Postgraduate Course: Criminalisation (LAWS11266)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course investigates the proper scope of the criminal law, asking: what conduct should and should not, be criminalised by the state? It examines both the ethical issues raised by criminalisation generally and their relevance to particular areas of the criminal law, via the use of case studies. The course begins with an exploration of classic debates about the scope of criminal law - focusing, especially, on the relationship between crimes, harms and moral wrongs. It then considers some questions of contemporary importance. For example, to what extent is it justifiable to expand the criminal law's scope in order to prevent or reduce the risk of future harms? And under what conditions, if any, may the state criminalise otherwise 'innocent' behaviour in pursuit of its own strategic goals?
Current case study topics for this course include the prohibition of drugs, weapons and pornography; consensual harming and the law on assisted suicide; the creation of 'preventive' criminal laws to contain particular threats, such as terrorism and sexual predation; and the regulation of neighbourhood disorder and 'anti-social' behaviour. |
| Course description |
This course is a core (but optional) course for the LLM in Criminal Law and the LLM in Criminal Justice. It is optional for students on other masters programmes within the School of Law.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A working knowledge of the basics of criminal law will be highly beneficial. |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Final essay (5000 words) worth 100% |
| Feedback |
The initial assessment for this course is designed to inform students' work on the main, final essay. Students will be asked to write a short critical analysis of a text studied in the first few weeks of the course. This will be submitted in the middle of the semester and returned, along with feedback, before the end of the teaching period. Some time in class will also be reserved to discuss this first assessment.
The aim of this process is to develop skills that will also be tested in the main essay: in particular, the ability to analyse arguments that may be more abstract and complex than students are used to from undergraduate study, and the ability to evaluate these arguments critically. Feedback will also be given on the main essay, in accordance with standard procedures and timescales. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Explain and evaluate a range of theories of the proper scope of the criminal law; including developments at the forefront of the field;
- Apply these theories to novel, complex and/or contentious cases;
- Understand and critically analyse a wide range of contemporary debates about the criminalisation of particular types of conduct; and
- Critically evaluate proposals for further expansion of the criminal law.
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Reading List
| Reading lists will be distributed in advance of seminars |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course will contribute towards development of the following skills:
* Identifying, conceptualising and defining new and abstract problems and issues
* Developing original and creative responses to problems and issues
* Critically reviewing, consolidating and extending knowledge, skills, practices and thinking
* Using a range of communication skills and methods
* Exercising substantial autonomy and initiative in own work
* Taking responsibility for own work. |
| Keywords | Criminalisation,criminal law,legal theory,harm principle,legal moralism,preventive justice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Gerry Maher
Tel:
Email: gerard.maher@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Karin Bolton
Tel: (0131 6)50 2022
Email: Karin.Bolton@ed.ac.uk |
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