Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3003B: Criminal Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level 6
Credits 30 ECTS Value 7.5
Term(s) and duration

This module ran during term 1 (12 weeks) and term 2 (11 weeks)

Academic staff

Dr Charlie Bishop (Convenor)

Dr Rebecca Helm (Convenor)

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Available via distance learning

Yes

Crimes are the laws with the most serious consequences: commit a crime, and you could go to prison, even for the rest of your life. So pervasive is the criminal law that most people who have never studied law before are already aware of a range of crimes. In this module, we start by drawing upon your background awareness of criminal law, or at least your sense of right and wrong, and from there build a methodical knowledge and useable understanding of some of the major crimes found in the law of England and Wales. (No prior knowledge of the law is needed or expected.) This module is an opportunity for you to explore the legal details and moral underpinnings of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and criminal damage, and the defences which may be available to those who commit them. You will be encouraged to adopt a critical attitude towards the criminal law, reflecting on why the law is written and implemented as it is, and what difficulties are encountered when the legal principles are applied in practice.

Module created

01/10/2002

Last revised

16/09/2019