Магистратура
2026/2027
Методология юриспруденции и канонического права
Статус:
Курс обязательный (Государственно-конфессиональные отношения. Правовое регулирование деятельности религиозных объединений)
Кто читает:
Высшая школа юриспруденции и администрирования
Где читается:
Высшая школа юриспруденции и администрирования
Когда читается:
1-й курс, 3 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для своего кампуса
Язык:
английский
Кредиты:
3
Контактные часы:
32
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course examines the methodological foundations of legal science and canon law as two normative disciplines with intertwined histories and distinct logics of validity. Students study the main approaches to legal cognition, from legal positivism and natural law theory to hermeneutics and systems theory, and apply them to the specific material of church law. Particular attention is paid to the sources, interpretation techniques and reasoning styles of canonical jurisprudence in comparison with secular legal method. The course provides the methodological apparatus required for research and expert work at the intersection of law and religion.
Course Objective
The aim of the course is to develop students' command of the methodological apparatus of legal science and canon law and the ability to apply it in research and expert activity at the intersection of secular and religious normative orders.
Learning Objectives
- The main goal of the course is to form the idea of the boundaries of application of modern secular law methodology to canon law and, above all, to the current law of the Russian Orthodox Church; students have an idea of the specifics of the methodology and methods of applying methodological approaches in canon law. The objectives of the course are to develop students' scientific interest in canonical methodology; the formation and development of analysis skills used in secular legal science methodological concepts, approaches and methods in studies of canon law; development of skills of scientific analysis of forms and methods of applying secular jurisprudence methodology in canon law. The course examines the historical characteristics of canon law in comparison with secular law; terminological features of canon law; issues related to the nature of sources of secular and canon law, with the methods of interpretation of legal norms adopted in secular jurisprudence and the possibilities of applying these methods to canon law. Study of modern law enforcement practice of the Russian Orthodox Church in comparison with modern practice of secular courts (some of its aspects) on religious issues will allow students to form an idea of the specificity of methodological approaches to the canonical and legal heritage of the Russian Orthodox Church in modern conditions.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Knows the structure of legal science and the main paradigms of legal cognition.
- Knows the methods of doctrinal, comparative, historical and empirical legal research.
- Knows the nature and sources of canon law and its codification traditions.
- Knows the interpretation techniques of secular and canonical jurisprudence.
- Is able to design a legal research project and select adequate methods.
- Is able to apply the main methodological paradigms to concrete legal problems.
- Is able to interpret legal and canonical texts using recognized hermeneutic techniques.
- Is able to analyze the interaction of secular and religious normative orders.
- Has command of the skills of academic legal writing and argumentation.
- Has command of the skills of working with legal and canonical sources.
- Has command of the standards of research ethics and academic integrity.
- Ongoing Assessment and Final Examination
- Ongoing assessment is carried out through the evaluation of students' active participation in seminars. The final grade for the course is calculated according to the formula: seminar activity (0.5) + final assessment (0.5) = 1.
Course Contents
- Модуль 1. Legal science and its methodological self-understanding
- Модуль 2. Main paradigms of legal cognition
- Модуль 3. Methods of legal research
- Модуль 4. Canon law as a normative and scholarly discipline
- Модуль 5. Interpretation in law and canon law
- Модуль 6. Interaction of secular and religious normative orders as a research problem
- Модуль 7. Academic writing and research ethics
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- The crisis of church and state, 1050-1300, Tierney, B., 1988
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Popes, bishops, and the progress of canon law, c.1120-1234, Duggan, A. J., 2020
- Reason and fairness : constituting justice in Europe, from medieval canon law to ECHR, Musig, U., 2019
- История церкви, рассказанная просто и понятно, Шелли, Б., 2021