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AG/AGEC/AGBM 497G:
Contemporary Legal Issues in International
Agricultural Law:
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Professor John C. Becker,
The Pennsylvania State University,
University Park, PA, USA.
Spring 2004,
Lviv State Agricultural University,
Lviv, Ukraine
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Course Materials, Syllabus,
Presentations, etc.
A. Course Objective:
This course will present students with a comparative law approach to
studying policy issues and solutions applied to the agricultural sector
of the American, Ukraine and general European economies. With this
foundation the course will expand that understanding through discussion
of several international issues affecting agriculture. This course does
not assume that students taking it are interested in professional
training in law. Rather, it assumes that students know little about the
legal system, perhaps only what is routinely reported in the popular
press about such issues.
As the class includes American and Ukraine students, it will follow a
comparative law approach and analyze issues from more than one
perspective. The focus of this approach is to appreciate the interests
that are the foundation of positions that appear to be controversial;
and to increase understanding of alternative methods to solve problems.
This approach will enable each group of students to learn about
different political and legal systems and the solutions that are
fashioned in each system to deal with problems that are common to each
area.
Agricultural law in the United States context is a combination of
general and special rules. The unifying theme of these laws is the
application of law and policy to agriculture and its broad and diverse
group of activities. Some of these rules follow traditional approaches
rooted in English common law, and other European legal traditions.
Others reflect cutting edge developments in fields such as biotechnology
where science may be ahead of the social norms needed to manage them
effectively. Rather than being disciplinary driven, the course will
focus on the formation and application of policy, law and regulation to
common situations that have an agricultural connection.
B. Topics under consideration for discussion include:
- Using the www as a source for finding information about laws and
regulations
- Selected aspects of the American Constitution
- The historical development of property rights in a political,
economic, social and legal system.
- Development of a European Constitution
- Selected aspects of the Ukraine Constitution
- American Federal Government structure, including the courts
system
- Ukraine Government system, including the court system
- The separated and divided nature of American Government
- Ukraine national and local governments
- The structure of American agriculture and its operation at the
national and international levels.
- The structure of Ukrainian agriculture
- The agricultural policy component of Agricultural law at various
levels
- Business organization structure and planning in America and
Ukraine
- Commercial Transactions at the national and international levels
between individuals and between governments
- The role of production and marketing contracts in modern
agricultural production
- A disciplined approach to negotiation and contracting
- International Commercial Laws affecting sales and transaction in
food products
- American Environmental Law at the federal, state and local
levels
- Provisions of the Ukraine Environmental Protection Law of 1995
- Management of public and private natural resources; the role of
government intervention.
- American Land Use Planning and Regulation affecting agricultural
producers
- Ukrainian Land Tenure Law
- Biotechnology in Agriculture
- Intellectual property protection and the regulatory and
international trade issues it spawns.
- Preserving safety of the food supply obtained from international
sources The role of public perceptions, science and national and
international institutions.
Materials for this class will consist of articles, cases, statutes
and regulations prepared by Professor Becker to provide background for
students and form the basis for class discussion. As much of this
material as possible will be available for students on the web or on a
CD. In addition to these materials, a series of problems will be
prepared to assist students in identifying key issues and enabling
students to fashion solutions to them.
C. What Are We Going To Do?
Class meetings will be comprised of lectures, discussion of cases or
statutes, individual and group work assignments, questions and open
discussions of issues related to the topic or of interest to students.
What Can You Expect from Me?
You can expect me to provide you with all of the instruction, ideas,
arguments, challenges, thoughts and materials you need to successfully
complete this course. You can also expect that at some point in the
semester I will challenge you to think more deeply or work harder than
you think you should be asked to do in a course such as this. I hope
that some of what you do in the course will be interesting and exciting
for you. I will be available to you during and after class to answer
your questions about the course material or any assignments I give.
Outside of class I will also be available to meet with you at mutually
convenient times to discuss issues relating to the course which are of
interest to you.
What Do I Expect Of You?
Students will be expected to review the assigned materials and be
prepared to discuss these in class and actively participate in group
work assignments. Special reading, writing and discussion assignments
will be announced in class.
Class rules
- I expect you to be in class on time each time we meet.
- I expect you to be prepared for each class.
- I expect you to turn in all assignments at the time designated
for them to be completed.
D. Evaluation of Student Work:
Assessment of student performance in AGBM 497G will be measured in short
essay questions, problem situations presented throughout the course and
class participation. Assessment of your participation in class will
include your participation in discussion about relevant issues and your
answers to questions posed to you.
In problem situations, you will be asked to evaluate fact situations to
identify legal issues posed by the situations and formulate a response
to questions raised by the situations.
Grading written assignments is largely subjective. To help you evaluate
your knowledge and understanding and to improve your future work, I will
grade your written responses by evaluating these items. Have you: a)
identified the issue; b) correctly applied a relevant legal principle to
the situation; c) formed your answer in a clear and concise way that
conveys your message to me as someone for whom you are writing.
E. Additional Resources
The advent of the web has changed the way most people research important
questions or issues they face. Legal research has also enjoyed the
benefits of web based applications. Throughout the course various web
sites will be referenced to assist students in understanding issues that
confront them in the course.
Web based research resources include:
http://www.farmlandinfo.org
A general site that involves a 50 state survey of farmland related
issues, including right to farm laws, preferential assessment of farm
land, farmland preservation programs.
http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org This site is maintained by
the National Center for Agricultural Law Research and Information at the
University of Arkansas. It is a portal through which you can reach a
host of other law related sites.
For news and announcements issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
go to http://www.usda.gov For
information about regulations issued by the Department go to
http://www.findlaw.com and
use this site to identify the federal law resources you need. This will
take you to a convenient search engine that allows you to search through
the Code for the regulations that interest you.
For a general entry into legal research, you can go to
http://www.findlaw.com and
use that as an entry into a wider variety of legal research tools on the
web.
Penn State Agricultural Law Research and Education Center
http://www.dsl.psu.edu/centers/aglaw.cfm
Drake School of Law, Agricultural Law Center
http://www.law.drake.edu/Centers/agLawCenter/
F. Using Case Studies as Teaching Tools:
AGBM 497G accomplishes the course objectives that are described below
through the application and integration of principles, facts, theories
and policies described in case studies.
For most students using case studies may be a new experience. I include
cases in this course because they introduce realistic conflict
situations to the classroom. Each of these cases is taken from a real
world situation in which conflicts arose and the courts were asked to
intervene and resolve the dispute. By studying the outcomes of these
disputes, students can see how application of their knowledge and
understanding enables them to identify potential problem areas that must
be addressed and plan solutions to the problems. This approach also
enables students to recognize ways in which problems can be avoided
through timely, effective action.
The solution to a case study problem requires a different approach than
students may have used for assignments in other courses. Cases solutions
often have more than one right answer. Whether an answer is correct will
depend on how the student analyzes the facts that are presented. In some
cases the facts may not include everything you need and you may have to
make assumptions before you begin to analyze the problem and form a
solution. Because these assumptions are important to the solution of the
case, students must explain what these assumptions are and why they made
them. In the analysis of written assignments that involve case studies
emphasis is placed on how students develop their answers. The approach
used in doing this should be explained fully. These explanations help me
determine how well students understand the material being tested. A main
objective of the course is to help students identify legal issues and
evaluate how legal principles apply to the issues. This problem solving
skill should be useful in your upcoming careers.
Be prepared for class by having read whatever assignments are given and
prepare for classroom discussion. I will expect that of you. Start the
preparation on your own by carefully reading the material, often more
than once. If you study in groups, discuss case solution with your
group. Then finish preparation on your own by sifting through your
understanding of issues and principles before you get to class. Class
time will be spent addressing how well students understand the
principles discussed. Student questions will also be a featured part of
the class room experience.
G. Course Grading Scale:
A. Excellent work. This work will clearly demonstrate a full
understanding of issues and principles raised in the course and the
consistent ability to solve problems in which these issues exist.
B. Very good work. This work demonstrates, at times, an
understanding of issues and principles raised in the course. This work
has at times demonstrated the ability to solve problems in which these
issues exist. This work is
C. Good work. This work demonstrates enough of an understanding
of issues to be considered adequate for successful completion of the
course. Work of this caliber has fewer instances that demonstrate
understanding of the issues and principles in this course. Consequently
a student working at this level has fewer instances of successfully
solving problems that raise relevant issues.
D. Poor or marginally acceptable work. This work demonstrates
some understanding of the issues and principles raised in the course,
but the frequency of such incidents is considered to be so infrequent
that a higher level of assessment has not been earned.
F. Unacceptable work This work fails to demonstrate any
acceptable level of understanding of the issues and principles raised in
this course. A student whose work is assessed at this level will be
unable to solve problems and communicate the results of a selected
problem solving approach.
Good luck with the course. Feel free to contact me with your questions
throughout the course.
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