Course Listing

Law and Empire
Last Updated Date:   24 September 2024


4 Units,  Semester 1

Course Description:
This course considers topics on law and empire. Some of the inquiry will be historical, with a focus on juridical debates occasioned by the rise and fall of the British Empire, especially in South-East Asia and Africa. We look at how the East India Company, the so-called ‘Company-State’, leveraged its diplomatic powers and operational autonomy to carve out a continental empire, and how it consolidated its territorial gains through novel processes of codification and bureaucratisation. Empire is more often associated with the use of exceptional power, and debates on martial law and detention without trial as strategies of colonial rule will be trakced. Tracing the use of the ‘new dominion’ model for transitioning to independence, we evaluate the success of this innovate transnational model for transferring power.

Course Convenor: Lionel A. Sheridan Visiting Professor Thomas Poole

Co-teacher(s): NA

Course Codes: LL4515 / LL5515 / LL6515 / LLJ5515

Contact Hours: 9 sessions over 3 weeks: Three, 3hr weekly seminars

Workload: Intensive course: Wk 1 - 3; Dates: 12 - 30 Aug 2024 [Mon, Wed: 6.30 - 9.30pm; & Fri: 3 - 6pm]

Mode of Assessment: Research Paper - 100% [Due: Fri, 11 Oct 2024 (9pm)]

Preclusions: LL4515V/LL5515V/LLJ5515V/LL6515V Law and Empire

Prerequisites: NUS Compulsory Core Law Curriculum or common law equivalent.

Examination Date: Different Mode of Examination

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