Intelligence Law

Subject LAWS70364 (2011)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2011.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 7 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

October, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: The total class time is between 24 and 26 hours.
Total Time Commitment: Not available
Prerequisites: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Corequisites: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Recommended Background Knowledge: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Non Allowed Subjects: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Core Participation Requirements: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.

Coordinator

Mr Simon Arthur Chesterman

Contact

For more information, contact the Melbourne Law Masters office.

Email law-masters@unimelb.edu.au or phone +61 3 8344 6190.

Alternatively, visit our website:

www.masters.law.unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

Principal topics will include:

  • National and international legal regulation of the secret intelligence activities of states, ranging from the historical treatment of spies under the laws of war to national constraints of contemporary signals intelligence
  • Case studies include the United States and Britain, as well as an examination of the use of intelligence in the United Nations (UN)
  • Underlying theoretical questions including the appropriateness of constraints on executive power in times of crisis, and how law that must be public can, and should, handle activities whose nature must often be kept secret.
Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

  • Develop a critical understanding of modern executive authority and the importance and limitations of intelligence activities to securing national and international security
  • Be able to analyse different forms of public documents, ranging from legal reasoning (judgments), political compromises (treaties and resolutions), policy positions (statements) and advocacy (non-governmental organisation papers)
  • Understand and engage in debates over changing conceptions of privacy
  • Form an independent view of how a modern state should conceive the tension between liberty and security.
Assessment: Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Prescribed Texts: Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date

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