THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Undergraduate Course: Public Law and Individual Rights (LAWS08132)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course is concerned with the relationship between law, government and the citizen in Scotland, as a distinct part of the United Kingdom. It has these learning objectives:

a. To develop knowledge and understanding of (i) the main systems in place to protect individuals from unlawful governmental activity, and to protect the human rights and civil liberties of individuals, in particular by judicial review of administrative action and under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Scotland Act 1998; and (ii) the substantive rights of individuals in the context of police powers, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.

b. To develop students' skills of (i) case and statute analysis; (ii) legal reasoning; (iii) appreciation of law in its philosophical, social and political context; (iv) criticism; (v) communication, orally and in writing; and (vi) legal research, in part so that the knowledge and understanding gained may be adapted and further developed for future needs.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Public Law of the UK and Scotland (LAWS08123) AND Scottish Legal System (LAWS08128)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2023/24, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 69 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) This course will be assessed by a combination of multiple choice question (MCQ) online tests worth 40% of the overall grade, and a sit-in exam worth 60% of the overall grade. The exam will be conducted online.

The MCQ assessment will take the form of a series of four online MCQ tests spaced throughout the course (i.e. after each of the five tutorials) during the course, to check students' knowledge and understanding of learning outcomes on a more or less continuous basis.
Feedback Students will be offered an opportunity to undertake a formative exercise after the first tutorial. The nature of assessment throughout the course means that students will receive feedback on short assessments (e.g. MCQs and short essays) throughout the course.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Resit Exam Diet (August)2:00
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)2:15
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. To develop knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the citizen and the state both at the Scottish and UK levels and in particular the protection of individual liberty through the mechanisms of judicial review of administrative action, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Scotland Act 1998.
  2. Students should be able to demonstrate a full knowledge and understanding of the following topics in public law and individual rights: Judicial review: procedure, standing, scope; illegality, procedural impropriety, irrationality and proportionality; controls over delegated legislation; Protection of civil liberties and human rights: European Convention on Human Rights; Human Rights Act 1998; Scottish institutions, judicial review, human rights challenges and devolution issues; Police powers: arrest and detention, searches, questioning and rights of individuals in police custody; Freedom of association, assembly, and public order; Freedom of information
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Legal reasoning; appreciation of law in its philosophical, social and political context; criticism; communication, orally and in writing.
- Recognise, analyse and rank arguments and evidence in terms of relevance
and importance by:
- managing volume of legal sources and select key material to construct written or oral answers to a problem.
- identifying the legal problem from information provided.
- addressing problems by reference to relevant material.
- bringing together and integrating information and materials from a variety of different sources.
- acknowledging ranking of sources and relative impact in context.
- application of the law and problem-solving in a legal context.
- presenting arguments for and against propositions.
- Be aware that arguments require to be supported by evidence, in order to meet legal requirements of proof by showing awareness of the need for evidence to support arguments
- Apply knowledge and analysis
- in a legal context
- creatively to complex situations in order to provide arguable solutions to concrete problems by presenting a range of viable options from a set of facts and law.
- Think critically and make critical judgments on the relative and absolute merits of particular arguments and solutions
- Act independently in planning and undertaking tasks in areas of law which he or she has already studied.
KeywordsPLAIR
Contacts
Course organiserDr Elisenda Casanas Adam
Tel: (0131 6)50 9815
Email: ecasanas@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Emma Hughes
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: Emma.Hughes@ed.ac.uk
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