MVZ488 Law and Politics: the case of Israel

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Olga Cídlová, DiS. (lecturer)
Prof. Eli Salzberger (lecturer), PhDr. Pavel Pšeja, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Petr Suchý, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 10. 11. 18:45–20:15 M117, Tue 11. 11. 17:00–20:15 exP52, Wed 12. 11. 15:15–16:45 U33, Thu 13. 11. 17:00–20:15 U44, Tue 18. 11. 8:00–9:30 M117
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives (in Czech)
The course will have two main objectives: 1) to provide a few theoretical frameworks for analyzing the relations between law and politics, focusing on the Rational Choice approach, with short references to different theories of law, and to moral and political philosophy; 2) to provide an introduction to the Israeli legal system, its history and main differences from other legal systems, focusing on the relations between law and politics in Israel. Through examples from key decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court, representing different periods in Israel’s history and different areas of public controversies, the course will show the relevance of theoretical framework(s) to the explanation and evaluation of various legal events. Students will be encouraged to present comparative examples from their own legal system.
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • Course topics and syllabus Part I - Theoretical background 1.1 A brief introduction to theories of law 1.2 Law and theories of the state Reading materials: Eli Salzberger, The Independence of the Judiciary: An Economic Analysis of Law Perspective”, in Andras Sajo (ed.), Judicial Integrity, Koninklijke Brill NV, 2004, pp. 69-90 Part 2 - Introduction to Israel and the Israeli legal system Reading materials: - “Israel” in Wikipedia - The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, 1948: http://www.knesset.gov.il/docs/eng/megilat_eng.htm - Eli Salzberger, Judicial Activism in Israel, in Brice Dikson (ed.), Judicial Activism in Common Law Supreme Courts, Oxford University Press (2008), pp. 217-271 Part 3 – Israeli legal cases in theoretical perspectives 3.1 Human rights discourse in early days – freedom of speech Reading materials: - HCJ 101/54 Kol Ha'am Co. LTD v. Minister of Interior [1953] IsrSC 7(1) 165 3.2 Intervention in the politics of parliament – 1960’s – Defensive democracy Reading materials: - Elections Appeal 1/65 Yerador v. The Central Elections Committee, 19(3) P.D 365, selected pages * EA 2/84 Neiman v. Chairman of the Elections Committee, 39(2) P.D 225 3.3 Constitutional politics – 1980’s – Judicial review of legislation Reading materials: - Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty http://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_yesod1.htm - HCJ 142/89 LAOR Movement v Speaker of the Knesset [1990] IsrSC 44(3) 529 (selected paragraphs) 3.4. State security - 1990’s – balancing human rights and state security Reading materials: - HCJ 5100/94 Public Committee Against Torture in Israel v. The State of Israel [1999] IsrSC 53(4) 817, http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files_eng/94/000/051/a09/94051000.a09.pdf 3.5. Social and economic issues – 2000’s – privatization of prisons Reading materials: - HCJ 2605/05 Academic Center of Law and Business v. Minister of Finance (2009) http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files_eng/05/050/026/n39/05026050.n39.htm 3.6. State and Religion – the current decade – separation in busses Reading materials: - HCJ 746/07 Neomi Ragan and others vs. The Minister of Transport and others (2011) http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files_eng/07/460/007/t38/07007460.t38.htm
Assessment methods
Final grade composition 30% - class participation and presentation 70% - final assignment
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2014/MVZ488