Legal Studies

The course provides a broad and theoretical overview of European legal traditions from social, political, economic, and comparative perspectives. Starting with Roman Law, its coverage ranges from discussing the authority of law in history, literature, economics, and religion, through the creation of the European legal frameworks up to the establishment of a human rights tradition. Focus is given to the wider scope of legal developments in history that have shaped the conceptualization of law in present-day Europe and beyond. The course is roughly divided into two parts. The first part encompasses a brief overview of European legal thought from Roman law to the development of the common and civil legal traditions. In the second half of the course, the course examines the more recent developments of European politics and law. The first session will be dedicated to how social aspects (i.e. geography and religion) influence European legal developments. The second session deals with the fascist tendencies leading to World War Two. The last two sessions are dedicated to European integration and the formation of European Union mainly as an answer to the two World Wars. The focus here is on the legal coverage of the Union’s economy and respect for human rights through supranational cooperation.

This course offers an overview of the Spanish legal system. It addresses the historical origin of the sources of law, particularly the nineteenth-century codification processes, basic legal concepts, the normative system of sources, and the Spanish political-institutional organization. The course focuses on the study of constitutional, civil, criminal, procedural, and commercial law, paying special attention to the structure and principles that inform the Spanish jurisdiction.

This course offers a study on competition regulation and policy. Topics include: the need for regulation and regulatory instruments; regulation in the presence of complete information--regulation of a natural monopoly; regulation in the presence of asymmetric information; legal framework-- conduct control, structure control, and state aid; theoretical models-- incentives for horizontal mergers, equilibrium condition to sustain collusion, incentives for vertical integration, and predation; analysis of real competition cases in Spain and Europe.

This course facilitates students in the formulation of their own, critically aware, understanding of the nature of law and its features. Students develop their ability to articulate a reasoned position on distinctive features of law and a legal system and on questions such as the relationship between law and morality, law’s legitimacy and function in a social order. Among topics that may be explored are the concept of law, the rule of law, authority, and connections between law and morality. 

In this course students learn, for example, that using language in a certain way may result in a more advantageous outcome for the speaker and by contrast, that certain other ways of using language may be considered law-breaking. No prior knowledge of linguistics is required but having some competence in another language in addition to English is an advantage. This course is interdisciplinary and students learn about the ways in which a number of disciplines are related to one another, including linguistics, the law, criminology, and psychology. 

This course presents the history and main current characteristics of the Japanese legal system. The first part of the course presents the historical background of the Japanese legal system, focusing on the reception of Western law in the Meiji period and on the consolidation of the legal system in the 20th century. The second part presents several key aspects of current Japanese constitutional law, private law, criminal law, and procedure. The course may include a field trip to an institution of law covered during the semester.

This research internship program offers selected students the opportunity to participate in research projects or work as an intern in research centers or organizations at Yonsei University. Students are expected to participate in research projects for approximately 20 hours per week throughout the program. Projects will vary depending on placement. Graded Pass/No pass only.

This course introduces students to critical approaches to international law and excavates the ideas and histories that help shape international law's subjects, categories, and boundaries. The course engages with critical theories (TWAIL, critical legal studies, Marxism) that challenge the narrative of international law as a universal and progressive project. This course consists of three parts which provide students with a foundation to reflect on both the limits and potential of international law. The first part of the course explores how colonialism helped produce international law's actors: the State, victim, perpetrator, and international community. The second part engages with non-legal discourses (narrative, mythology, emotion) to explore how these categories are sustained. The third part of the course investigates whether the discourse presents a crisis of imagination that makes alternative international engagements unthinkable.