Admission to certain courses may be restricted if numbers exceed 25; the accommodation of students registered for the relevant specialist LLM will be prioritised. In determining whether a student will be permitted to take courses in which the number of interested students exceeds 25, account will be taken of the student's previous degree or experience and its relevance to the subject-matter of the course.
All courses on the LLM, MSc and LLM by Research programmes are listed below in alphabetical order.
Note: while every effort is made to ensure that all courses which are indicated as being on offer will be taught, the University reserves the right to alter the list of offerings in order to respond to staff changes and other similar developments.
Anatomy of Private Law
The course helps the student to understand private law as a rational tradition. In doing so, it tries to make sense from a conceptual point of view of aspects of our legal experience, an experience that takes the shape of a slow and imperceptible build-up of interrelated rules of law over time. A study of the process whereby these rules were created and expanded provides a fascinating glimpse of the legal past of Europe and permits scholars of private law to predict possible future developments.
This course is concerned with the development of legal doctrine in European private law, both from the point of view of understanding how we got where we currently stand and from the point of view of the underlying justification(s) for this evolution and for the status quo.
The main areas of investigation will be the law of property and of obligations where specific concepts such as ownership, possession, contract and delict will be discussed from a doctrinal perspective and will be related to conceptions of justice.
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Anatomy of Public Law
The course sets out to provide a deep understanding the historical and philosophical foundations of the modern branch of law known as 'public law' Historically, the course examines how the origins of the modern understanding of public law are bound up with the growth of the modern state, the development of a conception of ‘constitutive’ or constitutional law, and the emergence of a distinction between private and public domains of life and regulation. Philosophically, the course asks whether there are certain key conceptual and doctrinal elements that are definitive of and distinctive to public law (e.g. sovereignty, fundamental rights, judicial review, discretionary power) In a third and final section, the course looks at whether and how the idea of public law is affected by the development of the many new and emerging forms of public authority that are no longer state-centred but are instead situated in trans-state, supra-state or sub-state domains.
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Banking and Finance Law
The aims and objectives of this course are to introduce students to certain general principles of banking law in both a UK and international context.
It is helpful, but not a pre-requisite, if students have done Commercial Law in their home jurisdiction. Knowledge of contract law and/or company law and/or property law would be useful.
-LLM Commercial Law
Biotechnology: Law and Society (DISTANCE LEARNING)
This course examines the role played by law in the regulation of biotechnology. The course draws out two central problems relating to the use of law in this dynamic field. First, it is often difficult for regulators to keep pace with rapid advances in biotechnology and the life sciences. This means that existing legal concepts and regulatory frameworks can soon appear outmoded and inadequate. Second, in an age of moral pluralism, it can be difficult for stakeholders to secure social consensus on how new biotechnologies should be controlled and exploited. As a result, the regulation of biotechnology has often been a site of sharp political disagreement. This module examines how these fundamental tensions are mediated within the legal and regulatory structures governing biotechnology at both the national and international levels.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Business Response to Climate Change
This course first introduces the concept corporate carbon footprints and their assessment. It goes on to cover the various management polices currently used by companies to reduce carbon emissions and the ethics of such mitigation. It examines the supply chain and the influence businesses have in effecting change in the carbon footprint of this chain. Finally it closely examines the investment basis for climate mitigation by business, the perceived barriers to this investment, and the legislative drivers for change.
Course offered by the School of Business.
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Climate Change and Coporate Strategy
(Course description to follow)
Course offered by the School of Geosciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Climate Change Science and Policy
(Course description to follow)
Course offered by the School of Geosciences and the School of Business.
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Company Law
This course aims to give students a broad understanding of United Kingdom corporate law, including current changes; where appropriate, reference will be made to the position in Europe. The course seeks to develop awareness of the interaction between theory and practice, and the complex issues involved in balancing the needs of business and the community. It encourages students to consider the problems involved
-LLM Commercial Law
Comparative Environmental Law
This course, which will start in 2010-2011, aims to explore the main elements and different legal options adopted by countries outside the European Union and in particular developing countries. It will on the one hand discuss the role of national law in implementing international environmental law, with particular emphasis on the use of international guidelines and other soft law instruments by national legal drafters. On the other hand, it will familiarize students with legal drafting techniques and participatory methodologies. The specific areas of law explored will include environmental institutions and public participation, protected areas, environmental impact assessment, sustainable forest management, wildlife management, fisheries and aquaculture, water, mountain development and bioenergy.
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Contract Law in Europe
This course aims to analyse fundamental concepts of contract law, comparing them from a civil law and a common law perspective. In order to do so, the contractual rules of certain legal systems are analysed: principally Scots/English law, French law and German law. European harmonisation initiatives, such as the Draft Common Frame of Reference prepared by the Study Group on a European Civil Code and the Research Group on EC Private Law also form a key focus of the seminars.
Although the law in the UK, France and Germany forms that basis of analysis, it is not necessary for each student to have prior knowledge of those particular systems. It would, however, be helpful (if not absolutely necessary) if students had studied contract law of one European Union legal system prior to undertaking this course.
Pre-requisites: A pass at undergraduate level in contract law.
-LLM Commercial Law
Core Quantitative Data Analysis for Social Research
The course is designed for students who have little or no previous experience or knowledge of statistics, or for those who feel they need a refresher course. The course aims to ensure that all students completing the course are able to demonstrate proficiency in certain key methods, and in the use, interpretation and presentation of techniques for the analysis of quantitative data.
The course is divided into two free-standing courses, enabling more advanced students to start at Part 2 (subject to successful completion of preliminary assessment). The course is predominantly lab based and involves following a web-based programme of exercises, with face-to-face and online human support.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law
Corporate social responsibility, once seen as just a matter of voluntary good practice or indeed PR, has now become very much a legal issue. Company law has begun to adopt a wider framework than the traditional focus on directors’ duties to shareholders, in 2011 international human rights law explicitly brought corporate responsibility into its domain, and private law is increasingly used to enforce what were once seen as voluntary or extra-legal commitments. The result is a widening of the legal concept of corporate responsibility, and with it, both the legal accountability and the legal liability of business, nationally and internationally.
This course analyses the new approach to corporate responsibility, tracing its origins and exploring pertinent current developments in, and new uses of, company law, contract, tort, international human rights, environment, intellectual property and European law, as well as recent policy proposals on securities and tax law enforcement. As this list demonstrates, the course is wide-ranging, though always focussed on the specific issue of corporate responsibility. It draws on legislation and cases from the UK, Europe, further jurisdictions and international law, sets analysis of legal developments in a wider context of social and economic analysis, and explores case studies on themes such as human rights and environmental issues in the oil industry, and the banking crisis.
The course should be of both practical and broader analytical interest. Corporate lawyers need increasingly to be able to advise their business clients on their widening legal liability, while lawyers for non-governmental organisations, employees or government, seeking on one issue or another to hold companies to legal account, should be aware of the widening range of legal tools at their disposal.
More generally, those interested in understanding the role of law in society will find in recent developments in CSR a prime example of a broader approach to governance than that of traditional legal regulation, while issues in business ethics and professional responsibility are also raised.
-LLM Commercial Law
Criminal Justice and Penal Process
This course will introduce students to the conceptual functioning of the institutions of criminal justice and to the relevant policy frameworks, dilemmas and debates about them. While the jurisdictions of Scotland and England & Wales will serve as the primary model for discussions, an international, comparative approach is encouraged. By the end of this course, students should be able to describe the functioning of criminal justice and penal institutions; explain the rationale of key developments in policy and practice and critically analyse these institutions and developments.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Criminological Research Methods
This course aims to inform students about the data and methods used in criminological research, and provide an introductory knowledge of how to use these in specific research projects. A further aim is to enable students to evaluate the methodological strategies adopted by other researchers and develop a critical appreciation of the problems and possibilities presented by different research methods, techniques and data.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Culture, Ethics and the Environment
This introductory, inter-disciplinary course explores whether an understanding of our cultural and ethical assumptions can provide for better decision-making than technical and managerial analyses of environmental issues alone. The course will draw on introductory material in: environmental anthropology; animal and environmental ethics; ecological economics; human ecology and community activism; and the sociology and practice of environmental education.
Course offered by the School of Geosciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Current Issues in Constitutional Law
The course seeks to highlight and explore contemporary issues in constitutional law from a variety of approaches – comparative, theoretical and inter-disciplinary. The course will be taught by a range of teachers who will present their topics from a variety of intellectual and jurisdictional perspectives.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
Current Issues in EU Law and Practice
This course seeks to build upon prior knowledge of EU law acquired through undergraduate study by engaging intellectually with problems at the cutting-edge of EU legal practice and policy-making. It seeks also to harness in a more structured way the unique perspective offered by the very rich programme of Europa Institute speakers and external teachers. In 2008-2009, this course will focus on the judgment in T-201/04 Microsoft v Commission (judgment of the Court of First Instance, 17 September 2007), looking at the issues raised from a variety of perspectives: competition law, intellectual property rights, law and new technology, procedural and judicial protection, and so on.
Pre-requisite requirement: Study of European Union law at undergraduate level.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Cybercrime
The course is primarily criminological, sociological and socio-legal in content and approach. You will explore different types of internet-related crime; study relevant computing and network technologies, especially where used either in the commission or detection or prevention of cybercrime; analyse policing, legal, electronic, and other measures designed to combat cybercrime and considers their main strengths and weaknesses; and assess recent sociological and socio-legal theories of cyberspace and apply these theories to the specific field of cybercrime. Other topics covered include sex offenders’ use of the Internet; and the ways in which children might better be protected while online.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Data Protection and Information Privacy
This course is intended to consider data protection law in Europe, and examine the legal instruments which regulate the processing of personal data and personal privacy. After introducing the core concepts of data protection and the principles of processing, seminars will explore topics which have particular relevance in commercial practice, including outsourcing, employment issues, and the role of the Information Commissioner. Later seminars will explore the regulation of privacy by the ECHR, and recent case law in this field.
Pre-requisites: None. However, it would be helpful if students have some awareness of data protection legislation and of the privacy provisions in the European Convention on Human Rights.
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Delict and Tort
The aim of the course is to familiarise students with the advanced study of the law of delict/tort, and to encourage them to analyse national solutions to delictual problems in comparative perspective. Students will be encouraged in seminars to discuss problem areas in delictual liability and to suggest and evaluate the theories by which they may be resolved. They will not only develop oral skills in class discussion but they will also be assisted in refining legal writing skills, in the form of essay-based assessments.
By the end of the course students should be able to demonstrate (1) a critical knowledge and understanding of the law of delict; (2) an appreciation of the comparative approach to legal study; (3) an ability to comment critically and engage in debate on the issues examined; (4) problem-solving skills in formulating solutions to the problems considered.
-LLM Commercial Law
EU Competition Law
The purpose of the course is to impart to students an understanding of the rationale behind competition regulation in the European Union, the substantive and procedural rules which comprise EC competition law, and their place within the Treaty scheme – they being ‘fundamental provision[s] … essential to the accomplishment of the tasks entrusted to the Community and, in particular, the functioning of the internal market’ (Case C-126/97 Eco Swiss China Time v Benetton International [1999] ECR I-3055, para 36).
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM European Law
Economics and Policy of European Integration
This course will examine the economic analysis of European integration, and will thereafter apply that analysis to the EU internal market programme and select policy areas. The course is designed for students of European law and integration with no prior knowledge of economics.
This course is intended to complement existing courses by examining the EU by analysing the underlying economic arguments which are used to advocate economic integration, and their critics. It will equip students of EU law and EU governance to better understand the nature of EU policies ranging from single market policies, competition law, economic and social cohesion, and monetary union.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
European Environmental Policy and Politics
This course examines environmental policies and politics in Europe, with particular emphasis on the European Union (EU) and international agreements. Following an introduction to different analytical approaches for understanding environmental policy, the course explores
key actors and dynamics shaping national environmental policy and politics. The knowledge of national differences will be the base from which to study the EU's unique role in shaping national and international environmental policy. The final weeks will concentrate on
international agreements and current debates
Course offered by the School of Social and Political Sciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
European & International Human Rights Law
The objective of the course is to provide students with a thorough knowledge of the theory behind and the law protecting human rights.
The course will give the students an overall awareness of the history and theory of human rights, as well as a detailed knowledge of the law of the European Convention on Human Rights and its enforcement mechanisms as well as of other selected European human rights provisions.
-LLM European Law
-LLM International Law
European Media Law and Policy
Increasingly, the rules governing the operation of the print and audiovisual media in Europe are being determined by the European Union and the Council of Europe. This module offers an introduction to these institutions and explores why they have come to play such an important role in regulating the mass media. This role may seem particularly surprising in the context of the European Union, given that neither the European Community Treaty, nor the Treaty on European Union, directly addresses the mass media. Why, then, is the European Union involved in issues ranging from the allocation of the radio spectrum to the number of minutes of advertising allowed in each hour of television broadcasting? In substantive terms, the module examines the impact of European law on, firstly, the structure of media markets and, secondly, on the content of media services. In relation to structural matters, consideration will be given to the role of the EU in relation to media ownership and state funding of public service broadcasting. In relation to content controls, the module will examine the Television Without Frontiers and Electronic Commerce Directives and the development of European rules relating to advertising, child protection, and hate speech. Throughout the course students will be encouraged to consider: i) the impact of growing convergence between the audiovisual, telecommunications and computing sectors on traditional regulatory structures, and ii) the impact of regional rules on established national regulatory systems and goals.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
European Union and Domestic Parliamentary Governance
The course starts with the identification of the ‘challenge’ faced by domestic parliaments in the EU polity; namely, how the emergence of the EU has structured the transformation of parliamentary deliberation and re-cast ‘executive-legislative’ relations. From this, we evaluate the analytical purchase of different social science approaches (positivist, institutionalist, sociological) to the study of how national parliaments across the EU have adapted their practices in EU affairs.
To do this, we examine both comparative parliamentary practice across a number of Member States (with students taking the lead on a parliament of their choice) and changing British parliamentary practice post-devolution - Scotland, Wales and Westminster. Overall, the course considers questions of theory and method in the study of parliaments, as well as raising broader questions on whether `old` concepts of formal parliamentary control capture new types of parliament-government relationships brought about by EU processes and what the consequences are for the legitimacy of political processes.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
European Labour Law
The course is designed to introduce students to EC Social Policy, EU Labour Law and the overall importance of European Social Policy to the European Programme. This will include an overview of a range of topics which comprise the subject of EU labour law, including EU equal treatment law, EU equal pay law, family-friendly policies, the protection of part-time and fixed-term employees, the regulation of working time and the safeguards for employees on the restructuring of an undertaking.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM European Law
EU Constitutional Law
The principal aims and objectives of the course are to consider and analyse European Union constitutional law and the evolving principles underpinning its development. Overall, students will acquire in-depth knowledge of EU constitutional law and engage with theoretical perspectives on pluralist constitutionalism more broadly.
-LLM European Law
EU Criminal Law
The first section of the course will examine the constitutional basis of EU criminal law, looking at the competences, the institutions and the instruments which have evolved. The concept of mutual recognition will be given particular attention. We will also consider the extent to which the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty have proposed amendments to the constitutional basis of policy-making in this field, and the precise issues to be discussed will be affected by whether or not the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified and come into force. In the second section of the course, the following topics will be examined:
· The European Arrest Warrant
· Further developments in judicial cooperation in criminal matters
· Terrorism – action across three pillars
· Organised crime: drugs and people trafficking
· Europol and EU level agencies combating crime
· Problems of data protection under the EU’s third pillar
-LLM European Law
European Environmental Law
This course aims to explore the competence of the European Union in environmental matters, focusing on the interactions between its internal and external dimensions. Students’ attention will be drawn, on the one hand, to the way in which global commitments influence the development of EU environmental law, and on the other to the ways in which the EU seeks to influence the development of international environmental law and support its effective implementation within and outside its borders.
Students will examine the objectives, principles, key legal instruments and current challenges of EU environmental law, as well as selected substantive areas (biodiversity, climate change, water and waste). They will further consider the interactions between EU environmental law and other areas of EU law (fisheries, agriculture, trade and development) and the means to ensure compliance.
-LLM European Law
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
European Procurement Law
In this course the roles of public purchaser and private or public provider are analysed and identified, the applicable provisions are examined and their application is illustrated. The role of the EU in the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement is explained.
The course will show students to recognise procurement situations, to distinguish them from self-supply. They will see how rules are fashioned from principles and are then applied. They will gain an understanding of the tensions between notions of economic competition and social objectives and of approaches to the reconciliation of real and apparent conflicts between them.
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM European Law
EU Immigration and Asylum Law
The first section of the course introduces students to the development of EU Immigration and Asylum Law, looking at how this policy area developed partly as a result of the evolution of the EU’s own internal market and as a result of the evolving free movement of persons. A particular focus is placed upon how the special institutional arrangements which have been in place for Immigration and Asylum Law have developed, as well as upon Schengen, which was a system for frontier free travel developed amongst what was initially a small group of Member States, which has developed into a significant element of EU Immigration and Asylum Law. In this section we also look at the significance of fundamental rights in this context.
For a number of years, after the Treaty of Amsterdam, the relevant Treaty provisions remained little applied. Most of the legal material in the field of immigration and asylum law was soft law or political rhetoric. In recent years, however, a substantial number of directives and other measures have been adopted, which we examine in the second section of the course. The impact of these measures in Member States is a particular focus.
-LLM European Law
Foundations in Ecological Economics
This course examines the principles of economics and how they might be applied to environmental and resource-use issues. The course should appeal to students who would like to obtain a grounding in economics from first principles so as to assist in decision-making and problem-solving. This course assumes no prior knowledge of economics, but a grounding in basic mathematics is expected.
Course offered by the School of Geosciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Forensic Computing and Electronic Evidence (DISTANCE LEARNING)
Students will be introduced to the practicalities of forensic computing - the analysis of data on suspects' computers to provide valid evidence - and will consider the need for it and organisational procedures for it. Students will also learn about the principles and practicalities of electronic evidence, and current legislation concerning its collection and use.
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
Fundamental Issues in International Law
This is a course in which fundamental elements of public international law are studied at an advanced level. It is intended to be suitable both for students who are new to the study of international law, as well as for those who may have taken a basic undergraduate course but who wish to explore the issues in greater depth.
The course will focus on contemporary scholarship and will try to address the issues in a broad legal and theoretical context.
-LLM International Law
Gender Crime and Criminal Justice
The course will be organised around two case study topics. Each topic will be explored in detail over four weeks. Preliminary and core readings will be identified and will provide a starting point for class discussions. Students will also be given the opportunity to identify and focus attention upon specific themes and issues of particular interest to them. They will then conduct their own independent research (individually and in groups) into these themes in order to build up and develop the case studies. This year the case study topics will be domestic violence and prostitution.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Global Crime, Justice and Security
This core course will examine crime, justice and security in a global and transnational context, the way in which these are constructed as problems to be dealt with by legal and political means, and the domestic and international responses.
The course aims to enable students to develop analytical perspectives on various settings in which crime, justice and security can be understood in an international dimension.
It is assumed that students taking this course will have taken Global Crime, Justice and Security: Theories and Frameworks, although this is not a pre-requisite. Students not having taken this will be expected to complete some pre-course reading.
Course offered by the School of Social and Political Sciences
-MSc Global Crime, Justice and Security
Global Crime, Justice and Security: Theories and Framework
This foundational core course, designed for the MSc in Global Crime, Justice and Security, will introduce students to theoretical frameworks from law and the social and political sciences through which they will be able to understand and interpret issues raised in the second semester core course and in other non-core courses.
The course aims to give students a firm grasp of a number of theoretical perspectives and concepts utilised by legal, social and political scholars to describe, explain and understand issues of crime, justice and security in a global context.
Course offered by the School of Social and Political Sciences
-MSc Global Crime, Justice and Security
History of Private Law
This course examines the history of key institutions of private law in Western Europe. These may include concepts such as property, contract, delict, restitution, family law, unjustified enrichment, succession. Differing legal traditions will be examined and the impact of various intellectual movements assessed.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Information: Control and Power
This module will investigate, through a range of legal disciplines and perspectives, the growing focus placed on, and value attached to, information by society and individuals; concerns as to its control and misuse; and the impact of this on business and government, particularly in the light of the opportunities and challenges of evolving technologies.
The module will consider legal regimes relating to freedom of information and data protection; the extent to which present systems conform to expectations in respect of information privacy and access, and environmental progress; the extent to which intellectual property rights can and do exist in respect of basic data and information, and the consequences of this, particularly in the light of new means of obtaining and recording information; human rights law and policy, with particular reference to privacy, open media, freedom of expression and access to education; ethical issues; the ability of competition law and policy to intervene in respect of misuse of information and its control by individuals, companies and groups, by the use of existing and ground breaking technologies; the impact of the WTO, GATS and free trade agreements; and the possible impact of different regulatory structures. A wide ranging international approach will be adopted, with contributions sought from students in respect of their own jurisdictions.
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Information Technology and Legal Reasoning (DISTANCE LEARNING)
Information Technology & Legal Reasoning examines technology systems that are available to support lawyers, law enforcement officials and judges from the point at which a case is prepared to the point of sentencing. It looks at systems to support mediation; systems that represent legal arguments graphically; systems that support case preparation, case management, documents and intelligent information retrieval; systems that can be used in courtrooms; and systems to support sentencing. The course looks at the principles underlying each of these systems, from game theory to semantic indexing and from deontic logic to ontology.
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual Property Law and Society
The course will examine the nature of Intellectual property from a law and society perspective and socio-legal studies approach. It will build on the legal knowledge acquired by the students from existing courses on the legal and international aspects of IP law and will provide a complementary inter-disciplinary perspective to the subject. It will introduce various studies and enquiries which have used, amongst others, historical, economical, sociological and anthropological approaches to question and critique important concepts and policy questions within Intellectual Property law. It will centre on several existing empirical studies to enable the students to gain an awareness of the perceptions and implications of IP law in the real world.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual Property Law 1: Copyright and Related Rights
The purpose of this module is to consider the law relating to copyright, design right, breach of confidence, and performers' rights within their institutional setting at international, European and national level. Recent years have witnessed an expansion in the scope of intellectual property rights, and having examined the institutional setting in which policy is formed, the reach and impact of these rights within individual territories will be analysed as will the impact of European competition law on the exercise of these. The teaching sessions will also highlight areas of particular topicality such as: moral rights; personality rights; and the interaction between copyright and the internet.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual Property Law 2: Industrial Property
The purpose of this module is to consider the laws relating to patents, trade marks, passing off, and breach of confidence within their institutional setting at International, European and national levels. Recent years have witnessed an expansion in the scope of these intellectual property rights, and having examined the institutional setting in which policy is formed, the reach and impact of these rights within individual territories as well as their movement between territories will be analysed. The seminars will also highlight areas of particular topicality where these rights are having a particularly strong impact. These areas include: access to medicines, biotechnology, domain names and the protection of computer programs.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Intermediate Inferential Statistics
The aim of this course is to extend and deepen understanding of statistical approaches to data analysis through an appreciation of the process of statistical reasoning prior to designing appropriate quantitative analysis of data.
Attention will be given to discrete probability distributions, including Normal approximations, as well as a range of parametric and nonparametric tests. A number of approaches to regression under different conditions will be considered in depth. There will be an introduction to understanding changes over time through event history (survival) analysis.
Course offered by the School of Social and Political Studies.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Internal Market Law
The aims and objectives of the course are to impart to students an understanding of the rationale behind the economic integration of the European Union and the course that this has taken in the last 50 years. This is essentially the ‘public law’ of market integration, that is, the suppression and regulation of state measures necessary for Union integration. The course will therefore consider, substantially, the four freedoms that comprise the common/internal market (and on the way, touching upon some ancillary policies) and explore the principles of Community law that underpin them. The role of the internal market in the wider and continuing European integration project will be critically assessed throughout.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
International Public Health: Law and Security (DISTANCE LEARNING)
This course examines international, regional and domestic legal regimes as they relate to the protection and promotion of public health and security.
The course is run over 10 sessions divided over three major themes; A) International Public Health: Law and Policy B) Public Health, Private Lives & Security and C) Public Health Aspects of Medical Research. Section A lays out the international framework for legal regulation of public health, invoking roles for both the UN and WHO and dealing with issues such as contingency plans to respond to SARS and Avian Flu and health promotion models regarding food and tobacco advertising. Section B focuses specifically on legal responses to threats and attacks on public health, as well as on measures to use personal data (such as DNA or biometrics) to counter such threats. Finally, Section C considers initiatives to promote public health through research, such as the establishment of population-wide
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Internal Market Law
This course explores the rationale behind the economic integration of the European Community and the legal course that this objective has taken. The course aims overall to consolidate and deepen skills acquired through the study of European Union law at undergraduate level, looking across the span of EC free movement law and seeking to identify points of both convergence and difference.
The course will therefore examine the concepts and legal principles underpinning the ‘four freedoms’ that comprise the common/internal market (for example, discrimination, market access, proportionality) and on the way, touch also upon some ancillary policies (such as protection of the consumer or the environment) which can sometimes compete with ensuring the realisation of market integration. The significance of the internal market in the wider
-LLM European Law
International Commercial Arbitration
The course aims to provide a firm grounding in the legal aspects of ad hoc and institutional international arbitration as well as offering practical skills on how to conduct such arbitrations. The course will include a range of topics including an introduction to arbitration, applicable laws, arbitration clauses, the arbitral tribunal, the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, the conduct of arbitral proceedings, the role of the national courts, the award, challenges to the award, and recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award.
This course is aimed at those who are interested in acquiring a detailed understanding of how transnational disputes are resolved and knowledge of the legal environment which facilitates such a process. The primary focus will be on international commercial arbitration in practice, combining a substantive legal understanding together with a practitioners’ perspective.
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM International Law
International Criminal Law
This course will focus on the study of selected aspects of international and transnational criminal law and international co-operation in the administration of justice.
-LLM International Law
International Environmental Law
The principal aim of this course is to give students an understanding of contemporary developments in international law with regard to the protection of the environment and the sustainable utilisation of natural resources. Particular attention will be paid throughout the course to the processes of international law-making, regulation and institutional management.
-LLM International Law
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
International Intellectual Property System (IIPS) (DISTANCE LEARNING)
The IIPS began developing in the 19th Century in response to the then advances in cross-border trade. As intellectual property laws are territorial, so some mechanism had to be found through which protection could be accorded to authors and inventors as their works were traded abroad. The response, over the ensuing 150 years, was the establishment of a number of international bodies responsible for the development and oversight of a variety of Treaties and Agreements providing both formal and substantive norms which were (and are) in turn translated into domestic law. These measures have had a significant impact on the shape of domestic intellectual property laws, the development of which has quickened with the growth in international trade coupled with innovative technological advances. However there are significant tensions within the system. Many of these have been brought about through linking of IP with trade through the TRIPs Agreement. This module will examine the IIPS with a particular focus on patents, copyright and trade marks and within the domains of information and communication and international trade. Having analysed the architecture of the IIPS and considered the ways in which the laws are developed and the tensions that have been brought about through linking IP with trade, this module will go on to look in depth at formal and substantive aspects of the Treaties as well as current developments.
Please Note: This module will not cover in any depth substantive aspects of IP law except where they are relevant in the context of the IIPS. It is assumed that students have a basic knowledge of IP law prior to taking this module. If the student has no background knowledge then it is highly recommended that they read Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy, MacQueen, Waelde and Laurie, OUP 2007 or Lionel Bently and Brad Sherman, Intellectual Property Law, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2004. The Introduction should be read in preparation, and then the chapters as they relate to discussion during this module.
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
International Investment Law
This course will give an introduction to the major themes and issues of international investment law. The focus of study is the network of bilateral and multilateral treaties on investment, as well as the growing number of arbitral awards in this area. Students will analyse the substantive principles of investment law, such as most-favoured nation treatment, fair and equitable treatment, and expropriation. They will also study mechanisms for dispute settlement in the context of investment disputes. Finally, students will consider the relationship between international investment law and other fields of international law, such as environmental law and human rights law.
-LLM International Law
International Law of the Sea
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the contemporary challenges in the regulation of the seas and oceans. The focus of the course is on the legal framework contained in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and related instruments. Students will be introduced to the various zones of maritime jurisdiction created under international law, including the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, the high seas, and the continental shelf.. They will also study the way in which the law of the sea is developed by a variety of international institutions and how states have tackled new issues that have arisen since the conclusion of the 1982 Convention.
-LLM International Law
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
International Private Law: Jurisdiction and Enforcement
This course deals with civil jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments, issues which have been central to recent developments within International Private Law. It will consider the provisions contained in EU instruments, focusing on the Brussels I Regulation but also looking at the Insolvency Regulation and Brussels II bis Regulation. The course will also examine proposals for reform of these instruments. In addition there will be consideration of appropriate Hague Private International Law Conventions, especially the recent Choice of Court Convention and the proposals for a general Convention on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments.
-LLM Commercial Law
International Public Health and Security (DISTANCE LEARNING)
The primary function of this module is to gain a solid grounding in the fundamental elements of public health, the social pursuits which impact on public health, and the primary international institutions which administer public health programmes and/or respond to public health needs, and to explore the relationship(s) between commerce, conflict, contagion and health.
The first session offers an introduction to the international public health framework, both institutional and conceptual. The following three sessions explore some of the major public health determinants with a view to (1) examining the range of public health measures open to governments and how they have been and are being deployed, and (2) gaining some insight into the politics and security implications of certain determinants. Sessions 5-7 examine in some detail some of the more powerful modern tools for advancing public health, with a particular emphasis on how they impact on privacy. Sessions 8 and 9 look at how health research is regulated and how the clinical setting interacts with and advances or hinders public health. The last session investigates the role of commercialisation in development and delivery of public health goods, focusing on commercial regulation and the role of intellectual property in healthcare innovation and access to medicines.
LLM Intellectual Property Law
International Relations Theory
This course asks why and how we should theorise about international relations and introduces students to the most significant theoretical approaches within international relations. A critical assessment will be made of the principal propositions and arguments of the theories drawn from the traditions of realism/neorealism, international liberalism, Marxism/structuralism, post-positivism.
N.B: This course is administered by the School of Social and Political Science (SSPS).
-LLM International Law
IP & Technology: International Institutions
We have all heard about the revolution caused by the emergence of globalisation in all areas of society - and the law is no exception to this trend.
This module explores two areas of the law where globalisation has brought considerable change: information technology (IT) law and intellectual property (IP) law. A number of new institutions have emerged, providing policy and regulation in these areas of law. Existing institutions have had to evolve, and alter the way that they set policies. The sweeping changes resulting range from international commercial relationships and trade, to public-interest policy questions regarding developing countries, governance and access to technology.
This module will study these institutions, to ascertain their constitution, structure, effectiveness and relevance, with a specific focus on some of the most pressing policy choices faced by governments, institutions and stakeholders, and how these policy choices are translated into the law.
In relation to IT law, the module will concentrate on the institutions that regulate and police new technologies, particularly those related to the ‘information society'. We will also analyse problems relating to accessing these technologies, and consider how current regulation affects choices.
With regard to IP law, the module will investigate the international institutions that protect new technologies, folklore and traditional resources. The most important developments and trends in these fields will be covered from an international perspective.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
IP & Technology: Developing Countries
The strengthening of the international intellectual property system has been one of the main features of the international globalisation effort that culminated with the creation of the World Trade Organisation. It could be argued that this process is likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future. The scope of international protection of intellectual property rights is on the increase, not only in length of protection, but also geographically and in the amount of rights awarded to owners. How then does this system affect the acquisition of technology by developing countries? This is not just an academic question. Some may consider that a strong international system of intellectual property is detrimental for developing countries because one could argue that it makes technology more difficult to come by. If developing countries rely on this initial acquisition of high technologies, then who owns it, and how, becomes of critical significance for their development prospects. However, other may argue that developing countries should implement stronger protection in order to foster foreign investment into their economies, which will eventually assist their efforts to become developed.
This module will focus on the relationship between technology, intellectual property and development. Special attention will be given to the specific issues that affect developing countries the most, such as access to knowledge, transfer of technology and access to essential medicines.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice
On a formal level, this course analyses the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union – a prolific and complex court. This will involves consideration of the Court’s structure and procedure, leading to in-depth analysis of forms of action before the Court (both direct actions and indirect actions).
The function of the Court will also be assessed, however, against particular thematic backdrops, including the notion of effective judicial protection, and the legitimate (or otherwise) functions of courts in polity-building and polity-management. The complex relationship between the Court of Justice and national courts, and with the other EU institutions, will also be explored.
Pre-requisites: Study of European Union law at undergraduate level.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM European Law
Law and Medical Ethics 1 - Fundamentals in Consent and Negligence (DISTANCE LEARNING)
The primary function of the course is to discuss the relationship between the law and the practice of medicine with particular emphasis on modern developments in the latter. The law must be founded on sound moral principles; moreover, medicine is, in many ways, running in advance of legal precedent. On both counts, therefore, the issues must also be considered on an ethical plane and this aspect will be emphasised repeatedly. In this course there is a basis for concentration on fundamental or generally applicable issues in medicine as a field which raises many moral issues. Several controversial areas will be covered, particular importance being laid on current concepts of consent to and refusal of medical treatment, human rights, negligence and mental health.
LLM Intellectual Property Law
Law and Medical Ethics 2: Start and End of Life Issues (DISTANCE LEARNING)
The function of the course is to discuss the relationship between the law and the practice of medicine in relation to unique issues arising at the start and end of life. As with the 'fundamentals' course, moral and ethical principles will be emphasized in relation to the legal and medical questions considered.
Reproduction and related technological developments such as genetics research, have featured in many high publicity debates of late. At the end of life, attitudes to death are changing while, at the same time, there have been very significant advances in resuscitation techniques and in the medical capacity to influence the natural process of dying; as a result, the subject of euthanasia now stands very high on the medico-legal agenda. Several controversial areas will be covered, particular importance being laid on current concepts of life, the moral status of the embryo and foetus and medical futility.
LLM Intellectual Property Law
Law, Culture and Rights in a Transnational World
This course explores socio-legal and anthropological approaches to the study of law in a transnational world. It covers key theoretical, empirical and methodological issues involving the nature of law and legal process, the relationship between legal and social science approaches to legal phenomena and the interpretation of law in a social context. It examines the impact of transnational relations and globalisation on law, culture and rights both within nation-states and beyond their boundaries and at a number of levels, incorporating local, national and international domains. Topics to be covered include legal pluralism and human rights, property relations and indigenous people, democracy and governance, citizenship, and gendered perspectives on law.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Law and Journalism
This module considers the various ways in which law can both empower and restrict editors and journalists in carrying out their activities. In particular, it addresses the impact of human rights on the print, broadcast and electronic media, paying particular regard to both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. Although the focus of the course will be on the UK, a comparative approach will be adopted with reference to a number of other jurisdictions. The module has a number of key themes. Firstly, it explores the role and responsibilities of journalists in a changing media environment. Should journalists, for example, be under an obligation to provide balanced and impartial reports and, if so, how can this obligation enforced? What approach should journalists take in times of crisis or war and what protection, if any, does the law provide when they report from conflict zones? Secondly, how do specific human rights, notably the right to freedom of expression, affect this role? How have courts sought to balance the interests of the press in freedom of expression with the interests of individuals in the protection of, for example, their privacy and reputation? Thirdly, what rights do journalists have to access information from official sources and to what extent are they able to maintain the confidentiality of their sources? There will be scope to address other topical issues as they arise. The module should be of interest not only to those considering working in the media field but also to those interested more generally in exploring the role of the press in society.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Law and New Technologies: AI, Risk and the Law 1
This course aims to give students a broad understanding of how computer technology can help legal professionals in different roles (investigators, prosecutors, lawyers and judges) to perform their task more efficiently and reliably. It introduces approaches to represent legal knowledge and expertise in a way that a computer can replicate them. The course also discusses the legal, ethical, political and economic problems that these technologies raise. There will be possibilities to respond to student interest in the choice of technologies discussed. In the past these included topics such as online dispute resolution, regulatory compliance in law firms and forensic computing. The focus of this module will be criminal law, the investigative process and the evaluation of evidence for both criminal and civil (commercial) proceedings. It shows how technology can be used to identify links between criminals; to discern temporal or geographical patterns in crimes; to assist in identity recognition from biometrics; to help investigators consider multiple scenarios rather than focusing too closely on one hypothesis; and to understand the context of evidence extracted from databases to avoid potential miscarriages of justice. The module also covers methods for fraud prevention and detection, and for legal compliance, in a commercial environment; the use of electronic discovery methods for analysing large volumes of online documents; searching the Internet for 'suspect' websites; and issues surrounding technologies for facial reconstruction.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
Law and New Technologies: AI, Risk and the Law 2
This course aims to give students a broad understanding of how computer technology can help legal professionals in different roles (investigators, prosecutors, lawyers and judges) to perform their task more efficiently and reliably. It introduces approaches to represent legal knowledge and expertise in a way that a computer can replicate them. The course also discusses the legal, ethical, political and economic problems that these technologies raise . There will be possibilities to respond to student interest in the choice of technologies discussed. In the past these included topics such as online dispute resolution, regulatory compliance in law firms and forensic computing. It examines technology systems that are available to support lawyers, law enforcement officials and judges from the point at which a case is prepared to the point of sentencing. It looks at systems to support mediation; systems that represent legal arguments graphically; systems that support case preparation, case management, documents and intelligent information retrieval; systems that can be used in courtrooms; and systems to support sentencing. The course looks at the principles underlying each of these systems, from game theory to semantic indexing and from deontic logic to ontology.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
Law and the Enlightenment
This course examines legal theorising in the Scottish Enlightenment. In particular, through a reading of source material students will consider debates over Natural Law (reason, will or moral sense), over justice and utility, and over government, society and history. Eighteenth-century debates over liberty, property, wealth and virtue will be assessed.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Law of Climate Change
This course seeks to give students an in-depth and interdisciplinary insight into the new and challenging area of climate change law. Major legal instruments are closely studied including the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Attention is also paid to the legal "Post-Kyoto" developments. Students are expected to have a sound knowledge of public international law. A familiarity with EU law and basic economics is also helpful but not essential.
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
-LLM International Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Law of E-Commerce
This module aims to provide the student with an in-depth look at the legal issues surrounding electronic commerce, particularly Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B), and Consumer to Consumer (C2C). The module starts looking at the more traditional legal issues surrounding business in an electronic format, particularly the formal validity of electronic transactions, security and authentication, contract formation and electronic payment systems. The course then covers consumer issues, such as data protection and privacy. The module will then analyse in depth litigation strategies in the shape of online dispute resolution and jurisdiction, and will finish with new legal topics in electronic commerce, including commerce in so-called virtual worlds, and open licences.
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Law of International Trade
The Law of International trade is an important subject in today’s globalised world. A thorough understanding of the complexities of the subject and the correlations between the different legal aspects and contracts pertaining to international trade transactions is thus a requirement for any lawyer aiming to work in the international commercial field. Given that most goods sold internationally are transported by sea, familiarity with the corresponding trade terms, payment options, transport conventions, cargo insurance clauses and matters of international private law and dispute resolution are essential. The course will analyse the relevant contract and trade terms, case-law, legislation, international conventions and international rules adopted by trade organisations. Carriage of goods is becoming increasingly topical owing to the United Nations’ adoption of the Rotterdam Rules (2008 - United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea) and the consequent discussions on signing and ratification.
-LLM Commercial Law
Legal Challenges of Information Technologies
This module aims to deliver a challenging perspective on the wide range of legal questions posed by information technologies as they continue to develop; and to provide students with a fresh perspective on law and technologies and an appreciation of the extent to which legal questions must be viewed broadly. The module will explore different approaches to regulation, providing a platform for analysis of the wide-ranging legal fields which are relevant. The module will then consider the ongoing relevance of intellectual property to new technologies: peer generated content and downloading are taken as examples, and we will then explore the extent to which intellectual property might be sidelined by DRM and anti-circumvention technologies. The historical and present position in respect of domain names will be considered, together with the relationship between domain names and internet governance. Potential for civil and criminal liability - from users to creators to service providers - will be then considered, for example in respect of defamation, pornography and terrorism, together with the extent to which these issues can properly be considered by decision makers in different jurisdictions, both real and virtual. Finally, the module will consider the impact on evolving information technologies of competition law and different forms of standardisation (with particular reference to, at present, Microsoft, Apple and Google), and of human rights (with particular reference to the digital divide).
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Legal Research Methods
This course is intended to support the development of students' skills in legal research by introducing students to the methodologies and methods which can be used to conduct research in international, European and domestic legal studies, using a variety of different intellectual approaches. It will provide students with a thorough grounding in the nature and practicalities of legal research and writing, including the construction of research proposals, questions and strategies, and will to equip students with the necessary capabilities to conduct independent legal research.
-LLM Legal Research
Management of Sustainable Development
This course introduces the diversity of tools currently in use to assist in the transition towards sustainable development. The tools considered include international agreements, economic instruments, regional and national environmental regulation, innovative technology, quantitative measures of sustainability and municipal policy initiatives. The application of these tools in a range areas is examined, including: the regulation of global common resources, including climate; the conservation of biodiversity; renewable energy generation; environmental reporting by business and industry; transport; the management of waste and pollution.
Course offered by the School of Geosciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Managing Intellectual Property (DISTANCE LEARNING)
This module will enable you to apply knowledge of IP law in a practical context. The course will give you an understanding of how IP is identified, managed, protected, and exploited in a commercial setting as well as introducing you to litigation mechanisms through which rights can be enforced. The role of competition law will also be studied, focusing on its role in informing the exercise of intellectual property rights. International, European and national materials will be applied in addition to case studies, which will enable you to gain an appreciation of the complexities involved in managing intellectual property in practice. Practicing solicitors with expertise in different areas of intellectual property law have helped to develop the sessions within this module, and the 'Return to the Lost World' case study
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Media and Crime
The Media and Crime course offers you the opportunity to explore the portrayal of crime in the media. Examining both factual and fictional representation of crime, you will be able to study a range of types of media. The course will provide you with an introduction to sociological theories of media and representation, as well as to the politics of the media. In addition to learning a conceptual framework for analysing material, you will also learn various techniques for interpreting specific examples of media representations of crime.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Medical Jurisprudence
The primary function of the course is to discuss the relationship between the law and the practice of medicine with particular emphasis on modern developments in the latter. The law must be founded on sound moral principles; moreover, medicine is, in many ways, running in advance of legal precedent – witness the growth of genetic diagnostic and investigative methods On several counts, therefore, the issues must also be considered on an ethical plane and this aspect will be emphasised repeatedly. Thus, there is an apparent concentration on reproductive medicine and this is because it is a field which raises many moral issues. At the other end of life, attitudes to death are changing while, at the same time, there have been very significant advances in resuscitation techniques and in the medical capacity to influence the natural process of dying; as a result, the subject of euthanasia now stands very high on the medico-legal agenda. Between these two extremes, several controversial areas will be covered, particular importance being laid on current concepts of consent to and refusal of medical treatment.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Mental Health and Crime
The aim of this course is to examine the relationship between mental health and crime and explore issues relating to the appropriate treatment of mentally disordered offenders in the criminal justice system. Different forms of mental disorder will be analysed (including psychotic illnesses, personality disorders and the mental health problems associated with substance misuse) and their links to crime evaluated.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Philosophy of Private Law
The course is structured as a discussion of the underlying justifications both of private law as a whole and of its most important institutions (specially contract, property, non-contractual liability and unjustified enrichment). In particular the course shall deal with the relation between, on the one hand, private law and its main institutions and, on the other hand, corrective justice, distributive justice, functionalist theory, and theories of private law centred in the human will.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Police and Policing
This course aims to introduce students to a broad view of the varied literature on police and policing, and gives them the opportunity to investigate some aspects of the subject in greater depth. The course requires students to make connections between broad theoretical issues and more limited and tightly defined questions, and to connect these also with the relevant findings from empirical research. The module is therefore suitable both for students with an interest in theoretical questions related to policing, social order, coercion, and the state, and for students with an interest in the policy and practice of policing.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Principles of European Tax Law
The course will cover the main developments of EU tax law, looking at the principles of the EU treaty as applied through the case law of the ECJ, legislative progress and ‘soft law’. It will consider the impact of the EU on personal tax, corporation tax and VAT. It will also consider the impact of e-commerce on the tax systems of the member states. Proposals for reform will be critically considered.
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM European Law
Principles of Insurance Law
The course is designed to introduce students to the general principles of insurance law in the UK. This will include an overview of a range of topics which comprise the subject of insurance law, including insurable interest, the law of misrepresentation, breach of warranty, non-disclosure of material facts, the indemnity principle, subrogation, the proximate cause principle and European Insurance Law. Where relevant, the course will distinguish between English law and Scots law. The seminar will be delivered by a mixture of practitioners and academic staff in the School of Law.
-LLM Commercial Law
Principles of International Tax Law
The course is designed to give students an introduction to the principles and practical issues of international tax law. It looks at the problems caused when national tax systems overlap, focussing on direct taxation.
Students will be given an overview of international tax treaties through an examination of the OECD model and will be expected to apply this to practical situations. They will also be encouraged to develop written and oral skills through class discussion and assessments. A sustained analysis of a practical problem will form a significant component of the final assessment of this course.
-LLM Commercial Law
Public Law and New Technologies
This course investigates the relationship between traditional issues in public law scholarship and the emerging challenges and opportunities created by ICTs (information and communication technologies). It explores the ways in which new technologies alter (or perhaps, don't alter) the modes and practices of public law. Novel issues such as e-democracy (including e-voting), e-governance and the digital divide will be studies from both legal, political scientific and comparative perspectives. It also examines how long standing concerns in constitutional law are impacted by ICTs, e.g. free speech/political communication online, ICTs and privacy rights, the quality (rather than the quality) of democratic politics and how ICTs change the nature of political financing. The course will seek to answer questions as to whether new forms of democracy are being generated by new technologies, whether ICTs can/do delivery on their potential of creating 'ideal speech situations', and whether ICTs allow us to do 'new things' in public law, or just new ways of doing 'old things'.
NOT RUNNING IN 2011/2012
-LLM Innovation, Technology and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
Regulatory Governance in the European Union
This course focuses on the role of the European Union as a regulatory authority. The EU has become a source of regulation governing the conduct of economic activities within its space and beyond. The course reviews this in theoretical terms, and via an examination of specific instances of EU regulatory activism.
This course is intended to complement existing courses by examining the regulatory framework of the European Union and will focus on particular regulatory activities. The course will equip students with the critical skills required to understand EU governance and policy, thereby going beyond the learning outcomes conventionally expected to result from the study of EU law. Accordingly, it will assist place EU law in the context of the economic challenges confronting the EU, and the governance structure within which the EU develops capacity to meet and respond to such challenges.
-LLM European Law
Research Skills in the Social Sciences: Data Collection
The course provides an introduction to the main issues involved in data collection, and gives students practical, hands-on training in a range of data collection skills. The class comprises a mixture of whole-class presentations and smaller workshop sessions led by facilitators in which students are actively encouraged to practise what they have been learning about in class and through their reading.
Course offered by the School of Social and Political Science.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Society and Development
The course will discuss the social and political dimensions of development. A number of practical examples will be presented by external speakers with current practical experience in the development with European and International perspectives. Topics to be discussed will include social inclusion, conflictresolution and environmental governance and policy. Group work and role-play sessions will contribute to the learning objectives.
Course offered by the School of Geosciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Sociology of Environment and Risk
Sociology has traditionally paid little attention to environmental issues and ecological risks. Yet in the final decade of the twentieth century environmental groups such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the rest were claiming to have won the support of something like 8 per cent of the UK population, a membership far greater than that of the political parties. Elsewhere in Europe, 'Greens' were elected to parliament and the European Commission pressed ahead with environmental reforms, affecting such issues as air quality and drinking water standards. Media interest in the issue seemed unbounded. Environmentalism had become a major social issue. And it has stayed that way, in part thanks to anxieties over issues such as climate change and GM foodstuffs.
In the course, sociological perspectives on the relationship between human societies and their natural environments are explored via:
- discussion of 'pessimistic' and 'optimistic' views of that relationship
- sociological analyses of the rise of environmentalist and animal rights movements
- discussion of the relationship between gender and the environment
- analyses of the role played by science in environmental debates
- sociological analysis of 'carbon markets'
Course offered by the School of Social and Political Sciences
-LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law
Sport and the Law
This course examines the impact of law on the organisation, practice, and funding of sport. It considers the role of domestic and international law in shaping sporting activities, and the relationship between professional rules and legal rights and responsibilities.
Throughout, students will be encouraged to consider the role of sport in society and to critically engage with the policy issues that underpin the development of the law in this area.
-LLM Commercial Law
-LLM Innovation, Technlogy and the Law
-LLM Intellectual Property Law
State Aid
The economic ‘pillar’ of the European Union aims to create and maintain a single market, where the operation of competition is undistorted. One source of distortion is overt or covert subsidy. At the same time the law does recognise that ‘market failure’ do occur and that sometimes state aid may be acceptable.
The course is designed to introduce students to the EU law of state aids, its purpose and application. . It will show students how to recognise actual and potential aid situations and to see how state aid law fits into the wider competition law of the European Internal Market. It will cover the wider and narrower legal instruments and the procedures that they require. This will involve a range of topics including the concepts of ‘economic activity’, state aid and public service compensation, notification, exemption and complaint.
- LLM Commercial Law
Surveillance and Security
MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice
The Ethical Life of Legal Institutions: Law, Deomocracy and the Market
This course asks how individuals and societies, more specifically our liberal societies, live the life of law. What sort of ethical life do such people and institutions have? This raises questions of the rule of law, constitutionalism and democracy, justice and the market. These broad questions of social and political theory get broken down into moral and ethical questions. What does it mean to say that a society should be governed by rules? And what does that mean for our ethical lives and the institutions we live in?
-LLM by Research History and Philosophy of Law
Theoretical Criminology
The aim of this course is to assist students in thinking theoretically about crime, criminal justice and social control, focusing in particular on the articulation between theoretical constructs, research strategies and claims to knowledge. We thus seek to provide clarification of the ways in which the theoretical resources of the social sciences can be brought to bear upon the phenomena of crime and criminality, their occurrence and distribution, and their contested character. The course considers certain key dimensions within the field of criminology, broadly understood – the interpretation of action in context; the structuring of the field by inequalities and hierarchies of various kinds; issues of institutional continuity and change; and questions of cross-cultural and transnational variation, comparison and convergence. We then look at the application of these perspectives in, for example, understanding the place of crime in contemporary urban experience; at the representation of crime and justice in mass media and political culture; and at specific examples of current problems of security and social regulation. By the end of the course students should have gained a greater understanding of the historical and contemporary scope and aims of criminological theory and its relations with other species of social scientific thinking. Our primary objectives are to enable students to address theoretical claims in a critical and reflective manner and to deploy concepts in the development of their own research work.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
Theories and Philosophies of Legal Research
The course is designed to give students an overview of the full range of types of and approaches to legal research, and to introduce them to thinking about the nature of legal research as intellectual endeavour. The material covered by the course ranges from traditional doctrinal research, through law in context work, to socio-legal and empirical legal studies, and theoretical and philosophical research on legal phenomena.
-LLM Legal Research
Theories and Practices of Criminal Justice
This course is concerned with the theory and practice of criminal justice. Focusing on, but not limited to, the United Kingdom jurisdictions, it considers the criminal process from the moment of arrest until the sentencing stage. It will cover topics such as arrest, pre-trial detention and bail, the right to silence, plea-bargaining and the guilty plea, pre-trial diversion, prosecutorial discretion, models of the criminal trial, exclusion of evidence and the integrity principle (including entrapment), orality and hearsay, the presumption of innocence, lay participation and nullification, protection of vulnerable witnesses, the role of the victim, appeals and review of criminal cases.
Theories of Regulations of the Finance Industry This one semester course, which runs in semester 2, aims to explore how and why the financial services industry is regulated both in the UK and in the wider global context. The financial crisis has left many questions about whether the sector was adequately supervised and regulated and there has been much discussion of the so called ‘light touch’ regulatory approach which allowed market forces to regulate themselves. The market approach argues that if you over-regulate, business will be curtailed and move to a market with more favourable regulation. The course aims to explore what the regulatory system was before the crisis and whether the motivation or theory behind it was protection of the market or the protection of investors. The course analyses changes in approach with a new regulatory regime in the UK, US and EU and considers whether these changes indicate a theoretical or cultural change in the manner of regulation and whether there is a genuine move to protect or if the changes are simply designed to support the market. Consideration will also be given to more informal means of changing the industry and whether the development of a strong corporate governance culture is indicative of a changing of attitude or different approach to regulation. Pensions law and Islamic banking will also be considered. In addition to theory, students will explore how the regulations are enforced in the UK and consider whether financial crime is the same as any other crime. -LLM Commercial LawTraditions of Legal Enquiry
Legal concepts change through time as a result of reflection on the appropriateness of conceptual structures to help regulate and shape the social world. That reflection is carried out in different forms and at a different pace by courts, legal doctrine and legal theorists. Theoretical reflection and historical research are, therefore, intertwined as complementary aspects of any investigation on the foundations of any given legal concept, including the concept of law. The idea of legal traditions of rational inquiry brings that connection between legal theory and legal history home. The course aims at investigating precisely what a tradition of rational inquiry is and also at identifying paradigmatic examples of rational traditions of legal inquiry.
-LLM Legal Research
Youth Crime and Justice
The aims of this course are to: explore patterns of offending and desistance from crime amongst children and young people; examine theories which have been put forward to explain offending in childhood and adolescence; and assess the interventions and institutions which have been developed to deal with youth crime. The course will consider the ways in which notions of childhood and youth offending have been depicted in academic, political and popular discourses and assess the extent to which these various discourses have influenced the response of youth justice systems to both child offenders and the victims of youth crime.
-MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
WTO Law
This course will give an introduction to the major themes and issues of WTO law. The aim of the course is to provide students with a theoretical and practical understanding of the regulatory framework of the world trading system. Students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of WTO law, as well as some of the contemporary challenges facing the World Trade Organization.
-LLM International Law
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