LAWS6232 - Law and the Holocaust
Objectives
- Examines the relationship between law and the origins and implementation of the events known as the Holocaust.
- Consider the lessons for law and legal theory arising from Hitler's rise to power, the legalization of the Nazi racial-biological worldview through eugenics and anti-Jewish legislation, the character of parallel anti-Jewish legal programs in Vichy France and elsewhere, the challenge to our conceptions of legal and moral responsibility that is presented by the idea of 'administrative massacre', and the question of how the Nazi legal era has been represented in mainstream jurisprudence.
Content
By studying the sequential moments of legal and institutional pathology that provided the context for the persecution of the Jews - loss of meaningful constitutionalism or constitutional values, loss of legal rights, loss of citizenship, loss of the standards of the rule of law, loss of the status of the legal subject as a bearer of dignity, amongst others - students will have the opportunity to think deeply about the significance of these pathologies for our understanding of what law is, what law should be, and what conditions are required for law to mediate power rather than merely provide a vehicle for its expression. The crucial role played by legal thinkers and legal actors in the Nazi project will be a key reference point, as will the question of how adequate our scholarly resources are to the task of illuminating the complex questions and connections that a study of law and the Holocaust presents.
NB: This unit replaced LAWS6232 Law, Lawyers and the Holocaust
Assessment
- Class Participation (20%)
- 8000 Word Essay (80%)
Session
Semester 1 Intensive
Introduction Class: 3 April 2013 (9:00AM-11:00AM)
5, 6 & 12, 13 April 2013 (9:00AM-5:00PM)
The timetable is subject to frequent changes. Please refer to the latest version of the Postgraduate Timetable.
Legal Professional Development (LPD)
You can credit this unit towards Legal Professional Development (LPD). Units of study that are part of Sydney Law School’s Postgraduate Program meet the necessary Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of the New South Wales Bar Association. You may complete this unit of study by enrolling on a non-degree basis or on an audit basis only with no assessment via Single Unit Enrolment.
Courses this unit is available in
Master of Laws | Master of Global Law | Master of Jurisprudence | Graduate Diploma in Law | Graduate Diploma in Jurisprudence
