Law - LLB (Hons)

• Introduction to the concept of crime, the structure of criminal justice and the general principles of liability

• Harm and the boundaries of criminal law

• Murder, the problem of causation and omissions and intent to kill

• Defences to murder, self-defence, provocation, insanity and diminished responsibility

• Manslaughter, unlawful act, recklessness and gross negligence

• Non-fatal offences against the person

• Sexual offences

• Theft and the Fraud Act 2006

Inchoate offences

The module is structured to provide students with the opportunity to explore the major issues in criminal law through class presentation, through consideration of essay style topics and by working through criminal law problem questions. At the commencement of the module students are provided with a Seminar Workbook which outlines the weekly seminar topic and task.

The module will introduce students to critical legal techniques grounded in critical legal and social theory, feminist and queer theory, postcolonial theory and law and the humanities. Throughout the course, concepts are introduced through socio-legal and critical investigation of selected case studies - such as new pieces of legislation, emerging political campaigns and prominent litigation - ensuring that the course maintains a focus on ‘law in action’. Particular attention will be paid to developments in foreign jurisdictions and in the international arena. Accordingly, case studies will alter from year to year, and draw heavily on research projects on-going in the Law School. The course has a heavy focus on primary legal materials and core critical texts, but will also draw on film, museum artefacts, art and literature as appropriate.

This module introduces the law of obligations, which comprises the private law of duties and rights to which individuals and organisations are subject. Traditionally, it includes the law of contract and tort (but not property). As well as introducing some of the content (which is covered more extensively in LW650 and LW651), a key focus is on the institution of the common law through which most of the law of obligations has emerged. This aspect is especially explored through the case classes, which run alongside the lectures and seminars.

Following on from 'Introduction to Obligations', 'Foundations of Property' continues the study of private law by introducing students to property law. 'Property' is something we tend to presume we know about, and rarely examine as an idea or practice closely. Most often we use it to connote an object or ‘thing’, and presume that it has something to do with ‘ownership’ of that object; we use expressions such as, 'This is mine,' and often do not examine the detail of what that really means.

This module begins to unpack and examine the ideas and practices of property more closely, looking in particular at land to ask questions such as: what do we mean by ‘ownership’? What happens when a number of competing ‘ownership claims’ in one object exist? What are the limits of 'ownership'? Does 'ownership' entail social obligation?

When preparing for the module it will be useful to think about (and collect material on) current debates over contested ownership (or use) of property and resources, especially in relation to land.

Part A: English Legal System

This module provides an overview of the English Legal System, including the following indicative topics:

1) An introduction to Parliament and the legislative process

2) The court structure and the doctrine of precedent

3) An introduction to case law, including how to identify and the importance of ratio decidendi and obiter dicta

Part B: Introduction to Legal Skills

The module also gives students an introduction to the basic legal skills that they will develop further in their other modules throughout the degree. The focus here is on specific exercises to support exploration and use of the library resources that are available, both in paper copy and electronically through the legal databases, and on understanding practices of legal citation.

TERM 1

• Constitutionalism: history, theories, principles and contemporary significance

• Models of Government at national, local and supra-national levels

TERM 2

• Human Rights – history and contemporary significance and deployment

• The scope of governmental authority and its limits

• Judicial review and other forms of citizen redress

Over the course of the late twentieth century the modern state was transformed in far-reaching ways. The deregulation and privatisation of national economies, the rise of risk governance, the proliferation of administrative agencies and the increasing the involvement of experts in public policy have all profoundly affected the practice of government. At the same time, states responded to global problems cutting across national boundaries (eg, in finance, security and the environment) by governing through transnational networks and global institutions far removed from conventional mechanisms of democratic and legal accountability. These changes have dramatically transformed the landscape of public law - broadly defined as 'the practices that sustain and regulate the activity of governing'.

This module helps students to navigate this shifting constitutional terrain and grapple with the key legal and political challenges it poses. In Public Law 1 (LW588) students learned about the core principles of constitutional and administrative law, exploring issues like parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers, judicial review, human rights and devolution. In the Law of the European Union (LW593) students were introduced to the principle of multi-level governance through which the modern state operates. Public Law 2 builds on these insights by analysing the complexity of contemporary governance in detail. The aim is to have students think critically about (i) the changing nature of the state, global governance and regulation; (ii) how globalisation is changing the ways public law problems are governed; (iii) the key challenges these shifts pose for the protection of rights and (iv) the different techniques and processes for holding states and powerful actors to account.

This module will build on the knowledge that students will have acquired in Public Law 1, where they have been provided with an introduction to the history of the EU, the main institutions of the EU and some key constitutional issues arising from the principle of supremacy of EU law from a UK legal perspective (e.g. impact on national parliamentary sovereignty). Consequently, this module will develop student learning by focusing instead on related and non-related foundational legal aspects of EU law not addressed or only partially addressed in Public 1, including notably the core areas of substantive law of the EU common market, especially free movement of goods and persons. Where relevant, the material will be related back and compared to the relevant rules in the English legal system that the students have studied, e.g. judicial review and protection of fundamental rights.

Indicative topics:

The coverage of fundamental areas of the institutional, constitutional and administrative legal framework of the European Union in this module will build on the introduction to the EU provided in Public Law 1, and will focus on more advanced aspects. The following contains an indicative list of EU law topics addressed in this module, (taking into account that this list may be subject to amendment or be re-ordered in any given academic year for pedagogical-related reasons):

• Introduction: Evolution of the EU's institutional and legal framework

• Foundational legal principles of EU Law: direct effect, supremacy, preliminary ruling procedure

• EU single market law: notably, the free movement of goods and persons (migrant workers, self-employed and businesses)

• Individual rights under EU Law: fundamental rights and the EU, EU Citizenship

This module will offer a one-week overview of Contract law doctrine by reviewing the essentials of contract law gained by students in Introduction to Obligations and provide an overview of the lectures to follow.

Thereafter, students will spend the majority of the time on contract doctrine and problem-solving in contract law, comprised of doctrinal topics not covered in LW315 Introduction to Obligations e.g. breach of contract and remedies, contractual terms, misrepresentation, termination and frustration of contracts and policing bargaining behaviour.

The remainder of the module will focus on contract theory (e.g. freedom of contract, relational contract theory, contract and the vulnerable, contract and consumption). This section of the module will overlay the doctrine covered in the previous section with a basic theoretical framework, and ground students' understanding of critical essay writing in contract law. It will also build on discussion of the purposes of contract law in Introduction to Obligations.

The bulk of this module will concentrate on the Tort of Negligence in contrast to students' knowledge of the law of trespass to the person (gained in Introduction to Obligations). Students will focus on the conceptual structure of the tort of negligence, its rise and dominance over other torts, its role in accident compensation, the funding of accident compensation and the role of insurance, and the system’s contribution to an alleged "compensation culture". This is primarily doctrinal but informed by various theoretical perspectives examining differing notions of justice.

A smaller part of this module will contrast the predominantly case-based Tort of Negligence with various statutory torts. Students will also consider the Land Torts, drawing further attention to the diverse range of harms protected by tort law and to the diverse conceptual structures of different torts.

This module, normally taken in Stage 2, introduces the student to the main principles and doctrines of equity and trusts. It is designed to challenge the somewhat dull image of this area of law and to encourage a critical and imaginative understanding of the subject. The law of equity and trusts is contextualized within a historical, social and jurisprudential inquiry thereby providing a much wider range of possible interpretations of its development and application. What then becomes central to the module’s approach is the complex interrelation of law with ethical, political, economic and jurisprudential considerations, and that between legal outcomes, pragmatic concerns and policy objectives.

Drawing upon the student’s experience of the study of law, in particular that gained from Foundations of Property Law and Property Law, this module examines the trust both as a private legal institution (the trust in family and commercial settings) and a public one (the charitable trust), placing special emphasis on the management of the trust and the powers, duties and obligations of the trustee. Yet in departing from conventional approaches this module does not study equity merely in regards to its role as the original creator of the trust. Equity is instead acknowledged to be what it really is - a vital and fruitful component of the English legal system; a distinct form of legal interpretation possessing its own principles and method of legal reasoning, and comprising an original and continuing source of legal development in the sphere of remedies.

The focus of the module is private property in English land: title by registration; squatting; owner-occupation; leases; covenants and land development. It builds on the Foundations of Property module to develop an in-depth understanding of English land law, its conception of property and its politics and effects. And it gives experience in how to advise clients on land law problems – and on how to avoid problems for clients.

This module considers the legal regulation of medical practice in its ethical, socio-economic and historical context, drawing on a range of critical, contextual and interdisciplinary perspectives. Students will be introduced to the major western traditions of ethical theory and the major principles of medical law. They will then pass on to their incorporation in medical negligence, confidentiality, consent and competence, and medical research. They will then draw upon these to engage in critical legal analysis of major areas of medical ethics and law.

This course will give students the opportunity to explore the ways in which morality has been understood and theorised and then to trace the development of a particular moral concept (namely, that of individual rights), that is central to legal discourse today. The methodology will be historical/contextual as well as theoretical/analytical. We will look at the way in which the idea of individual rights arose (and continues to develop) in a philosophical, political and historical context and we will examine and critically evaluate modern theories of rights and their relationship to law. The concept of a right is deceptively simple. When examined closely is gives rise to all sorts of questions and problems including, for example: how is the idea of a right justified? What is its relationship to the older idea of liberty? Can it survive the discrediting of theories of natural rights tied to natural law? Can it stand alone as a moral concept or is it merely the ‘other side’ of a duty?

Block 1: A critical introduction to the major theories of moral philosophy: virtue theory, duty based (deontological) Kantian theory and consequentialism (utilitarianism).

Block 2:. A historical/contextual examination of the development of a particular moral concept; that of individual rights.

Block 3.Oral presentations by students in pairs.

Block 4.An analytical examination and critique of modern theories of rights and their relationship to law (incl. ‘interest’ and ‘will’ theories and the legal analysis of Wesley Hohfeld)

This module moves away from the focus of traditional property law modules to look at property in its many different contemporary forms, exploring the nature of property as a legal institution and its economic, political and cultural importance in a variety of contexts. It will seek to question the common sense understandings of property as privately owned 'things' in relation to which the role of law is essentially passive and protective. This module builds on the subject matter covered in both LW316/LW416, Foundations of Property in Stage 1 and, LW599 Land Law in Stage 2. This module will explore the active, constructive and political role of law in actually constituting property and property rights. One of the module's themes will be the complex relationship between property and power. During the course of the module, in a series of case studies and theoretical readings, a wide range of different topics in which issues of property and property rights are central will be examined: from the issues surrounding corporate rights and power to land rights (especially in the colonial context); from the construction and protection of property rights to those surrounding housing and access to housing. The module will also explore the cultural dimension of property and examine the role played by property and property rights in the recent financial crisis.

This module allows a student to undertake a lengthy writing project on a law -related subject that interests her/him under the supervision of a KLS staff member. It is available to Stage 2 and 3 students taking single or combined honours law programmes. Students wishing to take this module must settle on their topic and find a dissertation supervisor near the end of the Spring term of the academic year previous to the start of this module. During the first term of this module, the convenor will conduct several sessions on how to research and write a law dissertation.

The first half of the module will provide students with detailed knowledge and understanding of the idea of development, the international development project, the main international development institutions and the international context in which they developed, and the field of Law and Development. The second half of the module will examine contemporary topics in law and international development, including (but not limited to) human rights and development; decentralization and local development; sustainability and development; law and the informal sector; rule of law promotion.

This course will give students the opportunity to explore the ways in which moral reasoning can inform the study and practice of lawyering. Students will be asked to think and argue about the (possible) moral dimension of the practice of law. The course will include a theoretical component during which we will explore ways in which we might justify (or deny) a moral dimension to the practice of law. In the practical component we will use case studies (including that of the US government lawyers who provided legal justifications for the use of torture on ‘War on Terror’ prisoners). This case study and others will be used to discuss and debate issues in legal ethics, broadly conceived. The methodology will combine theoretical discussion of the principles that should inform the notion of legal ethics with analysis and discussion of actual moral and ethical dilemmas faced by lawyers and their resolution.

Block 1: Why Legal Ethics? An exploration of the moral reasoning and arguments behind the idea of ‘legal ethics’. Do lawyers have moral responsibilities as well as legal ones?

Block 2: Case studies and the ethical issues they raise. Answers to moral questions and dilemmas in legal practice.

This module is concerned with theoretical perspectives on race, religion, and ethnicity as concepts; case studies in the social and legal history of race and religion; overview of contemporary legal regulation of these categories in UK law.

Students will undertake contemporary case studies; research training

as part of the module.

This module is concerned with contemporary labour law. It combines legal analysis and the transmission of practical legal skills with a highly contextual and interdisciplinary understanding of the labour law and regulatory debates around labour regulation. To that end, workshops will feature extended discussion on key aspects of contemporary labour legislation using scholarly texts. Students will also study key legal aspects of the modern employment relationship including the contract of employment, statutory employment protection provisions (for example unfair dismissal and redundancy protection), anti-discrimination legislation and provisions for reconciling work and family life (e.g. pregnancy protection and parental leave). The module will also explore selected aspects of collective labour law including the role and status of trade unions, the legal regulation of collective bargaining and/or the regulation of industrial conflict. The module seeks to combine a detailed knowledge of fundamental key aspects of labour law with the development of broader conceptual, critical and evaluative perspectives on workplace regulation.

In recent times, 'alternative' forms of dispute resolution (ADR) have been widely recognised as possessing the potential to limit some of the damage caused by civil disputes. Therefore, a lawyer’s skill-set ideally should include a well-developed ability to analyse, manage and resolve disputes both within and outside the usual setting of the courtroom. Thus, the module’s primary aim is to introduce students to the legal and regulatory issues surrounding methods of dispute resolution aside from litigation. Specifically, the module focuses on the practical factors relevant to selecting appropriate dispute resolution in distinct circumstances, including, for example, the employment and family law arenas.

Students will be provided with the resources to acquire a detailed theoretical and practical understanding of the contextual constraints associated with the use of different forms of dispute resolution and will be encouraged to develop their ability to evaluate the effectiveness of particular interventions, especially when used as an adjunct to court proceedings. The module tracks historic and current developments in relation the use of ADR, highlighting how government policy and courts appear, increasingly, to sanction failure to use ADR. This may well enhance students’ opportunities to hone career-advancing expertise in the field.

This module, building on knowledge and understanding of certain concepts and principles from Equity & Trusts LW598, will explore equitable remedies and the institution of trust in further detail and examine new contexts in which they operate. Students will be introduced to a number of theoretical frameworks through which to understand and critically evaluate the role, function and concepts of equity and trusts historically and in contemporary society. These will be studied through a range of case studies and a range of different topics, including the nature of the trust; trusts and associations; secured equitable interests; pension trusts; family wealth; trusts in the offshore world; equity and fraud; equity and the vulnerable.

The module focuses on current issues in the law and practice of international business and trade law from critical perspectives. This includes exposing deficiencies in the regulation of international trade finance, international marketing operations, Countertrade, international commercial dispute settlement mechanisms and corruption in international business. The module considers the involvement of emerging business and financial jurisdictions in international trade. It broadly explores the inequities of global integration of international trade law and considers the influences of European Union law and those of leading developed economies and financial jurisdictions on regulation and actual practice of the field of international business transactions. Attention will be given to specialist and emerging areas of law such as international mergers and acquisition as well as philosophical aspects of international trade such as the Lex Mercatoria. It seeks to provide a comparative overview of emerging trends in international business regulation and aims to make students aware of ethical dimensions of international business transactions. Topics to be covered include International Trade within the contexts of public and private international law and international politics; Development and underdevelopment of commercial laws in international trade; mergers and acquisitions; counter trade as an alternative to current system of international business and trade; international franchising and agencies abroad; international commercial dispute settlement mechanisms; international corruption and the bribery of foreign officials; doctrine and practice of the New Lex Mercatoria.

This module introduces the origins, evolution and impact of international economic law—that is, the regulation by (primarily) states and international organisations of international economic activity, such as the movement of goods, services, capital and people.

It takes a critical sociolegal approach to the field in the sense that it considers economic, social, political and cultural dimensions; and emphasises the existence of multiples perspectives, in particular of individuals and organisations; in the public, private, and third sectors; in relatively poor and relatively rich economic contexts; in times of calm and of crisis; and on local, national, regional and global levels.

The provision of a Clinical Option with a focus on criminal justice is an opportunity for students to consider the most crucial aspects of the rule of law namely power, control and accountability. Criminal Justice as a branch of state power and paternalism opens many questions for debate not least the imposition of rules by the state and the degree to which those are balanced, fair and open to challenge.

Students on this module must become members of the Kent Law Clinic and work under solicitor supervision on client's cases that have been taken on by the Clinic. The proposed module will be based on the LW543 Clinical Option casework model.

Students are expected, from the second week of the Autumn term onwards until the end of the Spring term, to undertake the conduct of one substantial case under supervision or a project on an area of law relevant to the field of Criminal Justice and relevant to the objects of the Clinic. Students will normally work on cases rather than projects.

Students will be supervised on a one to one basis for between one and two hours per week. This may increase dependant on the stage a case has reached and supervision may increase considerably if the need to work intensively on the case arises. There may also be periods of little or no weekly supervision dependant on the demands of the case. Student will maintain client files in accordance with Case Management Guidelines and Student Folders containing drafts and research materials.

Putting law into practice in this way increases knowledge of the relevant law, procedure and legal practice and in turn further the aims and ethos of the Kent Law Clinic most importantly in the provision of a crucial public service.

Interactive seminars of 1.5 hours length are proposed due to the small number of students. Allowing additional time will allow flexibility in the structure of the session. For example in some weeks a proportion of the session will be used as a lecture on the area substantive law and the remainder for a discussion incorporating the required reading and informed by the private study undertaken. Other weeks may be presentations by students on their cases and the issues they have identified allowing for a discussion in which we will build on the knowledge and study from earlier substantive law seminars.

In summary, the primary aim of the module is to introduce students to the functions of key players in the CJS including police, prosecution, judiciary, probation and defence. This overarching understanding of the roles and regulation of each is advantageous to those interested in pursuing a career within the CJS. Through casework and research students will have the opportunity to apply the law, to consider appropriate legal strategies to help the client and to critically reflect on the laws and procedures they have encountered. The module should appeal to those students intending to practise in the areas of criminal law and civil liberties but is aimed too at those not intending to pursue a legal career.

This module examines the intersections between forms of legal regulation or 'government', conceptions of power and power-spatial configurations. It traces elements of such intersections accessibly with the aid of insights from a variety of the most relevant sub-fields (including legal geography, architectural history and theory, critical planning studies, urban design, spatial studies, anthropology, legal theory and philosophy). It interrogates the intersections in question both through a thorough introduction to all the contemporary relevant theories and practices of spatial power configuration and with a focused 4-week seminar preparation of a unit theme, each year, on a particular city or relevant event or project which informs the assessment set.

The module will cover the historical development of mental health law (in brief), the Mental Health Act 1983, civil and criminal admissions to hospital, consent to treatment, capacity, sections of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 relating to deprivation of liberty, discharge (including the role of the Mental Health Review Tribunal) and care in the community; proposals for reform; interaction with the criminal justice system.

A central question of this module is whether, and to what extent, there is anything distinctive about legal reasoning compared to other forms of reasoning. That question is posed from the perspective of a legal practitioner, in particular, an advocate. The aim of the module is to equip students – as potential advocates, but also in general – with a range of tools and skills of argument that are easily transferrable across legal and non-legal contexts. In short, to teach transferrable critical thinking skills within a legal context.

It is a premise of the module that any competent advocate, or indeed lawyer, must demonstrate a proficient grounding in basic logic. The module introduces students to basic forms of logical argument and explores the role and limits of logical inference in legal reasoning and generally. It considers both logical and psychological factors that may lead to flawed reasoning. The module also touches on other forms of reasoning of particular relevance to law including practical, statistical, policy-based and rhetorical forms.

The aim of most reasoning, including legal reasoning is to persuade. The module will therefore introduce students to the skills of legal persuasion via written and oral advocacy.

The theoretical background will provide the basis upon which students will learn to construct effective (legal) arguments and to practice the skills learned in a variety of written and oral contexts including skeleton arguments and mooting

This module will focus on the way in which the law defines and constructs privacy, breach of confidence, cybersecurity threats, and e-surveillance in the UK, EU and elsewhere as appropriate (e.g. North America, Australia) and how the law regulates data protection, freedom of information, consent for digital and personal information collection, use and sharing, and e-surveillance. Students will be asked to critically examine whether privacy protection laws, consent, and confidentiality measures are fit for purpose and proportionate given demands of the market, the state, and public administrations to collect, use, and share personal information for reasons of commerce, service provision, and security protection. Students will be challenged to critically examine how personal, financial, health, and economic transactional data are managed, who has access to this information, and for what purposes. The module will require students to assess emerging legal, regulatory, data protection and personal privacy issues raised by widespread access to personal information, including data generated by social media, electronic commerce, state security agencies, and health administrations. The curriculum will explore rapidly changing privacy and data protection issues including the 'right to be forgotten', the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity law in a post-Snowden world including Safe Harbours, data retention and reuse implications of the UK National DNA database, biobanks, and digital interconnectivity of social media.

The module will examine the role and function of international law in regulating relations between States and resolving international disputes. It will introduce students to a number of theoretical frameworks through which to understand and critically evaluate international law historically and in context. It will provide students with knowledge and understanding of the origins and development of international law and of its key concepts, principles and rules. The module will enable students to consider the relevance, or otherwise, of international law to contemporary international problems and to critically assess its limitations and effects.

The module will examine the role and function of international law in the use of force between states as well as non-state actors. It will provide students with detailed knowledge and understanding of the origins and development of international law on the use of force and of its concepts, principles and rules governing the use of force (jus ad bellum) and the conduct of armed conflict (jus in bello). The module will enable students to consider the relevance, or otherwise, of international law on the use of force to contemporary international disputes and to critically assess its limitations and effects. This will be achieved through a range of topics and case studies.

The module will examine the evolution, principles, institutions and functions of international human rights law in their political, social and economic contexts. It will provide students with detailed knowledge and understanding of the origins and development of human rights law through critical study and analysis of key theoretical perspectives and debates. The module will enable students to consider the relevance, or otherwise, of international human rights law to historical and/or contemporary challenges and to critically assess its limitations and effects.

This course explores selected global problems in their historical, social, political and economic contexts in light of international legal frameworks. The course begins with an examination of key critical perspectives in international law, such as Third World Approaches to International Law, before moving on to specific topics of historical or contemporary concern. Attention will be paid in particular to systemic problems of the global legal order and students are encouraged to analyse the limits and potential of international law to present solutions to global problems as well as the role played by international law in framing and constituting those problems in the first place.

• Social understandings of home and homelessness.

• The history of contemporary homelessness law and policy.

• England's current legal framework of homelessness law.

• Comparative legal and policy perspectives.

• Street homelessness and its regulation.

This module engages with the matter of asylum and refugeehood in both a national and international context. The module offers a thorough introduction to the sources of asylum and refugee law (UK and international) and a critical consideration of the relevant jurisprudence. The module employs at times interdisciplinary material to aid understanding and reflection and engages with the historical and socio-cultural evolution of the government and regulation of asylum and refugee subjects. In addition, the module devotes time to key contemporary problems in asylum and refugee law and current developments and debates in the field.

The module will provide an introduction to immigration law in the United Kingdom. It covers key concepts; the development of the field of law viewed in historical and political context; questions of nationality and the system of immigration control and enforcement. It also considers how EU law and human rights standards impact(ed) UK law governing immigration. In particular, the course covers: The Immigration Debate in the UK: Are Immigration restrictions justified?; The Evolution of Migration Law and Policy in Britain; an appreciation and understanding of the subjects to Immigration Control; the multiple sources of Immigration Law; the case of Long-term Residence Rights; the matter of Family Migration; an outline of Labour Migration; relevant aspects of EU Migration and Free Movement; case studies on Detention and Deportation; as well as an appreciation of the Appeals Process and Judicial Review. Drawing on a range of contextual accounts, policy documents, case law and critical analysis of developments at the national, regional and to a more limited extent the international level, the module enables students to acquire both sound knowledge of the law and critical awareness of the biases, gaps and challenges in the current immigration system. This is complemented by a clinic element that offers some students the opportunity to gain fist-hand experience of applying immigration law through working the Kent Law Clinic.

"Art, law and politics" focuses not on the law relating to the sale, protection or movement of art, but on an exciting new body of contemporary art that takes law as its subject matter. Why have artists recently taken such an interest in law? How is art about law unique, and what can “law people” learn from it? This module aims to answer these questions by exploring the many ways artists have targeted law and legal themes. Socially-motivated art about law is animated by a strong critical, political spirit. But contemporary art doesn't simply “represent” law (which is often said about legally-themed literature and film): the great flexibility of art’s forms allows it to “get inside” legal practices, processes, presumptions and structures, opening them up to new perspectives and making us experience them in different ways. We will look at major examples of contemporary and modern art about law (and some of the best art-law writing, to help us to analyse them). While such art can often be read as critical of law and its institutions, we can also read it for the social and political knowledge about law it contains (what we might call an alternative kind of artistic jurisprudence). In this way, the module equips students with a solid understanding of the relations between contemporary art and law.

This module seeks to provide a sound knowledge and understanding of the concepts and principles underlying the

law relating to human rights, including a grounding in the historical development and political philosophy of human

rights law; to provide a detailed grasp of the current protection of human rights in English law, with particular

reference to the Human Rights Act 1998 and European Convention on Human Rights; and to promote a critical

discussion about the nature, function and effects of human rights as they are, or might be, expressed in English law.

The role of evidence in a courtroom is technical but its rules reflect core principles of the due process of law. These are becoming more significant with the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998. The module considers matters such as the functions of judge and jury, standards and burdens of proof, the competence and examination of witnesses, the exclusionary rules relating to character, opinion and hearsay, improperly obtained evidence. The module also introduces students to the process of inferential logic.

This module seeks not only to familiarise students with the basic concepts and structure of modern British company law, but also to provide them with a critical understanding of the nature and dynamics of modern capitalism and of the historical development of industrial organisation and the emergence of company law within it. In addition to a selection on modern company law, therefore, the module also traces the rise of the joint stock company in the nineteenth century and the emergence of company law in its wake. It moves on to trace the twentieth century rise of the modern multidivisional, multinational company and its impact on company law. In this context, it also considers the nature of the share and of shareholding, and the role of the Stock Market, and explores contemporary debates about corporate governance. Key aspects will include exploring the contractual relations between, on the one hand, the company and its agents and on the other hand, third parties who deal with the company, tracing the evolutionary changes from the Common Law to the modern predominantly statutory framework. It will also deal with aspects of corporate management and control, including directors’ duties, shareholders’ rights and the increasingly important issues pertaining to market abuse and how the law seeks to deal with such practices. Students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with current issues in the commercial world by reading the financial pages of the newspapers, as reference will frequently be made to current events to facilitate the learning process. The module will address a range of inter-related questions: How well suited is modern company law to the regulation of the large modern corporation? What do shareholders do? What does the Stock Market do? In whose interests are modern corporations run? In whose interest should they be run? How do companies contract and what are the relationships between the organs of the company?

In the current context of globalization, postcolonialism and transnationalism, not to mention the Europeanization of laws, every law student in the UK will almost inevitably encounter foreign law in the course of his or her professional life. For one thing, the legislator shows itself more and more open to the influence of foreign legal ideas in the legislative process. Also, appellate judges increasingly refer to foreign law in the course of their opinions. Further, private parties often enter into legal arrangements, such as contracts or wills, presenting an international dimension. In sum, nowadays, foreign law is everywhere and cannot be circumvented.

This module intends to provide law students with the necessary intellectual equipment allowing them to approach any foreign law (not only European laws) in a meaningful way. In particular, the module will heighten students' sensitization to the specificity of foreign legal cultures and encourage them to reflect in depth upon the possibilities and limits of cross-border interaction in the law. Another feature of this module will be a critical introduction to hermeneutics, deconstruction and translation studies with specific reference being made to law as these lines of thought are most relevant for comparatists. Throughout the course, concrete examples will be developed from a range of different national laws.

The Philosophy of Law module is designed for those who think they might be interested in philosophical reflection and enquiry into law. The module assumes no prior knowledge of either philosophy or law. The module uses the tools of analytic philosophy in order to promote understanding and criticism of current and historical understandings of law and legal practice, and to promote students' own critical, reflective understandings concerning these topics. Module learning divides into two parts. The first part occupies Autumn Term learning and teaching, and comprises an introduction to philosophy of law and to the major school of thought in jurisprudence that have dominated reflection on the nature of law. A significant theme of this programme of study is to develop understanding of the relation of ideas in philosophy of law to a wider scholarship that includes historical and sociological understandings of legal practices. The second part occupies Spring Term learning and teaching, and is taken up with the close critical reading of a single monograph in the philosophy of law. The aim of this part of the module is to build upon and supplement Autumn Term learning through the focussed and detailed examination of a single, sustained argument offered within the subject field, thereby deepening earlier understandings and also enabling students to develop and refine their skills of philosophical reading and critique.

The module seeks to provide an historical, legal and social understanding of the police, one of the key social and legal institutions of the modern state. The police are an integral part of the criminal justice system and as such, this module is a core element in a criminal justice programme.

Students on this module must become members of the Kent Law Clinic, and work under Supervisors on ‘live’ cases for clients of the Clinic under the supervision of solicitors, or other experienced legal practitioners working alongside them. All Supervisors are members of the academic staff at Kent Law School. Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of specific areas of English law and procedure, and some specific skills. Students are encouraged to view their clinical work as a means to an end – not just the acquisition of important legal skills but primarily a better understanding and critical analysis of law and of legal practice. The excellent opportunity which clinical work provides for active learning, and for studying the interface between theory and practice, is placed firmly in this context.

Students are expected to undertake from the second week of Autumn term onwards until the end of the Spring term, under supervision, the conduct of at least two substantial cases (or the equivalent), involving proceedings in courts or tribunals or other legal forums, or projects on an area of law of relevance to the objects of the Clinic. Students will normally work on cases rather than projects. A Supervisor will decide whether a student has undertaken two substantial cases (or the equivalent) for the purposes of this module.

The course aims to provide students with abilities to develop an understanding of the following issues: (a) Foundational principles, justificatory arguments and theoretical frameworks of intellectual property law; (b) Key legislation and case law and the relationship of levels of law making in intellectual property law; (c) A basic understanding of UK intellectual property law (copyright, breach of confidence, trade marks and patents)

This module will focus on the leading topic areas of intellectual property law (including practical aspects), namely:

• Copyright

• Patents

• Trade marks

• Passing off

• Breach of confidence

This module allows a student to undertake a lengthy writing project on a law -related subject that interests her/him under the supervision of a KLS staff member. It is available to Stage 3 students taking single or combined honours law programmes. Public Law II is a compulsory prerequisite module. Entry to this module will be based on gaining a Merit in stage 1, however, if they achieve a 2:1 in the Public Law 2 special study they may be admitted subsequently. Students wishing to take this module must settle on their topic and find a dissertation supervisor near the end of the Spring term of the academic year previous to the start of this module. During the first term of this module, the convenor will conduct several sessions on how to research and write a law dissertation.

This module allows a student to undertake a lengthy writing project on a law -related subject that interests her/him under the supervision of a KLS staff member. It is available to Stage 2 and 3 students taking single or combined honours law programmes. Students wishing to take this module must settle on their topic and find a dissertation supervisor near the end of the Spring term of the academic year previous to the start of this module. During the first term of this module, the convenor will conduct several sessions on how to research and write a law dissertation.

This module investigates the relationship between law and social change, and explores the political, economic and social dynamics that affect this relationship over time. We will consider questions such as:

• Why is the law a terrain of social struggle?

• How does the law respond and/or contribute to social change? How can the law be harnessed for social change?

• How do the values or worldviews that the law incorporates affect the legal advancement of social change?

• How does the character of the law change in relation to different social, economic and political dynamics?

• What are the obstacles and limitations to the law contributing to and creating social change?

• How can we engage with the law to pursue change towards social justice?

The first part of the module examines the relationship between law and social change as addressed by some key classical and contemporary social theorists. This exploration is then extended with an analysis of how and to what extent social movements can affect legal reform and contribute to social change. The second part of the module investigates a number of concepts and areas in relation to which the approaches and ideas explored in the previous part can be applied, questioned, reframed or expanded. These concepts and areas are morality, democracy, globalisation, rights and citizenship, and the role of legal professions in social change. The module wraps up with a student-led session on their essay-in progress.

This module is designed to provide an understanding of the interrelationship between political theory and law in modernity. Drawing upon political theory it explores ideas of law, power, resistance, community, sovereignty and the subject. The objective is to build a solid understanding of political theory in relation to these key concepts, and then use this understanding to examine contemporary political and juridical questions such as those of democracy and citizenship; multiculturalism, bio-politics, secularism, terrorism, post-colonialism and contemporary formations of Empire. In so doing, the module seeks to equip students with the necessary intellectual tools for deploying insights from political theory and philosophy to the study of law.

The module addresses the regulation of consumer markets. This module is aimed at students who wish to have an understanding of substantive law, policies and institutional framework concerning the regulation of consumer markets.

So much of law is about text and the manipulation of language: Becoming sensitive to the construction of narratives in judgements, learning to read argument in its many forms, recognising the ways in which words, and patterns of words, can be used to create effect, playing with ambiguities or seeking to express an idea with clarity, all these are fundamental skills for a lawyer. Law is also about performance, the roles which are assigned to us and the drama of the court room. And law, as text and performance, carries fundamental cultural messages about the society we live in and the values we aspire to. During this module, we will examine some of the many ways in which reading, viewing and listening to, 'the arts' helps us to think more concisely as well as more imaginatively about law. We welcome on to the module anyone who shares, with us, an enjoyment of reading, viewing and listening – this is a chance to be introduced to material you may not be familiar with as well as a chance to pursue an interest you may already have. Although the module is designed primarily for law students, it is also open to undergraduates from other degree programmes.

The module focuses on a small number of key texts through which to explore the themes and develop student skills. These vary from year to year.

The module will be divided into three main sections. The first section will involve an examination of the banker-customer relationship, including the rights and obligations of the parties in that relationship, the use of different methods of payments and remedies. The second section will focus on the provision of credit by banks to customers. This section will look at the types of credit facilities provided by banks, the taking of security by banks and the enforcement of such security. The final section will focus on money laundering regulation within the banking industry.

This module considers how criminal law makes use of science. Forensic evidence is a rapidly developing area in criminal trials – new techniques are continually being developed and forensic evidence such as DNA profiling is increasingly presented as evidence. This rapid expansion has resulted in forensic evidence becoming increasingly debated in the media and by the criminal justice process – from articles hailing DNA profiling as preventing or undoing miscarriages of justice to those questioning a lay jury's ability to make a judgement in case involving highly complex scientific or medical evidence.

The module will be broken down into 4 parts:

1. Initially, analysis of the historical development of the use of forensic evidence will be made along with explanation of both what constitutes forensic evidence and the basic scientific techniques involved.

2. Consideration of the way in which forensic science has developed as a useful tool within the criminal justice process

3. Analysis of the difficulties of placing emphasis on forensic science within the trial system – cases in which forensic science has resulted in subsequently questioned decisions.

4. Current issues surrounding the use of forensic science: This section of the course will be devoted to considering the questions which arise out of the use of forensic evidence such as:

• Who should decide whether a new scientific technique should be admissible evidence,

• Who are the experts who present the evidence to juries

• To what extent does the admission of forensic evidence assists juries.

The overall objective of the module is to provide an exposition of Environmental Law which seeks to assess the functioning of the law alongside the environmental problems that it seeks to address. Many of these problems admit scientific, economic and administrative responses as readily as legal ones. However, the underlying premise is that, alongside other disciplines, law has an essential part to play in the protection of the environment. Within law, various strategies that may be applied to environmental problems have different strengths and weaknesses. In each case the options must be reviewed and it must be asked, which is the most appropriate legal approach to a particular kind of environmental problem?

To some extent this eclectic perspective spans traditional legal boundaries emphasising features which may be overlooked in customary treatments of subjects such as criminal law, tort, administrative law and European Union law, but it is a subject which has a distinctive identity determined by the specific problems that the law seeks to address. Environmental Law seeks to examine and assess laws, of widely different kinds, from a uniquely environmental perspective. Taking the broadest possible view, it must be asked what legal mechanism is best used to restrict emissions causing deterioration in the quality of the three environmental media of water, air and land and how the law can provide appropriate redress for environmental harm.

Environmental Law I is broadly concerned with environmental quality law, particularly the different ways in which environmentally damaging activities are addressed through legal mechanisms. The module commences with a discussion of foundational issues concerning basic concepts in Environmental Law and the range of legal approaches that are adopted in national, European Union and international law. Thereafter, the main focus is on the protection of the environmental media of water, land and air to prevent pollution and to secure environmental quality objectives. The module concludes by examining some cross-cutting issues, such as enforcement, information access, participation and alternative strategies for environmental protection.

The overall objective of the module is to provide an exposition of Environmental Law which seeks to assess the functioning of the law alongside the environmental problems that it seeks to address. Many of these problems admit scientific, economic and administrative solutions as readily as legal ones. However, the underlying premise is that, alongside other disciplines, law has an essential part to play in the protection of the environment. Within law, various strategies that may be applied to environmental problems have different strengths and weaknesses. In each case the options must be reviewed and it must be asked, which is the most appropriate legal approach to a particular kind of environmental problem?

To some extent this eclectic perspective spans traditional legal boundaries emphasising features which may be overlooked in customary treatments of subjects such as criminal law, tort, administrative law and European Union law but it is a subject which has a distinctive identity determined by the specific problems that the law is designed to address. Environmental Law seeks to examine and assess laws, of widely different kinds, from a uniquely environmental perspective. Taking a broad view, it must be asked what legal mechanisms are best used to restrict environmentally damaging land use and development, and how may the law be used most effectively to conserve wild fauna and flora and the habitats upon which they depend?

Environmental Law II (LW586) is intended to complement Environmental Law I. Whilst Environmental Law I is primarily concerned with protection of the quality of the environmental media of water, air and land, Environmental Law II is concerned with the environmental land use controls and specific mechanisms for conservation of species and habitats (ecological quality law).

The module will assume prior knowledge and understanding of the foundational levels of tort law taught in LW315 and LW597/LW651. In the module, students will focus on contentious areas of tort law from a critical perspective. They will look at areas such as those in the following (not exhaustive or all-inclusive) list: reproductive harms, wrongful birth/life, 'toxic torts' and developments in the law on causation, invasion of privacy and/or autonomy, feminist perspectives/critiques on torts, negligent policing (and of other public bodies), tort law and human rights, access to justice, conceptions of justice in/philosophy of tort. Teaching of these areas may be undertaken by ‘experts’ in a particular topic, so the availability of each topic may vary on an annual basis to account for e.g. periods of study leave.

This module is designed to provide an understanding of the interrelationship between postcolonial theory and law in modernity (late nineteenth century to the present). More specifically, drawing upon postcolonial theory and critique it explores the historical relationships of power, domination, practices of imperialism, colonialism and globalization and the role of law in this context. In particular, the module pays attention mainly to two aspects of the relationship between law and postcolonial studies: the ways in which law and legal technique have been utilised in the context of European colonization and what the contemporary implications of this may be, and the ways in which postcolonial theory has influenced critical legal studies, and aided in the development of post-colonial legal theory.

The objective is to build a solid understanding of the relationship between postcolonial theory and law through some of the key texts that have shaped the field of postcolonial studies and law from the Subaltern Studies School to postcoloniality, and to more recent approaches such as globalization and decolonization. The texts used in the module are situated in a diverse range of disciplines, including history, social theory, philosophy, literature, cultural studies and law. They cover key themes such as race, community, identity, 'otherness' gender, sexuality, sovereignty/border making, governmentality, bio-politics, epistemic violence of western regimes of knowledge including legal knowledge, and justice. To students who are interested in undertaking research in the areas of human rights, international law, indigenous rights, jurisprudence and critical legal theory, an understanding of these texts is indispensable.

The media is full of gender controversies: there’s same-sex marriage (or not) in California, violence against women pretty well everywhere, and a whopping 17% gender pay gap in the UK. What do you think about these issues? How do you think the law should respond?

This module focuses on how law interacts with gender and sexuality. It examines, and encourages you to discuss, the interconnections between law, policy, gender, and sexuality. We will start by focusing on key concepts in feminist and queer legal theory, such as heteronormativity (the dominance of heterosexual family and social structures). We will then relate these theories to current dilemmas: same-sex marriage; transgender rights; gay refugees; diverse family formations. Finally, we tackle the really big questions. Should we use the law to change the law? Are rights really any use? What is neo-liberalism and how does this relate to gender?

Argument occurs across the full spectrum of human interaction - in pubs, at home, in seminar classes, and in professional contexts such as those provided by law, science and medicine. However, despite the importance allotted to argument and the desire of those engaged in arguments to win them, little systematic attention is given to the nature of argument and the practical skills required to argue successfully, even though this information is readily available. The ambition of the module is to equip students with this knowledge base and skills, thereby enabling them to enter into argument more confidently and with a greater prospect of success. The module divides into three parts, the first being a very brief historical and theoretical contextualisation of the topic. The second part of the module treats argument and arguing formally, by mapping the standard forms of argument and by developing the skill of picking out a bad argument from a good one, and by showing how to spot the set of common but typically unnoticed mistakes in one’s own argument or in those of others. The third part of the module turns to the skills of rhetoric and persuasion, including examination of the ploys that are often used to give bad or weak arguments persuasive force. The themes of the module are illustrated throughout using real examples from law and elsewhere.

This module focuses on the way law defines, constructs and regulates the family and familial relations. Autumn term deals broadly with the institution of marriage and relations between partners, including definitions of the family, marriage, civil partnerships and cohabitation, domestic violence, divorce and family dispute resolution. Spring term deals with the relationship between parents, children and the state, including reproductive technology, parenthood, children’s rights, private law disputes over post-separation arrangements for children, child support, and public law provisions for the care, supervision and adoption of children