Law BA Honours

This module aims to enable you to develop an understanding of the English legal system and how it works in order to provide a foundation for the further study of law. You will examine the nature and function of legal institutions and the role of the legal profession within the English legal system and explore the provision of legal services and methods of alternative dispute resolution. You will become familiar with, and be able to use, legal skills and knowledge in respect of issues and problems involving the English legal system.

This module aims to broaden and expand your understanding of the common law system, legal reasoning, case analysis, the judicial hierarchy, handling precedents and statutory interpretation. After studying this module, you will comprehend the basic principles and debates underpinning the position of the courts in the UK constitution, appreciate how to read a case, and be able to pick out its material facts and ratio, as well as distinguish this from obiter dicta and develop an understanding of the different rules and approaches that courts use to interpret statutes. The module will also provide you with a grounding in legal ethics so as to instil a basic understanding of a lawyer's duties toward their clients and the court.

This module aims to provide you with a sound knowledge and understanding of the law of contract, focusing on the main principles, cases and statutory provisions relevant to contract law. This will act as a firm foundation for subsequent law modules as well as for postgraduate and professional study after the programme. The module also aims to develop your competence in the analysis and solution of legal problems, develop your legal research skills and recognise the relationship between the law of contract and other areas of English and European law. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to examine general principles relating to the UK Constitution and the organisation and powers of the State. You will gain an awareness of the law and practice relating to the control of the Administration of the UK State and will consider the law relating to Human Rights and aspects of Civil Liberties in the UK. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module will explore issues relating to criminal liability including the purpose, structure and organisation of the criminal justice system and theories of punishment. It will focus on the knowledge and understanding of negligence and its relationship with other areas of law. You will be encouraged to explore the relevant philosophical, ethical and social context within which both these areas of law operate.

This module will explore general issues relating to equality and discrimination, branching out into specific individual areas of inequalities. You will focus on these issues from a legal, ethical, social, political and economic perspective. You will gain the ideal preparation for Year 3 modules such as Employment Law.

This module aims to provide a thorough understanding of the legal system of the European Union (EU) and of the rules and principles governing the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital within the EU’s internal market. You will apply knowledge of EU law to the analysis of legal issues and develop your skills of information retrieval from a range of sources. The module includes the study of the history and development of the EU, the EU’s institutional framework, sources of EU law and law-making procedures, the main substantive principles underlying EU Law and the relationship between EU law and national law. An exhaustive overview of the jurisdiction of the EU courts will also be offered. This is a core module and is a requirement of professional bodies.

Please note that you must select EU Law as an optional module if you want to study the Barristers Training Course after graduating because EU Law is currently a requirement of the academic component of Bar training to become a barrister.

This module will provide the knowledge and understanding of employment law and aims to deepens your appreciation of how legal principles encountered in other law modules can be applied to these areas. A critical appreciation of employment law will be encouraged and you will be enabled to place the subject in the context of both your working and non-working lives. Upon successful completion of this module, you will have an understanding of the role of law in regulating the employment relationship and stopping discrimination.

This module aims to explore human rights in an international, historical and comparative perspective. You will be introduced to the rationale for this body of law and to major themes in international human rights jurisprudence. Special attention will be paid to the European Convention of Human Rights and its impact in the United Kingdom, in particular issues arising from the incorporation of the European regime through the Human Rights Act. In addition, the seminars and lectures will address specific human rights to provide you with in depth analysis of the application of human rights to factual scenarios. The course is designed to maximise your career potential, providing an insight into the extent to which universally protected values, articulated as legal claims impact domestic jurisdictions. The course also seeks to critically evaluate those values, their universal validity, and their implementation at regional level with the view of broadening your knowledge of law and to become sensitive to other values and normative regimes.

This module will provide the knowledge and understanding of employment law and aims to deepens your appreciation of how legal principles encountered in other law modules can be applied to these areas. A critical appreciation of employment law will be encouraged and you will be enabled to place the subject in the context of both your working and non-working lives. Upon successful completion of this module, you will have an understanding of the role of law in regulating the employment relationship and stopping discrimination.

This module aims to provide you with a sound knowledge and understanding of the law governing companies and other business organisations in the United Kingdom. Comparisons are drawn between the laws underpinning the various business organisations/relationships and their different purposes are evaluated. A framework of basic principles of company law is provided, with some detail of how these principles are worked out in practice. The module will further aim to perfect legal reasoning and logic, legal synthesis, analysis and problem-solving skills; to enhance research skills and the use of primary source material and to enable you to bring this together with previously learned legal principles.

This module aims to give you the knowledge and understanding on the principles of public international law. You will be extend your ability to evaluate and analyse legal issues in the international context, often dealing with topical concerns. This might include debates over the legality of the use of armed force, the protection of the environment, or the extent of individual responsibility for war crimes.

This module aims to provide you with the knowledge and understanding of the principles of Child and Family Law in order to enable you to extend your ability to evaluate and analyse the development of both the legal and policy framework regulating child and adult relationships. The module will explore the tensions arising from the use of state intervention in the sphere of the family with regard to issues of privacy, autonomy and welfare. Having taken this module, you will have not only an appreciation of key areas of law and procedure affecting children and adults but also be sensitive to the complexities of the wider social issues raised.

This module aims to examine the relationship between medical law and ethics and the role of the law in defining the doctor/patient relationship. You will explore consent to treatment, consent issues relating to incompetent adults as well as minors and medical treatment. Clinical negligence will be explored as well as selected issues relating to beginning of life such as abortion, surrogacy and end of life issues such as euthanasia and assisted suicide. The module will also introduce mental health law and the law regulating medical research. The module will give an opportunity for an in-depth study of a selected area of medical law.

This module aims to engage you in an active investigation of the practical rules and abstract principles underlying the operation of the Law of Evidence in criminal and civil trials. The module will enable you to subject the law of criminal and civil evidence to critical examination and will thus contribute to the shaping of your own value system. It builds on your knowledge of the substantive law by placing it in the context of trial practice. A key purpose of the module is training in advanced level writing, argument, analysis and legal research.

This module aims to provide undergraduate law students with the skills necessary to undertake research into a specialised area of legal study selected by you, building on the skills of legal research introduced in the first two years of the programme.

*Your project must be relevant to your selected pathway title.

Placement learning aims to link academic work with the 'real world' situation in order to conceptualise the meaning of theory in the wider world context. You'll be encouraged to reflect upon your areas of knowledge and how they apply to the placement learning experience as well as developing personal knowledge through a review of your learning. The placement learning experience provides for two types of placement; standard placements and project-based placements. The placement experience gives you the opportunity to enhance your skills of self-expression, communication, self-reliance and co-operation, and embeds your transferable and graduate skills required for future career paths and employment.

*Subject to Programme Leader’s consent and subject to the placement taking place in an appropriate professional environment.

The module aims to develop the students’ employability skills by achieving the set of agreed learning outcomes in the Three Way Negotiated Learning Agreement and other skills learned in placement. This practical experience module provides the means for students to link academic work with the 'real world' situation in order to conceptualise the meaning of theory in the wider world context. This module facilitates the embedding of transferable and graduate skills necessary for future career paths and employment. It is envisaged the student will reflect upon areas of knowledge relevant to the placement learning experience and develop personal knowledge through a review of their learning. The placement learning experience provides students with the opportunity to enhance their skills of self expression, communication, self-reliance and co-operation.

This module will examine the international legal framework for international trade provided by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The importance of the WTO/GATT has dramatically increased since the 1940s, shaping the global trade regimes and regulatory governance.

This module aims to provide an overview of the international human rights law framework and assess its efficacy in dealing with violations. You will examine the regional and international systems, including the Inter-American, European, African and Asian human rights systems, and the United Nations treaty-based and Charter-based mechanisms. You will be encouraged to situate human rights law globally, to reflect on what themes ought to be prioritised by the United Nations, and to consider the best means of effectively implementing the range of international human rights law standards.