Course description
Course structure
The structure of this course is built around the core law provision (Law of Contract, Criminal Law, Citizen and the State, Law of Tort, Equity and Trusts, Land Law and EU Law) and includes a final-year dissertation.
Professional placements
Work experience with solicitors or sitting with a judge in court may be available to interested students.
Professional exemptions
You'll have completed the academic stage necessary to proceed to a Legal Practice Course to qualify as a solicitor or a Bar Vocational Course to qualify as a barrister.
Careers
As well as the legal professions, a law degree provides the opportunity to pursue a wide range of careers including management, the probation service, the police, local government, education, journalism, accountancy, the civil service, politics, the music industry and research.
Open only to those of graduate or equivalent status.
This programme provides graduates or equivalent of any discipline who wish to enter the legal profession with a qualifying law degree. It is an alternative to the conversion courses for graduates available at other institutions.
More information
Level 1
Legal Method
This module builds a strong foundation for studying law by providing an introductory support in finding and reading legal materials, tackling law questions and an understanding and overview of the English Legal System.
The Law of Contract
The law of contract is one of the most fundamental aspects of legal study. All contracts are agreements but not all agreements are contracts and so it is essential to identify the elements which distinguish purely informal agreements from those which are enforceable in law. You will learn about the established principles for allocating responsibility.
Criminal Law
This module will examine the general principles of criminal law. You will be introduced to the nature of criminal conduct and the basic elements of a crime. These will be placed in the context of some specific offences - criminal damage, murder and manslaughter. You will also study non-fatal offences against the person and dishonesty offences as a way of introducing inchoate offences and general defences.
The Citizen and the State
Also known as Constitutional and Administrative Law, this module concentrates on the structure and functions of the state and the relationship between the state and the individual. You will be assessed by course work and exams.
Legal Research Methods and Skills
This module aims to provide you with the necessary skills to produce a substantial piece of independently researched work. It will encourage you to subject the domestic legal institutional framework to close scrutiny, identifying and critically examining issues of controversy. It will also equip you to think critically about the legal process. Occasional lectures (approx one hour per week) will introduce topics and provide the framework for a series of individual practical exercises. Workshops will be largely student-led, encouraging you to manage your own learning time.
Level 2
Law of Torts
The law of tort encompasses a range of civil actions and operates as a compensation system. The module will enable you to develop a critical awareness of the issues underpinning the adversarial process and develop the analytical and presentation skills involved in undertaking these cases.
The Law of Real property
This module will introduce you to the main concepts of land law, exploring interests in, and obligations over, land. Within the 20th century the owner-occupier has replaced the landlord as the dominant figure and, in the later part of the century, the owner-occupier couple replaces the single (usually male) owner. And so land law is taught in its modern social context.
Equity and Trusts
This module aims to examine equity as a source of law together with some of the equitable remedies. You will also study the importance of the trust. Equity grew up alongside common law, originally by means of petitions to the King and later his Chancellor, to provide justice in cases where either the law provided no remedy or the remedy was inadequate. Consequently equity has provided new remedies to supplement the inadequacies of common law. Its most important uses today are in relation to family provision, pension funds and charities.
EU Law
This module aims to introduce you to the general constitutional and legislative structure of the European Union. It also explores the operation of EC law, considering its relationship with domestic law and explains the function and application of some of the substantive legal provisions.
Dissertation
In this module you will produce a written project on an approved legal or socio-legal topic. Whilst there is a reasonable degree of flexibility around your dissertation topic, invariably the area will relate to one of the modules you have studied on the law degree.
