THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Undergraduate Course: Commercial Uses of Rural Land (LAWS10281)

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
SummaryThe course will introduce Honours students to the time immemorial mysteries of agricultural leasing and the commercial ways in which non-urban land can be used.
Course description The teaching of agricultural law, agricultural leases and land law at the University of Edinburgh Law School stretches back to the 1960s. This course will resurrect that heritage. It is an important course as there are many thousands of farm tenancies of various types in Scotland, as well as other occupancy arrangements, covering a wide variety of land types. This is therefore a relevant 'black letter law' subject. There is also increasing interest in the use of rural land for carbon sequestration, commercial forestry and other 'natural capital enhancement' uses. In all of these areas, the law of leases plays a significant part and is likely to do so in future.

The course complements the existing Commercial Leasing (Honours) course and runs in the opposite semester to that course. As such, a course like this would augment our leases offering and aspects of leasing not caught within 'commercial leasing', primarily in the non-urban parts of the country, but which nonetheless have a significant commercial focus. Furthermore, state intervention in the non-commercial leasing sector represented by the Agricultural Holdings legislation beginning in the 1880s forms an interesting example for study of such interventions for students whose aims are not so focussed on legal practice.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Contract and Unjustified Enrichment (LAWS08127) AND Property Law (Ordinary) (LAWS08133) AND Commercial Law (Ordinary) (LAWS08131)
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 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 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework (comprising a 4,000 word Problem-Solving Exercise) - 100%
Feedback Students will have the ability to submit a formative assessment around mid-way through the semester.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Have a detailed knowledge and understanding of important aspects of the Law of Agricultural Leasing, Agricultural Tenancies, Land Law and other forms of Rural Leases (consistent with the objectives of the LL.B degree)
  2. Have a detailed understanding of major issues and debates in the Law of Agricultural Leasing, Agricultural Tenancies, Land Law and other forms of Rural Leases
  3. Have gained experience in critical analysis of issues and oral and written communication of the results of the analysis, including the clear and succinct expression of ideas (consistent with the objectives of the LL.B degree)
  4. Have gained experience in working on their own, research and reading and understanding texts on the subject, enabling the student to evaluate the work of scholars in the Law of Agricultural Leasing, Agricultural Tenancies, Land Law and other forms of Rural Leases (consistent with the objectives of the LL.B degree)
Reading List
There are very few textbooks or books on this subject, such is its specialist nature. The students will be expected to read/consult R. Rennie, Leases (SULI, Edinburgh, Thomson/Reuters, 2015) Chs 35-36 and Lord Gill, Law of Agricultural Tenancies in Scotland, 4th edn (Edinburgh, Thomson/Reuters, 2016).
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Each of the following graduate attributes:

Critical and reflective thinking
Students will engage with different sources, different perspectives, and legal fields to understand further how rural land and leases interact & what the key issues are.

Passion to engage locally and globally
This course will encourage students to engage with the legal issues that arise in the local countryside and in rural locations in Scotland.

Outlook and engagement
This course encourages students to study different fields of law (including the law of leases, contract law, and partnership law) and how these intersect with rural, land and estate-related issues in
the countryside. This helps to establish an understanding on these issues through different perspectives and lenses to ensure a comprehensive outlook on the field.

Research and enquiry
The students will be able to conduct independent research in rural leases and agricultural leases through the study of key primary and secondary sources and critically evaluating these sources.
KeywordsAgricultural Law,Agricultural Leasing,Land Law,Rural Land,Law of Non-Urban Land
Contacts
Course organiserMr David Cabrelli
Tel: (0131 6)50 2068
Email: david.cabrelli@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Robyn Blyth
Tel: (01316) 514550
Email: rblyth@ed.ac.uk
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