Melbourne Law School The Melbourne Law Masters

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Subjects 2008


International and Comparative Labour Law 730853

Objectives

A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamentals of international and comparative labour law
  • Be able to evaluate debates about, and the role of, the key institutions in transnational labour regulation in an era of ‘globalisation’
  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the usefulness of, and difficulties involved in, comparative labour law research
  • Demonstrate a basic familiarity with the labour law frameworks of foreign countries and the context of those frameworks to the extent that they are examined in the subject.
Syllabus

Principal topics will be drawn from the following:

  • The importance of the concept of ‘globalisation’ in understanding national systems of labour regulation
  • The composition, powers and functioning of international organisations that regulate labour internationally, including the International Labour Organisation and the European Union
  • The relevance of different theories of international regulation
  • The role of intergovernmental and corporate codes of conduct in securing international labour standards
  • The social clause in world trade
  • The usefulness of a comparative approach to labour law
  • The success of adopting a human rights approach to labour regulation in the face of changes to domestic and international labour law frameworks.