Legal Systems

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenor: Victoria Ridler 
• Assessment: guided case brief (30%) and a 1500-word essay (70%) 

This module will introduce you to the structure and principles of the English legal system. It provides a foundation for understanding how the legal system works, from identifying legal sources to learning about the principles of precedent, statutory interpretation, and how to identify the binding legal rules derived from cases. 

Indicative module syllabus 

• Parliament and statutes: we will look at parliament as the source of statutory law, the meaning of parliamentary sovereignty, and how the legal system recognises this.
• Courts: we will look at the structure and function of the courts in the UK.
• Government and the rule of law: you will learn about executive government and the decision-making powers of ministers, including how their decisions are constrained and reviewed by the law.
• Precedent and authority: we will explore the key elements of the common law system of finding the law in precedent cases and authorities.
• Criminal justice: you will learn about the criminal justice system and the key elements of a criminal trial.
• Judges and judging: we look at the role of the judiciary, consider the political and social dimensions of their role in society, and explore how these factors influence the law.
• Civil justice: we introduce the key elements of civil private law and contrast it to criminal law and public law.
• Reading statutes: drawing on the cases of Factortame and Thoburn, we look at the ways that statutes can be interpreted. We also consider the effect that modes of interpretation can have in judicial decisions.
• Human rights: you will consider the idea of human rights and look at how the Human Rights Act 1998 has changed the English legal system.
• Tribunals and ADR: we will look at other modes of dealing with legal disputes, where cases are either particularly complex or the courts are not the most effective or efficient way of dealing with disputes. 

By the end of this module, you should be able to: 

• locate, read, and understand case law and statutory law 
• identify sources of law 
• understand the principles of the common law and the English legal system, including precedent, ratio decidendi, statutory interpretation, etc 
• critically reflect on the structure and principles of the English legal system 
• develop an analysis of elements of the English legal system.