Criminal Justice |
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A student will be able to obtain an LLM or a Postgraduate Diploma in Criminal Justice, by taking
the required number of courses from this section and a dissertation in the same area.
The courses
offered are:
Advanced Criminal Law (PBL6001S)
Higher postgraduate course, second semester, double lecture/seminar per week.
Course co-ordinator: Professor J Burchell.
Prerequisites: A candidate is not permitted to register for this course unless he or she has completed
at least the LLB course (or its equivalent) in criminal law and, preferably although not necessarily, a
separate or combined course dealing with specific offences.
Course Outline: This course assumes a basic knowledge of the general principles of the criminal law, illustrated by
reference to some specific offences. It will focus on:
(i) The Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998, especially the interpretation and
application of racketeering, money laundering and asset forfeiture provisions in South Africa.
(ii) Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001.
DP Requirements: Satisfactory attendance at and participation in seminars and the completion of
the research papers and oral presentation.
Assessment:: The presentation of at least one seminar and two research papers of not more than
5 000 words each. Marks given for the seminars and research papers comprise the entire mark for
the course.
Advanced Criminal Procedure and Evidence (PBL6016S) (Not on offer in 2008)
Higher postgraduate course, second semester with a double lecture/seminar per week.
Course co-ordinator: Professor PJ Schwikkard.
Prerequisites: A candidate is not permitted to register for this course unless he or she has completed
LLB courses (or their equivalent) in Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
Course Outline: This course assumes that students have a basic knowledge of the rules and principles of Criminal
Procedure and Evidence. It will examine the jurisprudential basis of these rules and principles. It
will consider Constitutional and other recent developments in the field. Particular attention will be
paid to the following: strict versus free systems of evidence, accusatorial versus inquisitorial systems
of procedure; lay participation in the adjudication of criminal matters, the presumption of innocence,
improperly obtained evidence; a constitutional evaluation of legislative facts, differential treatment
on the basis of gender and/or youth.
Lectures: To be arranged.
DP Requirements: The presentation of at least one seminar and 2 research papers of not more than
5 000 words each.
Criminal Justice in Transition (PBL6010F)
Higher postgraduate course, first semester.
Course co-ordinator: Subject to staff availability.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Course Outline: This course examines how the South African criminal justice system is coping with the momentous
changes that it has undergone in the democratisation processes. What are the dynamics of changing
from one form of social control to another, and what role does the criminal justice system play in
that process? Why is it that thirteen years after 1994 we still have a weak criminal justice system?
Students are expected to participate in an 'immersion project' during which they spend three weeks
researching one aspect of or structure in the criminal justice system. This involves spending research
time in the chosen structure and writing a research report about it. Comparative insights will be
gathered from other countries also coping with post-cold-war transformations. In addition to the
immersion assignment, day-visits will be made to select institutions in the field of criminal justice
such as youth custodial institutions and prisons.
Topics covered by the course are, among others:
Models of criminal justice; The national crime prevention strategy and other policy documents;
Transforming the policing institutions (both formal and informal); The prosecution; Informal justice;
New approaches/responses to gender violence; Youth justice; Masculinities and crime; Street gangs and organised crime.
Lectures: 13 two-hour seminars, once weekly. Time by mutual agreement (usually after
16h30 to enable attendance by part-time students).
DP Requirements: 80% attendance and submission of all written assignments.
Assessment:
Essays and immersion assignment 50%
June examination 50%
International Criminal Law (PBL6007F)
Higher postgraduate course, first semester.
Course co-ordinator: Mr S Nakhjavani.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Successful completion of a course in international law. The course convenor may make an
exception to this rule for students who show an adequate understanding of the principles of
international law.
Course Outline: The first part of this course considers the development of international criminal law with an
emphasis on the emergence of crimes in international law and of international tribunals that try
offenders who commit these crimes. Particular attention is paid to the international military tribunals
of Nuremberg and Tokyo and to the tribunals dealing with offences committed in Rwanda and the
former Yugoslavia. The Statute of Rome, which is to provide the basis of the International Criminal
Court, is analysed as well.
The second part of the course considers other aspects of international criminal law such as
extradition, mutual assistance between States and measures to deal with international crimes such as
money laundering which are not within the ambit of the proposed International Criminal Court.
Lectures: To be arranged.
DP Requirements: Attendance at and participation in seminars.
Assessment: Essays and/or assignments.
Prisoners' Rights and Comparative Prison Systems (PBL6019S) (Not on offer in 2008)
Higher postgraduate course, second semester.
Course co-ordinator: Mrs J Berg.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Course Outline: The course will be presented through a series of lectures and/or seminars. The areas to be addressed
will be: sentencing and punishment prisoners' rights; oversight of governance and corruption; prison
liberalization (including private prisons); transformation; policy development; comparisons with
other African correctional systems; prison reforms (civil society involvement).
Lectures:One double lecture per week.
DP Requirements: Satisfactory attendance at and participation in seminars and the completion of
the research papers and oral presentation.
Assessment: The presentation of at least one seminar and two research papers of not more than
5 000 words each. Marks given for the seminars and research papers comprise the entire mark for
the course.
Punishment and Human Rights (PBL6015S)
Higher postgraduate course, second semester.
Course co-ordinator: To be advised.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Course Outline: This course is designed to address the fundamental questions about sentencing and punishment and
place them in a human rights context. It begins by considering the history of punishment both internationally and in South Africa.
Particular attention is given to the development of institutions which impose punishment (the courts)
and the institutions which implement it (prisons and bureaucracies which exercise control in the
community). Against this background the most important philosophical justifications for punishment
are analysed. The way in which these justifications are used by sentencing courts and those
responsible for implementing sentences is studied. Attention is also paid to the case law on the
imposition and implementation of punishment which has incorporated these justifications. The penal
system as a whole is then evaluated against the relevant human rights standards that have been
developed in constitutional and international law.
Seminar Periods: 13 two hour seminars, once weekly. Time by mutual arrangement (usually after 16h30 to enable attendance by part-time students). Visits to penal institutions are part of the seminar
programme.
DP Requirements: 80% attendance at seminars, submission of written assignments.
Assessment: Essays and/or examination count for 100%.
Theories of Crime & Social Order (PBL6020F)
Higher postgraduate course, first semester.
Course co-ordinator: Professor C Shearing and Mrs J Berg.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Course Outline: The course is intended to provide an understanding of the theoretical ideas that have shaped and are
shaping criminal justice policy and the way in which both implicit and explicit policy agendas are
realized in practice. Explore the history of criminological theory on understanding of crime and
social order. The course considers the thinking of seminal criminological theorists. The course will
be presented through a series of seminars/lectures. Schools of thought and emblematic exemplars of
each will be explored.
DP Requirements:: Satisfactory attendance at seminars and completion of written assignments.
Assessment:Assessment will be by two written assignments: (1) Three reading "diaries" of 4 500 words in which
participants will review and react to the readings (50%); (2) A final paper of 4 500 words in which
participants explore and seek to advance selected theoretical ideas (50%).
Trends in the Governance of Security (PBL6021F)
Higher postgraduate course, first semester.
Course co-ordinator: Professor C Shearing and Mrs J Berg.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Course Outline: The course is intended to develop academic and professional expertise in the governance of security.
Provides a critical understanding of trends in governance of security. Two key foci will be in the
way in which security has been constructed as an object of regulatory concern and the way in which
the domain of security has been and is being expanded via notions such as human security. The
course will examine the relationship between security governance in Africa and global trends. The
course will be presented through a series of lectures/seminars. Theoretical themes will include –
mentalities, institutional arrangements, technologies and practices of governance and will explore
various "faces" of state and plural governance.
DP Requirements:Satisfactory attendance at seminars and completion of written assignments.
Assessment: A review paper of 2 500 words (40%) and an analytic research essay of 5 000 words (60%). This
will comprise the entire mark for the course.
Victims and Victimology (CR6022F)
Higher postgraduate course, first semester.
Course co-ordinator: Associate Professor E van der Spuy.
Prerequisites: See Rules for LLM and MPhil Degrees and Postgraduate Diplomas.
Course Outline: Over the past four decades victims of crime have become a constituency of considerable importance
in criminological debates, in the development of crime policies and in criminal justice practices.
Why have victims of crime acquired such a political status? What are the key factors which have
contributed to the rediscovery of the needs and rights of victims? Are victims rights being pursued at
the cost of offender rights? Do so-called victim centred justice systems really contribute to greater
justice for victims? Do such systems inevitably lead to more punitive dispensations for offenders?
And is there a neat distinction to be drawn between victims and offenders - or are the identities more
fluid than we would like to think?
This course starts off on a biographical note. Students are asked to write about their experiences of
victimisation, the harms inflicted, the adoption (or negation) of a victim or survivor identity, to
reflect on their coping strategies and to discuss the role of support networks in their recovery. From
such personal reflections we move on to:
Track the development of victimology as an area of criminological enquiry.
Discuss the theoretical perspectives, the crime policies and criminal justice practices associated
with victim studies.
Engage with the controversies to which victim-centered justice systems have given rise.
Examine the impact of political processes of truth seeking and reconciliation in the aftermath of
conflict on a victim-centred approach to justice.
DP Requirements: Satisfactory attendance at seminars and completion of written assignments.
Assessment:
Written assignments
60%
Take-home examination 40%
The minor dissertation should be on a related topic.Unless otherwise specified, a candidate for the two-year Honours/MPhil programme must achieve an average of not less than 60% in the first year (i.e. the Honours in Criminal Justice) to be accepted into the MPhil in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
A candidate for this degree must complete:
One compulsory course:
Theories of Crime & Social Order (PBL6020F)
Three optional courses (choose 3 courses from the following list):
Trends in the Governance of Security (PBL6021F)
Punishment and Human Rights (PBL6015S)
Advanced Criminal Law (PBL6001S)
Criminal Justice in Transition (PBL6010F)
International Criminal Law (PBL6007F)
Conflict Resolution in Southern Africa (HST5010Z) *
Comparative Transitional Justice (POL4032Z) *
Prisoners' Rights and Comparative Prison Systems (PBL6019S) (Not on offer in 2008)
Victims and Victimology (PBL6022F)
Rights and Justice: Discourses, Theories and Critiques (POL4003X) * (A background in
Jurisprudence or Legal Philosophy is advisable for this course)
Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Methods (GHU5000X) *
And a minor dissertation of not more than 25 000 words
* These courses, offered by the Humanities Faculty, are available as options to the students participating in the MPhil in Law in Criminal Justice and Criminology programme only.
