New Honors Seminar '16 HONR 378R/MLAW Risk, Security and the Rule of Law

SPRING 2016

New and Special Opportunity for Pre-Law Students!
(and open to other students as well)!

HONR 378R/MLAW Risk, Security and the Rule of Law

Brandee Pettus, Maartje van der Woude, visiting professor from Leiden University, Netherlands

Th 4:00pm - 6:30pm JMZ 2207

What choices are made by the legislature in the war on terror? How is the legislature contributing to racial profiling? How is it possible for countries in the EU to close their borders in the light of the freedom of movement all EU citizens enjoy?

This internationally oriented and interdisciplinary course introduces students to the rule of law framework for criminal justice issues. There with focusing on the early stages of the policy cycle: the stage of “agenda-setting” (deciding which social problems should be addressed through new criminal justice policies and laws) and the “legislative stage” (the stage of drafting and deciding upon specific laws and regulations). 

From a political, criminological and socio-legal perspective the course addresses what social and legal dilemma’s political and legal institutions face while governing security, guaranteeing safety and handling (inter)national crises on the one hand, and protecting the rule of law in a democratic yet complex society on the other hand.

Maartje van der Woude is Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at the Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology of Leiden University. Her current research aims at a deeper understanding of the process of crimmigration, the growing merger of crime control and immigration control. By studying the political discourse and legislation on both the level of the EU as well as on the Member State level – with The Netherlands as a case study – her project aims to provide insight into the interaction and complex dynamics between the level of supranational decision-making and the level of national decision-making.

If you have question, please contact Professor Robert Koulish, Director, MLaw Programs, at rkoulish@umd.edu