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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Undergraduate Course: Administrative Law (LAWS10167)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe aim of the course is to provide students with an advanced knowledge and critical understanding of administrative law, so as to build on the treatment of this subject at ordinary level in Public Law and Individual Rights (PLAIR), and Public law of the UK and Scotland (PLUS).
The course is designed to examine the scope and functioning of administrative law within its constitutional context; to examine the relation between law and Government in Scotland and in the United Kingdom more generally; and to explore the means by which government power is exercised and the legal methods by which it is controlled. Administrative law is a subject of growing importance to practitioners, so the course will have practical utility, but it will also involve consideration of more theoretical issues.
A large part of the course will be concerned with the study of judicial control of administrative action, including aspects of ultra vires, natural justice, fairness, incompatibility with Convention rights, misuse or abuse of discretionary powers, exclusion of review, locus standi, and judicial review procedures. Other areas that will be considered include the fundamental role in administrative adjudication conducted by tribunals and ombudsmen techniques.
The main emphasis will be on the law of Scotland, but English law and EU law will also be considered for comparative purposes, and occasionally other systems.
Course description 1. Introduction
2. Administrative law and judicial review: purpose and functions
3. The scope of judicial review
4. Rationing and exclusion of review
5. Discretion and the intensity of its review
6. Fairness, legitimate expectations, requirement of reasons
7. Devolution and judicial review 1
8. Devolution and judicial review 2
9. Human Rights and judicial review 1
10. Human Rights and judicial review 2
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( Public Law of the UK and Scotland (LAWS08091) OR Public Law of the UK and Scotland (LAWS08123)) AND ( Public Law and Individual Rights (LAWS08092) OR Public Law and Individual Rights (LAWS08132))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesSome knowledge of Scottish/UK public law
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  25
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% coursework consisting of:

- 20% Report
- 25% Report
- 25% Report
- 20% Class Participation
- 10% 10-minute presentation

In total, each student will be required to submit four such reports (1 formative and 3 summative). The formative report must be submitted by all students for Seminar 2. At the beginning of the course, each of the students will be allocated a further 3 seminars (between seminars 4-9) for which they have to produce a summative report. It will be ensured that each student will be provided with a two-week interval between reports. The reports must be appropriately referenced and must not exceed 1500 words in length.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. 1. Knowledge and Sources of Law:

    - An advanced knowledge and understanding of administrative law and judicial review;
    - An ability to critically analyse key administrative law and judicial review rules and case law, and reflect on their implications and possible avenues for legal development;
    - An ability to engage with contemporary debates in the field of administrative law and judicial review.
  2. 2. Subject-specific Skills:

    -To enhance students¿ ability to learn independently (via the requirement to prepare in advance of the class by doing the ¿required¿ readings in seminar handouts);
    -To enhance students¿ ability to locate, interpret and synthesise relevant materials from both primary and secondary sources (via the ¿required¿ and other readings in seminar handouts);
    -To enhance students¿ ability to reflect critically on complex legal and institutional questions and to develop a problem-solving approach (via group class exercises and unseen examination); and
    -To enhance students¿ ability to develop a legal argument in a succinct and persuasive manner (via active class participation and unseen examination).
  3. 3. General Transferable Intellectual Skills:

    - An ability to apply knowledge of the law to complex questions;
    - Evaluative and critical reasoning;
    - Creative thinking;
    - An ability to articulate, sustain and defend a line of argument, clearly and concisely, in both written and oral form;
    - An ability to consider arguments for and against a proposition in a ¿balanced¿ manner; and
    - An ability to locate and use electronic and other resources at an advanced level.
  4. 4. Key Personal Skills:

    - Advanced written and oral communication;
    - An appreciation of different dynamics within a class group and respect for the opinions of other people even if there is disagreement.
  5. 5. Subject-specific Legal and Ethical Values:

    - Ability to exercise independent judgement and operate in relative autonomy for the purpose of seminar and exam preparation;
    - Ability to work as part of a group for the purpose of class exercises and discussions.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsAdmin Law
Contacts
Course organiserDr Dimitrios Kagiaros
Tel: (0131 6)50 9815
Email: Dimitrios.Kagiaros@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Heather Haig
Tel: (0131 6)50 2053
Email: Heather.Haig@ed.ac.uk
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