HIS4915 ¨C Fair Trial: Meeting Out Justice from Antiquity to the Present

Course content

The seminar will?look at a number of criminal trials, both high-profile cases and everyday proceedings, to understand how judicial proceedings have changed over a long time period while also retaining some essential structures. Through deep reading of sources from each trial as well as secondary literature, we will ask how notions of "fairness", "due process", "evidence", or the "law" have evolved and how trials reflect normative expectations that are specific to and indeed highly revelatory of their respective temporal, spatial, and social contexts.

We will ask if and in what ways modern trials differ from their predecessors, how meaningful comparisons can be made, and whether or not there is a hard, systemic core to the "law" as opposed to politics, society, and culture which we can identify and study as historians.

Case studies include the trials of Jesus, Jeanne d'Arc, and the alleged witch Tempel Anneke as well as the Stalinist show trials of the 1930s and cases from international tribunals such as those for Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. All course readings will be in English, and no prior legal knowledge is required.

Learning outcome

When you have completed this course you will be able to:

• understand the main lines of European legal history through two millennia
• analyze primary sources
• master interdisciplinary challenges

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.

Recommended previous knowledge

A background of at least 30 credits in humanities or social sciences.

A good ability to read, write and understand English is required for this course.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with HIS2915 ¨C Fair trial: Meting Out Justice from Antiquity to the Present.

Teaching

The course consists of twelve seminars, each lasting two teaching hours.

The course is based on student attendance and activity during discussions in class. Attendance in class is expected and active participation is essential. Students are required to read the assigned texts in advance.

Compulsory assignment: In order to qualify for the exam, all students must submit a project proposal, including a?preliminary bibliography, for their proposed term paper. The project proposal must be approved by the teachers.?

Examination

The course is assessed by a term paper.?Your paper must not exceed 4500 words, notes included. Attachments and/or bibliography are not included in the word count.

Each student in HIS4915 must identify 200 pages of extra reading to be used for their term paper.

A term paper or equivalent that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.

If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

Language of examination

You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.