This module is inactive in the selected year. The information shown below is for the academic year that the module was last running in, prior to the year selected.

2017/18 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

LAW3122 Concepts of Law

20 creditsClass Size: 45

Module manager: Dr Jen Hendry
Email: J.Hendry@Leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2017/18

Pre-requisites

LAW1200	Foundations of Law
LAW2620	Law and Society

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module is designed to provide a platform for critical analysis of important concepts of law. It will build upon skills and insights developed in both Foundations of Law and Law & Society and allow for their application to specific concepts of relevance to the law, such as, for example: power, jurisdiction, liberty, equality, justice, difference, punishment, modernity, and ideology.

Objectives

Jurisprudence is not just an abstract subject; it has real things to say about the pressing issues of our time. This course takes these important concepts as a lens through which to approach such issues, with a view to generating informed critical engagement with contemporary debates.

Learning outcomes
By the end of this module students will be able to:
- Critically discuss the law in terms of the different concepts covered in the course;
- Identify relevant theoretical positions in terms of concrete contemporary issues and problems;
- Display a questioning attitude;
- Demonstrate analytical and independent study skills;
- Demonstrate effective oral communication and presentation skills.

Syllabus

The content of this course is mainly modular: particular concepts of law (e.g. power, jurisdiction, liberty, equality, justice, difference, punishment, modernity, and ideology) will be selected for study and dealt with separately. Discussions will be wide-ranging, for example:

- How can we treat like cases alike and yet makes allowances for difference? Can values really be universal? What is fairness really?
- Are we really at liberty? In what ways and through which means is our behaviour subject to regulation? How is this legitimate?
- What is 'modern' law? What can we identify as its function/s? What is the critical contribution of a postmodern approach?
- Who 'speaks the law' in particular places and at particular levels? Do we think differently about diverse spaces of law, e.g. cities, parks, nations, ‘'territory', etc.


There is a separate Reading Group component in addition to the main seminar classes: this will meet four additional times during the academic year and be team-taught by the module team. This Reading Group is intended to provide a forum for students to display the skills learned during the module, and will be continually assessed (20%).

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Group learning	4	1.00	4.00
Lecture	15	2.00	30.00
Private study hours			166.00
Total Contact hours			34.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Reading in advance of each of the collaborative lectures – the preparatory reading is very important. The lectures will not be assessed but the four Group Learning sessions will be (20%).

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	2,000 Words	30.00
Essay	3,000 Words	50.00
Tutorial Performance	assessed seminars	20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 11/05/2017

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD