Course Details in 2023/24 Session

Module Title	LC Public Law
School	Birmingham Law School
Department	Law
Module Code	08 26324
Module Lead	Alan Greene
Level	Certificate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Full Term
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	Law students only
Contact Hours	Lecture-33 hours Seminar-7 hours Guided independent study-160 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module examines core public law principles, and seeks to enable students to further develop within the context of a substantive law subject, the academic and legal skills which students will have learned in the Legal Skills and Methods module in the first semester. The substantive material covered in the module involves two components (each of which in any one year may involve the following topics). Section A examines foundational constitutional principles and issues including : the purpose of constitutions and the sources of constitutional rules; the evolution of the UK constitution including reference to international law, the European Union, devolution and the Human Rights Act 1998; and the distribution, use and control of legislative, judicial and executive powers in the UK. Section B is concerned with the grounds, procedure, remedies and constitutional foundations of judicial review in England and Wales. Building upon the introduction to legal and academic skills covered in the Legal Skills and Methods module in the first semester, the Public Law module will focus on essay writing skills (small group seminars 1-4); reflecting on feedback (small group seminar 5); answering legal problem questions (small group seminars 6 and 7).
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Identify, explain and comment on key issues relating to constitutions in general and the United Kingdom constitution in particular; Demonstrate a basic knowledge and understanding of public law issues in their political context; Make a personal and reasoned judgement based on a basic understanding of standard arguments in the areas of public law covered in the module; Explain and comment on the grounds, procedures, remedies and constitutional foundations of judicial review in England and Wales, summarising the current state of doctrinal and policy debates; Use grounds of judicial review to advise on reasonably complex hypothetical scenarios, recognise potential alternative conclusions for particular situations and provide supporting reasons for them; Show development of key legal and study skills including legal and academic writing critical analysis, reasoning and legal research.
Assessment	26324-01 : Essay : Coursework (50%) 26324-02 : Take Home Exam : Exam (School Arranged) - Open Book (50%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessments: Take home exam (open-book) - 3hrs (50%) 1,500 word essay (50%) Reassessment: Resit failed component(s)
Other
Reading List