Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3040: English Legal History

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

Overview

NQF Level 6
Credits 30 ECTS Value 15
Term(s) and duration

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

Academic staff

Professor Rebecca Probert (Convenor)

Pre-requisites

LAW1036 Legal Foundations

Co-requisites

None

Available via distance learning

No

Studying legal history is essential to understand the deep roots of many current laws, and in particular how the choices made by judges and legislators in past centuries were shaped by their own political, economic and social context. In the first term of this module you will learn how the law of England and Wales has evolved over the past three-and-a-half centuries across a range of different topics, such as criminal law, family law, constitutional law and contract law. The second term will then be devoted to the broader social, political and economic context, to in-depth investigation of the sources available to legal historians; and to the different perspectives on legal history. A workshop format will be adopted. Bringing these different elements together – substantive legal knowledge, an awareness of appropriate sources and an ability to critically engage with the literature – you will undertake your own research project under the guidance of the module convenor, and be able to make your own original contribution to the study of legal history. You will be given the opportunity to give presentations on your research project as it progresses, and to reflect on your learning through a reflective journal.

The module builds on knowledge of the core legal topics studied at Level 1 and 2. 

Module created

01/10/98

Last revised

31/01/2017