Undergraduate Course: The Law Practice and Policy of Lifetime Savings (LAWS10215)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is a timely introduction to the law relating to pension schemes which perform a key role in society but which are often misunderstood. Pension schemes and assets impact on many other aspects of law and this course will cover a wide range of issues. This will enable students to be informed and knowledgeable of the key areas which arise with such regularity and often in the public domain impacting workers, employers, investors, product providers and others. This will be a useful course to add to those studying commercial law honours subjects. |
| Course description |
The law and policy relating to retirement planning is an issue of national significance and subject to significant regulation and ongoing reform. This one semester course will examine the law and practice relating to UK retirement benefit schemes in a commercial context. The course will consider policy, legislation, case law and reforms providing an in-depth insight into the issues facing policy-makers and those dealing with pensions and related benefits. This course will equip students with an awareness of the legal issues arising from pension schemes in practice such as employment law, insolvency and corporate and commercial law. No prior experience of pensions law is required as the subject will be broadly introduced by considering the nature of saving for retirement in the UK and the differences between State, Public, Private and Occupational Pension arrangements, benefit structures, funding and risks. Differences between the Scottish position and the rest of the UK will be explored where these exist. The course will then consider the governance of these arrangements before analysing in detail the issues arising in a number of specific areas such as, the employment context, funding and commercial transactions.
By the end of this course students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the different types of pension arrangement existing in the UK;
2. Critically evaluate and discuss the laws, regulation and policy which impacts on pensions and retirement benefits in the UK;
3. Identify the practical difficulties arising from retirement benefits and the law governing them in a number of practical scenarios arising in a commercial environment;
4. Analyse the issues arising from cases and case studies and apply knowledge to provide solutions to practical
problems
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Some additional textbooks may be required to be purchased to be held on short loan. For example, Pensions Law Handbook, Bloomsbury Professional (cost - 95 GBP) |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2018/19, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
| Course Start Date |
14/01/2019 |
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 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
75% Course Essay of 4000 words excluding footnotes and bibliography
25% Class participation (assessed over weeks 2-10 based on preparation and participation in seminars, each week marked out of 15 and at the end the average will calculated as a percentage)
11-15 high level quality participation
6-10 demonstrates requisite preparation
1-5 present but little contribution |
| Feedback |
For formative work, students should submit a plan of the essay question with indication of structure and key readings or a short essay style question. Written feedback will be given by the course organiser. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- By the end of this course students will be able to: 1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the different types of pension arrangement in the UK; 2. Critically evaluate and discuss the laws, regulation and policy which impacts on pensions and retirement benefits in the UK; 3. Identify the practical difficulties arising from retirement benefits and the law governing them in a number of practical scenarios arising in a commercial environment; 4. Analyse the issues arising from cases and case studies and apply knowledge to provide solutions to practical problems;
- Demonstrate ability to conduct legal research and work collaboratively to apply knowledge to factual situation and understand relationships between different aspects of the commercial legal environment.
- Key commercial skills in applying knowledge to factual situations, presentation skills and negotiation skills
- Confidence in applying legal knowledge in practical commercial situations
- Students must manage time personally to prepare for seminars and must also develop skills to work in partne with others, similar to those skills required in legal practice. Students will be encouraged to consider working ways which accommodate the strengths of different skills within working groups to meet course outcomes.
|
Reading List
| The majority of materials required, such as legislation, cases and articles are already available via MyEd online library resources (PLC, Westlaw & LexisNexis). Some additional textbooks may be required to be purchased to be held on short loan. For example, Pensions Law Handbook, Bloomsbury Professional (£95) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
By the end of this course students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the different types of pension arrangement in the UK;
2. Critically evaluate and discuss the laws, regulation and policy which impacts on pensions and retirement benefits in the UK;
3. Identify the practical difficulties arising from retirement benefits and the law governing them in a number of practical scenarios arising in a commercial environment;
4. Analyse the issues arising from cases and case studies and apply knowledge to provide solutions to practical problems |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
10 2-hour seminars |
| Keywords | law,practice,policy |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amanda Wyper
Tel: (0131 6)50 2854
Email: Amanda.Wyper@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Olivia Hayes
Tel: (0131 6)50 9588
Email: Olivia.Hayes@ed.ac.uk |
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