THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: Insolvency Law (LAWS11297)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryAn examination of selected issues of insolvency law, including personal and corporate insolvency. The course will primarily focus on law within the United Kingdom and will take an advanced look at a variety of topics. Theoretical and comparative law material from a variety of systems (in Europe and the anglo-american tradition) will be used to examine the subjects studied.
Course description The syllabus will vary from year to year to cover subjects of topical interest but may include: the history of insolvency law; terminology; theories of insolvency law (examining economic and social theories underpinning the legal framework); consumer insolvency; why businesses fail; the distinction between "balance sheet" and "cash flow" insolvency; personal insolvency processes; discharge of debtors; winding up; ranking; set-off in insolvency processes; receivership; corporate rescue; administration; pre-packaged administrations; challengeable transactions in insolvency and the actio Pauliana; wrongful and fraudulent trading; cross-border insolvency.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  30
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 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Summative Assessment:

5000 Word Essay (100%)

Students are required to write a 5,000 word essay answering one of a range of questions set by the internal examiner. This is worth 100% of the course mark.
Feedback Feedback on the formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The course organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.

Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.

Feedback on the summative assessment will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate a general knowledge and understanding of the fundamental legal concepts underpinning insolvency law as discussed in the course, as well as knowledge and understanding of the legal rules applicable in these areas arising in national and comparative contexts;
  2. Evidence in-depth knowledge and understanding of some particular areas of law within this broader framework;
  3. Differentiate between and use appropriately primary and secondary sources of law, and identify, retrieve and use relevant and appropriately up-to-date legal information ensuring sources that are up-to-date, appropriate to the context of insolvency law;
  4. Produce a synthesis of relevant evidence (e.g. doctrinal and policy issues) in relation to a topic studied in insolvency law and to make a critical judgment of the relative and absolute merits of particular arguments and solutions;
  5. Display an informed knowledge and understanding of the social and economic contexts in which law operates and how law responds to these social and economic contexts by displaying legal knowledge in association with related policy and underlying social conditions.
Reading List
This is an illustrative reading list as subject matter will vary dependent on topics studied. However, it includes various general textbooks. Our library holdings are good as we teach insolvency law at various levels, and holdings have sufficed to cover the existing law relating to debt and insolvency LLM class.

Insolvency Law and Pratice (Report of the review committee chaired by Sir Kenneth Cork CBE, 1982, Cmnd 8558) (¿the Cork report¿)
V Finch, Corporate Insolvency Law: Perspectives and Principles (2nd edn, 2009)
RM Goode, Principles of Corporate Insolvency Law (4th edn, 2011)
RJ Mokaal, Corporate Insolvency law: theory and application (2005)
TH Jackson, The logic and limits of bankruptcy law (1986)
A Keay and P Walton, Insolvency law: corporate and personal (3rd edn, 2012)
WW McBryde, Bankruptcy (2nd edn, 1995)
DW McKenzie-Skene, Insolvency law in Scotland (1999)
JB St Clair and Lord Drummond Young, The law of corporate insolvency in Scotland (4th edn, 2011)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills See learning outcomes for identification of the transferable skills in communication, research, personal effectiveness, and personal autonomy.

(1) general knowledge and understanding of the fundamental legal concepts underpinning insolvency law as discussed in the course, as well as knowledge and understanding of the legal rules applicable in these areas arising in national and comparative contexts;
(2) an in-depth knowledge and understanding of some particular areas of law within this broader framework;
(3) an advanced ability to differentiate between and use appropriately primary and secondary sources of law, and identify, retrieve and use relevant and appropriately up-to-date legal information ensuring sources that are up-to-date, appropriate to the context of insolvency law;
(4) an advanced ability to identify accurately the issues which require to be researched, and to formulate them clearly;
(5) an advanced ability to analyse, evaluate, and interpret primary and secondary legal sources relevant to insolvency law, and to view critically existing legal rules within that context;
(6) an advanced ability to produce a synthesis of relevant evidence (eg doctrinal and policy issues) in relation to a topic studied in insolvency law and to make a critical judgment of the relative and absolute merits of particular arguments and solutions;
(7) an advanced ability to understand and use the English language proficiently in relation to legal matters being able systematically to structure academic writing, expressing views and ideas succinctly, pursuing and argument with proper care and attention to academic literature with proper recognition of counter-arguments;
(8) an advanced ability to present knowledge or an argument in a way which is comprehensible to its intended audience, directed to the concerns of that audience (both orally and in writing);
(9) an advanced ability to read and discuss legal materials relating to insolvency law which are written in technical and complex language;
(10) an ability to produce a word-processed essay and to present such work in an appropriate form;
(11) an advanced ability use language proficiently in relation to insolvency law and specifically to use appropriate legal terminology in work, and to use recognised methods of citation and reference, and to structure a substantial and appropriately referenced piece of work, present it concisely and express oneself clearly and coherently in which the student should demonstrate the ability to articulate, evidence and sustain a line of argument and to engage in a convincing critique of counter-arguments;
(12) an advanced ability to display an informed knowledge and understanding of the social and economic contexts in which law operates and how law responds to these social and economic contexts by displaying legal knowledge in association with related policy and underlying social conditions; and
(13) to develop the ability to evaluate and critique legal and scholarly material.
You will need to reformat them into 5 single-line outcomes.
Special Arrangements This would not be a compulsory course for any programme but would form part of the programme on the LLM Commercial law
Keywordslaw,commercial law,insolvency,bankruptcy,administration,receivership,pre-packaged administrati
Contacts
Course organiserMr Scott Wortley
Tel: (0131 6)51 4307
Email: scott.wortley@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lauren Ayre
Tel: (0131 6)50 2002
Email: Lauren.Ayre@ed.ac.uk
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