CONTENTS
Note on this Handbook 1
PART I
INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW SCHOOL 2
COURSE OVERVIEW 3
Programme Outcomes 3
European Credit Transfers (ECTS) 4
Academic Year Structure 5
LECTURES AND SEMINARS 7
Taking Notes 7
Lectures 8
Seminars 8
Seminar Cycles 9
Sophister Seminars 9
Non Satisfactory Attendance (NS) 9
Provision of Module Materials 10
COLLEGE PORTAL AND TIMETABLES 11
The Portal 11
Logging onto the Portal 11
The Academic Registry 11
Optional Law Modules 11
Timetables 12
ASSESSMENT OF LAW MODULES 13
Essays and Submission of Coursework for Law 13
Turnitin 13
Late submission 13
Handwriting 13
German Law and Language Submission of Coursework 14
Weighting of Modules and Assessment Duration 19
Examination Timetables 20
Examination Sessions/Periods 20
Medical Certificates 20
Examination Results 21
Finality of Module Results 21
Regulations for Re-Checking Scripts 21
Appeals 22
Aegrotat Degree 23
Foundation Scholarships 23
PLAGIARISM 25
TRANSFERS TO AND FROM COURSES WITHIN COLLEGE 28
LAW AND GERMAN COURSE STRUCTURE 29
Modules and Semesters 30
Broad Curriculum Modules 30
Module Evaluations by Students 35 Sophister Module Choices 36
Changing Sophister Modules 36
Compuslory Year Abroad 37
Application Process 37
Current Links 38
Course Regulations 40
Contacts 41
LOCATION OF AND ACCESS TO THE LAW SCHOOL 43
STAFF MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL OF LAW 44
Officers 44
Academic Staff (Undergraduate) 45
Administrative Staff 49
STAFF MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GERMANIC STUDIES 50
STUDENT WELFARE AND ADVISORY SERVICES 52
Personal Tutors 52
Director of Teaching and Learning (Undergraduate) 52
Academic Staff 52
Class Representatives 52
Student Mentoring Programme 53
Student2Student 53
Students’ Union Education Officer 54
Students’ Union Welfare Officer 54
Referees/Careers 54
Student Counselling Services 54
Student Health Services 55
Careers Advisory Services 55
GradLink 55
Niteline 55
FLAC 56
Chaplains 56
COMMUNICATIONS WITH STUDENTS 57 General Communications 57
Law School Committee 57 Law School Executive 57
Email/Newsletter 57
Noticeboards 57
Local Access Website 58
Facebook 58
Internships and Summer posts 58
Receptions and Christmas Drinks 58
Social and Extra-Curricular Activities in Law 58
Receptions and Christmas Drinks 58
Staff – Student Walk 58
Law School Cabaret 58
Debating and Mooting 58
Conferences and Guest Lectures 59
Trinity College Law Student Colloquium 59
New2Dublin Group 59
Career Notices and Events 59
Social and Extra-Curricular Activities in Germanic Studies 60
Peer-Learning 60
GradLink 60
Stammtisch 61
German Theatre Grupp 61
German Colours Debating 61
Weihnachtsfeier & Backwettbewerb 61
HEALTH AND SAFETY 62
Fire Safety 62
Fire Exits 62
First Aid 62
Accident Reporting 62
Other Matters/Safety Officers 62
STUDENT SOCIETIES 63
DU Law Society 63
Free Legal Advice Centre 63
European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) 64
Trinity College Law Review (TCLR) 64
The Hist and the Phil 64
PART II
BOOK OF MODULES 65
Junior Freshman Law modules 66
Senior Freshman Law modules 71
Junior/Senior Sophister Law modules 76
Law and French Law Modules 97
Law and German Law Modules 104
Law Modules for BESS and Visiting Students 115
PART III
LEGAL RESEARCH AND LEGAL WRITING 118
Legal Research 118
Legal Writing 119
Legal Citation Guide 119
Appendix 1: Academic Year Structure 121
Appendix 2: Oscola 122
A NOTE ON THIS HANDBOOK
This handbook provides a guide to your degree programme. It outlines the structure of the programme and indicates what is expected of you. It offers guidance as to how you should interact with the academic community that you are now joining. It also sets out the supports that are available to you. We strongly advise that you read through this handbook during Orientation Week and then keep it as a reference for the duration of the degree programme. The information in the handbook changes slightly from year to year, but you will not be given another hardcopy of it.
Information is also available on the Law School’s website and the handbooks for all programmes can also be found there should you ever lose this one.
The information in this handbook is accurate at the time of preparation. Any additional information considered necessary will be emailed to your TCD email account. You should check your TCD email account at least once a day during term time to ensure that you do not miss any important notices.
In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the General Regulations published in the University Calendar and the information contained in this handbook, the provisions of the General Regulations will apply.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW SCHOOL
Welcome to the School of Law in Trinity College, Dublin. You are joining a community of scholars – students and professors – of the highest calibre. There are 24 full-time members of staff, many of whom are the leading experts in their fields of study. Adjunct lecturers help us to offer a greater diversity of modules to you. There are approximately 800 undergraduate students on our five degree programmes. You will also get to know some of our 200 postgraduate students, many of whom will be delivering seminars to you in your Freshman modules. Although this may sound like a lot of people, you will quickly learn that we are a small and friendly school. We place student welfare at the heart of the School’s activities.
Our undergraduate degree programmes are among the most highly regarded in the world and enable students to become autonomous, self-directed learners, critically engaging with law and legal scholarship. Students learn both how to construct sound arguments within the legal discipline and how to conceptualise and evaluate law as a social phenomenon.
Creativity and independent thinking are amongst the key attributes we foster amongst our students. In the Freshman years, fundamental skills are taught through a study of core legal topics: legal research, case law method, statutory analysis, oral and written argument. In the Sophister years, an unparalleled range of modules allows students to explore diverse interests and novel approaches to the law, tailoring their studies in accordance with students’ particular areas of interest.
The globalised character of law is emphasised in many modules as well as through our highly successful exchange programme which has both long-established and ever-developing links with some of the best law schools in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
The Law School is a vibrant and inclusive community. Inspired by the value of mutual respect, we - students and staff alike - understand ourselves to be involved in the common endeavour of broadening and deepening legal scholarship. We educate people who will be the leaders of the legal profession, the public service, business and society, and who will demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity and professional ethics, as well as a deep concern for social justice.
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COURSE OVERVIEW
Since October 1993, the four-year Law and German degree programme has been offered by the Law School in conjunction with the Department of Germanic Studies. Together with the Law and French programme the two law and language courses form a small, close-knit and valued community within the Law School and the German Department.
Law and German is both a demanding and rewarding degree. It offers students the opportunity to combine the study of Irish law with a grounding in German law, the German language, and elements of German society and culture.
The main professional and academic importance of studying German law is that Germany is one of the principal civil law legal systems, in marked contrast to our own common law system. Understanding the German approach to law is therefore particularly relevant in the context of increasing European integration. Furthermore, the ability to conduct legal work through German is very important in the fields of European and international law.
The honor course in Law and German normally requires four years of study. In the Junior and Senior Freshman years, students study aspects of the Irish and German legal systems, together with elements of common law and civil law. In addition, they study German language and culture. The Junior Sophister year is spent abroad, studying legal or related modules in a German speaking university, within the framework of the ERASMUS exchange programme. Students’ academic performance at that university counts towards a significant portion of their overall degree. 35 per cent of final degree marks will be awarded on the basis of grades obtained during this year.
The degree is offered through the co-operation of the School of Law and Germanic Studies Department.
The German component of the Law and German degree programme is designed:
· to train students to acquire the greatest possible fluency in the German language, and,
· to familiarise students with the German legal system and its terminology, and to enable them to develop a clear grasp of the cultural, political and societal context in which the German legal system has evolved and operates.
The study of the German language is firmly integrated with the study of substantive material. This includes German law as well as Germany’s cultural history. German area studies, culture, politics and society are covered in order to provide students with a contextual background for their specific legal expertise and an understanding of modern Germany. All German law lectures are conducted through German.
There is a strong emphasis on developing a knowledge and understanding of the German legal system, substantive law and legal methodologies.
The third year of the programme must be spent studying law at a respected German university. This mandatory year in Germany is a key element of the degree. It is valuable not only for the academic benefits it confers but also more broadly for the personal development and transferable skills which students develop while living and working in a different country.
Due to the time invested in studying German language, culture and law over the four years, students cover fewer Irish law modules and have a reduced choice of optional law modules, compared to the ordinary LL.B. degree.
In addition to a general interest in the study of law, students on this course will need a specific and strong interest in Germany and its language, culture and law.
Programme Outcomes:
Having completed this degree programme, students should be able to:
· Identify, evaluate and synthesise jurisprudential theories and concepts;
· Use appropriate legal theories, doctrines and concepts to identify, formulate, analyse and solve legal problems within national and international contexts;
· Map the relationship between law and society, including the role of law in promoting and responding to social change;
· Demonstrate a capacity for critical reflection and judgement in the light of evidence and argument;
· Discuss and debate different perspectives on legal problems, theories and doctrines in both a national and international context;
· Conduct effective and targeted research in case law, legislation and academic legal commentary at both the national and international levels, in particular in the Irish and German legal systems;
· Demonstrate a differentiated and in-depth knowledge and understanding of, together with an ability to evaluate critically, the legal environment and institutions of the countries where the target language is spoken and to place these in their historical context;
· Demonstrate a high level of oral, aural and written proficiency in the German language, including the ability to discuss freely general and legal topics, and to evaluate, synthesise and present legal arguments in a structured, reasoned and coherent way in both written and oral modes;
· Integrate critical linguistic and cultural awareness with the appropriate knowledge and strategies to deal creatively and ethically with challenges in communication in social and professional settings;
· Demonstrate flexibility, adaptability and independence in order to engage productively with a changing social, cultural and technological environment and with a capacity to move effectively within and between cultures;
· Have developed the capacity to engage in life-long learning, including vocational training for the legal profession;
· Work and communicate effectively as an individual and in teams in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural settings.
European Credit Transfer System
You must study 240 ECTS over the duration of the four years.
The ECTS weighting for a module is a measure of the student input or workload required for that module, based on factors such as the number of contact hours, the number and length of written or verbally presented assessment exercises, class preparation and private study time, classes, and examinations. There is no intrinsic relationship between the credit volume of a module and its level of difficulty.
In College, 1 ECTS unit is defined as 20-25 hours of student input so a 10-credit module will be designed to require 200-250 hours of student input including class contact time and assessments.
Academic Year Structure
The academic year is divided into two semesters (also referred to as Michaelmas and Hilary Term), with examinations taking place after the second semester (in Trinity Term). Reading Weeks will take place in the seventh teaching week (Calendar weeks 11 and 27) of each semester.
Michaelmas Term:
28 September – 18 December 2015 (Calendar weeks 5-16)
Hilary Term:
18 January – 8 April 2018 (weeks 21-32)
Trinity Term:
11 April – 29 April 2016 (Revision Period)
2 May – 27 May 2016 (Examination Period)[1]
30 May – 1 July 2016 (Marking Period, Annual Examination Publication and Appeals)[2]
Full details of the academic year structure are set out in Appendix 1.
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LECTURES AND SEMINARS
Our core educational aim is that all our students become self-directed, critical thinkers, well-versed in the law and legal scholarship. In order to achieve this aim, we have developed a mixed pedagogical approach of lectures, seminars and independent coursework. Your professors have different styles and you will benefit from the broad range of approaches to teaching and learning. Indeed, the Law School is one of the most innovative centres in College when it comes to teaching and learning, as evidenced by the fact that proportionately more law professors have won the College’s Provost’s Teaching Award than have professors in any other discipline. You will learn from each of your professors what is expected of you. What follows here is an account of some common requirements.
Lectures and seminars[3] commence on the hour and finish 50 minutes later.
Taking Notes:
Lectures: A lecture is designed to provoke thought, encourage learning and impart information to the audience.
· Note-taking at a lecture should be regarded as an aide-memoire and not as the principal objective.
· Students should concentrate primarily on hearing everything said by the lecturer, and then commit it to paper.