2024 Summer Program in Law

In its 51st year, The Florida State University Summer Program in Law at Oxford will be held June 24 - August 1, 2024. We will again reside at St. Edmund Hall, an Oxford college which traces its roots to the 13th century when it was one of the academic halls that formed the basis of the University of Oxford. As the oldest ongoing program in Oxford sponsored by a U.S. law school, it provides students with a unique opportunity to study comparative law, and the history of the common law and its institutions in their original setting. All courses are offered by tenured members of the Oxford and Florida State law faculty. Students may enroll in two or three courses. This program is A.B.A. approved.

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Note: A letter of good standing and transcripts for non-FSU students are required; because GPA scales vary from school to school, you may enter 0.00.

Questions concerning the application and program may be directed to Shirley Oglesby, assistant to the director.

Information

Courses

An Introduction to English Public Law (Bell, 2 hours)
The course will offer an introduction to constitutional and administrative law in England. Week 1 will offer an overview of three main actors in English public law – the UK Parliament, the courts and the executive – as well as beginning to highlight some of the debates about the scope of their powers and the relationships between them. Weeks 2 and 3 will build on the first week by considering more specifically how the executive is held to account in English law. The main focus will be on judicial review, including the grounds on which it can be sought and the various barriers to access. However, the course will also consider other methods of legal accountability, including the role of tribunals in the English legal system and the possibility of bringing a private law claim against a public authority. Week 4 will consider and evaluate methods of rights protection in the UK, including the Human Rights Act 1998 and common law rights. 

The course will aim to foster legal expertise, especially in case law analysis. Each class will be focused on a case which will serve as a springboard for broader discussion of the themes raised. Assessment will be based on both class participation (15%) and a three-hour exam (85%) at the end of the course.

English Legal History (Hackney, 2 hours)
This course looks at the institutional framework of the Common Law and how that framework influenced the structure of the substantive law. It discusses the initial courts; the emergence of the dominant ‘common law’ courts, King's Bench and Common Pleas, and the competing/complimentary Equity jurisdiction; and the writ system and development of the pleading forms and the methods of proof used in trials. Considers tenures, the principal Real Actions for the recovery of land at Common Law and selected writs. There will be a 2.5 hour closed-book handwritten exam.

Environmental Policy and Natural Resources (Ryan, 2 hours)
This course provides an introduction to environmental policy and natural resources law, with an emphasis on living resources. In a mixed seminar format, we’ll survey the legal treatment of wildlife and biodiversity, fisheries and marine resources, water resources, forests and rangelands, and National Parks and Monuments. We’ll draw les-sons from these fields to understand the themes and conflicts of environmental management generally, and the unique qualities of these natural resources that render management efforts so difficult. Throughout the course, we will probe the interplay between scientific, economic, cultural, and political factors that complicate environmental decision-making—especially in a resource rich state like Florida, where each of the surveyed resources plays a foundational role. The text used will be Rasband, Salzman, and Squillace casebook, Natural Resources Law and Policy. There will be a take-home exam.

Privacy Law (Scholz, 2 hours)
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the law of privacy. The course will cover the key legal and policy issues of privacy, including the legal authorities and obligations of both the government and the private sec-tor with respect to protecting personal information. The course will include a survey of federal laws, executive or-ders, regulations, and cases related to privacy. The course will also explore the legislative and technology landscape in this dynamic area and will provide students with opportunities to discuss cutting-edge issues at the intersection of law, technology, and policy. Materials will be professor-provided and there will be an in-class exam.