Law LLB (Hons) (with Foundation Year)

The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.

Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.

The Year One foundational curriculum is designed to provide students with courses on some of the foundational substantive subjects of the law, legal theory, and the legal study skills as foundations for future legal study. Thus, students will study Public Law that examines by who and how laws are made and the relationship between law makers and the subjects of the law. Students are also introduced to the Law of Obligations or the rules that determine and shape binding agreements between natural and legal persons and the rules that define the civil liabilities and responsibilities of natural and legal persons. Students will also study courses that introduce and familiarise students with the skills and capacities of how to study and read the law, how to apply the law and you will also develop an understanding of theories concerning the nature of law itself and its fundamental role in shaping our societies. All Year 1 courses are compulsory for Single Honours students.

Public Law

This course introduces and examines the rules, conventions and principles that govern the workings of institutions of the United Kingdom, such as Parliament and the Cabinet and the rules that govern the relationship between citizens and public administration.

Contracts

This course introduces the rules that govern binding agreements between natural and legal persons that are essential to the workings of our communities and societies more generally. The course will cover topic such as formation of contracts, capacity to conclude contracts, breach of contract and remedies for breach.

Torts

This course covers the rules that govern our civil liabilities to others.  Taken in combination with Contract Law, it covers a set of rules that are essential to the workings of our communities because they determine and allocate individual and group responsibility for acts that may infringe the rights of others. In short, the law that governs civil wrongs and our duty to others.

Legal Theory

This course introduces students to competing theoretical perspectives on the nature and functions of law in society and why it should or must be followed and when it can be disobeyed. For example, positivist, natural law and interpretivist perspectives are examined.

Legal Methods and System

This course introduces students to the legal system, legal procedures and the key principle of the system such as binding precedent and judicial interpretation. It also covers legal study skills such as reading the law, identifying, and accessing the law, and legal referencing.

Legal Praxis

This course requires students to develop and apply a number of practical legal skills such as advocating, drafting, client interviewing, negotiation and mediation. The legal professions and routes into the legal professions are examined as well as principles of ethics and professional conduct.

In Year Two, Single Honour students will build on the knowledge and understanding gained during Year One. They will, therefore, have the opportunity to consolidate and further develop their practical legal skills and capacities, through the study of Advanced Legal Skills. Students will also broaden and complete their knowledge and understanding of the foundations of legal knowledge by studying the doctrines and principles of the remaining foundations of legal knowledge. Thus, they will study courses on the Criminal Law, Land Law and Equities and Trust In addition, students can internationalise their knowledge and understanding of the law by exploring European Union and International legal frameworks and legal dimensions. An understanding of public international and European law will deepen students understanding of the way in which the laws of different jurisdictions relate to each other and better enable students to contextualise the laws of their national jurisdiction. All Year Two courses are compulsory for Single Honours students.

Criminal Law

It will explain the general principles of criminal law and explore the legal requirements of main criminal offences. It will look at basis of criminal responsibility, modes of participation, capacity, inchoate offences as well as explores a wide range of specific offences from theft, robbery, non-fatal offences to homicide.

Land Law

This course examines the various interests that can exists in land. It explores principles governing the creation, ownership, use, transfer and extinction of these interests.

Equity and Trusts

This course examines the principles governing legal and equitable interests in propriety and an interplay between equity and the common law.  It explores the principles governing the creation of legally binding trusts and its extinction, as well as duties of trustees, and remedies available in Equity for breaches of trust terms. 

European Union Law

The course examines the nature of the EU as a constitutional system of conferred powers, the key principles and doctrines of EU Law and the rules governing the relationship between the UK and the EU following the UK leaving the EU.

Public International Law

The course examines the rules that govern the birth, recognition, continuity, obligations, jurisdiction, and sovereign rights of states recognised as part of the International legal order.  The distinction between customary and treaty-based rules and are considered, and the challenges of enforcement are explored. 

Advanced Lawyers Skills

This course builds on the skills courses introduced in the first Year of study and incorporates cases and legal disputes from the other courses studied in Year 2 in order to develop and apply their problem solving and legal procedure skills. The course also focuses on preparing students for the Law Clinic elective in Year Three.

In the final year of study, Single Honours students will have the opportunity to develop advanced knowledge and understanding of specific areas of the law in which they have a particular interest.  Students will undertake a compulsory dissertation and study compulsory courses in Human Rights Law and Company and Commercial Law. Human Rights Law because we regard the advanced knowledge and understanding of Human Rights Law as central to the culture and ethos of the School of Law. Company and Commercial Law because good commercial knowledge and awareness is regarded by potential employers as a key contemporary requirement in the world of practice and beyond. Students may then take 4 specialised optional law elective courses selected from a range offered each year by the School of Law. These include electives that are preparatory for practice and the Solicitors Qualifying Exams. For example, our Functional Law and Law Clinic courses, or they can select electives that reflect their academic interests and possible areas of practical or postgraduate research specialisation. Or, indeed, students may opt for a combination of preparatory and specialised substantive law electives. 

Compulsory courses:

Human Rights Law

The course examines the development, nature, and enforcement of international Human Rights law. It examines international institutions having jurisdiction to interpret, protect and enforce human right and some of the key rights that are protected. 

Company and Commercial Law

This course is about the internal workings of companies and how they operate in the marketplace. It will examine the formation and legal obligations of companies, company mergers and acquisitions and shareholder rights.

Dissertation

This course requires students to plan, undertake the research and complete a major piece of written work under supervision. Students can choose their area of particular interest and develop advanced knowledge and expertise of their chosen topic.

Students select 4 from the list of electives below:

Media Law

This elective examines the role and regulation of the various branches of the media, such as the press, broadcasting, and social media. The focus of the course is the regulation of the contents of what can be communicated and the balance the law strikes between the protection of competing fundamental rights.

Cyber Law

This elective investigates topics such as the nature of Cyber Law, the policy and legal frameworks and modalities of regulation of technologies in cyberspace, internet governance, cyber rights, cybercrime, emergent technologies, critical legal and political questions surrounding  the influence of social norms, values and interests on the regulatory design of cyberspace.

Family Law

This elective examines the concept and nature of marriage and the legal means devised by the State to protect and will also explore the law regulating conception, adoption, child abuse, juvenile crime, child rights, residence and the legal relationship between parents and children.

Refugee and Migration Law

The elective explores legal obligations imposed on sovereign States by international, EU and the Council of Europe in respect of their duties vis-a-vis refugees and people subject to forced migration.

Law of Evidence

The elective provides an analytical and critical understanding of the law of evidence in England and Wales. It examines the process of gathering evidence and applications of the rules of admissibility of evidence in the courtrooms by drawing on the relevant statutes and case-law.

Employment Law

Employment Law will examine the law regulating employment in the UK.  The course will explore the legal framework and key principles of both Employment Law give students an insight into the mechanisms of both areas of law and help them understand the political and social issues around these areas of law.

International Trade Law

The International Trade Law course focuses on the law governing the multilateral trading system as conducted under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation. In light of global concerns, such as pandemics and climate change, the course explores specialised areas of international trade regulation, such as public health and environment.

Environmental Law

Environmental Law investigates some of the legal norms and principles that govern environmental controls and problems. The course addresses some of the underlying policy concerns relating to environmental protection, in addition to offering understanding of substantive UK/EU and International environmental law.

Law Clinic

This course introduces students to the world of practice where under the supervision of qualified solicitors, Students will be required to provide legal advice to fellow students and members of the public on a pro-bono basis.

Functional Law SQE Preparatory Elective

This elective will cover many of the curriculum issues to be addressed in the Solicitors Qualifying Examinations Part 1. It will therefore focus on the practical application of the law and case management matters and will contribute to preparing students in the event they decide to take the SQE following graduation.

Comparative Constitutional Law

Comparative Public Law examines some of the larger issues that underlie the field of Constitutional Law in a comparative context focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. The course will introduce students to a history of European colonialism, the European transformation of local constitutional and administrative forms, the politics of decolonisation and the mixed fortunes of post-colonial nation-state building.

Counter-Terrorism, Security and the Law

This course explores domestic (i.e. United Kingdom) and international legal and policy responses to the contemporary terrorist threat from a range of critical perspectives, including (but not limited to): public and constitutional law; criminal law; human rights law; immigration law; public international law; and the law of armed conflict.

Landlord and Tenant Law

The course examines commercial property, but with some added elements, such as residential landlord and tenant, and comparative landlord and tenant, law. Commercial property represents a very significant part of the work of most high- profile law firms.

Law of Succession

This elective will cover the drafting of wills, trusts and other documents, contentious probate, and the administration of estates.