Module Outline

1. College Chancellor College

2. Faculty/School of Law
3. Department Foundational Law
4. Programme LLB (Hons)
5. Module Title Jurisprudence
6. Module Code LLB
7. Year Two
8. Credits
9. Lectures per week 2
10. Clinical/Practical Hours Per Week 1
11. Tutorial/Reflective Learning Per Week 1
12. Revised After one year
13. Approval Date

14 Prerequisites Law 111- Introduction to Law

15. Co-requisites None

16. Module aim

The aim of this module is to enable the student to develop key competences for the knowledge
and understanding of legal philosophies and theories, the relationship between law and justice
and the interplay between law and public policy; and to enhance skills required for critical
analysis of the law and its social context.

17. Intended Learning Outcomes/Competences

On successful completion of the module, the student should be able to:
Knowledge
(a) Define “jurisprudence” and describe its scope
(b) Explain the major legal philosophies and theories
(c) Describe the relationship between law and justice
(d) Critically explain the linkages between public policy and law
(e) Explain the basic elements of theories of crime causation and criminal punishment

Attitudes
(a) Appreciate the relevance and value of jurisprudence to legal education, research and practice
(b) Develop a critical disposition towards legal philosophies and theories

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 (c) Appreciate the relationship between law and society

Skills
(a) Describe, synthesise and critically analyse legal philosophies and theories
(b) Critically analyse the social aims and effects of law
(c) Critically analyse the conceptual and practical relationship between the law and justice
(d) Articulate the interplay between the law and public policy

18. Indicative Content and Time

No Indicative Content Class/Practical

/Tutorial Time
(a) Introduction. 3
• Definition of jurisprudence and describe its scope
• The relevance of legal theory to the understanding of the
analytical and normative content of law
• The utility of legal philosophy and theory in legal practice

(b) Legal theories 2

• Classical theories
• Critical theories
• Legal moralism
• Legal pluralism

(c) Law and justice 4

• Definition and theories of justice
• The conceptual and normative relationship between law and
justice
• The practical operationalisation of justice in law
• Case studies- gender, environmental justice and global justice

(d) Law and public policy 4

• Definition of public policy
• Public policy in constitutional, statutory and case law
• Law in public policy formulation, implementation and
monitoring and evaluation
(e) Crime causation and theories of punishment 4
• Theories of the causes of crime
• Theories of criminal punishment
• Practical application of theories of causes of crime and
criminal punishment in contemporary Malawi

19. Assessment
Continuous assessment 50%
Final examination 50%

2
20. Teaching and Learning Methods/Activities
• A contextual and comparative approach;
• Combined doctrinal and clinical delivery; and
• Lectures, case studies, buzz groups, group work, short moots and simulations.

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21. Competences, Sources, and Means

End/Highest Competence (Insert):

Credit Hours: (Insert):
Competences Source and Means
Topics (Tick) Learning Minimum Learning Materials Assessment
Activities
Type List a b c d e Activity

a) Define ✓ ▪ Lectures Freeman, A. (2014). Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence. ▪ A minimum of 3

jurisprudence ▪ Buzz groups Sweet and Maxwell., pp.1-8, 20-25. individual
Tur, R. H. S. (1978). What is jurisprudence?. The exercises
and explain its Philosophical Quarterly (1950-), 28(111), 149-161.
practical ▪ A minimum of 3
Wacks, R. (2017). Understanding jurisprudence: An
group work
significance introduction to legal theory. Oxford University
Press.
exercises
and value to
Knowledge

Warikandwa, T. V., & Amoo, S. K. (2018). African Law in ▪ 1 clinic, from mid-
legal semester
Comparative Law: A Case of Undermining African
education and Jurisprudence and Promoting a New World ▪ 1 moot after mid-
practice Order Agenda?. Social and Legal Theory in the Age semester
of Decoloniality:(Re-) Envisioning Pan-African ▪ 1 mid-semester
Jurisprudence in the 21st Century, 299., examination
▪ A final
b) Critically ✓ ▪ Lecture Moore, S.F., 2017. Certainties undone: fifty turbulent examination
explain major ▪ Buzz group years of legal anthropology, 1949–1999.
In Ethnography and Law (pp. 3-24). Routledge.
legal ▪ Peer- Mansell, W., Meteyard, B., & Thomson, A. (2015). A critical
philosophies reviewed introduction to law. Routledge.
and theories group work

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 Menkel-Meadow, C. (1988). Feminist legal theory, critical
legal studies, and legal education or the fem-crits
go to law school. J. Legal Educ., 38, 61.
Freeman, M. (2014). Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence.
Sweet and Maxwell, pp.195-217, 249-269, 311-343,
701-745, 823-840, 869-886, 911-928, 953-989,
1017-1032, 1079-1093, 1257-1262,
c) Describe the ✓ ▪ Lecture Freeman, M. (2014).. Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence.
▪ Trial Sweet and Maxwell., pp.481-527
relationship
Graness, A. 2015b. ‘Is the debate on ‘Global Justice’ a
between law observation global one? Some Considerations in View of
and justice Modern Philosophy in Africa’, In: Journal of
Global Ethics, Vol. 11:1, pp. 126–140.
Matsuda, M. J. (2017). Liberal jurisprudence and
abstracted visions of human nature: A feminist
critique of Rawls’ theory of justice. In Gender and
Justice (pp. 47-64). Routledge.
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Revised Edition
(1999). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press.
Sinha, S. K. (2015). A Journey into Law and Justice.
Northern University Journal of Law, 4, 8-11.
d) Critically ✓ ▪ Lectures Bell, John. Policy arguments in judicial decisions. Oxford
▪ Group University Press, USA, 1983.
explain the
Jordão, E. and Rose-Ackerman, S., 2014. Judicial review of
interplay exercises
executive policymaking in advanced democracies:
between beyond rights review. Admin. L. Rev., 66, p.1.
public policy Kerwin, C.M. and Furlong, S.R., 2018. Rulemaking: How
and law government agencies write law and make policy. Cq
Press.

e) Critically ✓ ▪ Lectures Brooks, T., 2016. In Defence of Punishment and the

explain ▪ Simulation Unified Theory of Punishment: A Reply.
theories of ▪ Buzz groups Dixon, B., 2006. Pan-African Issues in Crime and Justice.
Edited By Anita Kalunta-Crompton and Biko Agozino
crime

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causation and (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004, 266pp.£ 50 hb). British
criminal Journal of Criminology, 46(3), pp.521-524.
punishment Oko Elechi, O., Morris, S.V. and Schauer, E.J., 2010.
Restoring justice (ubuntu): an African
perspective. International Criminal Justice
Review, 20(1), pp.73-85.
Tauri, J.M., 2018. Editorial Note for the Special Edition-
Decolonising Criminal Justice: Indigenous
Perspectives on Social Harm. Journal of Global
Indigeneity, 3(1), p.1.
Vaughan, T.J., Ward, J.T., Bouffard, J. and Piquero, A.R.,
2018. The General Factor of Self-Control and Cost
Consideration: A Critical Test of the General Theory of
Crime. Crime & Delinquency, p.0011128718776213.

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21. Reflective/review Questions

Topic 1: Introduction: Definition, relevance and value of jurisprudence to legal

education and practice

Read the following materials and answer the questions that follow.

• Cases
Ajinga v United Democratic Front Civil Cause Number 2466 of 2008
Republic v Namathanga Senzani, Criminal Case No. 62 of 2013 (unreported) , pp.13-22
Republic v Savala, Criminal Case No. 28 of 2013 (unreported), pp.9-21
State v The President of the Republic of Malawi, Ministry of Finance ex-parte SGS Malawi Limited,
Civil Cause Number 40 of 2003
The State v The Minister of Finance and the Secretary to the Treasury, ex parte the Malawi Law
Society, Constitutional Case Number 6 of 2006.

• Book chapters and articles

Cotterrell, R. (2014). Why Jurisprudence Is Not Legal Philosophy. Jurisprudence, 5(1), 41-55.
Dias R.W.M, Jurisprudence, Butterworths, Ch.1.
Freeman (2015). Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence. London: Sweet and Maxwell, pp. 1-20

(a) Discuss whether “jurisprudence” is legal science or philosophy.

(b) Explain the significance of jurisprudence to legal education and practice in Malawi.

Topic 2: Legal philosophy and theory

Read the following material and prepare a presentation on the following topic:

The inadequacy of classical legal theories in explaining the reality of the law-
society interaction in unequal postcolonial societies in Africa.

• Cases
Jilani v. Government of Punjab Criminal Appeal No. 19 of 1972 (Supreme Court of Pakistan)
Limbani v R Nyasaland Protectorate Law Reports, Vol. VI (1946-52), p.6
Madzimbamuto v Lardner-Burke [1969] 1 AC 645; [1968] 3 WLR 1229
Mwafongo v Mwambande Nyasaland Protectorate Law Reports, Vol. VI (1946-52), p.62
Mwale v Kaliu Nyasaland Protectorate Law Reports, Vol. VI (1946-52), p.169
Oppenheimer v Cattermole [1976] AC 249
R v Kunyambo and Chalangwa Nyasaland Protectorate Law Reports, Vol. IV (1934-39), p.113
R v Sikisi Nyasaland Protectorate Law Reports, Vol. IV (1934-39), p.73

• Books, articles etc.

Agbo, C.U., 2018. An overview of the ontological basis of African jurisprudence. Nnamdi Azikiwe
University Journal of International Law and Jurisprudence, 9(1), pp.52-58.
Auchmuty, R., 2015. Feminist approaches to sexuality and law scholarship. Legal Information
Management, 15(1), pp.4-7.

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Hellum, A., 2014. Women as Subjects in the Process of Law: The Use of Empirical Sources in
Women's Law. Occasional Paper, (18), pp.176-193.
Ndima, D.D., 2015. Reconceiving African jurisprudence in a post-imperial society: the role of ubuntu
in constitutional adjudication. Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern
Africa, 48(3), pp.359-380.
Sinha, S.P., 1995. Non-universality of Law. ARSP: Archiv für Rechts-und Sozialphilosophie/Archives
for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, 81(2), pp.185-214.
Trubek, D.M., 1984. Where the action is: critical legal studies and empiricism. Stanford Law Review,
pp.575-622.
Tuori, K., 2014. Lawyers and savages: ancient history and legal realism in the making of legal
anthropology. Routledge

Topic 3: Law and Justice

Read the following materials and answer the questions that follow.
Cases

Constitutions/statutes
British Central Africa Order-in-Council (1902), Art. 15
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code (Cap.8:01), section 3
Constitution of Malawi (1994), Chs. III, IV, VIII, IX and X.

Books/ articles
Ashforth, A., 2015. Witchcraft, justice, and human rights in Africa: cases from Malawi. African
studies review, 58(1), pp.5-38.
Daly, K. (2016). What is restorative justice? Fresh answers to a vexed question. Victims &
Offenders, 11(1), 9-29.
Musson, A. (2016). The Legacy of Magna Carta: Law and Justice in the Fourteenth Century. Wm. &
Mary Bill Rts. J., 25, 629.
Wilson-Strydom, M., 2015. University access and theories of social justice: Contributions of the
capabilities approach. Higher Education, 69(1), pp.143-155.

(a) From the perspective of justice, critically assess the policy of the University of Malawi under which
admission of students to the institution is partly based on their respective districts of origin.

(b) Critically evaluate the following quotation:

The numerous references to “justice” in the Constitution of Malawi (1994) are based on
many divergent theories of law and are likely to lead to many contradictions in the practical
application and enforcement of the provisions of the Constitution.

Topic 4: Law and public policy

Read the following materials and answer the questions that follow:
• Cases
Ajinga v United Democratic Front Civil Cause Number 2466 of 2008
Enderby Town Football Club Ltd v The Football Association Ltd [1971] Ch 591
Norah Malichi v Prime Insurance Civil Cause No. 2613 of 2009
Richardson v Mellish (1824) 2 Bing.
Spartan Steel & Alloys Ltd v Martin & Co [1973] 1 QB 27
Dorset Yacht Co. Ltd v Home Office [1970] AC 1004 .

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 • Book chapters and articles
Margolis, Ellie. Closing the Floodgates: Making Persuasive Policy Arguments in Appellate
Briefs."Mont. L. Rev. 62 (2001): 59.
King Jeff A (2007) The Justiciability of Resource Allocation. The Modern Law Review, Vol. 70, No. 2
(Mar., 2007), pp. 197-224

a) Define public policy and discuss its role in law making and enforcement in Malawi

b) Critically evaluate the extent to which Malawian courts may include policy
considerations in deciding individual cases

Topic 5: Crime causation and theories of punishment

(a) Read the following material and critically evaluate the argument that theories on
causes of crime in Africa reflect a colonial and neo-colonial conceptions of Africans
and African societies.
Agozino, B., 2018. The Withering Away of the Law: An Indigenous Perspective on the
Decolonisation of the Criminal Justice System and Criminology. Journal of Global
Indigeneity, 3(1), p.2.
Gumboh, E., 2017. A Critical Analysis of Life Imprisonment in Malawi. Journal of African
Law, 61(3), pp.443-466.
Oriola, T.B., 2006. Biko Agozino and the rise of post-colonial criminology. African Journal of
Criminology and Justice Studies: AJCJS, 2(1), p.104.

(b) Read the following cases and critically discuss whether they reveal a coherent theory
of criminal punishment
Baird v R 3 ALR (M) 522
Crispin v R 2 ALR (M) 340
Jafuli v Republic 9 MLR 241
John v R 1 ALR (M) 655
Mahomed v Rep 6 ALR (M) 16
Msungama v R 2 ALR (M) 498
R v Robert 2 ALR (M) 291
R v Writing Nyasaland Protectorate Law Reports, Vol. VI (1946-52), p.196
Rendall-Day v Rep. 4 ALR (M) 155
Rep v Shauti 8 MLR 69
Rep. v Kumwenda 12 MLR 79
Rep. v Kamwendo 6 ALR (M) 379
Rep. v Sokole 7 MLR 356
Republic v Mpira 10 MLR 67