Module LAW3321: LEGAL HISTORY

Department: Law

LAW3321: LEGAL HISTORY

Prerequisites

• Legal Skills (LAW 1041) Legal Skills (LAW 1041) EU Constitutional Law (LAW 1061) The Individual and the State (LAW 1081) UK Constitutional Law (LAW 1091) Criminal Law (LAW2221) Trusts and Equity (LAW2211)

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To develop an understanding of the historical development of law at the domestic, regional and global levels. This will include consideration of legal historical theory as well as legal events and narratives in both private and public law central to the development of aspects of legal orders, theory, or the substantive law. The module is designed to enable questioning of the traditional narratives of law’s development and provides a basis for a historical critical analysis of current reform proposals. Each year a series of four topics will explore these issues, drawn from areas such as, historical legal theory, historical evolution of the legal family, constitutional evolution, legal history of the jury or sovereignty and the concept of the state.

Content

• A selection of topics in the following indicative areas will run in each year:
• Historical Legal Theory
• The Historical Development of Family Law
• The Historical Development of Equity and of Uses/Trusts
• The Concept of Property in Law
• Constitutional Evolution
• Legal History of the Jury
• Sovereignty
• Imperialism and Hegemony in International Law
• Influence of Roman , Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Law
• Historical Development of Human Rights
• Evolution of the Trust
• The Common Law and its Predecessors
• The influence of the women’s movement on the law
• The historical regulation of sex

Learning Outcomes

• Students will have:
• A thorough knowledge of the intellectual topography of selected issues in legal history;
• A demonstrably in-depth knowledge of certain key situations experienced in history that have proved relevant for the development of the law;
• A familiarity with the secondary literature and debates surrounding key moments in legal history.

• Students should be able to:
• interpret and evaluate critically relevant historical documents within legal history and identify the theoretical and critical approaches informing their interpretation;
• appreciate how historical cultural and social factors affect legal approaches to key current issues of law, particularly reform;
• identify key reasoning tools employed by legal historians in constructing legal narratives and be capable of applying these to new situations and legal provisions.

• Students should be able to:
• demonstrate an ability to understand and analyse critically a wide variety of complex issues, drawing on historical materials;
• develop expertise in conducting legal-research using materials from a variety of national and international sources;
• describe accurately and coherently the arguments and analysis of other commentators;
• write in a clear and structured way and put forward ideas in a scholarly manner;
• demonstrate an ability to explore creatively complex issues in writing.

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

• Teaching
• The course will be taught through a series of lectures and seminars. The four introductory lectures will take place over the first two weeks of Michaelmas term. This will introduce the students to the methods and skills involved in historical legal research as well as the critical analysis of legal historical methods. This will be formatively assessed following this initially two week period. The rest of the module will be broken down into four substantive topics. This will follow four cycles of one lecture plus two seminars held over a three week period. This format encourages pre-session reading and preparation followed by in-depth discussion. All of the topics will be cross-referenced by the teaching team and themes will be developed, particularly regarding the critical evaluation of legal history.
• Assessment
• These topics will be summatively assessed by a wiki and an essay. The students will be provided with a question for each substantive area and students then choose which topic they wish to research. The first summative assignment will be the creation of a wiki outlining the primary and secondary materials the student has located combined with a detailed narrative of the factual occurrences surrounding the event and the existing legal evaluation of its importance. The wiki, in combining a factual analysis with a literature review, will not require an in-depth critical discussion and thus is weighted less than the second summative essay. The wiki will be followed by a summative essay entailing a critical evaluation of the student's research on the topic, displaying their substantive knowledge and analytical skills. The formative and summative papers, based on student choice of one of the topics taught, will ensure that students have met the research, analysis, and communication objectives of the module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One 1,500 word essay.

■ 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