Postgraduate Course: Withdrawal from the EU and the Law (Brexit) (LAWS11391)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The UK's decision to leave the European Union raises a myriad of legal questions. These include the process of leaving; the legacy of membership, in particular acquired rights and continued relevance of EU law in 'old' cases; the new relationship: future trade relations, but also cooperation in security and foreign affairs matters and criminal law; the position of Scotland in Europe: special deal or no deal or independence?; the constitutional challenges within the UK, including parliamentary participation and implementation through legislation, in particular the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill; and the wider implications of Brexit for cooperation in Europe, in particular for human rights.
This course aims to address these questions in ten seminars. It will expose students to the political background to Brexit; the EU processes involved, which raise important questions of EU constitutional law; single market law; the law of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice; and EU external relations law. Moreover, students will deal with the UK's constitutional arrangements, which are being challenged by Brexit, in particular parliamentary sovereignty and devolution. |
| Course description |
At the end of the course students will have a deep insight into a number of the unprecedented legal questions raised by Brexit. They will have gained a deep understanding of what it means to be an EU Member State, in particular where the single market and other forms of close cooperation are concerned and how EU law is intertwined with domestic law. They will also be able to appreciate the complex challenges for the UK's own constitutional arrangements.
The course content will cover:
1) The political and legal background to Brexit
2) The process of leaving the EU: withdrawal agreement and transition.
3) The legacy of Brexit: acquired rights, etc
4) The future relationship between the UK and the EU: trade
5) The future relationship: other forms of cooperation
6) Brexit and the UK constitution: internal implementation, parliamentary sovereignty, and devolution.
7) Brexit and rights
The students' learning experience will benefit from the topicality of the course. This is of course equally a challenge as the Brexit negotiations will be ongoing and will throw up new legal questions while the course is running, so that there may not be a lot of academic commentary available at the time certain topics will be discussed. The course will be taught in ten seminars covering the topics outlined in differing intensity.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Please contact the online learning team at law.online@ed.ac.uk. |
| Additional Costs | Students should have regular and reliable access to the Internet. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge that covers and integrates most areas of EU law and some areas of UK constitutional law.
- apply knowledge, skills and understanding in using a range of research skills and materials that are informed by the constantly changing questions surrounding Brexit.
- apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to the forefront issue of Brexit.
- use a wide range of routine (e.g. library research) and a range of advanced skills (research with primary sources; news items; foreign sources) to communicate research findings in presentations and essays.
- take responsibility for their own work by preparing weekly contributions to forum discussions, and by writing a blog post and their essay individually.
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Reading List
Books:
Armstrong, Brexit Time, CUP 2017
Dougan (ed.) The UK after Brexit, Intersentia 2017
Any advanced EU law book, such as Craig/de Burca or Chalmers/Davies/Monti (with its online chapter 5A, available here http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/law/european-law/european-union-law-text-and-materials-3rd-edition?format=PB )
Journal articles (all available via discovered) from leading law journals, e.g. European Law Review, Public Law, Common Market Law Review, EU Constitutional Law Review, etc.
Blogs, in particular: eulawanalysis.blogspot.com europeanfutures.ed.ac.uk https://brexittime.com/ verfassungsblog.de
Official publications, in particular from: EU Commission Article 50 Task Force:https://ec.europa.eu/commission/brexit-negotiations/negotiating-documents-article-50-negotiations-united-kingdom_en
DexEU: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/article-50-and-negotiations-with-the-eu
Newspaper reports, if necessary and if available online.
A detailed list of key resources will be available at the start of the course. |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/online_distance_learning/llm_degrees/llm_in_international_commercial_law_and_practice/modules/withdrawal_from_the_eu_and_the_l |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Cognitive skills:
- Capability of applying critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to complex legal and factual questions, in particular
- Identifying, conceptualising and defining new and abstract problems and issues.
- Development of original and creative responses to problems and issues.
- Critical review, consolidation and extension of knowledge, skills, practices and thinking in law.
Communication, numeracy and IT skills; -
- Use a wide range of routine skills and a range of advanced and specialised skills, in particular:
- Communication with peers and staff members using appropriate language
- IT skills involved in completing an online learning degree.
Autonomy, accountability and working with others.
- Use of a wide range of routine skills and a significant range of advanced and specialised skills, in particular:
- Taking responsibility for own work
- Communication at the standard of published academic work |
| Special Arrangements |
This course is taught by online learning. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
This course is taught by online learning. |
| Keywords | EU Law,Trade Law,Brexit,Consitutional Law,Devolution,EU Integration,Disintegration |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Katerina Kalaitzaki
Tel: (0131 6)50 9823
Email: Katerina.Kalaitzaki@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: Clare.Polson@ed.ac.uk |
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