Last modified: 02 Aug 2024 09:46
The common law tradition is one of the major legal traditions of the world. This course briefly introduces students to the conceptual and institutional structures of the common law tradition. This in turn introduces the fundamentals of the modern English legal system and its practical operation. A large section of the course then turns to the practical operation of English law through study of English Criminal Law.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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This course will begin by exploring the historical, intellectual and structural foundations of the common law tradition, as one of the truly global legal traditions. Students will learn about the conceptual divisions that run through the common law – such as the distinction between common law and equity. Understanding those distinctions helps students to make sense of the modern structure of the English courts. In this introductory section of the course, students will also learn about the complex reasons lying behind how and why this tradition has spread all over the world.
In the second section of the course, students will learn about the modern English legal system in more detail. They will study the court system and the sources of English law today.
Students will be introduced to some of the central methodological assumptions inherent in common law reasoning, e.g. relating to precedent and its operation as a source of binding law.
Students will be asked to think about how to identify certain core parts of a judgment – e.g. the ratio decidendi, and they will learn the notorious difficulties with handling cases as a source of law. Students will also be introduced to the ways in which common lawyers tend to think about statute as source of law.
In the third section of the course, accounting for about 50% of the teaching time, students will draw on this institutional and methodological knowledge to appreciate the practical application and methodological assumptions of the common law tradition through examples drawn from English Criminal law. Students will be introduced to the concepts, principles and rules of criminal offences and also the structure of the criminal justice process in England and Wales to understand the processes and procedures in place. Students will learn about the range of statutory and common law offences and also the statutory and common law defences available.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 75 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 40,41 | Feedback Weeks | 43,44 | |
| Feedback |
Duration: 2 hours Feedback will be provided to all students within three weeks of submission, in accordance with the University’s policy. Feedback will take the form of brief comments to be entered into MyAberdeen, combined with an offer to all students to discuss their feedback via email in the first instance, and in person in the second. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will discover how the common law tradition has migrated across jurisdictions throughout history, and appreciate the assumptions underlying common law methodology that has made this possible. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will discover the practical application and methodological assumptions of the common law tradition through examples drawn from English Criminal law, as applied in common law jurisdictions. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 30,31 | Feedback Weeks | 33,34 | |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided to all students within three weeks of submission, in accordance with the University’s policy. Feedback will take the form of brief comments to be entered into MyAberdeen, combined with an offer to all students to discuss their feedback via email in the first instance, and in person in the second. |
Word Count | 1000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will understand the legal historical origins of the common law tradition, and appreciate the structural and institutional divisions it has used to organise the law. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 49,50 | Feedback Weeks | 52,53 | |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided to all students within three weeks of submission, in accordance with the University’s policy. Feedback will take the form of brief comments to be entered into MyAberdeen, combined with an offer to all students to discuss their feedback via email in the first instance, and in person in the second. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will discover how the common law tradition has migrated across jurisdictions throughout history, and appreciate the assumptions underlying common law methodology that has made this possible. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will discover the practical application and methodological assumptions of the common law tradition through examples drawn from English Criminal law, as applied in common law jurisdictions. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will understand the legal historical origins of the common law tradition, and appreciate the structural and institutional divisions it has used to organise the law. |
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