Module LAW2291: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN BIOLAW

Department: Law

LAW2291: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN BIOLAW

Prerequisites

• Introduction to English Law and Legal Method (LAW 1121) and Law of Torts (LAW1051)

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide a critical introduction to the relationship between law and bioscience/healthcare;
• To provide a critical introduction to major contemporary issues in healthcare and the life sciences;
• To develop critical awareness of regulatory options in relation to contemporary issues in biolaw;
• To develop research skills and contextual awareness of how law might be most effectively used in bioscience and healthcare.

Content

• This module explores the ability of the law and regulatory process to adequately respond to the ethical, social and policy challenges presented by contemporary biomedicine, bioscience and healthcare;
• Knowledge will be developed and applied through engagement with four topics (two in Michaelmas term and two in Epiphany term). Topics will change annually and could address any four contemporary issues in bioscience and healthcare. Examples of the topics that could be covered include human cloning and mitochondrial replacement therapy, conscientious objection to medical activities, dignity and biolaw, medical devices, gene editing and health, surrogacy, access to medicines and patent law, free movement and access to medical services, stem cell research, NHS redress and various environmental issues;
• Each topic will be introduced by four lectures and further explored in a two-hour seminar led by student presentations, prepared in small groups;
• Two further topics in biolaw will be explored, usually in the Epiphany term. Each topic will be introduced through four lectures and further explored in a two hour seminar led by student presentations, prepared in small groups;
• The module will provide a unique opportunity for students to become engaged with Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences), as well as to develop public advocacy and legal research skills to enhance student knowledge of legal sources and develop their ability to research the law.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of bioscience/healthcare, legal processes and legal research;
• Demonstrate a familiarity with the relevant literature and the leading debates surrounding key issues across the four selected topics;
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of selected areas of substantive law.

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the relationships between bioscience/healthcare and legal processes;
• Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the significance of law in its wider social context.

• Students should be able to demonstrate developed research and writing skills, including the ability to work independently and to take responsibility for their own learning.

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

• Students will be given the opportunity to consolidate, develop, present and apply the knowledge acquired through independent study. Students will be encouraged to utilise the wide range of learning resources, including electronic sources, available within the university in order to make a contribution to their learning and assessment as well as enable them to acquire key and subject-specific skills;
• Lectures will be used to impart a framework of knowledge and to suggest approaches to evaluation and critical analysis;
• Two hour seminars will provide students with the opportunity to develop and assess knowledge and understanding relating to the lectures and expanded by their own research. They will also provide students with opportunities to present and discuss the outcome of their individual and group-based research. The seminars will require students to display substantive knowledge, apply concepts learned, debate and develop a critical understanding of the subject;
• Students must submit summative assessments that will assess knowledge and understanding relating to the teaching and their research;
• The formative assessment will relate to the first topic;
• Students will be assessed by two summative assessments. Each assessment will have the same two components. The first assessment relates to topics one and two and consists of two components: a summative essay and a briefing document. Students can choose for which topic they would like to complete the summative essay, and for which topic they would like to complete the briefing document. Both topics have to be covered in the assessment (e.g. if the essay is on topic one then the briefing document must be on topic two and vice versa). The same structure will be followed for the second assessment;
• Assessments will require students to use written formats that are suitable for assessing knowledge and understanding of the relevant topics. For example, students may be required to write a proposal for law reform, write an appeal court judgment or undertake an equivalent written exercise as appropriate for testing their command of the topic concerned;
• The assessments will test the ability to focus on the relevant legal issues and organise knowledge and argument appropriate to the topics raised.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One optional set of a summative essay and a briefing document of 2,000 words in total in Michaelmas Term.

■ 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