Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW2035B: Constitutional and Administrative Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Aims

An understanding of the concepts, traditions and principles underpinning the constitution of the United Kingdom.
An understanding of the main recent constitutional developments, especially in relation to the European Union, devolution, and the Human Rights Act 1998.
An understanding of the application of the ECHR within the United Kingdom via the HRA and common law.
An understanding of the Westminster constitutional paradigm and its variants.
An understanding of the nature, basis and continuing development of judicial review in the United Kingdom.
An ability to see the links between public law and the exercise of political and judicial power.
An ability to begin to use, analyse and critique materials and texts.
An ability to articulate and discuss issues relating to public 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 Skills	1. Demonstrate knowledge of the law relating to the nature and practices of the concepts of constitutional democracy, the rule of law, the protection of individual liberties and judicial review within the UK and a range of major concepts, values and principles relevant to its application; 2. Explain/evaluate the main legal institutions and procedures relevant to constitutional and administrative law; 3. Identify, explain and discuss key issues in both constitutional and administrative law and to apply relevant rules and theories.
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of legal concepts, values, principles, institutions and procedures, and the capacity to explain the relationships among them; 5. Demonstrate knowledge of legal concepts and their contextual/social/political implications; 6. Select and explain relevant information from primary and secondary legal sources using appropriate interpretative techniques.
Personal and Key Skills	7. Demonstrate effective and accurate written communication skills in a manner appropriate to the discipline / different contexts; 8. Demonstrate effective and accurate oral communication skills in a manner appropriate to the discipline / different contexts; 9. Identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of library-based and electronic resources with guidance; 10. Interact effectively within a team / learning group and to share information and ideas;

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

The nature of constitutions and the purposes of constitutionalism;
The constitution of the United Kingdom: institutions; legal and non-legal rules underlying
principles: parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law and separation of powers;
The impact of European law on parliamentary sovereignty and the constitution of the United Kingdom;
The impact of devolution on the constitution of the United Kingdom;
The Human Rights Act 1998, ECHR and the protection of rights and freedoms within the United Kingdom;
Judicial review of administrative action; and
Where appropriate comparisons with similar legal systems law based on the Westminster constitutional paradigm (e.g. Canada, New Zealand and Australia).

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
58	242	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	22	22 x 1 hour Lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	13.5	9 x 1.5 hour seminars
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	13.5	9 x 1.5 hour syndicate workshops
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	9	9 x 1 hour Q & A sessions

Guided Independent study	17	ELE materials
Guided Independent study	40	Syndicate workshop preparation
Guided Independent study	40	Seminar preparation
Guided Independent study	25	Consolidation of learning
Guided Independent study	30	Formative assessment preparation
Guided Independent study	60	Summative assessment preparation
Guided Independent study	30	Individual reading and study

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1261

Other Learning Resources

You are expected to keep up to date with topical events. This is best done by reading newspapers such as The Times or The Independent. Tabloid newspapers are not suitable.

You may also find recent and current editions of specialist journals, such as Public Lawand Modern Law Review, which are available in the Law Library (physical and electronic), useful for this purpose.