730-428 Land, Race and Law in South East Asia

Legal Method and Reasoning; Principles of Public Law; Torts; Legal Theory or in each case their equivalents.

Indigenous and traditional communities in Southeast Asia face constant challenges in dealing with the western-derived common and civil law legal system inherited from colonialism. The subject looks at how modern plural systems deal with indigenous land rights, ethnic conflict and syariak (Islamic law) in our region.

The first half of the subject introduces students to the basic structure and operation of the Indonesian, East Timor and Malaysian legal systems and their legal inheritances from traditional customary law (or adat), Islamic traditions and from the West. It also introduces students to Islamic jurisprudence and basic concepts of traditional customary law. The second part of the subject examines the practical operation and interaction of Islamic law, traditional customary law and Western-derived systems by focusing on specific areas of law and current problems, including religious violence, racial discrimination and terrorism and Asian history.

Note: The essay in this subject is regarded as a substantial piece of legal writing for honours purposes.

Either a research assignment of 5000 words 100% OR final examination three hours 100%.

Printed materials will be issued by the Faculty of Law.