Only available to students following a Law degree both single and joint honours. Not available to select during module registration or to exchange students.
OverviewPart A: English Legal System
This module provides an overview of the English Legal System, including the following indicative topics:
1) An introduction to Parliament and the legislative process
2) The court structure and the doctrine of precedent
3) An introduction to case law, including how to identify and the importance of ratio decidendi and obiter dicta
Part B: Introduction to Legal Skills
The module also gives students an introduction to the basic legal skills that they will develop further in their other modules throughout the degree. The focus here is on specific exercises to support exploration and use of the library resources that are available, both in paper copy and electronically through the legal databases, and on understanding practices of legal citation.
This module appears in:
Method of assessment
50% multiple choice test and 50% portfolio.
Wilson S and others, English Legal System (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2016)
Partington M, Introduction to the English Legal System 2016-2017 (11th edn, Oxford University Press 2016)
Finch E and Fafinski S, Legal Skills (5th edn, Oxford University Press 2015)
Gillespie A and Weare S, The English Legal System (5th edn, Oxford University Press 2015)
Knowles J, Effective Legal Research (4th edn, Sweet and Maxwell 2016)
Bradney A and others, How to Study Law (7th edn, Sweet and Maxwell 2014)
The course will introduce and provide knowledge and understanding of:
The basic principles of the English Legal System
The law-making process
The court structure and administrative justice system
Legal research skills