Module overview
Legal System, Skills and Reasoning is a predominantly skills-based introduction to studying the legal system of England and Wales, its institutions and practices, in the context of a more general understanding of law, legal theory and legal reasoning. It is designed to provide you with knowledge, understanding and skills that are foundational to your whole degree.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the English Legal System’s structures and personnel, as well as its relation to other legal systems;
- some of the important contemporary debates in the practice of legal decision making, in order to better understand both the scope and the limitations of that practice.
- the doctrines, principles and values underpinning legal practice, including the various contexts in which law is found;
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- appreciate what is meant by a statement of law.
- read and evaluate cases;
- appraise how the courts interpret legislation, including European legislation, and legislation giving effect to international conventions;
- identify and apply the principles of effective legal argument.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- engage with your own personal and professional development, and academic integrity.
- apply the necessary skills which have been developed to engage fully in legal argument by a variety of different materials from both legal and extra-legal sources;
Syllabus
The module covers the sources of law, the doctrine of precedent, interpretation of legislation and legal reasoning. It addresses the issue of how to discover what the law is, and develops the skill of legal argument.
Both the structure of the module and its content reflect a commitment to attaining and developing legal skills as an essential aspect of both academic and professional legal life.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
This module is taught in semester 1. Teaching is delivered through lectures and small-group tutorials, beginning with a two-week intensive period of legal skills teaching and followed by the study of the legal system and legal reasoning. These activities amount to 39 hours of scheduled contact teaching.
The remaining 111 hours comprise directed and independent study, including preparation, reading, skills practice, consolidation, revision and assessment-related work. The module therefore comprises 150 notional learning hours in total.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Wider reading or practice | 20 |
| Teaching | 39 |
| Assessment tasks | 35 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 56 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 90% |
| Group presentation | 10% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External