LLB (Hons) — 2025 entry Law (Law, Environment and Sustainability Pathway)

Introduction to International Law will provide students with an introductory overview of the international law as a discipline in its historical context and in light of topical, contemporary case studies. The first half of the module will entail a historical narrative of the development of international law, particularly the role of international organisations and the individual in it, in the modern era. The second half of the module will present the interconnectivity of various sub-fields of international law within the prism of engaging and topical case studies in current affairs.  This will be extremely useful for those students who wish to choose other International Law-related modules in Level 6 (Public International Law I, Public International Law II, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law) in their studies and for those who wish to undertake an international legal career as a profession.

Consumption is not only essential for survival but is an integral part of everyday life important for individual and group identity, relationships and the performance of social practices. However, the environmental and social consequences of the scale of contemporary consumption cannot be ignored. This module introduces students to a range of theoretical approaches which they apply to understand everyday consumption (of food, clothes, household objects, technology and energy) sociologically. It encourages them to locate their own consumption within its global environmental and social consequences, and to think critically about pathways to more sustainable modes of consumption.

This module will introduce students to the study of environmental crime.  It will examine a wide range of issues related to the damaging relationship between humans and the ecological world. It will include a detailed examination of specific topics such as climate change, corporate environmental crime, threats to biodiversity and waste crime.  Additionally, key theoretical debates surrounding the legal notions of harms against the environment and the classification of non-humans as victims of crime will be discussed. Students will be introduced to a range of approaches to policing different types of environmental crimes and the legal, financial and practical problems these present for governments and enforcement agencies.

The limited liability company is the business structure which forms the foundation for the modern economy. Since its invention in the nineteenth century, it has provided the legal basis for the Industrial Revolution and the modern global capitalist system. It has been copied in every advanced economy in the world. England and Wales adopted a new statutory foundation for its corporate law in the Companies Act 2006, which is accordingly the main focus for this module. The principles, however, have been developed by statute and common law over more than one hundred and seventy years. In accordance with the design and ethos of the LLB, Company Law will be approached through a critical examination of the historical, political and economic background of the current law and through an emphasis on how Company Law operates in context. The aim of this module, therefore, is to enable students to acquire a sound knowledge base of the theoretical and substantive aspects of company law and to develop a practical understanding of the legal aspects of running public and private limited companies.

Digital technology influences every aspect of daily life, shaping the way that individuals live, work and socialise (and therefore also inevitably matters of civil law, such as contract and tort) but it has a less positive aspect as it has also transformed criminal behaviour. This module considers the legal, regulatory and commercial issues relating to the internet and digitisation as well as the dark side of technology that has led to the growth of online crime. It reflects on the ensuing impact on the digital economy, platforms and the wider business community plus the legal regulation thereof taking account of the unprecedented transformation in the digitisation of the law and the way business is conducted in the 21st century. The module encourages critical engagement with the way in which the law operates in an effort to both facilitate digitisation as well as combat cybercrime. It brings together theoretical ideas about the function of law with the practical considerations of the impact of criminal behaviour on society. It also engages with the challenges of preventing online crime and policing the internet.

This module examines a number of key aspects of individual and collective employment law. Students build upon the knowledge gained in levels 4 and 5 when considering the legal developments in the common law of contract,  It is designed to provide students with an opportunity for the advanced study of the law governing the employment relationship and labour relations; to understand the legal regulation of working life and assist students to place the key issues of employment law that have shaped the development of law in this area, in their political, economic and social context.  It introduces students to the legal distinction between categories of workers and the significance this has on their individuals’ rights and obligations under the statutory framework. It develops students’ understanding of collective labour law including discussion on the political tensions between governments and unions and the political dimension in the development of laws regulating industrial conflict. The module covers the legal consequences of terminating the contract of employment and will critically assess the law of wrongful, unfair and fair dismissal. Students will also consider the relationship between the employer and employee and the balance of power between these two groups. The module will examine collective labour law, in-particular collective bargaining and industrial conflict. Students will develop their legal writing skills, building on levels 4 and 5 to achieve a deeper level of critical thinking and independent learning.  

This module introduces the students to the key ethical and regulatory issues associated with artificial intelligence, as well as to the methods of analysis of those issues used in ethics and in law. The focus of the module is on the current state of the art in the applications of artificial intelligence (in particular: of machine learning), with smaller emphasis on hypothetical future developments. The module makes use of the case study method to introduce students to ethical and regulatory (legal) questions through discussion of relevant major incidents from recent years. The module helps students develop their thinking on how to translate abstract ethical (and regulatory) requirements of fairness, explainability or privacy into engineering and business practice.

Jurisprudence is the theory or philosophy of law: the study of philosophical questions about the nature of law, its relation to morality, what determines its validity and normativity, and theories about its social significance and how it operates.Jurisprudence 1 is a survey of key jurisprudential theories and debates. It seeks to fit within the rest of the LLB syllabus by providing a reasoned and principled basis for discussions regarding the content and purpose of the law. It provides background information useful in arguments over the justification or interpretation of laws and policies. It hones skills in developing, expressing, and evaluating arguments as well as in research and digesting complex abstract subjects. Its practical value for practising lawyers cannot be understated as only lawyers with a theoretical understanding will be able to advise clients and reply to opposing arguments when dealing with areas in which the law is unclear or offers conflicting guidance.The lectures will cover the theoretical content of the course, providing an overview of the theories and the debates among them. The tutorials will be aimed at guiding students through the research and development of an argumentative AI dialogue on a more focused subject so that students can then accomplish the same on their summative assessment.

The module explores a practical context for the criminal law concepts introduced in Year 1. It also provides a means for students to consider the practical application of the Human Rights Act (and ECHR) introduced in Public Law 1 at Level 4 (in particular the right to a fair trial). Specifically, the module covers the rules of criminal evidence in the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It examines these in the context of a Not Guilty trial in the Crown Court. It begins by considering the general principles (including theoretical rationales) of admissibility and exclusion of evidence and then each week examines these in light of a particular area of regulation using the applicable statutes, case law and academic opinion. It will be of general interest for the majority of law students but will be particularly valuable for those seeking employment as solicitors and barristers as the matters learned here will stand them in good stead for similar modules when preparing for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam and Bar exams.

This module looks at key issues in medical law and ethics throughout the life course. It begins by linking law with ethics and explaining the tensions between legal, ethical and professional approaches to healthcare-related issues. In the first two weeks, students consider the underpinning topics of medical ethical principles, the nature of medical law, the legal structure of the NHS and the challenges of healthcare allocation decisions. Students then address the issues of consent, capacity and information, with an in depth study of the Mental Capacity Act and its relevance to treatment decisions by competent adults, adults who lack capacity, adults whose capacity fluctuates and patients under the age of 18. These introductory topics underpin consideration of the topics covered in the second half of the semester. Cases and principles introduced in the first half of the module are connected with the topics covered in the second half of the module. The second half of the module looks at public health, the beginnings of life, definitions of ‘life’ and ‘death’ and at end-of-life decisions. Precise topics reflect current events, new case law and emerging areas of legal, ethical or academic debate. For example, students may consider communicable diseases, conception, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, palliative care and assisted dying. At the end of the module, students are given the opportunity to consolidate their learning and research by applying it to real life cases and created scenarios. Students are encouraged to debate and discuss so that they are exposed to a wide variety of perspectives and have the confidence to challenge their presuppositions.

This module introduces students to the key legal and ethical issues associated with privacy and data governance, as well as to the methods of analysis of those issues used both in law and in ethics. The module makes use of the case study method to introduce students to legal and ethical legal questions through discussion of relevant major incidents from recent years. The module helps students develop their thinking on how to translate abstract ethical reasoning into law and business practice.

Tax Law introduces students to basic elements of tax law, explores a number of the most important questions in tax policy, and examines a range of topics in UK tax law. The module provides an overview of various kinds of taxation including income, consumption, inheritance and corporate taxation and explains basic features of the UK system of tax law and tax administration. Topics in tax policy include theories of tax fairness, debates over the tax base and progressive taxation, tax competition and international tax planning, and environmental taxes. UK tax law topics include income from employment, income from trading, income from land, capital allowances, capital gains tax, corporation tax, VAT, inheritance tax, and tax avoidance.

Commercial law is an intellectually stimulating subject which lies at the intersection of the foundational subjects of private law and law in practice. Commercial claims, clauses and remedies has significant practical relevance. Knowledge of the rules that form the basis of this subject is highly recommended for those who want to pursue careers in commercial law. It provides students with an opportunity to build upon their existing knowledge of contract law and introduces them to further areas such as unjust enrichment and some of the economic torts. It also provides students with the opportunity to consider the significance of commercial clauses and their impact upon liability and remedies. In this course, we consider interesting areas of law that are commercially very important.   Further, the course will provide a sound basis for those students who wish to (i) study Commercial Law II: International Sales in Semester 2; (ii) pursue the next stage of study for Solicitor’s or Barrister’s courses; (iii) to study for a Commercial Law based LLM; and (iv) work in a Commercial environment.

The module introduces students to some of the key questions which currently guide research and practice in environmental psychology. The module addresses issues around architectural psychology as well as global and local environmental problems facing our world today. It provides an insight into the psychology of environment-behaviour issues focusing on built (residential, work and public) and natural environments. The main focus of the module will be to provide an insight into the research and theory development to date and to familiarise students with the practical and multidisciplinary nature of the field. By the end of the module students should have an advanced understanding of the nature and scope of some of the principal theoretical and methodological developments in this area of research and an understanding of the application of psychological theory and concepts to an important area of everyday life.

The module covers the law relating to the relationships that exist between the seller and buyer located in different jurisdictions in the context of international sales of goods and examines the international conventions, principles and rules that affect their relationship.

This module explores theoretical, practical and policy issues related to how the criminal law operates in corporate contexts  both crimes perpetrated by individuals (sometimes called white collar crime) and crimes perpetrated by organisations (corporate crimes). The module places roughly equal emphasis on doctrinal and theoretical issues. We will explore doctrinal issues related to specific offences that are central to this area, such as fraud, regulatory crimes and corporate manslaughter, and we will look at practical issues of how corporations seek to promote employee compliance with such laws.  At the same time, we will investigate important theoretical and policy questions related to crime in the corporate context. These include how corporate and regulatory criminal law push traditional boundaries of criminalisation and whether some regulatory offences are so strict as to amount to improperly punishing innocent conduct. We will also explore how it might make sense to punish corporations when they are non-living entities incapable of truly experiencing penalties, as well as doctrinal and policy questions about what the best mechanism for the imposition of corporate liability might be (comparing the identification doctrine to respondeat superior and failure to prevent offences). Throughout the module, our focus will be not only on learning about a sampling of representative parts of law, but also (and just as importantly) on casting a critical eye on how criminal law works in corporate settings. We will consider questions about what leads actors to engage in criminal misconduct in corporate contexts, with a particular emphasis on the organisational factors that can pressure or incentivise especially mid- or lower-level employees to break the law. We will explore ways in which large amounts of everyday conduct, the wrongness of which may not always be apparent to actors on the ground, gets deemed to be criminal in corporate settings, and we will debate whether and to what extent this makes sense. In these ways and more, we will seek to cast a critical eye on the criminal law in corporate settings and ask whether and when alternatives to criminal liability might be called for in response to certain forms of misconduct by employees or managers. We will focus primarily on issues and debates relevant to English law, though the US will serve as an important comparison throughout. 

The module identifies the main types of intellectual property in terms of their subject matter, conditions for protection, duration and scope of protection and will examine their impact on the protection of creative endeavours. Intellectual property law is a specialised area of law, which is set on international law by way of minimum standards (TRIPS Agreement, Paris and Berne Conventions). The UK IP laws have seen not only international regulation but also extensive harmonisation in EU law (particularly trademark law and to a certain extent copyright law). This area of law grants exclusive rights to reward and/or incentivise creation and innovation in exchange for certain societal benefits (different for specific IP rights: the disclosure of inventions; the publication of works and the correction of market inefficiencies in the case of distinctive signs indicating commercial origin). Intellectual property law is a vibrant and rapidly evolving area of law and the knowledge and skills developed throughout this module will provide a good foundation for further exploration of more specific issues either in an academic or professional setting.

This module provides an overview of financial regulation including regulation of banking, capital markets, payments and digital assets. Building on prior knowledge of private and public law, it introduces the regulatory frameworks for each of these areas and the policy considerations that animate regulatory policy. The module also examines the impact of financial regulation on emerging FinTech businesses and considers the ways in which new technology challenges traditional models of financial regulation.

This module is an introduction to two of the most important normative and moral questions that one can raise in relation to law and legal systems, and some of the most prominent philosophical attempts at answering them: whether and to what extent there is an obligation to obey the law and whether it is justifiable to punish law-breakers. Examples of the kind of topics that we shall be looking at in this module include the nature of legal obligations, authority and the duty to obey, the nature of (legal) punishment and various philosophical theories for the duty to obey and for the justification of punishment. This module seeks to fit within the rest of the LLB syllabus by providing a reasoned and principled basis for deeper critical reflections and discussions about what the law ought to be, what role it should play in our societies and in our everyday lives more generally, and how we should relate ourselves to it. It provides background information useful in arguments over the justification or interpretation of laws and policies. It also hones skills in developing, expressing, and evaluating arguments as well as in research and digesting complex abstract subjects.

Healthcare delivery is one of the most socially and politically sensitive issues in economically advanced societies, and the controversies which arise when it is defective, and in increasing its effectiveness, are important issues for the law. This module addresses issues where law and medical practice interact which do not necessarily involve the same issues of purely ethical controversy and human rights as in the co-requisite module Medical Law & Ethics. The principal area will be clinical negligence liability and litigation, with the connected problems of causation and risk-warning. The other main area for examination will be the development of medical treatments through biomedical research and experimentation.

The purpose of the module is to provide a detailed theoretical knowledge of Food, Water and Soil Security in order to improve the provision of safe food components and commodities that have high nutritional and ecological quality. In this respect, the analysis of foods and farming & processing methods that meet UK and EU Food Legislation and associated guidelines is examined. In addition, this module covers aspects related to Farm Production, Food Fraud and Food Safety, particularly in the area of animal welfare, animal species adulteration and food-borne diseases. Students will also appreciate the importance of carrying out appropriate risk assessment for further implementation of HACCP and control methods in the food industry. The module comprises lectures, tutorials and assessments that form an essential part of the Food Science and Nutrition (BD46) degree. It is also highly recommended to students doing Nutrition, Dietetics or the Veterinary Biosciences degree.

LAW3005 provides students the opportunity to engage in sustained independent research and critical writing in defence of a legal thesis, under the supervision of a member of staff.

This module will require students to engage and refine key skills developed throughout the first two years of their degree and to apply those skills at an advanced level. The key skills include legal research (including using digital research tools), case reading, critical thinking and analyses, precision in the use of language, effective and accurate communication, and time management. This module provides the framework for understanding how the law recognizes and regulates intimate personal relationships and mediates relationships of affinity and consanguinity. Family law provides the legal framework for the establishment and dissolution of marriage and civil partnerships, the imposition of legal consequences within marriage, civil partnerships and cohabitation, the financial implications upon the dissolution of those relationships. Family Law also provides the framework for students to understand how the law defines, regulates and mediates the relationship between parent, child, other persons with a relationship nexus to the child and the State. The concept of a child's welfare being paramount informs and constructs the legal framework for the parenting and regulation of parenting of children and forms the core consideration in the resolution of private and public authority disputes over the upbringing of children. The study of this module will enable students to critically assess the purpose of family law and the extent to which laws should regulate and influence adult interpersonal relationships and the parent-child relationship. Students will also gain significant practical insight into how to identify and resolve potential legal problems that may arise during professional family law practice. Real world examples and contemporary trends in family demographics are explored to encourage students to relate practically to the module content and to emphasise the relevance to lived experience.

Introduction to International Law will provide students with an introductory overview of the international law as a discipline in its historical context and in light of topical, contemporary case studies. The first half of the module will entail a historical narrative of the development of international law, particularly the role of international organisations and the individual in it, in the modern era. The second half of the module will present the interconnectivity of various sub-fields of international law within the prism of engaging and topical case studies in current affairs.  This will be extremely useful for those students who wish to choose other International Law-related modules in Level 6 (Public International Law I, Public International Law II, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law) in their studies and for those who wish to undertake an international legal career as a profession.

Consumption is not only essential for survival but is an integral part of everyday life important for individual and group identity, relationships and the performance of social practices. However, the environmental and social consequences of the scale of contemporary consumption cannot be ignored. This module introduces students to a range of theoretical approaches which they apply to understand everyday consumption (of food, clothes, household objects, technology and energy) sociologically. It encourages them to locate their own consumption within its global environmental and social consequences, and to think critically about pathways to more sustainable modes of consumption.

This module will introduce students to the study of environmental crime.  It will examine a wide range of issues related to the damaging relationship between humans and the ecological world. It will include a detailed examination of specific topics such as climate change, corporate environmental crime, threats to biodiversity and waste crime.  Additionally, key theoretical debates surrounding the legal notions of harms against the environment and the classification of non-humans as victims of crime will be discussed. Students will be introduced to a range of approaches to policing different types of environmental crimes and the legal, financial and practical problems these present for governments and enforcement agencies.

The limited liability company is the business structure which forms the foundation for the modern economy. Since its invention in the nineteenth century, it has provided the legal basis for the Industrial Revolution and the modern global capitalist system. It has been copied in every advanced economy in the world. England and Wales adopted a new statutory foundation for its corporate law in the Companies Act 2006, which is accordingly the main focus for this module. The principles, however, have been developed by statute and common law over more than one hundred and seventy years. In accordance with the design and ethos of the LLB, Company Law will be approached through a critical examination of the historical, political and economic background of the current law and through an emphasis on how Company Law operates in context. The aim of this module, therefore, is to enable students to acquire a sound knowledge base of the theoretical and substantive aspects of company law and to develop a practical understanding of the legal aspects of running public and private limited companies.

Digital technology influences every aspect of daily life, shaping the way that individuals live, work and socialise (and therefore also inevitably matters of civil law, such as contract and tort) but it has a less positive aspect as it has also transformed criminal behaviour. This module considers the legal, regulatory and commercial issues relating to the internet and digitisation as well as the dark side of technology that has led to the growth of online crime. It reflects on the ensuing impact on the digital economy, platforms and the wider business community plus the legal regulation thereof taking account of the unprecedented transformation in the digitisation of the law and the way business is conducted in the 21st century. The module encourages critical engagement with the way in which the law operates in an effort to both facilitate digitisation as well as combat cybercrime. It brings together theoretical ideas about the function of law with the practical considerations of the impact of criminal behaviour on society. It also engages with the challenges of preventing online crime and policing the internet.

This module examines a number of key aspects of individual and collective employment law. Students build upon the knowledge gained in levels 4 and 5 when considering the legal developments in the common law of contract,  It is designed to provide students with an opportunity for the advanced study of the law governing the employment relationship and labour relations; to understand the legal regulation of working life and assist students to place the key issues of employment law that have shaped the development of law in this area, in their political, economic and social context.  It introduces students to the legal distinction between categories of workers and the significance this has on their individuals’ rights and obligations under the statutory framework. It develops students’ understanding of collective labour law including discussion on the political tensions between governments and unions and the political dimension in the development of laws regulating industrial conflict. The module covers the legal consequences of terminating the contract of employment and will critically assess the law of wrongful, unfair and fair dismissal. Students will also consider the relationship between the employer and employee and the balance of power between these two groups. The module will examine collective labour law, in-particular collective bargaining and industrial conflict. Students will develop their legal writing skills, building on levels 4 and 5 to achieve a deeper level of critical thinking and independent learning.  

This module introduces the students to the key ethical and regulatory issues associated with artificial intelligence, as well as to the methods of analysis of those issues used in ethics and in law. The focus of the module is on the current state of the art in the applications of artificial intelligence (in particular: of machine learning), with smaller emphasis on hypothetical future developments. The module makes use of the case study method to introduce students to ethical and regulatory (legal) questions through discussion of relevant major incidents from recent years. The module helps students develop their thinking on how to translate abstract ethical (and regulatory) requirements of fairness, explainability or privacy into engineering and business practice.

Jurisprudence is the theory or philosophy of law: the study of philosophical questions about the nature of law, its relation to morality, what determines its validity and normativity, and theories about its social significance and how it operates.Jurisprudence 1 is a survey of key jurisprudential theories and debates. It seeks to fit within the rest of the LLB syllabus by providing a reasoned and principled basis for discussions regarding the content and purpose of the law. It provides background information useful in arguments over the justification or interpretation of laws and policies. It hones skills in developing, expressing, and evaluating arguments as well as in research and digesting complex abstract subjects. Its practical value for practising lawyers cannot be understated as only lawyers with a theoretical understanding will be able to advise clients and reply to opposing arguments when dealing with areas in which the law is unclear or offers conflicting guidance.The lectures will cover the theoretical content of the course, providing an overview of the theories and the debates among them. The tutorials will be aimed at guiding students through the research and development of an argumentative AI dialogue on a more focused subject so that students can then accomplish the same on their summative assessment.

The module explores a practical context for the criminal law concepts introduced in Year 1. It also provides a means for students to consider the practical application of the Human Rights Act (and ECHR) introduced in Public Law 1 at Level 4 (in particular the right to a fair trial). Specifically, the module covers the rules of criminal evidence in the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It examines these in the context of a Not Guilty trial in the Crown Court. It begins by considering the general principles (including theoretical rationales) of admissibility and exclusion of evidence and then each week examines these in light of a particular area of regulation using the applicable statutes, case law and academic opinion. It will be of general interest for the majority of law students but will be particularly valuable for those seeking employment as solicitors and barristers as the matters learned here will stand them in good stead for similar modules when preparing for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam and Bar exams.

This module looks at key issues in medical law and ethics throughout the life course. It begins by linking law with ethics and explaining the tensions between legal, ethical and professional approaches to healthcare-related issues. In the first two weeks, students consider the underpinning topics of medical ethical principles, the nature of medical law, the legal structure of the NHS and the challenges of healthcare allocation decisions. Students then address the issues of consent, capacity and information, with an in depth study of the Mental Capacity Act and its relevance to treatment decisions by competent adults, adults who lack capacity, adults whose capacity fluctuates and patients under the age of 18. These introductory topics underpin consideration of the topics covered in the second half of the semester. Cases and principles introduced in the first half of the module are connected with the topics covered in the second half of the module. The second half of the module looks at public health, the beginnings of life, definitions of ‘life’ and ‘death’ and at end-of-life decisions. Precise topics reflect current events, new case law and emerging areas of legal, ethical or academic debate. For example, students may consider communicable diseases, conception, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, palliative care and assisted dying. At the end of the module, students are given the opportunity to consolidate their learning and research by applying it to real life cases and created scenarios. Students are encouraged to debate and discuss so that they are exposed to a wide variety of perspectives and have the confidence to challenge their presuppositions.

This module introduces students to the key legal and ethical issues associated with privacy and data governance, as well as to the methods of analysis of those issues used both in law and in ethics. The module makes use of the case study method to introduce students to legal and ethical legal questions through discussion of relevant major incidents from recent years. The module helps students develop their thinking on how to translate abstract ethical reasoning into law and business practice.

Tax Law introduces students to basic elements of tax law, explores a number of the most important questions in tax policy, and examines a range of topics in UK tax law. The module provides an overview of various kinds of taxation including income, consumption, inheritance and corporate taxation and explains basic features of the UK system of tax law and tax administration. Topics in tax policy include theories of tax fairness, debates over the tax base and progressive taxation, tax competition and international tax planning, and environmental taxes. UK tax law topics include income from employment, income from trading, income from land, capital allowances, capital gains tax, corporation tax, VAT, inheritance tax, and tax avoidance.

Commercial law is an intellectually stimulating subject which lies at the intersection of the foundational subjects of private law and law in practice. Commercial claims, clauses and remedies has significant practical relevance. Knowledge of the rules that form the basis of this subject is highly recommended for those who want to pursue careers in commercial law. It provides students with an opportunity to build upon their existing knowledge of contract law and introduces them to further areas such as unjust enrichment and some of the economic torts. It also provides students with the opportunity to consider the significance of commercial clauses and their impact upon liability and remedies. In this course, we consider interesting areas of law that are commercially very important.   Further, the course will provide a sound basis for those students who wish to (i) study Commercial Law II: International Sales in Semester 2; (ii) pursue the next stage of study for Solicitor’s or Barrister’s courses; (iii) to study for a Commercial Law based LLM; and (iv) work in a Commercial environment.

The module introduces students to some of the key questions which currently guide research and practice in environmental psychology. The module addresses issues around architectural psychology as well as global and local environmental problems facing our world today. It provides an insight into the psychology of environment-behaviour issues focusing on built (residential, work and public) and natural environments. The main focus of the module will be to provide an insight into the research and theory development to date and to familiarise students with the practical and multidisciplinary nature of the field. By the end of the module students should have an advanced understanding of the nature and scope of some of the principal theoretical and methodological developments in this area of research and an understanding of the application of psychological theory and concepts to an important area of everyday life.

The module covers the law relating to the relationships that exist between the seller and buyer located in different jurisdictions in the context of international sales of goods and examines the international conventions, principles and rules that affect their relationship.

This module explores theoretical, practical and policy issues related to how the criminal law operates in corporate contexts  both crimes perpetrated by individuals (sometimes called white collar crime) and crimes perpetrated by organisations (corporate crimes). The module places roughly equal emphasis on doctrinal and theoretical issues. We will explore doctrinal issues related to specific offences that are central to this area, such as fraud, regulatory crimes and corporate manslaughter, and we will look at practical issues of how corporations seek to promote employee compliance with such laws.  At the same time, we will investigate important theoretical and policy questions related to crime in the corporate context. These include how corporate and regulatory criminal law push traditional boundaries of criminalisation and whether some regulatory offences are so strict as to amount to improperly punishing innocent conduct. We will also explore how it might make sense to punish corporations when they are non-living entities incapable of truly experiencing penalties, as well as doctrinal and policy questions about what the best mechanism for the imposition of corporate liability might be (comparing the identification doctrine to respondeat superior and failure to prevent offences). Throughout the module, our focus will be not only on learning about a sampling of representative parts of law, but also (and just as importantly) on casting a critical eye on how criminal law works in corporate settings. We will consider questions about what leads actors to engage in criminal misconduct in corporate contexts, with a particular emphasis on the organisational factors that can pressure or incentivise especially mid- or lower-level employees to break the law. We will explore ways in which large amounts of everyday conduct, the wrongness of which may not always be apparent to actors on the ground, gets deemed to be criminal in corporate settings, and we will debate whether and to what extent this makes sense. In these ways and more, we will seek to cast a critical eye on the criminal law in corporate settings and ask whether and when alternatives to criminal liability might be called for in response to certain forms of misconduct by employees or managers. We will focus primarily on issues and debates relevant to English law, though the US will serve as an important comparison throughout. 

The module identifies the main types of intellectual property in terms of their subject matter, conditions for protection, duration and scope of protection and will examine their impact on the protection of creative endeavours. Intellectual property law is a specialised area of law, which is set on international law by way of minimum standards (TRIPS Agreement, Paris and Berne Conventions). The UK IP laws have seen not only international regulation but also extensive harmonisation in EU law (particularly trademark law and to a certain extent copyright law). This area of law grants exclusive rights to reward and/or incentivise creation and innovation in exchange for certain societal benefits (different for specific IP rights: the disclosure of inventions; the publication of works and the correction of market inefficiencies in the case of distinctive signs indicating commercial origin). Intellectual property law is a vibrant and rapidly evolving area of law and the knowledge and skills developed throughout this module will provide a good foundation for further exploration of more specific issues either in an academic or professional setting.

This module provides an overview of financial regulation including regulation of banking, capital markets, payments and digital assets. Building on prior knowledge of private and public law, it introduces the regulatory frameworks for each of these areas and the policy considerations that animate regulatory policy. The module also examines the impact of financial regulation on emerging FinTech businesses and considers the ways in which new technology challenges traditional models of financial regulation.

This module is an introduction to two of the most important normative and moral questions that one can raise in relation to law and legal systems, and some of the most prominent philosophical attempts at answering them: whether and to what extent there is an obligation to obey the law and whether it is justifiable to punish law-breakers. Examples of the kind of topics that we shall be looking at in this module include the nature of legal obligations, authority and the duty to obey, the nature of (legal) punishment and various philosophical theories for the duty to obey and for the justification of punishment. This module seeks to fit within the rest of the LLB syllabus by providing a reasoned and principled basis for deeper critical reflections and discussions about what the law ought to be, what role it should play in our societies and in our everyday lives more generally, and how we should relate ourselves to it. It provides background information useful in arguments over the justification or interpretation of laws and policies. It also hones skills in developing, expressing, and evaluating arguments as well as in research and digesting complex abstract subjects.

Healthcare delivery is one of the most socially and politically sensitive issues in economically advanced societies, and the controversies which arise when it is defective, and in increasing its effectiveness, are important issues for the law. This module addresses issues where law and medical practice interact which do not necessarily involve the same issues of purely ethical controversy and human rights as in the co-requisite module Medical Law & Ethics. The principal area will be clinical negligence liability and litigation, with the connected problems of causation and risk-warning. The other main area for examination will be the development of medical treatments through biomedical research and experimentation.

The purpose of the module is to provide a detailed theoretical knowledge of Food, Water and Soil Security in order to improve the provision of safe food components and commodities that have high nutritional and ecological quality. In this respect, the analysis of foods and farming & processing methods that meet UK and EU Food Legislation and associated guidelines is examined. In addition, this module covers aspects related to Farm Production, Food Fraud and Food Safety, particularly in the area of animal welfare, animal species adulteration and food-borne diseases. Students will also appreciate the importance of carrying out appropriate risk assessment for further implementation of HACCP and control methods in the food industry. The module comprises lectures, tutorials and assessments that form an essential part of the Food Science and Nutrition (BD46) degree. It is also highly recommended to students doing Nutrition, Dietetics or the Veterinary Biosciences degree.

LAW3005 provides students the opportunity to engage in sustained independent research and critical writing in defence of a legal thesis, under the supervision of a member of staff.

This module will require students to engage and refine key skills developed throughout the first two years of their degree and to apply those skills at an advanced level. The key skills include legal research (including using digital research tools), case reading, critical thinking and analyses, precision in the use of language, effective and accurate communication, and time management. This module provides the framework for understanding how the law recognizes and regulates intimate personal relationships and mediates relationships of affinity and consanguinity. Family law provides the legal framework for the establishment and dissolution of marriage and civil partnerships, the imposition of legal consequences within marriage, civil partnerships and cohabitation, the financial implications upon the dissolution of those relationships. Family Law also provides the framework for students to understand how the law defines, regulates and mediates the relationship between parent, child, other persons with a relationship nexus to the child and the State. The concept of a child's welfare being paramount informs and constructs the legal framework for the parenting and regulation of parenting of children and forms the core consideration in the resolution of private and public authority disputes over the upbringing of children. The study of this module will enable students to critically assess the purpose of family law and the extent to which laws should regulate and influence adult interpersonal relationships and the parent-child relationship. Students will also gain significant practical insight into how to identify and resolve potential legal problems that may arise during professional family law practice. Real world examples and contemporary trends in family demographics are explored to encourage students to relate practically to the module content and to emphasise the relevance to lived experience.