Law with Criminology

A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties which, if it contains the elements of a valid legal agreement, is enforceable by law. The contract law module concerns itself with the rules governing such agreements. You will be acquainted with the role contract law performs in business and economic activity. The course also aims to teach the principles that underlie the common law of contract and explain the effect of legislative intervention on the common law principles of contract law. You will learn both the common law rules and legislation affecting contract law, as well as the ability to avoid contractual disputes and/or solve them

Tort law is an area that remains very central to all aspects of society. This essential module has been designed to ensure that you are well versed in the core areas of Tort, with emphasis on its role in day-to-day life.

We will cover the core areas of Negligence, Breach of Duty, Causation, Vicarious Liability, Psychiatric Harm, Occupiers Liability, and the land tort of Nuisance will be studied in depth.

This module will introduce you to the English legal system and its role within society. You will look at the court system and learn how the law is integrated within society, and the importance of legal principles, concepts, structures, citations and practices within English law. You will develop your skills in interpreting primary and secondary sources of law, including how to use Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA).

This module also looks at the importance of digital skills within the law. You will be supported and assessed through an eLearning legal training course in conjunction with completing the Westlaw UK Research Basic Certificate.

In this diverse module, we will explore the criminal law system in England and Wales, focussing on substantive criminal law. We start by looking at how offences such as theft and murder are defined. During this process, you will analyse what the defendant did, what circumstances he/she did it in and what effect it had on the victim. Questions like these lead us to identify the correct category of possible offences. Following this, we will also explore potential defences to criminal liability.

You will be introduced to the form, key features and purpose of the institutions of the contemporary criminal justice system in England and Wales and begin an exploration of the issues relating to justice and civil liberties.

What is crime? What causes crime? How does crime and criminal justice affect us? How should we best respond to criminal behaviour? In addressing these questions, key concepts will be explored. You will have the opportunity to choose a particular type of crime or deviance, then apply the various fundamental questions raised by the module week by week. The case studies will help you to apply concepts to contemporary issues. You will have the opportunity to consider different policy and practice solutions for criminal justice ‘industry’.

This module will allow you to analyse the nature and structure of the UK constitutional arrangements post-Brexit. After introducing the idea of constitutionalism in general, we explore the peculiar uncodified nature of the UK Constitution, and how this is reflected in its sources and basic principles.

We will discuss two recent 'constitutional revolutions': the Human Rights Act 1998 and the devolution settlement. Then we will look at the theory and practice of judicial review of administrative action. Finally, we will look at the issue of police powers and their legitimate use

This module gives you a general introduction to European Union law, dealing with the structures and institutions of the EU, the obligations imposed upon the EU Member States and the rights conferred upon EU citizens.

Land Law in England and Wales is a bit of an anomaly! While the subject of Land Law has long had a reputation for being difficult, technical and archaic, this simply is not accurate. Land Law is in fact a rich, fascinating and modern subject.

On this module, we will break down difficult legal concepts, such as: ownership versus possession; the legal ‘stealing’ of land known as adverse possession; and the various rights and interests which exist in Land.

You will apply your learning to practical scenarios which you will likely come across after you graduate as most of us encounter the peculiarities of land law at some point of our lives!

You will develop an understanding of the range of theories of crime and criminal justice and locate the key issues of criminology within their socio-political and historical context. You will gain a knowledge of the most important theories, and their relevance for understanding crime matters in contemporary society.

This module will introduce you to the key aspects of Media Law. You will develop a range of skills that are important not only for your law degree but also to take forward and develop after your graduation.

We will consider some of the legal, moral, social and political debates which exist in this area of law. We will examine issues such as the freedom of the press, reporting restrictions and pretrial publicity as well as defamation, privacy and harassment.

On this module, we will examine the law relating to the sale and supply of goods and services, agency, product safety, insurance and consumer credit. Building on the general principles of contract law, we will focus specifically on contracts of sale and supply of goods and services as well as addressing the rights and protections afforded to consumers.

While the academic knowledge is important, you will also see how the law works in practice in the commercial and retail sectors. The module includes an international dimension, looking at international consumer protection issues and how they apply in the UK jurisdiction.

This module is a base for further vocational study with SQE, ILEX or BTC or further post-graduate study. You will develop skills to help your employability, growing your knowledge of the workings of the commercial and consumer processes in contemporary legal society.

This module addresses the complex and often paradoxical relationships between human rights, extreme human rights abuses, particularly genocide, and resistance to such abuses. Its distinctiveness lies in providing students with interdisciplinary, theoretically informed approaches to human rights, genocide and resistance.

An overview of the conceptualisation of “violence”. You will examine debates concerning violence in various aspects of life, consider the contemporary debates surrounding violence in a range of contexts, trace the development of theorisations of violence and consider ethical, methodological and practical issues involved in the researching of violence.

Critical Perspectives on Policing will introduce you to issues surrounding policing and social control, situating contemporary issues and debates within the broader theoretical, social, political and historical context. Whilst focused primarily on policing in England and Wales, the module considers policing across a range of jurisdictions as appropriate. 

This module offers an opportunity to develop and apply knowledge on victimology, including causes, processing and responses to victimisation at individual, community and criminal justice levels. The criminological approaches (including theory) and (national and international) policy responses to victims and their needs are examined from a critical criminological approach.

We live in a globally responsible world where decisions taken at a local level inevitably have a global impact. Addressing issues of environmental concern through a lens of social justice, this module invites you to think critically about the most pressing issue of our life – the Climate Crisis and you will examine this through both a Sociological and Criminological lens, emphasising the ‘Local to Global’ policy-making across subjects as interconnected as, climate change and activism, environmental ideology and Eco-Fascism, human rights, and the rural/urban divide. During this module, you will become equipped with the knowledge, skills, and tools to analyse the complex interactions between environmental and social systems, and to advocate for a more sustainable and equitable future.

On this module you will critically engage with ideas concerning social and cultural issues associated with risk and security regarding the uses of the internet

All students can apply for a one-year professional placement, which takes place between your second and last years of study.

This is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of and we will help you find out about vacancies and make the right connections with high profile employers through regular events and presentations.

Here is just a small selection of the companies our students have enjoyed placements with so far: NatWest, Barclays and the Cooperative Bank; BP, Esso and Shell; IBM, Hewlett Packard and Compaq; Ford, Vauxhall, Jaguar and Nissan; Marks & Spencer, Selfridges and Sainsbury’s; Eli Lilly, Glaxo and ICI; Fujitsu, Marriott and Virgin.

You will be introduced to the form, key features and purpose of the institutions of the contemporary criminal justice system in England and Wales and begin an exploration of the issues relating to justice and civil liberties.

Equity and Trusts is a wonderful subject which is rooted in morality and the history of ‘conscience’. It is utterly unique and occurred entirely accidentally as a result of the flaws in common law. The purpose of this module is to provide an introduction to an invisible system of justice which runs alongside the common law known as Equity. Equity ‘glosses’ over the harsh results sometimes incurred by the rigidness of common law and it’s development is fascinating. For anyone who feels that the legal system is sometime unjust, Equity will restore your faith. The second purpose of this module is to introduce you to the concept of a trust. This is often referred to as Equity’s greatest achievement. The trust is used in almost all financial aspects of your life probably without you even realising and thus its exploration is vital and eye-opening."

Emerging technologies are having a major impact on society and transforming the way lawyers provide legal solutions to clients. This module introduces key technologies that have the potential to change how lawyers operate in practice, with a particular focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). You will look at topics such as data mining, data protection, how robotics interacts with the law and the legal implications of present-day issues such as driverless cars, military applications, and care robots.

With an understanding of the interaction of the legal, technical, ethical and business issues around artificial intelligence and law, you will gain a grounding in the technical aspects of autonomous technologies that will enable you to perform better in your future roles.

This module looks at complex issues relating to employment law. We will consider how the law defines ‘employment’ and the impact that this legal definition has on how the area is regulated. We will explore the current law on discrimination, termination of employment, the employment contract, the impact of reform and how this affects the employee and employer. We will also cover redundancy, occupational stress and employability status.

On this extremely emotive module, we consider interesting and relevant case law, as well as analysing the current legal frameworks and the socio-legal research available in this area.

Medical ethics is moral decision making, made by an individual based on guidance and shared values. One way in which medical ethics operates is regulatory in nature, bearing in mind the medical profession is a self-regulating one.

The module looks at the interplay between the ethical, practical and moral dimensions which affect the healthcare professionals’ decision-making process.

We will focus on ethical discussions on pertinent issues and the corresponding legal and practical considerations. We will consider whether decision-making is ultimately controlled by ethics, morals or the law.

You will develop hands-on legal skills, working under supervision in the University’s SILKS Law Clinic on housing, employment and family law cases.

In the Clinic you will work with real clients, observing interviews, writing advice notes, undertaking research and drafting documents.

There will be some lectures and seminars to introduce key topics, module expectations and assessment.  This is supplemented by small group fortnightly supervision discussions.

There are limited places and you will apply for this module in your second year.

An introduction to international law, covering the nature and history of international law, the way in which public and private international law is made, and distinct issues such as statehood and state immunity, and enforcement. It also introduces distinct areas of public international law, including international human rights law, the law of armed conflict, and international criminal law

Although this module will be taught from a practitioner lawyer perspective, much of the material dealt with is important whatever area of industry that you enter. Client care is clearly relevant whatever career that you ultimately pursue. We begin by considering the first contact with a client in some detail in both the lecture and seminar. It will be very important that you get this right and make the best possible impression on a new client/customer. They will need to believe in you. There are specific regulations that we will assess for lawyers in this regard.

The module builds on the fundamental principles of law during the Contract Law, Tort Law, and Criminal Law modules from Level Four, by enabling the students to gain knowledge and skills to understand how civil and criminal litigation is applied in practical situations governed by rules of civil and criminal procedure and practice.

This module covers the law relating to the formation, financing and management of companies, and related corporate activity.

This module introduces you to the approach to competition law and policy. The module will enable you to critically analyse and discuss contemporary issues of competition law and policy. Students will also learn about the digital economy and its implications for competition law outside the EU and UK borders. The module will discuss digital dominance and the behaviour of the powerful tech companies.

Industrial Law in England and Wales is a rich and fascinating subject which embraces industrial safety law including corporate manslaughter and the law relating to industrial relations.

On this module, we will break down some difficult legal concepts, such as corporate criminal liability and corporate manslaughter and the various statutory duties and obligations which exist in health and safety law. We will also look at the impact of strikes and trade unions in a post-Brexit working environment.

You will apply your knowledge to practical scenarios through an individual video presentation and will complete a research essay.