Law and Criminal Justice LLB (Hons)

30 credits

This module develops your understanding of the English Legal System (ELS) – courts, procedure and sources of law – in order to make sense of your legal studies.

You will be equipped with a legal methods toolkit, covering skills for research, analysis and writing relevant to your studies and in legal practice.

This module also has a strong emphasis on developing your personal and professional skills. We will help you to build your professional identity and global citizenship, enhancing your understanding of ethical issues, values, design thinking and commercial awareness. You will be guided by your Personal Tutor to plan your own personal and professional development journey and identify your core graduate attributes.

30 credits

The law of contract is the law of legally-enforceable agreements and is at the heart of English common law. It is one of the seven foundations of legal knowledge and invariably forms part of any degree with an overt legal content. It describes the rules which govern commercial activity, allowing businesses and consumers to maintain stable, consistent relationships over time and over distance. The law of contract covers everything from a complex multi-party agreement to construct a stadium, the employment of the cleaners and the star players, as well as the purchase of a hot dog from a stall outside.

30 credits

The module introduces you to the constitutional and administrative law of the United Kingdom through a study of the core constitutional principles present within the UK legal system and the control of executive action by the courts. The module provides an essential introduction to the study of law since the validity of any particular law is a function of a constitutional rule which establishes manner, form and necessary pedigree for what is to qualify as a valid particular or occasional law.

30 credits

Tort can be described as the area of civil law which provides a remedy for a party who has suffered the breach of a protected interest. The module focuses on the wide range of activity to which tort law applies and examines the remedies it provides for many different types of loss or harm. Tort is also one of the foundations of legal knowledge subjects required by the professional bodies as part of a qualifying law degree for those seeking entry to the legal profession.

30 credits

Land law studies the nature of land, the history of the current legislative structure and third party interests in, on and over private land in England and Wales. It introduces the concepts behind ownership and use of private land, considering also how the law operates in the context of freehold and leasehold title, rights of way and squatters' rights.

30 credits

This module studies the general principles of criminal liability, definitions of what constitutes particular crimes and offences, and how that law affects particular circumstances. This involves not only a critical examination of the law, but also, using hypothetical factual situations, an understanding its detailed application. 

30 credits

The European Union's (EU) development has had a significant impact in Europe and globally. Although the UK has left the EU, its law is still relevant not only because it remains part of the applicable law of the UK, but also to understand how the UK now interacts with the EU.

You will develop detailed knowledge and in-depth understanding of the core areas of EU law, and the relationship between the EU and its member states and the respective role of the Court of Justice of the European Union and national courts in applying EU law.

This module also has a strong focus on developing your employability skills. You will take part in personal development activities designed to strengthen your professional identity and global citizenship, while expanding your knowledge of legal practice in different professional contexts.

30 credits

This module provides you with a critical insight into key issues and controversies in the delivery of justice by our principal criminal justice institutions: the police, prison and probation services.

You will learn about the historical context of these key institutions of justice, as well as the main issues confronting the criminal justice system in the 21st century.

You will explore the range of different penalties available, from fines and community sentences to restorative justice, and the changing ways in which ‘justice' is conceptualised and delivered, or not delivered, in the present day, particularly with respect to the changing place of the victim. You will connect theory to practice through projects in partnership with external organisations.

30.00 credits

This module examines the idea of conscience in English law. It looks at how, historically, equity developed from the King in order to ameliorate the problems caused by an increasingly inflexible common law, at a time when Parliament met infrequently. The concept of the trust, where ownership is divided between legal and beneficial owners, is examined, including the conscience-inspired constructive trust, and the use of the trust in many contexts, including charity law. The administration of trusts is also considered.

15 credits

This module explores how risk has become a key tool in understanding and managing crime today.  

Risk assessment now shapes policing, sentencing, and offender management, influencing areas like organised crime, cybercrime, terrorism, and domestic abuse. Theories of risk help explain why this shift has happened and how it affects our perceptions of crime and security. Some see risk management as reducing bias, while others argue it fuels a ‘culture of fear.’  

This module examines risk in both theory and practice, questioning how it has changed criminal justice, institutions, and even our relationships with one another.

15 credits

This module gives you a dedicated opportunity to develop your Future Skills Graduate Attributes. 

At the start of the module, you will be supported to self-assess your current skills profile. You will determine which attributes and skills you need to develop to support your career ambitions. In this process, you will be supported by a dedicated career coach, helping you explore a range of options that includes self-employment/freelancing, starting your own business, higher level study, and other professional graduate-level opportunities. Throughout the module, you will be given opportunities to engage with external mentors, to support reflection and to develop a professional network.

You will undertake a tailored series of activities and projects, aligned to your goals, from a menu of development options. This could include short courses, enrichment activities and experiential learning options such as micro-placements. You will also be able to reflect on activities outside the University that develop your graduate attributes, such as work or volunteering.

30 credits

This module tackles some of the most urgent questions of justice in the modern world. The international criminal law component examines how law seeks to end impunity for the gravest crimes. From Nuremberg to today’s International Criminal Court, students explore how those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression can be brought before justice.

The human rights component takes a problem-based approach to contemporary challenges. We look at pressing issues such as how artificial intelligence shapes our rights and freedoms, alongside more traditional concerns like the prohibition of torture. Special attention is given to the protection of specific groups, including women, migrants, and minorities, and to rights linked to health and socio-economic status.

Students gain practical insight into how individuals and groups can seek redress through international mechanisms,  whether at the United Nations or within regional systems in Europe, Africa and the Americas, while developing critical, analytical, and communication skills required to expand their employability horizons.

30 credits

This module will be examining some deeply troubling events in recent history and politics and the various ethical, legal and political responses that they have generated. It has been argued that the Holocaust was a critical turning point, a catastrophe which required a fundamental ethical, legal and political rethinking of how the rights of human beings could be protected when states in the modern world engage in the systematic attempt to murder large numbers of people, including many of their own citizens.

The module begins with reflections on the Nazi attempt to eliminate a whole group of people (the Jews) and to murder and enslave millions of others. It then considers a range of responses, including the Nuremberg trials, the Genocide Convention, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It examines a number of cases of genocide and crimes against humanity that have nevertheless occurred subsequently. It evaluates the repeated failure for decades to halt or prevent these crimes and then considers the rethinking caused by the genocides in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the setting up of ad hoc tribunals and an International Criminal Court to prosecute perpetrators and provide justice to victims.

It concludes with reflections on how much progress has been made in protecting citizens in a world of sovereign nation states and what forms of justice can work after such crimes have been committed. These are highly contested questions and the module is designed to encourage the critical analysis and evaluation of a wide range of arguments that have been put forward from a variety of perspectives.

30 credits

This module gives you the opportunity to carry out independent research and write in depth about a legal topic that interests you – particularly one you may not otherwise have the chance to explore. You’ll develop a 7,000–8,000-word essay over the course of the academic year, with support and guidance from an experienced supervisor. 

By the end of the module, you should be able to: 

• Research a legal issue in depth
• Construct a reasoned, well-supported argument and analysis
• Produce a well-structured, clearly presented essay of 5,000 words
• Reach a considered and evidence-based conclusion on your chosen topic

This is your chance to take ownership of your learning and develop specialist knowledge in an area of law that matters to you.

30 credits

The aim of the module is to introduce you to relevant issues within the realm of globalisation and transnational crime: e.g. terrorism, environmental crime, piracy, human trafficking, criminal networks and cybercrime. It will enable you to develop a detailed comprehension of the complexity of these criminogenic experiences.

The course opens with consideration as to what transnational crime is and how it is researched. Various topics are then examined to illustrate the dimensions of transnational crime over the following weeks. Topics include organised crime; sex trafficking and pornography; illegal markets; problems caused by crimes against the environment and the role of technology in perpetrating crime across the globe. Politically motivated crimes such as terrorism are considered, including the interaction between terrorist discourses and the media, the work of international law enforcement bodies in relation to global security and counter-terrorism. Alongside the structural and political aspects of crime, the module also considers interpersonal and cultural experiences of harm, for example, violence against women and honour-based violence.