Instructions
Choose one paper topic in each of the sections below. For these papers, you are not expected to do significant research outside of the materials assigned for this course and/or identified in the questions below. However, if you do choose to consult additional materials, you are expected to rely on scholarly sources. This category includes the printed materials available in Wishart Library and through the interlibrary loan service. It also includes electronic versions of printed academic books (for example, the electronic editions available the Scholars Portal database, or through online libraries, such as that maintained by The Liberty Fund) and journals (for example, the journals that are available to you through library databases such as JSTOR and Hein Online). You may also rely on electronic versions of Canadian and foreign case law and statutes. Depending on your topic, reference to materials provided on the websites of government departments (for example, news releases or policy statements) might be appropriate. The use of online resources such as Wikipedia and other internetbased encyclopaedias and dictionaries is not appropriate for this assignment (for definitions of unfamiliar words and phrases, please consult a legal dictionary). You are strongly advised to consult with me if you have any questions about the appropriateness of any resource. Your paper must be written as a formal academic essay, with an introduction, a clear thesis that identifies an argument, a convincing argument that supports that thesis with appropriate evidence drawn from scholarly sources, and a conclusion. All papers will be evaluated on the basis of how successfully you address your topic, which includes consideration of how your paper is structured, argued, evidenced, and written. You are advised to make appropriate use of the Writing Lab. Some excellent resources about writing, including organizing essays, citing sources, and basic grammar, can be found at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/. The Lively Art of Writing by Lucille Payne (various editions) is also helpful, if you are not comfortable with essaywriting. Students are encouraged to speak with me during my office hours if they have any questions or concerns about writing this paper. 2 Citing your sources: You must document any source you use. References to materials in the course textbook must identify the author and title of the specific work contained in that collection (for instance, you must cite Aquinas specifically, not just Dimock). If you use the exact words that are in your source, you must put quotation marks around the passage, and provide a footnote/endnote indicating the source the quotation (including the page number). If you use any fact, idea, or argument from any source, but do not use the exact words that the author uses to express that information, you must provide a footnote/endnote. Do not put quotation marks around a passage that is not in exactly the same words as the original text. If you are summarising or paraphrasing information (that is, if you are not quoting it directly), you must make sure that the words you use are significantly different from the original text. Changing one or a few words in a sentence, but keeping some of what the original author wrote, is not allowed. Changing the way each sentence is written, but following the author’s train of thought sentence by sentence (even in different words), is not allowed. Not identifying the source of your information, identifying a direct quotation as your own summary of the author’s argument, and identifying your summary of the author’s argument as a direct quotation from the text, are all forms of academic dishonesty. University policies regarding plagiarism will be strictly enforced. In this course, all citations must be provided in footnotes or endnotes. Parenthetical or embedded references may not be used. References to cases and legislation must be formatted according to the guidelines provided in The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation; references to books and articles must follow either The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation or Chicago Style. This follows the conventions of legal scholarship as an academic discipline. Any source that you identify in your footnotes/endnotes must also appear in your bibliography. Your bibliography may also include any source that you consulted during the course of your research, but which you did not refer to specifically in a footnote/endnote. Technical stuff: Papers must be doublespaced, in 12point Times New Roman or an equivalent font, with 1”/2.5cm margins. Please number your pages (a title page is not numbered). Each paper must be 68 pages in length. This does not include a title page or the bibliography. 3 Topic for essay: Compare how successfully Aquinas’s and Austin’s theories can account for the existence of international law. Explain your answer, using specific references to materials studied in this course. Are any of the arguments studied in this course about the relationship between law and power persuasive? Why or why not? Explain your answer, using specific references to materials studied in this course. Notes: Aquinas: Natural law theorist: believes god is the highest power of the law. Law must have content, reason and must be created by the one who has care for the community (god). All must be required in order to be law. Natural Law vs divine law if there was ever a error in the law between natural law (god) and divine law (human law), natural law will always win because god doesnt make mistakes, and therefore natural law is created by god. Human law is created by a soverign, which is a human, humans make mistakes, therefore gods law always wins. This is Aquinas viewpoint. Austin: He is a positivist, sees the sovereign as the highest power in law. Law only comes from the sovereign only, if not its not law. Command theory, law is a command backed by a threat of sanctions (punishment). If it does not have a sanction, it is not a law. Must be directly from the sovereign. If a law does not have a sanction, it is known to Austin as “positivist morality”. Austin looks at the sovereign and law only in that jurisdiction: Example law in canada is law in canada, and if china had a same law, that would just be coincidental, would be no relevance. This relates to austins positivist morality, International law is positivist morality. International law law at sea, war law, in a ocean between two sailors etc