Undergraduate Course: Sentencing: Law, Philosophy, and Practice (LAWS10271)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | 'Sentencing' is a high-profile court process whereby punishment is imposed on a convicted offender by a judicial authority. This course explores the law, philosophy, and wider implications of this most complex and contested practice of criminal justice. |
| Course description |
'Sentencing' is a high-profile court process whereby punishment is imposed on a convicted offender by a judicial authority. As a coercive instance of the exercise of state power over the individual, sentencing and punishment entail the deliberate infliction of hard treatment and involve doing things to people that (when not described as 'sentencing and punishment') appear to be morally wrong. This Honours course explores the law, philosophy, and wider implications of this most complex and contested practice of criminal justice.
The course begins with three foundational topics in the philosophy of sentencing and punishment. It proceeds to consider six contemporary topics in sentencing with special emphasis on cutting-edge research and new trajectories in the field, including the work of the newly established Scottish Sentencing Council. It concludes with a series of group presentations on the topic: 'Why Punish? How Much?'
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
5,000 word essay (100%) |
| Feedback |
Formative assessment: literature review of 1,500 words part-way through the course; individual written feedback and group verbal feedback to be provided. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Analyse classic and contemporary theories in sentencing and the philosophy of punishment
- Engage critically with empirical studies of the criminal law-in-action
- Scrutinise the guidelines published by the Scottish Sentencing Council, with comparative reference to sentencing guidelines in England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions
- Evaluate current sentencing practice and routes to reform
- Aspire to excellence in sentencing research and the craft of academic writing
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Reading List
There is no 'set text' for Sentencing: Law, Philosophy, and Practice: rather, the course has been designed to give students the time, support, and intellectual freedom to read broadly, but purposefully, and research issues for themselves. The following texts are, however, highly recommended in that they cover overlapping ground and serve as a strong foundation for our seminar discussions:
Philosophy of sentencing and punishment
HLA Hart, Punishment and Responsibility: Essays in the Philosophy of Law (2 nd edn, J Gardner (ed.), Oxford University Press 2008)
RA Duff, Punishment, Communication and Community (Oxford University Press 2001)
N Lacey, State Punishment: Political Principles and Community Values (Routledge 1988)
Z Hoskins, 'Legal Punishment' in EN Zalta (ed) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2021)
E Kelly, The Limits of Blame: Rethinking Punishment and Responsibility (Harvard University Press 2018).
Criminal justice
JV Roberts, Criminal Justice: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2015)
L Zedner, Criminal Justice (Oxford University Press 2004).
L Zedner and JV Roberts (eds) Principles and Values in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ashworth (Oxford University Press 2012)
B O'Flaherty and R Sethi, Shadows of Doubt: Stereotypes, Crime, and the Pursuit of Justice (Harvard University Press 2019)
Sentencing law and practice
A Ashworth and R Kelly, Sentencing and Criminal Justice (6th edn, Hart Bloomsbury 2021)
M Wasik, A Practical Approach to Sentencing (5th edn, 2014, Oxford University Press)
S Easton and C Piper, Sentencing and Punishment: The Quest for Justice (4 th edn, Oxford University Press 2016)
E AO Freer, Sentencing: New Trajectories in Law (Routledge 2021)
R Henham, Sentencing Policy and Social Justice (Oxford University Press 2018).
R Frase and JV Roberts, Paying for the Past: Prior Record Enhancements in the US Sentencing Guidelines (Oxford University Press 2019)
M Manikis and G Watson (eds) Sentencing, Public Opinion, and Criminal Justice: Essays in Honour of Julian V Roberts (Oxford University Press 2024) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry; personal and intellectual autonomy; personal effectiveness; communication |
| Keywords | Sentencing,courts,philosophy of punishment,penal theory,criminal justice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gabrielle Watson
Tel:
Email: gabrielle.watson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lauren McCrory-Irving
Tel:
Email: lmccrory@ed.ac.uk |
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