2409.20 - Faroese Constitutional Law I


Course number
2409.20
Title
Faroese Constitutional Law I
ECTS
10
Prerequisites
Bachelor degree or equivalent with adequate component of law.
Purpose
The purpose of the course is to give the students knowledge and competences, as expounded further below, in Faroese constitutional law related to especially the Home rule arrangement and the human rights parts of Danish constitutional law.
Content
The course is divided in two parts: The part on the Home rule arrangement and the part on the human rights protected in the Danish constitution. The part on the Home rule arrangement begins with a historical perspective on the constitutional position of the Faroe Islands. After this introduction, the course continues with a discussion of the history and the preparatory work to the current Home rule act. Then follows a substantive discussion of the particular provisions in the Home rule act and the two acts in 2005 on the transfer of competences to the Faroese authorities and on the conclusion of international agreements. Next will be discussed and reviewed various opinions and theories on the fundamental constitutional position of the Faroe Islands within the Danish kingdom. Significant is the description and analysis of the fundamental change and broadening of home rule competences that was the result of the two acts in 2005 on the transfer of competences to the Faroese authorities and on the conclusion of international agreements respectively. Methodological questions, as constitutional sources, and how constitutional laws are, and ought to be, interpreted, are also part of the first part. The latter part about human right covers some of the most important rights and freedoms protected in the Danish constitution. These are freedom of expression, property rights, freedom of liberty and home, freedom of assembly and assosiation. Lastly, some methodological questions important for human rights in a constitutional context will be discussed and evaluated.
Learning and teaching approaches
Between 40 and 50 hours. The course consists of lectures, student presentations, critical discussion and application of assigned readings.
Learning outcomes
The students shall among other things be able to: - Explain the constitutional position of the Faroe Islands in historical perspective. - Account for different conceptions of the Danish unitary state theory (“rigsenheden”) and the theory of delegated powers, and how these theories are grounded in the Danish constitution (grundlov) and other legal sources. - Demonstrate a thorough substantive knowledge of the Home rule act and the two supplementing acts on the transfer of competences to the Faroese authorities and on the conclusion of international agreements respectively. - Explain the re-arrangement in 2005, and why it was significant both from a practical perspective as well as a matter of principle. - Explain what, if anything, is special about constitutional interpretation as opposed to normal legal interpretation, and account for how law and politics interact in the Home rule area of Danish constitutional law. - Clarify the tensions between the metropolitan authorities and the sub-unit that are particular to the Home rule area of Danish constitutional law, and explain how this might be a challenge to traditional constitutional law notions of hierarchy. - Explain the content and meaning of the most important rights provisions in the Danish constitution. - Explain theimportance of the balancing approach where single rights must be balanced against other competing rights and values. - Explain the specific interpretive challenges posed in a rights context, among these the importance of regaridng human rights as procedural law rather than substantive law. -Present and formulate knowledge and arguments correctly and succinctly in eloquent and correct language.
Assessment method
A multiple choice exam early in the course will constitute 20% of the grade. A home assignment of minimum 6 pages (each page 2.400 characters with spaces) with 14 day duration on a topic, that the students get from the teachers in the middle of the course, will count for 30%. Finally a final written 5 hour exam at the end of the course will count for 50%. Only one grade will be given. Still, it is a precondition for passing the exam that all three partial exams can be considered passed, assessed separately.
Examination
Internal
Marking scale
7-
Bibliography
Bárður Larsen & Kristian Joensen: Materials – available online on the Moodle network prior to teaching. Required reading is between 800 and 900 pages, but parts is cursory reading, such as historical background. The reading list covers i.a. court cases, laws and prepatory works, articles and book chapters from these authors: Kári á Rógvi, Jákup Thorsteinsson, Frederik Harhoff, Alf Ross, Kristian Joensen, Bárður Larsen, Jens Peter Christensen, Robert F. Williams, Max Sørensen, Ole Spiermann, Poul Meyer, Edward Mitens, Jens Hartig Danielsen, Peter Germer, Frederick Schauer, Henrik Zahle and Boštjan M. Zupančič.
Contact
Bárður Larsen