Module LAW1031: INTRODUCTION TO LAW

Department: LAW

LAW1031: INTRODUCTION TO LAW

Type	Open	Level	1	Credits	20	Availability	Not available in 2005/06	Module Cap	None.	Location	Durham

Prerequisites

• 28 'A' level points, or other qualifications satisfactory to the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• May not be taken with 'Public Law' (LAW1013) or 'Law of Obligations' (LAW1023).

Aims

• To provide an introduction to the fundamental concepts of English, European Community and International Law in a contemporary context .
• To give students an appreciation of basic legal problem-solving skills

Content

• (a) The sources of English law, including law-making institutions and the structure of the courts.
• (b) The sources of European Community Law, including the relationship between EC law and English law.
• (c) The sources of international law, including the relationship between international and English law.
• (d) Private Law
• (e) Criminal Law

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to demonstrate a sound understanding of the law and various legal issues that they will have encountered.

• Students should be able to critically analyse certain aspects of English, UK, European and International law, having regard to various legal, social, political and/or moral issues.

• Students are required to take responsibility for their own learning.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures are used primarily to impart knowledge - and also to suggest approaches to evaluation and critical analysis;
• Tutorials will be used to develop and enhance students evaluative critical analysis and their appreciation of laws' linkage with broader fields of enquiry;
• Assignments (formative) are used to develop the student's ability to engage in sustained evaluation of proposed schemes of reforms, and the ability to evaluate the law in a critical and contextual way.
• Summative assessment comprises one unseen examination of two hours fifteen minutes (including fifteen minutes reading time). Students are given a choice of questions to answer, but the paper is structured in such a way as to assess students on all the specific outcomes. Essay questions are used to assess knowledge, evaluative capacity and an awareness of placing the analysis of law in wider contexts of enquiry.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total/Hours
Lectures	25	weekly	1 hour	25
Tutorials	5	1/3 weeks	1 hour	5
Preparation and Reading				170
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Examination 100% (two-hour fifteen minute written examination including fifteen minutes reading time).

Formative Assessment:

1 Essay Michaelmas Term 1500 max 1 'mini-assignment' per tutorial/seminar.

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■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University