UNIVERSITY OF KENT
Programme Specification
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she passes the programme. More detailed information on the learning outcomes, content and teaching, learning and assessment methods of each module can be found in the programme handbook. The accuracy of the information contained in this specification is reviewed by the University and may be checked by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.LLB Law: International Legal Studies (with stated Year Abroad destination)
1. Awarding Institution/Body / University of Kent
2. Teaching Institution / University of Kent
3. School responsible for management of the programme / Kent Law School
4. Teaching Site / Canterbury
5. Mode of Delivery / Full-time
6. Programme accredited by / Solicitors Regulation Authority & Bar Standards Board
7. Final Award / LLB International Legal Studies - Year abroad destination to be included in legal title of award (e.g. LLB International Legal Studies (China))
8. Programme / Law
9. UCAS Code (or other code)
10. Credits/ECTS Value / 480 Credits/ 240ECTS
11. Study Level / Undergraduate
12. Relevant QAA subject benchmarking group(s) / Law
13. Date of creation/revision / Revision Jan 2013/Nov 2013
14. Intended Start Date of Delivery of this Programme / 2014
15. Educational Aims of the Programme
The programme aims to:
The programme aims:
· To provide a programme which will attract and meet the needs of both those contemplating a career in the legal professions and those motivated primarily by an intellectual interest in English law and the desire to understand the workings of another jurisdiction.
· To contribute to widening participation in higher education by offering a wide variety of entry routes.
· To provide students with a grounding in English law with the opportunity to acquire an understanding of another legal system, and the opportunity to study in another jurisdiction.
· To encourage the development of a feel for a cosmopolitan and international legal world.
· To provide a sound knowledge and systematic understanding of the principal institutions and procedures of the English legal system.
· To provide a sound grounding in the major concepts and principles of English law, and the law of the European Union.
· To develop a critical awareness of law in its comparative, historical, socio-economic and political contexts, and to introduce students to a range of different theoretical approaches to the study of law.
· To offer a range of modules covering the foundations of legal knowledge, as defined by the Law Society and the Bar Council, which will enable students who successfully complete them, to obtain exemption from the initial or academic stage of training for entry into the legal professions.
· To offer students an in-depth experience of studying Law in a partner institution outside the European Union.
· To introduce students to the study of some aspects of the law in the jurisdiction of the partner institution.
· To offer students the opportunity to live and study abroad with the object of promoting international understanding.
· To provide teaching which is informed by current research and scholarship and which requires students to engage with aspects of work at the frontiers of knowledge.
· To offer the opportunity to acquire direct experience of legal practice and to critically reflect on it through participation in the University Law Clinic.
· To enable students to manage their own learning and to carry out independent research, including research into areas of law they have not previously studied.
· To develop general critical, analytical, functional, comparative and problem-solving skills which can be applied in a wide range of different legal and non-legal settings.
· To provide opportunities for the development of personal, communication, research and other key skills appropriate for graduate employment both in the legal professions and other fields.
16 Programme Outcomes
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas. The programme outcomes have references to the subject benchmarking statement for Law.
A. Knowledge and Understanding of: (i.e. subject-specific knowledge and understanding)
1. The principal features of the English legal system, including its institutions, procedures and sources of law. LB.4.4
2. The principal features of the law of the European Union. LB.4.4
3. The concepts, principles and rules of a substantial range of English legal subjects, including an in-depth knowledge of some areas of law and, depending on options, an in-depth knowledge of the law of the European Union, International law and Comparative law. LB.4.5
4. The concepts, principles and rules of areas of Lawin the jurisdiction of the partner institution chosen.
5. The relationship between law and the historical, linguistic, socio-economic and political contexts in which it operates. LB.4.6
6. A range of theoretical, comparative and critical perspectives which can be applied to the study of law.
Teaching/learning and assessment methods and strategies used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated
Teaching/learning
The principal methods are:-
Lectures, both traditional and interactive (Socratic); legal problem classes; tutor-led seminars; directed reading; independent research for course assessments; feedback on course assessments.
These are supported by:-
Particularly in relation to 3, computer-assisted learning packages. In relation to 1, court observation and practical group legal exercises. Films and visiting speakers, particularly in relation to 5 and 6.
Assessment
Written examinations (open and closed book); coursework (including essays, legal problems and class tests and oral assessments); optional dissertations, when undertaken, assess in particular in-depth knowledge
Skills and Other Attributes
B. Intellectual Skills: (i.e. subject-specific intellectual skills)
1. Effectively apply knowledge to analyse complex issues.
2. Recognise and rank items and issues in terms of their relevance and importance. LB 4.11
3. Collect and synthesise information from a variety of English and international sources. LB 4.9
4. Formulate and sustain a complex argument, supporting it with appropriate evidence.
5. Recognise potential alternative solutions to particular problems and make a reasoned choice between them. LB 4.10
6. Independently acquire knowledge and understanding in areas, both legal and non-legal, not previously studied. LB 4.13
7. Demonstrate an independence of mind and an ability to critically challenge received understandings and conclusions.
8. Reflect constructively on their own learning processes. LB4.15
Teaching/learning and assessment methods and strategies used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated
Teaching/learning
1 – 8: These skills are developed primarily through discussion and argument in seminars and legal problem classes, in the preparation for and participation in seminars, delivery of class presentations, and in the preparation and writing of course assessments including, where chosen, dissertations.
Stage 2 develops Comparative, European and International law skills through the options that the students may choose. This is further developed in Stage A by the range of courses the students can choose from whilst abroad
Optional participation in the moot programme, in the work of the Law Clinic and in the Critical Legal and other student legal groups provide further opportunities for students to enhance their skills.
Assessment
1 – 8: Written examinations, oral examinations and course assessments, assessed class presentations and, where chosen, dissertations and moot performances.
C. Subject-specific Skills:
Application & problem solving
On successful completion of the programme students should be able to:
1. Recognise the legal issues arising in a factual situation of limited complexity in English, European, Comparative and International law. LB. 4.8
2. Identify and apply the case and statute law relevant to it. LB 14.7
3. Provide an informed and reasoned opinion on the possible legal actions arising from it, and their likelihood of success. LB 14.12
Sources, research and evaluation
On successful completion of the programme students should be able to:
4. Identify the legal and related issues which require to be researched. LB4.10
5. Effectively locate and use primary and secondary legal and other relevant sources. LB 14.9
6. Conduct independent legal research using a range of resources, both paper and electronic. LB 4.14
7. Critically evaluate an area of law both doctrinally and in terms of its socio-economic and other consequences.
8. Function in both the English and the broader milieu of International law and, during the year abroad, the law of another jurisdiction.
Teaching/learning and assessment methods and strategies used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated
Teaching/learning
1 – 3 Legal problem-solving skills are primarily developed through preparation for, and participation in, legal problem-based seminars, larger problem/case classes and optional participation in the moot programme and in the work of the Law Clinic.
4 – 8 Legal research classes and exercises including year 1 induction, also in preparation for, and feedback on course assessments and, where undertaken, dissertations, mooting and work in the Law Clinic
Assessment
1 – 3 Written examinations and course assessments including class tests and, where undertaken, assessed mooting performance.
4 – 8 All by course assessments, written examinations and, where undertaken, dissertations.
D. Transferable Skills: (Non-subject specific key skills)
Communication and Literacy.
On successful completion of the programme students should be able to:
1. Use, both orally and in writing, the English Language in relation to legal matters and generally, with care, accuracy and effectiveness. LB4.16
2. Engage constructively and effectively in arguments and discussions of complex matters in English law and European, International and Comparative law. LB4.16
3. Give a clear and coherent presentation on a topic using appropriate supporting materials.
4. Read complex legal and non-legal materials. LB4.17
5. Employ correct legal terminology and correct methods of citation and referencing for legal and other academic materials.
6. Produce work in appropriate formats.
Teamwork, Numeracy and IT
On successful completion of the programme students should be able to:
7. Work collaboratively in groups to achieve defined tasks, to respond to different points of view and to negotiate outcomes. LB 4.20
8. Present and evaluate information in a numerical or statistical form. LB 4.18
9. Word process their work and use a range of electronic databases and other information sources. LB 4.19
Teaching/learning and assessment methods and strategies used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated
Teaching/learning
1 – 6 Seminar contributions, class presentations and, where undertaken, mooting together with feedback on them; the preparation, writing and feedback on written course assessments including, where undertaken, dissertations.
7 – 9 In particular, 7 - through group work in the Public Law 1 module and, where undertaken, moot and clinic work. 8 and 9 through legal research classes and exercises, UELT support and the preparation and feedback on written course work.
Assessment
1 – 9 Written course assessments, including a piece of group work in Public Law 1, assessed class presentations and, where undertaken, assessed moot work. Written examinations.
For information on which modules provide which skills, see the module mapping17 Programme Structures and Requirements, Levels, Modules, Credits and Awards
This programme is studied over four years full-time.
The programme is divided into four stages 1, 2, A (abroad) and 3, each stage comprising modules to a total of 120 credits. Students must successfully complete each module in order to be awarded the specified number of credits for that module. One credit corresponds to approximately ten hours of 'learning time' (including all classes and all private study and research). Thus obtaining 120 credits in an academic year requires 1,200 hours of overall learning time. For further information on modules and credits refer to the Credit Framework at https://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/credit/creditinfo.html.
Each module is designed to be at a specific level. For the descriptors of each of these levels, refer to Annex 2 of the Credit Framework at https://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/credit/creditinfoannex2.html. To be eligible for the award of an LLB honours degree in this programme students must obtain 480 credits, at least 210 of which must be Level I or above, and at least 120 of which must be level H or above with a minimum of 90 credits at level H taken in stage 3.
In order to progress to the year abroad students must achieve an average of 55% in Stage 1 and 58% in stage 2. Students who do not achieve the required average will be able to transfer to another programme, normally Single Honours LLB Law.
In stage A, depending on the destination chosen, students will either take modules that are provided for students who already have a first degree (for example Law at Osgoode is a postgraduate programme), or will chose modules from a range of modules which include a substantial number of masters level modules. Some destinations, for example Renmin, only offer modules in English at masters level, others offer ‘cross level’ modules with masters level content.
Stage A will be spent at one of the partner institutions set out in Appendix 1. Stage A will be graded on a pass/fail basis and will therefore be zero-weighted with respect to classification. Students who do not successfully complete stage A will be registered for the LLB Law programme.
Compulsory modules are core to the programme and must be taken by all students studying the programme. Recommended modules are modules that students are strongly encouraged to select, but which are not compulsory. Optional modules provide a choice of subject areas, from which students will select a stated number of modules.
Where a student fails a module(s) due to illness or other mitigating circumstances, such failure may be condoned, subject to the requirements of the Credit Framework and provided that the student has achieved the programme learning outcomes. For further information refer to the Credit Framework at https://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/credit/creditinfo.html.
Where a student fails a module(s), but has marks for such modules within 10 percentage points of the pass mark, the Board of Examiners may nevertheless award the credits for the module(s), subject to the requirements of the Credit Framework and provided that the student has achieved the programme learning outcomes. For further information refer to the Credit Framework at https://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/credit/creditinfo.html.
Students successfully completing Stage 1 of the programme and meeting credit framework requirements who do not successfully complete Stage 2 will be eligible for the award of the Certificate in Law and Society. Students successfully completing Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the programme and meeting credit framework requirements who do not successfully complete Stage A and/or Stage 3 will be eligible for the award of the Diploma in Law.