Criminal Law in Context: Extensions and Developments

Course Overview

This course provides an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of criminal law through directed coursework. Students will be given a topic and guided in researching this with a degree of independence. This will extend and deepen the learning from the lecture course via directed study.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course is designed to be taken in the context of the Criminal Law course which has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks) to orientate and engage you in your studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Directed study

4-12 scheduled hours, the exact number varying according to the balance of 1:1s, 2:1s, or small groups. The plan will be confirmed by the start of the course, taking into account student numbers and the proposed topics, readings, and specific tasks.

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours). Summative feedback is typically provided through the VLE.

Indicative Reading

Note 1: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Criminal Law Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

Note 2: Each student will focus on readings relevant to just one Criminal Law topic, which they will agree with the instructor by the start of the course.

• Ashworth A, and Redmayne M, The Criminal Process (OUP)
• Ashworth A, Principles of Criminal law (Oxford)
• Child J and Ormerod D, Smith & Hogan’s, Essentials of Criminal Law (OUP)
• Cook K, James M, and Lee R, Core Statutes on Criminal Law 2015- 2016 (Palgrave)
• Herring J, Criminal Law: Text, Cases and Materials (OUP)
•  Horder J, Ashworth’s Principles of Criminal Law (OUP)
• Jefferson M, Criminal Law (Pearson)
• Martin J, and Storey T, Unlocking Criminal Law (Routledge)
• Ormerod D, and Laird K, Smith & Hogan’s Criminal Law (OUP)
• Ormerod D, and Laird K, Smith & Hogan’s Text, Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (OUP)
• Wilson, W, Criminal Law (Pearson)
• Journals: The Criminal Law Review, The Journal of Criminal Law, Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, The Cambridge Law Journal
• Media Sources: Students are encouraged to monitor news sources for issues of relevance, notably The Times Law Section and its new daily email service The Brief, available here: http://thetimes.co.uk/thebrief/signup/
• Electronic Resources: Westlaw, LexisNexis, Other Electronic Resources

Indicative Topics

Coursework titles will draw on the main Criminal Law course syllabus and are designed to provide students with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of particular aspects of it.