Legal Method Notes PDF

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Legal Method 2017-2018

Module Handbook

Module Leader:

Joseph Corkin

Teaching Team:

Michelle Coleman (London) Damjan Kukovec (London) Thomas McDonagh (London) Caleb Wheeler (London) Gayatree Dayal (Mauritius) Arvin Luchmun (Mauritius) Samantha Jayne Roberts (Dubai)

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Week No. (starting)

Lecture

1 (2 Oct)

Unit 1, Functions of Law Unit 2, Classifying Law, Learning Strategies and Using a Law Library Unit 3, Sources of Law: Custom, common law and equity Unit 4, Sources of Law: Legislation, EU Law and the ECHR Unit 5, Legal Research and Legal Ethics

2 (9 Oct)

3 (16 Oct)

4 (23 Oct)

5 (30 Oct)

6 (6 Nov) 7 (13 Nov) 8 (20 Nov) 9 (27 Nov) 10 (4 Dec) 11 (11 Dec)

12 (8 Jan) 13 (15 Jan)

14 (22 Jan)

15 (29 Jan)

16 (5 Feb)

Workshop

Seminar (covering Activities and Thinking topic)

General Study Skills

Unit 1, Functions of Law

Socratic Ideals and the Cultivation of the Critical Mind Thinking Analytically and Critically How to Get a First in Your Coursework

Unit 2, Classifying Law, Learning Strategies and Using a Law Library Unit 3, Sources of Law: Custom, Common Law and Equity Unit 4, Sources of Law: Legislation, EU Law and the ECHR Court Visit Unit 6, Doctrine of Moot Unit 5, Legal Research F1 (16:00, UK time, Precedent Demonstration and Legal Ethics Thurs 16 Nov) Unit 7, Flexibility v Arguing Unit 6, Doctrine of Certainty Effectively Precedent Unit 8, The Judiciary Writing Skills Unit 7, Flexibility v and their Reasoning Certainty Unit 9, Applying Precedents in Practice Unit 8, The Judiciary and their Reasoning No Lecture No Workshop Unit 9, Applying F2 (16:00, UK time, Precedents in Practice Thurs 14 Dec) Semester Break (use to review video and materials for Unit 10 and to write F3) Unit 11, Statutory Group Work Unit 10, Legislation F3 (16:00, UK time, Interpretation Thurs 11 Jan) Unit 12, Statutory Communication Unit 11, Statutory Interpretation in and Interpretation Practice Presentation Unit 13, Statutory Developing your Unit 12, Statutory Interpretation: Pepper Moot Interpretation in v Hart, HRA and EU Submissions Practice Law Unit 14, Case Study How to Get a Unit 13, Statutory on Statutory First in your Interpretation: Pepper v Interpretation Exams Hart, HRA and EU Law Unit 15, Moot Master Class for students Unit 14, Case Study on doing Moot 1 only Statutory Interpretation

17 (12 Feb) 18 (19 Feb)

Moot Preparation Unit 15, Moot Master Class for students Moot 1 assessed doing Moot 2 only

19 (26 Feb)

Unit 15, Moot Master Class for students doing Moot 3 only

Moot 2 assessed

20 (5 Mar)

Unit 15, Moot Master Class for students doing Moot 4 only

Moot 3 assessed

21 (12 Mar)

Unit 15, Moot Master Class for students doing Moot 5 only

Moot 4 assessed

22 (19 Mar)

24 (3 April)

Legal Method

Exercises (deadline)

F4 (16:00, UK time, Thurs 22 Feb)

Moot 5 assessed

S1-5 (16:00, UK time, Thurs 5 April)

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Introduction to the Module Legal Method is a skills-based module with no exam. Although the material is presented in separate Units, they are not discrete and you are expected to apply the knowledge and skills that you have gained across all the Units throughout the module. The module is assessed 50% by moot, in which you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned in a practical context, and 50% by coursework (FIVE exercises of 750 words, each accounting for 10% of the final grade). The moot will take place in Term Two and the titles of the five exercises will be released throughout the year. You will have an opportunity to submit formative (first) drafts of the first four exercises at specified deadlines throughout the year and you will receive feedback from your seminar tutor on them, which you may then work into revisions for summative (final) submission in April. You must pass the Legal Method module, with a minimum grade of 16, to be able to progress onto the second year of the LLB programme. We hope that you pass at the first attempt, but if you fail, it is your responsibility to look up exactly which component(s) you failed (the moot and/or any exercises for which you were graded less than 40%). Your second (and, unless you were granted a deferral, final) opportunity to do those component(s) will be in late August/early September. You should regularly log onto the module via Unihub. There you will find, amongst other things: • • • • • • • •

The module’s aims and learning outcomes The pattern of the the programme Reading materials and links to cases Details and rules relating to all the assessments Explanations and advice on mooting Videos, notes and PDF materials Notices relating to the module Feedback on all the exercises that you submit.

Alongside the formal teaching sessions, the online space will be the principal means of communication on this module. You will be deemed to have had notice of any instruction we post there. If we post a notice on the module’s online space, you have been notified. It is no use saying that you did not know because you did not read the notice or have not logged onto the module recently. This handbook serves only to help you prepare for your seminars. You should take it along each week, having completed the Activities, prepared answers to the accompanying questions and considered the Thinking point. All the instructions, materials, assessments and rules relating to the Legal Method module are instead detailed online on Unihub. Joseph Corkin ([email protected]).

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Aims and Learning Outcomes Aims •

• • • •

• • •

•

To provide a firm foundation for other law modules by developing an understanding of statutory interpretation, legal reasoning, handling precedents and the central values that underpin the English legal system To equip students with the skills necessary to analyse legal texts and argumentation To provide a critical understanding of the responsibilities of the judiciary and Parliament in developing English law To improve students’ ability to work with one another, discuss and present complex issues accurately To provide students with an opportunity to understand the essential features of the constitutional and law-making framework of UK and EU law, including their relationship with Human Rights To challenge students to evaluate the role of law in society To provide an opportunity to acquire basic legal research skills and a familiarity with electronic legal resources To undertake written work using appropriate forms of expression and which requires basic research, organisation of material and some critical assessment of that material To provide students with a background in the regulation of the legal professions, including relevant institutions and roles (duties to the court and to clients, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, responsibilities for upholding the rule of law and the administration of justice etc.) as a foundation for ethical behaviour

Learning Outcomes Knowledge On completion of this module the successful student will be able to: 1. Understand the common law system in its historical context, the court hierarchy and the doctrine of precedent 2. Comprehend the basic principles and debates underpinning the position of the courts in the English constitution 3. Appreciate how to read a case and be able to pick out its material facts and ratio, as well as distinguish this from obiter dicta 4. Develop an understanding of the different rules and approaches that courts use to interpret statutes. Skills On completion of this module the successful student will be able to:

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1. Critically analyse the above areas of law 2. Effectively present these ideas in both written and verbal format 3. Conduct effective research, accessing and using both primary and secondary legal materials 4. Construct a logical argument using case law and statute and present it verbally in clear, appropriate English 5. Positively contribute to work within a small team as well as a larger group. 6. Use online discussion to work with peers and a tutor 7. Organise information in written work and engage in a degree of critical thinking

Syllabus • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Perspectives on the function of law in society Key concepts, including parliamentary supremacy, the separation of powers, judicial independence and the rule of law Legal reasoning Law-making and the judge Law-making and Parliament Case analysis The doctrine of precedent Handling precedents Statutory interpretation The court hierarchy Court procedure and etiquette Successful presentation skills within a legal context Oral, written and research skills, including electronic legal research Effective mooting Legal ethics

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Classes The scope of the syllabus is wide, but the topics you will cover in the different Units to some extent fall into broad sections. In Term One, we begin by looking at the sources, functions and classification of law, and we then move on to consider case law and judicial reasoning. In Term Two, we will consider statute law and its judicial interpretation. Finally, towards the end of Term Two, you will put all of this into practice in a moot.

Seminars Every student must attend an hour-long seminar each week. To maximise the benefit that you derive from doing so, you should plan on spending 5–8 hours going over each Unit’s materials beforehand. In the seminar, we will focus on the assigned Activities and the Thinking topic for the Unit. You should arrive at the seminar having done all the required reading and ready to discuss the questions related to the Activities and your ideas on the ‘Thinking’ topic. Together, these will test and help your learning. The Extra at the end of each Unit gives you supplementary reading that will further enhance your understanding, but will not be covered directly in the seminar. Seminars will take the form of a semi-structured full class, which will sometimes be combined with smaller group work. Because of the module’s skills orientation, your success will depend on you engaging fully in your seminar each week. Your moot will also take place in your seminar and you will do better if you get to know the others in the class over the course of the year through that engagement. You must attend the seminar to which you have been assigned (check myUniHub if you are not sure). Not all seminars take place on the same day of the week as the lecture and we regret that we cannot take employment or travel arrangements into account in assigning students to particular seminars. Students cannot change to a different seminar group except: • • •

If their seminar clashes with another timetabled class If their seminar makes it difficult to care for dependants If they are a part-time student and their request can be accommodated

If you think one of these exceptions applies to you and would like to change your seminar time you must address your request to UniHelp (your tutor or Module Leader cannot make this change). If you attempt to change seminars without permission, you risk being marked absent and excluded from the opportunity to take part in the moot.

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Lectures and Workshops The general purpose of the lectures (1.5 hours per week) will be to provide an introduction and overview of material in the syllabus. There will be an oral presentation by the Module Leader, which will sometimes be supplemented by: • • • • • •

Interactive activities Video presentations Self- and peer-assessments Formative assessments that are not part of the module’s formal assessment Presentations by guests; and Announcements of general interest by tutors, students and others

The Module Leader may, at their own discretion, set aside time within a lecture for students to ask questions, but please note the workshops may be a more appropriate venue for this. All students should attend all lectures except for the Moot Master Class that will be repeated at the end of the module, to be attended each time only by those students who are mooting in the following week. This will allow us to work more intensively with smaller groups to prepare them for this part of the assessment. Though attendance at lecturers is not monitored, they are a compulsory part of the module and experience tells us that those students who attend regularly do better in the assessments. All lectures start punctually and students are asked to attend on time out of courtesy to others. Those who arrive late may be excluded or asked not to enter until a suitable break. Mobile phones must be turned off and infringement of this rule (including texting etc.) may lead to exclusion. Workshops (one hour per week) are intended to support the lectures and seminars and to provide opportunities for relating information and for generally enhancing learning on the module.

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Coursework Coursework is worth 50% of the final mark for the module and the word limit for each of the FIVE exercises that make up this component is 750 words. You must submit all five exercises to their designated Turnitin dropboxes before 16:00 (UK time) on 5 April. This deadline is fixed and any attempted submission thereafter will be blocked automatically. Failure to submit an exercise by the deadline will result in the award of 0% for that exercise. There is no such thing as an extension, or sliding penalties for late submission. They do not exist, so do not ask! You must state the word count on your work, excluding the title/question of the exercise and any bibliography and footnotes (which must be used for citation purposes only). A bibliography should be included at the end where appropriate; cases must be cited correctly, although full citations may be contained in footnotes; and you must fully attribute any quotations or passages taken from online sources, articles or textbooks. Failure to do so may result in your work being referred to the Academic Registry for an investigation into academic misconduct and potential disciplinary proceedings. Coursework must be submitted to the relevant Turnitin dropbox, where it will be checked for possible plagiarism/collusion and the word count verified. You can submit your answers to each exercise through Turnitin as many times as you like prior to a deadline. Each time you will receive an Originality Report that gives you an opportunity to address any referencing issues. Please note that in the unlikely event that the module's online space is inaccessible on the day of the deadline, submissions will be accepted on the next working day on which it becomes available. Failure of a network and/or broadband access other than the University’s will not be accepted as a reason for non-submission. Please allow adequate time before all deadlines to accommodate unexpected problems. If you have technical difficulties in submitting an exercise and/or receiving feedback, please contact UniHelp for support. You must retain a copy of your work. Coursework is not subject to self-deferral. Where you can demonstrate a good reason to defer, you may apply for a deferral (see your Programme Handbook for details). Deferrals are only granted in exceptional circumstances, for which you must apply in writing to the University, and for which you will need to provide supporting evidence (e.g. a medical certificate). Deferrals are not the decision of your tutor or the Module Leader, so please don’t ask them. If you demonstrate to the University that you have a good reason to defer your coursework (and/or the moot) and are granted a deferral, you must complete the deferred assessment at the next opportunity.

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Word Limits You must record the word count (excluding the bibliography and footnotes used for citation purposes only) at the end of your answer to each exercise. You are limited to 750 words per exercise. Do not repeat the title or the question/title. Any answer that exceeds the 750-word limit, fails to state the word count, or states the word count incorrectly will be subject to the following penalties: a) Coursework which fails to state the word count or states the word count incorrectly will be penalised by the deduction of 2% from the total marks. b) Coursework which exceeds the word limit will be penalised by the deduction from the total marks of 1% for every 2% that the word limit is exceeded. There is no margin of appreciation. Penalties apply as soon as you exceed the word count, even by a single word.

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The Moot Rules The moot is worth 50% of the final mark for the module. moots are assessed in the seminars at the end of the module; which seminar will depend on which moot you choose. You are not automatically registered to do a moot, but must register with your tutor, who will start collecting names at the start of the second term. Only one group of four students per seminar can do each moot and those who organise themselves into groups first will get first choice of moot problem. There are five different moots to choose from. You can also leave your tutor to allocate you to a group, but this does not remove the requirement to register with them in the first place. You must have signed up to a moot group with your tutor by the end of Week 14 (or if you are re-sitting/deferred the moot by 15 July, either by emailing your tutor if based in Dubai or Mauritius or the Module Leader ([email protected]) if based in London). You will otherwise be excluded from taking part and you will fail the module. It is your responsibility to check with your tutor that you are successfully registered. If you fail to register by these dates you will not be allowed to moot and you will fail the module. Once registered, you must agree with each of the other students in your group who will perform each role in the moot (Lead Appellant, Junior Appellant, Lead Respondent and Junior Respondent). All moots and mooting roles are designed to be independently assessed. If, within your mooting group, your moot partner and/or the opposing team fail to cooperate, after bona fide attempts to interact with them, this will not impact on the grading of your individual performance. Important The moot is a formal University assessment and all the University’s normal rules apply. If fail to register or to turn up on time for your moot you will fail the module as a whole because the moot makes up half the grade for the module. If you are registered and you find that you cannot do your moot for some exceptional reason (e.g. a medical emergency) then you should email your tutor and fellow mooters immediately and also seek a deferral from the University, for which you will need evidence (see your Programme Handbook for details). A deferral is not something that your tutor can grant. Each team consists of a Leader and a Junior. The Leader takes the first ground of appeal, the junior the second. The Leader speaks first. One team represents the Appellants and the other team the Respondents. Each speaker, whether Leader or Junior, has a maximum of ten minutes to make their submissions. The clock is not stopped for the judge’s interventions but, at the judge’s discretion, a little ‘injury...