Module LAW2022: CRIMINAL LAW

Department: LAW

LAW2022: CRIMINAL LAW

Type	Open	Level	2	Credits	40	Availability	Available in 2006/07	Module Cap	None.	Location	Durham

Prerequisites

• Public Law (LAW1013) OR The Law of Obligations (LAW1023).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• Students will be made aware of the feasibility of a systematic and consistent law of substantive crime and the lack of achievement of such in our present uncodified system.
• Critical evaluation of the outcome of cases will be encouraged.
• It is intended that students will enhance their capacity to apply statutory and common law principles to factual circumstances.
• The lack of consistent principle in the modern criminal law will confront students with the need to formulate arguments which accommodate principle and pragmatism.

Content

• Introduction to the criminal justice system; impact of the Human Rights Act 1998
• Elements of criminal liability: actus reus and mens rea; strict liability
• Modes of participation: principals and accessories
• Inchoate offences: incitement; conspiracy; attempt
• Defences: mistake; necessity; duress; superior orders; intoxication; infancy; insanity; diminished responsibility
• Sexual Offences: rape; indecent assault
• Non-Fatal Offences against the Person: assaults; wounding and grievous bodily harm
• Homicide and related offences: murder; voluntary and involuntary manslaughter; infanticide
• Offences against Property: theft; deception; handling; criminal damage

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to demonstrate:
• Detailed knowledge of the general principles of English and Welsh criminal law
• Detailed knowledge of the constituent elements of selected crimes.

• Students should be able to demonstrate:
• Capacity to apply the subject knowledge to factual situations raising issues of law which may be uncertain and complex
• Capacity to evaluate critically the doctrinal coherence and consistency of English and Welsh criminal law.

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 capacity for legal-problem solving in a particular factual situation, evaluative critical analysis and their appreciation of laws' linkage with broader fields of enquiry;
• Assignments (formative) are used both to develop problem-solving skills, the 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 three hours. 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. In particular, students are required to answer both problem and essay type questions: the former primarily assessing knowledge and analysis of specific factual situations raising key legal issues; the latter primarily 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	48	3 per week	1 hour	48
Tutorials	9	4 in Term 1, 5 in Term 2	1 hour	9
Preparation and Reading				343
Total				400

Summative Assessment

Examination 100% (three-hour written examination 100%).

Formative Assessment:

2 essays during the course of the year.

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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