School of Theory of Law and Comparative Law

Regular version of the site

The School of General and Interdisciplinary Legal Studies was established in 2018 when the leading departments of the Faculty of Law were merged: the Theory and History of Law; Labor Law and Social Security Law; and International Public and Private Law. The School’s faculty currently includes 70 highly qualified specialists in various fields of law, including the theory of law, the history of law, information law, labour law, social security law, sports law, public international law, and private international law.

The School provides a rigorous course of study comparable to that of the world's leading universities. Our mission is to intellectually enrich and challenge students while taking their respective areas of study and professional aspirations into account.

Publications

Book

Law Reforms Around the World: Perspectives from National and International Law

Poldnikov D., Li Z., Kyung S. P. et al.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2023.

Article

Thomas Nagel's theory of justice

Dmitry Balashov.

Russian Sociological Review. 2023. Vol. 22. No. 4. P. 83-106.

Book chapter

Legal semiotics and types of arguments in human rights cases in Russia

Anita Soboleva.

In bk.: Research Handbook on Legal Semiotics. Research Handbooks in Legal Theory series. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023. Ch. 17. P. 254-266.

Working paper

Introducing Patent Linkage in Russia: An Odd Choice at Odd Times

Gavrilova O., Kotova D.

BRICS Competition Law and Policy Series. WP 22. Higher School of Economics, 2021

All publications

Delivered by:: School of Theory of Law and Comparative Law

Type:: Elective course

When:: 1 year, 1 semester

Instructor

Belkovich, Rodion

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The aim of this course is to get the graduate students acquainted with contemporary problems in the field of legal theory through reading and discussing the articles published in academic journals and open-access preliminary drafts in leading academic aggregators. The texts chosen for the course make students go beyond their narrow research subjects and even beyond the legal agenda as such. This results in a more multidisciplinary approach in students' own studies which is essential today for a scholar who wants to do world-class research. The exact structure of the course and the choice of specific texts for each academic year is the lecturer's discretion. He chooses the texts and sends the links or the files themselves to the students. The students are expected to read the materials and engage during the seminar in a discussion of the topics raised in the texts.

Learning Objectives

The aim of this course is to get the graduate students acquainted with contemporary problems in the field of legal theory through reading and discussing the articles published in academic journals and open-access preliminary drafts in leading academic aggregators.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Shows the ability to critically evaluate contemporary academic achievements; ability to choose the most effective strategies of multidisciplinary research.
Demonstrates the ability to create new research approaches, to put research in the context of international academic agenda.
Describe the epistemological borders of different theoretical concepts.
Demonstrates the strong and the weak aspects of different research strategies, has a grasp of the scope of methods of critical analysis.
Demonstrates the understanding of causation in social relationships and legal regulation.
Shows the ability to detect the cutting-edge fields of social relationships and to compare the possible legislative responses towards these new phenomena.

Course Contents

Free Will as a Matter of Law
Kolber A.J. Free Will as a Matter of Law https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2660457
Collective Identity
Luban D. Arendt on the Crime of Crimes / Ratio Juris. Vol. 28 (3). 2015. Pp. 307-325. https://doi.org/10.1111/raju.12084
Legal Education and Hierarchy
Kennedy D. Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy / Journal of Legal Education. Vol. 32, No. 4. 1982. Pp. 591-615. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42897806
Legal Pluralism
Tamanaha B.Z. Understanding Legal Pluralism / Sydney Law Review. Vol.30. 2008. Pp. 375-411. https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/SydLRev/2008/20.pdf
Paradoxes of Popular Rule
Roznai Y. “We the People”, “Oui, the People” and the Collective Body: Perceptions of Constituent Power https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2960880
Artificial Intelligence and Legal Agency
Solum L.B. Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences / North Carolina Law Review. Vol.70. 1992. Pp. 1231-1287. https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3447&context=nclr
Moral Dilemmas in Law
Huang B.I. Law and Moral Dilemmas / Harvard Law Review. Vol. 130. 2016. Pp. 659-699. http://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/659-699-Online.pdf

Assessment Elements

Classroom discussion activity online
Free discussion online
A free discussion with the lecturer on the topics covered during the course.

Interim Assessment

Interim assessment (1 semester)
0.5 * Classroom discussion activity online + 0.5 * Free discussion online

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Burdon, P. (2017). Hannah Arendt : Legal Theory and the Eichmann Trial. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1598224
Constituent power and the constitution. (2016). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198754527.003.0008
Haenlein, M., & Kaplan, A. (2019). A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: On the Past, Present, and Future of Artificial Intelligence. California Management Review, 61(4), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125619864925
Lacey, N. (2014). “Legal Education as Training for Hierarchy” Revisited. Transnational Legal Theory, 5(4), 596–600. https://doi.org/10.5235/20414005.5.4.596
McKenna, M., Pereboom, D., & Pereboom, D. (2016). Free Will : A Contemporary Introduction. New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1271658
Rehman, S., & Dzionek, K. J. (2018). The Trolley Problem Revisited. An Exploratory Study. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.9EFCDCCA
Swenson, G. (2018). Legal Pluralism in Theory and Practice. International Studies Review, 20(3), 438–462. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/vix060
Воображаемые сообщества : размышления об истоках и распространении национализма, Андерсон, Б., 2001
Лекции по искусственному интеллекту, Осипов, Г. С., 2013
Методы представления знаний и алгоритмы поиска в задачах искусственного интеллекта, учебное пособие, 146 с., Бабкин, Э. А., Козырев, О. Р., Куркина, И. В., 2005

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Искусственный интеллект : современный подход, Рассел, С., 2006

Contemporary Problems of Legal Theory