732-307 Law and Labour Relations in East-Asia and the Pacific Rim

Coordinator:

Timetable:

Contact:

Objectives:

The principal specific objectives of the subject are as follows:

• to enable the students to understand the origins of labour law systems in the relevant countries, and in particular the transferability of Western models to developing countries;

• to give students a basic grasp of the relevant laws which govern the employment relationship between employer and employee;

• to give students an understanding of the laws regulating trade unions and the settlement of industrial disputes in the region;

• to enable students to place the development of these laws in their economic and political context, and to appreciate the link between legal and political systems, and economic development;

• to enable students to appreciate the practice of industrial relations in the various countries examined, and the relationship between the legal system and industrial relations practice;

• to give students an appreciation of the dynamism of labour law and industrial relations systems;

• to introduce students to ways of varying models of labour law, or industrial relations, to bring about desired change for economic or social reasons.

Content:

The subject will comprise the following topics:

• the origins of labour law in East-Asia and the pacific rim countries. An introduction to the evolution of labour law models in the relevant countries;

• transferability of legal models. An examination of the ways in which East-Asian countries have 'borrowed' Anglo-American, and Australian models of labour law;

• the adaptation of legal models in Asia. An examination of the ways in which laws and legal institutions are adapted to fit cultural, economic and political contexts;

• the regulation of the individual employer-employee relationship. An outline of the law comparing approaches to the contract of employment and the regulation of labour standards in the region;

• the regulation of industrial relations system. An outline of the law comparing approaches to the regulation of trade unions, and methods of industrial dispute settlement in the region;

• industrial relations in practice. A study of the practice, and a comparison of the formal rules, and actual practice.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

A reading list will be provided at the beginning of the subject.