THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Undergraduate Course: Delictual Liability and the Civil Law (LAWS10277)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis is an honours-level course in Roman law. Using texts in translation, this course deals with an in-depth study of the Roman law on wrongful damage to property. It is not essential, though it is an advantage, to have taken the Ordinary course in Civil Law. Again, some Latin, even the ability to follow a translation, is useful though by no means a pre-condition for the course.
Course description "Rome's greatest legacy to the modern world is undoubtedly its private law. Roman law forms the basis of all the legal systems of Western Europe apart from England (but not Scotland) and Scandinavia. Outside Europe, the law of places as diverse as Louisiana and Ceylon, Quebec and Japan, Ethiopia and South Africa, and Turkey and Chile is based firmly on Roman law. Even in England and the countries of Anglo-American law in general, the influence of Roman law is considerable and much greater than often admitted." - Alan Watson Roman law and comparative law (Georgia 1991) 3 ff. This quote by Alan Watson provides some indication of the actual value and extent of civilian influence in modern legal systems. Legal systems are too complex to be studied in detail, but by studying the historical principles on which European law is founded, the student will gain a unique insight into the workings of civil law systems. By means of a detailed study of the original texts in translation, it seeks to provide some understanding of the Roman - and, by comparison, the modern legal mind at work. Teaching will be based on primary materials and extensive secondary literature. There is no prescribed textbook, but students will be required to do some research in the library.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
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 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) This course will be assessed by means of one essay (30%) and an unseen examination (70%).
Feedback Students will receive individual essay feedback
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Further insights into the historical origins of law in Western Europe while focusing on selected topics in Roman law
  2. A working knowledge of the sources and methodology of legal history
  3. An overview of the civilian tradition and its contemporary relevance in a mixed jurisdiction such as Scotland.
Reading List
A full reading list will be supplied in advance of every seminar
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills The course will encourage the students to engage with primary sources and to develop their critical skills. It will help them to better appreciate the limits of the law and its underlying moral values, and their change over time. It will encourage them to appreciate the ways in which literature articulates both the capacities and incapacities of the law as it is practiced and as it might be practiced.
Keywordscivil law,roman law
Contacts
Course organiserProf P Du Plessis
Tel: (0131 6)50 9701
Email: P.Duplessis@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lauren McCrory-Irving
Tel:
Email: lmccrory@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information