutional judicial decision making
- be able to conceptualise and analyse US Constitutional issues.
- understand the basic structure of the American government.
Teaching pattern
Contact time: Seminar/tutorials (42hrs)
Suggested reading list
Copies of relevant reading for each topic will be provided through My Reading Lists. We will highlight where principles of English common law informed provisions of the US Constitution - for example, Entick v Carrington (1765) is considered alongside the Fourth Amendment. Engagement by the UK Supreme Court with developments in US Constitutional law is also considered. The reading, thus, is derived from both jurisdictions.
Recommended reading will include:
- K.M. Sullivan and N. Feldman, Constitutional Law (Foundation Press, 19th edn, 2016).
- Paul Brest, Sanford Levinson, J.M. Balkin, Akhil Reed Amar and Reva B. Siegel, Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking (Aspen Publishers, 7th edition, 2018)
- Erwin Chemerinsky, Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies (Aspen Publishers, 5th edn., 2015)
- Erwin Chemerinsky, Constitutional Law (Aspen Publishers, 5th edn., 2016)
- Geoffrey R. Stone, Louis M. Seidman, Cass R. Sunstein, Mark V. Tushnet, Pamela S. Karlan, Constitutional Law (Aspen Publishers, 8th edition, 2017)
- Laurence H. Tribe, American Constitutional Law (Foundation Press, 3rd edn., 1999)