Commercial Law LLB (Hons) with foundation year

This module explores the sources, institutions and structures of the English and European legal systems. Develop a critical awareness of the wider political, social and globalised context in which the law operates, and the principles and values underpinning these systems. Gain an insight into the workings of the civil and criminal justice system while exploring key challenges in providing access to justice for all. The module will introduce you to the sources of law, judicial precedent and statutory interpretation. You will also explore legal personnel and the growing role of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and tribunals within the legal system.

Compulsory

Learn key principles of criminal law and the operation of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Unravel the principles of criminal liability, exploring how the law defines and responds to wrongdoing. From serious crimes like homicide to non-fatal offences against the person and property-related crimes, you’ll examine the legal boundaries of criminal behaviour.

Delve into defences, attempts, and the complexities of justice in practice and gain a deeper understanding of how the law balances punishment, responsibility and fairness in a modern society. Understand the criminal process, from investigation and prosecution to trial and sentencing, considering the roles of key institutions such as the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts.

Compulsory

This module introduces the key legal principles and rules governing contracts under common law, as affected by statute, and how these give rise to legally protected rights and enforceable obligations. Examine the formation, operation, and termination of contractual obligations, and how contractual relationships function in practice and interact with other areas of law.

Examine the factors which have influenced the development of contract law and the factors that may affect its future direction (both in the UK and globally), including technological advancement, social change, and changing commercial priorities.

This module aims to develop your legal skills, particularly the ability to conduct effective legal research, advise clients from a practical perspective and provide reasoned legal solutions to contract law problems.

Compulsory

Understand the constitutional arrangements for the jurisdiction in which you are studying. Learn about the legal system and the process by which the law is made, executed and adjudicated upon, together with its limits.

Explore the constitution and constitutional law and their fundamental concepts such as the rule of law, legal accountability and human rights. Learn about the global significance of a specific constitution and the role that international and comparative law can play in setting standards of constitutional behaviour.

Gain an understanding of the law regulating state institutions, their interactions with each other and their relationships with the individual citizen. At the centre of this is the United Kingdom’s uncodified constitution, and how the law accommodates those factors by balancing the rights and obligations of each state institution to ensure the protection of individual rights.

Explore how governments and various state institutions are held to account by the area of administrative law, with particular reference to judicial review, and how individual rights are protected and enforced against the state.

Compulsory

Tort law is the name given to the branch of law that imposes civil liability for breach of obligations owed by both individuals and organisations to one another. It encompasses a wide variety of different legal actions and serves as a means by which an individual can obtain compensation where a wrong is committed against them.

Explore the foundational tort of negligence, which has led to the growth of this discipline. Examine the kinds of damage for which the law permits recovery and those which it does not, and the rationales for imposing restrictions on recovery. Explore other torts such as nuisance, occupiers’ liability, employers’ liability, trespass to the person and privacy/defamation. Learn how the law of Tort has developed in a changing economic, social, and political climate and how it relates to other legal areas such as contract, criminal law and human rights.

Compulsory

With a particular focus on land law, this module aims to introduce you to the terminology, concepts, policy objectives, and statutory schemes necessary to understand modern property law in England and Wales. Learn how to identify and understand practical problems in property law and identify those sources, both statutory and common law, which can be used to resolve those practical problems. Understand how to utilise these sources in the wider land law context and appreciate the underlying rationales which explain the current design and shape of the law of property.

Compulsory

Develop essential practical legal skills while fostering professional ethical awareness. Gain hands-on experience in core areas of legal practice such as client interviewing, negotiation and advocacy, and engage with key ethical principles related to client care, confidentiality and integrity. The module covers civil procedure rules, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and solicitors' accounts, providing a well-rounded foundation for legal practice. With an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility, you should be better prepared to navigate real-world legal challenges with confidence and integrity.

Compulsory

Learn how the law applies to businesses and commercial transactions. Businesses engage lawyers at almost every stage in the commercial cycle. Learn how to offer advice on how to set up a business, including how to structure and finance such an undertaking. Gain confidence in advising on contracts for the sale of goods and/or the supply of services, including the obligations of the seller or supplier, how to ensure proper payment and what to do when a debtor defaults. Understand the use of financial instruments such as contracts of insurance, negotiable instruments and securities. Get an understanding of the various legal obligations, tools, and remedies available to businesses and commercial ventures.

Compulsory

This module will introduce you to the equitable principles governing the creation, operation and administration of public and private trusts. Examine the reasons for creating trusts in the contemporary social, economic and international contexts. Examples of contemporary issues in this area include the legal problems raised by crowd-funding and surplus funds, the potential problems of joint ownership of property by those outside a family relationship (for example, friends buying a flat together) and how philanthropy through the creation of charitable trusts provides funding that supports and advances UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Gain an understanding of the trust concept, the requirements in the creation of a valid trust, the different types of trust that may come into operation, the nature of trusteeship and liability for breach of trust. Get an appreciation of the flexibility of the trust concept, its traditional function concerning family property and its contemporary role in commercial contexts.

Compulsory

Carry out a substantive piece of independent research into a legal issue relevant to your study. Draw upon the knowledge you have acquired, and the intellectual, technical and analytical skills developed throughout the course. The research will culminate in an individual research-based dissertation project or an individual project report approved by your supervisor. This may be based on your engagement with approved clinical legal opportunities, subject to availability and competitive application.²

Compulsory

This module considers key concepts of international commercial law and how disputes are settled in a commercial context through arbitration. This module will consider international contracts for the sale of goods and supply of services, including the different contracts of carriage based on INCOTERMS, marine cargo insurance, and payment and financing. Examine arbitration as a method of dispute resolution arising out of such contracts and explore the unique features of arbitration and the relevant regulatory frameworks. Understand international arbitration as a form of dispute resolution and the English Arbitration Act 1996, alongside the UNCITRAL Rules. Learn the practice of arbitration, gaining knowledge and skills in its conduct.

Compulsory

Choose one of the following two:

• Family Law and Practice – 30 credits
  Develop your knowledge and understanding of family law and how these areas of law operate in practice in their socio-legal context. Understand how English law regulates relationships between adult partners (in marriage, civil partnership, and cohabitation) and relationships between parents/carers and children. Gain an understanding of the operation of human rights law principles in family law. How both private and public law operate to safeguard children and adults from violence and abuse in a family context will be examined, referencing the rights guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights.
• Company Law, Employment and Taxation – 30 credits
  Get a critical understanding of the statutory provisions and common law principles governing business models, including Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships, with a focus on registered companies. Registered companies conduct most of the economic activity of the United Kingdom. Therefore, lawyers and other professional persons require an understanding of the concepts that shape company law and the rules that govern corporate activities. This module examines the legal regulation of the formation, administration, financing and governance of businesses, including how they may come to an end through insolvency. Moreover, the module examines and assesses the law governing the employment relationship, from recruitment to termination.

Availability of optional modules may vary depending on student demand.

Optional