| CODE | ECL2004 | ||||||
| TITLE | Basic Notions of European Union Law 1 | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | European and Comparative Law | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will introduce the student to EU Law and its legal order, by taking the student chronologically through the various legal milestones in the development of the European Union from its inception in the EEC and other Treaties using a thematic approach. The study-unit will chart a chronology of legal and institutional evolution with such themes as supranationalism, democratization, constitutionalisation, integration through law, through the beginnings based on intergovernmental treaty law rooted in international law to an autonomous system of law with a hybrid international and constitutional nature, a sui generis system of law. It will move in this way right up to the present day, highlighting this evolution at each stage and complementing and contextualising the students' study of national constitutional law but showing how the union has evolved into a sui generis legal entity governed by its own law and composed of features that are not explained by any national law or international law paradigm. Study-Unit Aims: The main aim of this study-unit is to show how European Union law establishes its own paradigm, so that the student will be able to approach the study of the legal order of the Union in the second study-unit from this paradigm in full awareness that EU Law is not to be understood in national law (even constitutional) terms or in standard international law terms. This understanding is essential to the proper understanding of the legal order and the principles of EU law proper. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Recall and outline each 鈥榩olitical鈥� development in the history of the European Union by providing the essential background, legal history and conceptual issues; - Contrast the differences in conceptual terms between EU law concepts and those apparently similar ones learned in a domestic law context, while being in a position to explain the relationship between the two. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Evaluate EU law from the perspective of the true nature of the Union as developed by the European Court of Justice; - Comparing the difference in approach between that of the European Court of Justice and that of a national (especially Constitutional) Court; - Grasp quickly and from the start the more detailed substantive law relating to the legal order of the EU in the second study-unit EU Law study-unit; - Assess political developments in the EU, even current, in the light of the legal nature of the EU, and explain from a legal perspective the political evolution of the Union. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - P Craig and G de Burca, 'EU Law Text Cases and Materials', 6th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press July 2015. Supplementary Readings: - TC Hartley, 'The Foundations of European Union Law', 8th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014. - J. Steiner and L. Woods, EU Law, 13th edition, Oxford. Oxford University Press, 2017. - N. Foster, EU Treaties and Legislation, 28th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Joseph Bugeja |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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