LLM Criminal Justice and Criminal Law

Year 1

(Award available for year: Master of Laws)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the programme students should have shown evidence of being able:

- to demonstrate detailed, specialist knowledge of concepts and issues that are at the forefront of contemporary understandings of crime, criminal justice, criminology and criminal law;
- to exhibit a sound understanding of and competence in the exercise of socio-legal research methods and skills;
- to be a proactive, self-directed scholar;
- to think critically and analytically about criminological theories, criminal justice policy, criminal justice practice and principles of criminal law;
- to present their arguments in a clear, cogent and well-evidenced manner, both orally and in writing;
- to produce a lengthy piece of written work (the dissertation). The dissertation will afford students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate: their ability to work as an independent and proactive scholar; an in depth knowledge and critical understanding of their chosen subject; their socio-legal research skills; and their written presentation skills.

Transferable (key) skills

LLM students will have had the opportunity to acquire the following abilities as defined in the modules specified for the programme:

- to read, understand, synthesise and evaluate a wide range of source materials (e.g. policy documents, practice guidelines, academic texts, etc);
- a sound understanding of and competence in the exercise of research methods and skills;
- proactive, independent learning skills;
- critical and analytical thinking skills;
- advanced writing skills;
- the ability to make an evidence-based case in a persuasive manner both orally and in writing.

Assessment

Achievement for the LLM will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the programme and will involve the achievement of the students in:

- demonstrating the ability to apply breadth and/or depth of knowledge to criminal justice / criminal law issues;
- drawing on a range of perspectives as presented in the academic literature, policy documents etc on criminal justice and legal topics;
- evaluating received opinion;
- considering the merits and weaknesses of different sources of data;
- make sound judgements whilst understanding the limitations on judgements made by those with a particular, possibly biased, viewpoint.

Learning context

For LLM students the learning context will include the analysis of a wide range of complex and potentially contradictory information. Data sources may, for example, include: original criminological writing; summaries of the viewpoints of criminological theorists (e.g. in literature reviews, journal articles, criminological textbooks); case law and statutes; government policy documents (e.g. Green Papers; White Papers; Discussion Documents; Good Practice Guidelines); official criminal justice data (e.g. Home Office / MoJ statistics); materials produced by campaign groups (e.g. NACRO, the Howard League, Victim Support), etc.

As outlined above, students will also have the opportunity to interact with criminal justice professionals, either at the public events outlined above or whilst undertaking a dissertation in conjunction with a criminal justice partnership agency.