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Syllabus (MASTERS OF LAW)

Course Type: DSC-102

Semester: 1

Course Code: MLLMDSCC102T

Course Title: COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

(L-P-Tu): 5-0-1

Credit: 6

Practical/Theory: Theory

Course Objective: See Below

Learning Outcome: See Below

COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Full Marks: 100

Total Credit= 6

End Semester Exam. - 80

Internal Exam. - 20

Course Code:

No. of Hours of Teaching: 90 Hrs.

Course Objectives	The objectives of the Course are as under:
		To acquire knowledge about the various stages of developments of Constitution of India.
		To gain knowledge about the Constitution of USA, Canada, Australia, UK etc.
		To acquire knowledge about the various fundamental issues of Public Law
		To develop skills of analysing various aspects of governance.
		To acquire knowledge about the impacts of malfunctioning of government.
		To build up an understanding about the new dimensions of governance.

Learning Outcome	After the successful completion of this Course, a student is expected to learn the followings:
		Building up of an understanding about the developmental phases of Constitution.
		Gaining or instilling the concept of functioning of the Constitution in a country.
		Develop the skills addressing the issues linked to the constitutional governance of a country.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS TO THE EXAMINEES:
1	PATTERN OF QUESTIONS: The examinees are required to answer any FOUR questions and each question carries 20 Marks.
2	The examinees must answer the questions in English and they are required to attempt the questions in their own languages as far as practicable.

Module/ Unit No.	Title of the Module	Lectures/ Tutorials to be delivered
1	CONSTITUTION & CONSTITUTIONALISM	10
	Constitution: Concept, Nature and Importance of Constitution- Evolution of Constitutional Values- Requisites of Ideal Constitution-Historical Evolution of Constitutional Government- Indian Knowledge System and Principles of governance The Constitution and its relationship with Statehood, Territoriality and Citizenship Constitutionalism: Concept-Evolution-Limitations on Government Power Constitutional Supremacy- Rule of Law- Separation of Power
2	COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS	10
	Making of the Constitution: United Kingdom, USA, Canada and India Scope of Comparative Constitutional Law: Need for Comparative Study of Constitutional Law in Constitution Making Types of Constitutions: Written Constitutions-U.S.A, Canada, Switzerland and India; Unwritten Constitutions-England
3	FEDERALISM	10
	Federalism: Concepts of Federalism and Federal Government-Conditions Essential for Federalism; Patterns of Federal Government: U.S.A, Australia, Canada and India. New Trends in Federalism: Cooperative Federalism-Political factors Influencing Federalism, Central Control v. State Autonomy-Dynamics of Federalism
4	BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE	15
	Rule of Law – ‘Formal’ and ‘substantive’ versions Separation of powers – India, UK, USA and France Independence of judiciary, judicial activism and accountability – India, UK and USA Open Government and Right to Information - USA, UK and India
5	JUDICIAL REVIEW & CIVIL RIGHTS	10
	Judicial Review-Fundamental Rights; Writ Jurisdiction- A Comparative Study Civil Liberties/Rights: Structure-Enforcement-Individual Rights- Group Rights-National Security Open Government and Right to Information - USA, UK and India
6	AMENDABILITY AND REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION	15
	U.S.A, Australia, Canada and India
7	CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS	10
	U.S.A, Australia, Canada and India
8	OMBUDSMAN	10
	Sweden, UK and India

SUGGESTED READINGS

Disclaimer: The latest volumes of below mentioned books are to be preferred. However the list of books is not an exhaustive one.

Biagi, Francesco, Justin Orlando Frosini, and Jason Mazzone, eds. Comparative Constitutional History. Leiden: Brill, 2020–.
Contiades, Xenophon I., and Alkmene Fotiadou, eds. Routledge Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Change. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2021.
D. D. Basu, Comparative Constitution Law (LexisNexis India, 2014)
Frankenberg, Günter. Comparative Constitutional Studies: Between Magic and Deceit. Elgar Monographs in Constitutional and Administrative Law. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2018.
Granville Austin, The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation (Oxford University Press, 1999)
Granville Austin, Working in a Democratic Constitution: A History of the Indian Experience (Oxford University Press, 2003)
Heringa, Aalt Willem. Constitutions Compared: An Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law. 7th ed. Den Haag: Eleven International Publishing, 2023.
Jackson, Vicki C., and Madhav Khosla, eds. Redefining Comparative Constitutional Law: Essays for Mark Tushnet. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2024 (forthcoming). See SSRN for various chapter drafts.
Jackson, Vicki C., and Mark Tushnet. Comparative Constitutional Law. 3rd ed. University Casebook Series. St. Paul, MN: Foundation Press, 2014.
Jackson, Vicki C., and Mila Versteeg, eds. Comparative Constitutional Law. 4 vols. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2021.
Jacobsohn, Gary, and Miguel Schor, eds. Comparative Constitutional Theory. Research Handbooks in Comparative Constitutional Law. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2019.
Jakab, András, Arthur Dyevre, and Giulio Itzcovish, eds. Comparative Constitutional Reasoning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Landau, David, and Hanna Lerner, eds. Comparative Constitutional Making. Research Handbooks in Comparative Constitutional Law. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2019.
Law, David S., ed. Constitutionalism in Context. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
M. P. Jain, Indian Constitutional Law (LexisNexis India, 2018)
Mark Tushnet and Madhav Khosla (eds.), Unstable constitutionalism Law and Politics in South Asia (Oxford University Press, 2015)
Mark V. Tushnet, Advanced Introduction to Comparative Constitutional Law (Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2014)
Masterman, Roger, and Robert Schütze, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Michel Rosenfeld and András Sajó, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Nuzhat Parveen Khan, Comparative Constitutional Law (Satyam Law International, 2015)
S. Choudhry, M. Khosla and P.B. Mehta (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Indian Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2016)
Tushnet, Mark, and Dmitry Kochenov, eds. Research Handbook on the Politics of Constitutional Law. Research Handbooks on Law and Politics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2023.
Vikram David Amar and Mark Tushnet (eds.), Global Perspectives on Constitutional Law (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Vishnoo Bhagwan, Vidya Bhushan and Vandana Mohla, World Constitutions: A Comparative Study (Sterling Publications Private Limited, 2020)

Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University

Syllabus (MASTERS OF LAW)