Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3009: Critical Issues in Human Dignity and Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.

Module Aims

The module's aim is to take students 'behind the scene' and encourage them to develop a familiarity with some the methodological and theoretical issues involved in the construction of a new legal concept by scholars and judges. The module focuses on key issues raised in the international discussion on human dignity so as to anchor to students' reflection in a set of concrete examples, while providing them with a range of actual and proposed uses of this concept in law

The module is suitable for students interested in legal theory and critical thinking. By engaging students with methodological issues and discussing the apparent paradoxes and difficulties of the concept of dignity, the module is also suitable for students who aspire to practise (human rights) law.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. demonstrate detailed knowledge of the selected issues on human dignity considered in the course and a substantial range of major concepts, values and principles relevant to its application;
2. demonstrate critical awareness of methodological dimensions of the study of dignity as a legal concept;
3. demonstrate critical awareness of a wide range of social and contextual implications of the areas of human dignity;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. demonstrate flexible ability to define complex legal problems, identify their relative significance and select appropriate methods for investigating and critically evaluating them;
5. demonstrate the ability to integrate and assess information from primary and secondary legal sources using appropriate interpretative techniques;
Personal and Key Skills6. demonstrate the ability to manage relevant learning resources and to develop own arguments and opinions with minimum guidance;
7. demonstrate ability to work independently and to manage time efficiently in preparing for scheduled learning activities, exercises and assessments.