Legal Studies

This course connects fashion to law through different expanses. It offers an analytical and critical perspective by indulging in the creative intricacies of the fashion industry to applying it to the rigid, robust nature of politics and law. It covers law and civil rights from the 18th to 21st century through key expressions of fashion, gender law, environmental and sustainability law, intellectual property, new technologies, social and labor law.

Equality is a value that commands wide support and it is commonly guaranteed by national constitutions and human rights instruments. Yet differences emerge over the appropriate role for law in combating discrimination and when equality demands the same treatment or recognition of diversity. The enduring salience of equality has been reflected in social movements, such as MeToo or Black Lives Matter. Students examine Equality Law from a national, international, and comparative perspective. The course introduces students to the legal framework on equality found in Irish Law and European Law (EU and ECHR). It examines key topics, such as the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the forms of discrimination prohibited by the law, and the role for law in promoting equality.

This course provides a platform for new thinking about international legal and institutional arrangements in the world of an urgent need for responsibility for the future. It also presents what role the United States and Europe play in this process. It considers whether global governance - a dynamic process in which legal, political, and economical arrangements unleash interests, change the balance of force, and lead to further reinvention of the governance scheme itself - and wider responsibility are possible.

This course considers international law's dynamics in the modern world and delves into some of the pressing structural, institutional, and thematic challenges of the international legal order. It explores the potential and risks posed by evolving norms, new actors, and failing institutions. It also critically studies the capacity of international norms, international institutions, and judicial bodies to deal with global issues like climate change and environmental protection, the right to self-defense, peacekeeping, human rights and democracy, and international criminal justice. This course provides important legal knowledge, both in terms of concepts and methods, to hone analytical and problem-solving skills.

This course provides a thorough introduction to child protection systems in Europe and how international humanitarian efforts address child welfare in developing regions, with a focus on West Africa. Divided into two modules, the first examines the European Union's child protection priorities—such as digital safety, AI governance, and deinstitutionalization—while the second focuses on the work of international organizations in tackling issues like poverty, gender-based violence, and conflict. Students engage with theoretical frameworks, case studies, and expert guest lectures to develop critical thinking and practical skills grounded in real-world policymaking and service delivery.

This course deals with fundamental issues of constitutional law in postwar Japan. Japan has had two written constitutions so far. One was the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, or the Meiji Constitution, which was promulgated on February 11, 1889, and put into effect on November 29, 1890. The other is the Constitution of Japan, the current Constitution, which was promulgated on November 3, 1946, and became effective on May 3, 1947.  

The goal is to understand the basic constitutional framework in modern Japan and the constitutional practices of postwar Japan, and to attain insight into the challenges current Japanese society is facing. The course covers the following topics: a comparison between the two constitutional frameworks; judicial review and protecting rights, equality, religious freedom and separation of religion and state; voting rights and the electoral process; freedom of expression, family law, and Article 9 and the peace state. 

The course gives an introduction to the subject of Sociology of Law, its history, and its position in the knowledge field between Law and society. The structure, contents, and organization of the Legal System are presented at a general level. The subject Sociology of Law introduces legal questions of relevance to understand the subject Sociology of Law as well as basic scientific theoretical and methodological perspectives. This course provides the history and knowledge field of Sociology of Law and Law and society. The theory of Science, Social theory, structure, contents, and organization of the Legal System are reviewed.

This course examines key features and processes of criminal justice institutions, crime justice policy and practice, and addresses contemporary debates about crime in relation to substantive areas, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and youth offending.

This course covers fields of regulation that relate directly to priority issues on the international agenda, such as the law of armed conflicts, international human rights law, and international criminal law. 

This course provides a critical introduction to three major related areas of international law that focus on the protection of the human beings: international human rights law, international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict), and international criminal law. The course covers the main normative instruments and principles relating to the international protection of human rights, the rules aimed at limiting the effects of armed conflict, and the criminal repression of individuals under international law; and assesses the flaws and limitations of the international system, as well as the benefits and practical consequences of using the remedies it provides.