Undergraduate Course: EU Criminal Law (Honours) (LAWS10278)
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 | The course considers the development of EU criminal law asking how and why the EU has intervened in the field and the tensions raised around sovereignty and fundamental rights by the development of a transnational criminal law system. |
| Course description |
This course is designed to be an advanced course in a specialized area of European Union law, namely EU criminal law. Criminal Law is a relatively new field of legislative activity for the European Union and deals mainly with challenges posed by cross-border crime. It harmonizes some areas of national criminal law but its main contribution is to develop a sophisticated suite of instruments to aid cross-border criminal law enforcement, including EU arrest warrants, investigation orders and transferring sentences. There are also EU policing and prosecutorial bodies and important databases. The course also addresses the interaction between criminal law and some other key areas of EU law such as free movement and data protection. Concerns with fundamental rights and state sovereignty are cross-cutting themes. The course will consist of a series of seminars analysing key areas of EU criminal law. Students will be required to read material in advance, both primary and secondary sources, and be prepared to discuss them in class. The class will be assessed by a moot court which will consist of a written submission and an oral hearing.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A pass in EU Law Ordinary or equivalent. |
| 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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Participation (individual): 10%
Moot court written submission (group): 50%
Moot court oral submission (individual): 40% |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided on the written submissions in advance of the oral submissions.
A formative assessment of a short problem question will be made available, allowing feedback on researching and analysing EU law, the nature of a preliminary reference, identifying issues and constructing a legal argument. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the principal features, mechanisms and content of particular EU criminal law as a form of transnational criminal law.
- Critically review the tensions between law enforcement and fundamental rights in the context of a multi-level legal system.
- Locate, read and analyse EU legal materials, including particular methods of legislative interpretation and judicial reasoning
- Analyse the contribution of criminal law to the broader development of the EU legal system
- Analyse an EU legal problem and develop legal writing and communication skills
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Reading List
Primary sources:
Treaties, EU legislation
Caselaw of the Court of Justice of the EU
Policy papers, legislative proposals, Communications
Secondary Sources:
Steve Peers, EU Justice and Home Affairs Vol II: EU Criminal Law, Policing and Civil Law (5 ed) (OUP 2023) as the main reference book
Journal articles in particular from:
Common Market Law Review
European Law Review
European Law Journal
New Journal of European Criminal Law
European Criminal Law Review
European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Creative problem solvers and researchers
Skilled communicators
Critical and reflective thinkers |
| Keywords | Criminal law,European Union law,European Arrest Warrant,Cross-border law enforcement |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephen Coutts
Tel:
Email: scoutts@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lauren McCrory-Irving
Tel:
Email: lmccrory@ed.ac.uk |
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