Postgraduate Course: Reproduction and the Law (LAWS11467)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course provides students with an understanding of the law, policy, and precedent associated with the regulation of human reproduction in the UK. It provides a solid legal grounding in this area by focusing on four key topics: abortion, assisted reproduction and embryo research, wrongful life and wrongful birth, and surrogacy.
This course operates in an area fraught with legal and ethical dilemmas. It will equip students to navigate a range statute, case law, policy and relevant legal and ethical secondary material in order to critically analyse extant frameworks in this controversial field. The core focus of this course will be UK jurisprudence, but it will also provide scope for students to reflect on the issues raised in relation to other jurisdictions. |
| Course description |
The course will consist of a series of five (5) seminars on key topics in the area of reproduction and the law as follows:
Seminar 1: Regulating Reproduction
An introduction to the key legal frameworks and ethical concepts engaged by the law of reproduction.
Seminar 2: Abortion
The definition of abortion under the Abortion Act 1967, and current regulation and practices surrounding abortion in the UK. This session will draw on other jurisdictions with contrasting approaches.
Seminar 3: Wrongful Life, Conception and Birth
The key differences between, and the legal bases of actions for 'wrongful life', 'wrongful conception' and 'wrongful birth'.
Seminar 4: Assisted Reproduction and the in vitro embryo
The regulation of IVF, and other forms of assisted reproduction that require the creation, use and storage of in vitro embryos.
Seminar 5: Surrogacy
The regulation of surrogacy in the UK, and recent proposals for reform.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate critical understanding of the principal legal and policy frameworks that govern the regulation of reproduction.
- Identify, analyse and argue issues of law and policy relating to human reproduction.
- Demonstrate the ability to work independently in researching and analysing issues in reproduction and the law.
- Communicate clearly through class participation written assignments their understanding and application of the legal issues covered by the course.
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Reading List
There will be no set text for this course, but reading lists are likely to include:
Emily Jackson, Medical Law: Text, Cases and Materials (5th ed) (OUP, 2019)
Emily Jackson, Regulating Reproduction: Law, Technology and Autonomy (Hart, 2001)
Graeme Laurie, Shawn Harmon and Edward Dove, Mason and McCall Smith's Law and Medical Ethics (11th ed) (OUP, 2019) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding:
The student will be able to demonstrate critical understanding of the principal legal and policy frameworks that govern the regulation of reproduction.
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Research and Enquiry
The student will be able to identify, analyse and argue issues of law and policy relating to human reproduction.
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
The student will be able to demonstrate the ability to work independently in researching and analysing issues in reproduction and the law
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in Communication
The student will be able to communicate clearly through class participation written assignments their understanding and application of the legal issues covered by the course. |
| Keywords | LLM,Law,Medical Law,Ethics,Reproduction,Level 11,Postgraduate |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Catriona McMillan
Tel:
Email: Catriona.McMillan@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Bethan Walters
Tel: (0131 6)50 2386
Email: bethan.walters@ed.ac.uk |
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