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Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE PBL1023

 
TITLE Basic Notions of Constitutional Law

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 8

 
DEPARTMENT Public Law

 
DESCRIPTION During this unit the student will learn about constitutional law, namely what is a constitution, the different kinds of constitutions (written and unwritten), the sources of the constitution and of constitutional law. Other topics discussed are the basic underlying theories of constitutional law namely the Doctrine of Separation of Powers and respect for the Rule of Law. The organs of government, the electoral process, law making processes and procedures, and the main court judgments in constitutional law are studied. Finally, students will also be introduced to human rights law.

Study-Unit Aims:

This study-unit aims to introduce students to the basic principles of constitutional law, with a view to understanding and appreciating the supremacy of the Constitution and of all the principles which it embraces including respect for human rights. Students will comprehend and appreciate the set up of the organs of state and of these organs' inter-relationship. It also aims to explain the workings of democracy, of electoral processes and of democratically elected governments, their powers and the limits to the same.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- comprehend the fundamentals on which our society is built;
- appreciate the values that we embrace as a democratic society built on respect for the rule of law;
- comment on the most important court judgments in constitutional law, including some salient court cases in human rights law.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- write on the underlying doctrines of constitutional law;
- discuss the significance of the supremacy of the constitution and of all that constitutional law embraces;
- apply the main court judgments relevant to constitutional law including human rights law to given facts.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- Kevin Aquilina 'The Rule of Law a' la Maltaise' (Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, Msida, 2017)
- David Attard 'The Maltese Legal System' (Malta University Press, Msida, 2016)
- Tonio Borg 'A Commentary of the Constitution' (Kite Publishers, B'Kara, 2017)

Supplementary Readings:

- Tom Bingham 'The Rule of Law' (Penguin, Middlesex, 2011)
- Paul Jackson and Patricia Leopold 'O Hood Philips and Jackson Constitutional and Administrative Law' (Thomson Sweet & Maxwell, 2001)
- Ian Loveland 'Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Human Rights' (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 7th Edition, 2009)

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Examination (3 Hours) SEM2 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Austin Bencini
Tonio Borg

 

 
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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