Law LLB

This module includes an introduction to the general principles of criminal law and the study of some offences.

This module examines the nature of land ownership in English law, and the conceptual framework of the creation and transfer of estates and interests in land. This module also examines the principal third party interests affecting land, with particular emphasis on their creation/acquisition and their protection through changes of ownership.

This module analyses the legal order established by the European Union (EU) treaties. It considers the law governing the establishment and operation of the EU, including the methods for enforcement of EU law.  This module also considers the substantive law of the European Union. It involves a detailed examination of the law relating to the internal market, and related areas of EU law. 

The module will consider a number of topics in the law of tort in depth, building on the Foundations of Tort module. The examination of these topics will be more in-depth, and will involve focused and critical consideration of topics that are not covered in depth in the course. The topics will vary from year-to-year in order to ensure that the topics include those where important developments have taken place. Topics may include vicarious liability, compensation, product liability, defamation, and privacy.  

The module examines the role of the law in protecting consumers and regulating unfair commercial practices. It looks at the rationales for intervening in the market to protect consumers and then at how consumers’ economic interests are protected in practice. Some areas this module may look at are consumer protection and private law, enforcing consumer law, the rationale for protecting consumers.  

Content to be confirmed.

This module involves a critical analysis of the law relating to spouses, civil partners and cohabitants. It has four sections:

• The law's construction of the family
  
• Occupation rights and domestic abuse remedies
  
• Distribution of property and money on relationship breakdown
  
• Financial provision for children on relationship breakdown

This module provides an introduction to the institutions, substantive law and procedure, and policies of international criminal justice. Students on the module develop an understanding of the legal, policy and institutional mechanisms through which international criminal law is created and operationalised - how alleged crimes are investigated and prosecuted, both by international institutions and within national legal systems. The module systematically analyses the 'core' international crimes and genocide, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression and modes of liability as defined in the Rome Statute and developed in the caselaw of the ICC, and will compare and contrast the law as developed by the ad hoc tribunals and the Nuremberg Tribunal, before considering the adequacy of the current law to meet the regimes' objectives.

Beginning in the 20th century, the world has seen a rapid increase in regular and irregular, voluntary and forced migration. This module explores immigration and asylum law in the UK. We will learn more about who is able to migrate voluntarily and the rules that govern their entry to the UK. We will also learn about people who are forced to migrate – displaced as a consequence of conflict, persecution or natural disasters – and the laws that regulate their entry in the UK. We will consider who is permitted to stay in the UK and who can be removed from the UK. Throughout the module, we will be focusing on understanding the law in its social, historical and political context, and critically analysing the operation of the law, particularly with reference to human rights standards.

The module will provide an overview of key concepts and definitions as well as sources of the UK immigration and asylum law. It explores in detail the various immigration routes to enter, remain or settle in the UK, and provides insights into naturalisation and revocation of British citizenship. The module will discuss forced migration, including the processes that apply to people seeking asylum, and explore current domestic and international trends in state migration policies.  

Content to be confirmed.

International Law and the Global Economy offers an introduction to the law of international economic relations, with a specific focus on the regulation of trade and investment. 

This module consists of an essay set in a module the student will usually have already studied. It is intended to test the depth of the student's knowledge of that subject area but does not require significant independent research. 

The module introduces you to the laws and regulations that apply to online settings and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in general. While focussing primarily on the UK legal perspective, it develops also a comparative legal approach, in view of the cross-border performance of its subject matter.

Therefore, it engages with fundamental questions about the development of Internet governance, to then proceed with examining pertinent issues of jurisdiction and enforcement, the development of a seemingly borderless, global digital economy, and the range of liabilities which emerge from relevant ICT contexts.

In this respect, the module expands on the transactional aspects of e-commerce, looking at the specific challenges involved in setting up an e-commerce business, from minimum information requirements and the design of the relations between providers of goods and services and their customers through terms and conditions. Subsequently, it examines the formation of contracts online, the special obligations businesses incur in relation to consumer protection in the field of online provision of services, and the specific regulatory regimes which govern online payments.

Along these lines, it discusses cloud computing, cryptocurrencies, online legal tech, smart contracts, digital assets, disputes over the use of domain names and social media regulation.

Finally, the module touches briefly upon issues of licensing, online creativity and content, data protection and online defamation, which are explored in greater depth within other, dedicated modules.

A simulated Clinical Legal Education module - the module replicates practical student experience in a Law Clinic. Students assume the role of student advisers in a Law Clinic and the tutor assumes the role of Law Clinic Supervisor. Material is delivered using simulated case studies and activities, including whole group, small group and individual sessions depending on the specific tasks related to the case study. Students work independently and in small groups to prepare for, and conduct, the practical tasks such as client interviews, writing letters, advising clients, reporting findings to the supervisor, advocacy/negotiation exercises with the tutor/facilitator role-playing as the client/supervisor/mediator as appropriate. Students also attend and observe a court or tribunal hearing. Students complete independent self-directed study, small group work and attend whole group sessions to produce a reflective report and conduct a simulated client interview. 

This module examines the impact of the Human Rights Act (1998). Its focus is on the workings of the Act, and on the (interpretative) jurisprudence of the UK courts and the European Court of Human Rights on relevant points.

The module considers the legal and political impact of the Human Rights Act (1998), and reflects upon the idea of human rights and the appropriateness of their application to the resolution of disputes between different members of a democratic society.

The module considers the idea of human rights; the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights, and the enforcement of human rights norms in the United Kingdom. Drawing upon case-law and human rights activism in the three jurisdictions of the UK, it charts the ongoing transformation of the relationship between parliaments, executives and courts, and the development of different theories of rights-adjudication by senior judges. It also assesses the effects of the new rights cultures on different actors such as public authorities and NGOs.