LLB Law (Graduate Entry)

The aim of this module is to provide students with an introduction to the concepts, structures and processes that make up a legal system. It is designed to equip all students studying law with the knowledge and understanding that they will utilise in all other law modules: the “tools of the trade”.

The aim is to teach students the rules governing, and the definition of, legal and natural persons, their status and capacity. The module is also designed to introduce students at the very start of their legal studies to the idea that legal concepts can be both natural (the child) and non-natural (the limited liability company) – both are “persons” in law.

This module is intended to familiarise students with, and elicit an understanding of, the basic elements of Scots criminal law and evidence, including the development of the system, fundamental concepts and their operation in relation to certain specific crimes. The module will teach the application of fact handling, rhetoric and proof by lawyers and the contexts in which the rules of evidence operate, all integrated practically with the criminal law.

The aim is to teach students the classification of property in the Scottish legal system, how ownership is distinguished from possession, how property is acquired, the rights it carries, and how property can be transferred. The module is also designed to introduce students to some of the conceptual issues of property, including how “property” itself is defined either as an item or as a relationship; and how property can be corporeal (a thing) or incorporeal (an idea or right, such as copyright).

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the institutions, actors, processes and concepts that make up the UK constitution including its particular application to Scotland. It is designed to introduce students to methods of critical engagement with constitutional law in both theory and practice.

The aim is to introduce students to the concept of obligations that can be enforced by legal process. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their problem-solving skills and ability to construct appropriate legal questions and answers.

This module engages with some challenging problems faced by law within contemporary society. It introduces students to some aspects of the social, political, and ethical conditions in which law operates. It deals with the interaction of law with justice, politics, morals and equality. The course will examine the role and challenges of law in times of social change. The course is structured around three key themes:

• legal reasoning
• law & politics
• law & social change

The aim is to teach students the rules governing claims for personal injury, economic loss and hurts to personality rights. The design of the class will help to develop problem solving and advice-giving skills in relation to the law of delictual liability generally.

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the institutions, actors, processes and concepts that make up administrative and human rights law including their particular application to Scotland. It is designed to introduce students to critical engagement with administrative law, both in theory and in practice.

Commercial law is a second year compulsory subject on the LLB (and LML) degree. The class provides you with an understanding of commercial law in a Scottish context. It partially meets the commercial law subject requirements and related skills outcomes of the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates (albeit that some of the commercial professional topics, eg sale of goods and insurance law, are dealt with by other courses).

Building on the knowledge you acquire in first year, the general academic objective of the course is to examine the basic principles and rules concerning core aspects of commercial law, including the main principles of agency, partnership and company law, the law relating to various methods of payment (including consumer credit and bills of exchange) the rules governing the ways in which creditors can ‘secure’ repayment of a debt (eg through taking personal guarantees from third parties for repayment of the debt, or by establishing rights in security over debtor property); the basic principles of diligence; the consequences of both corporate and individual debtor inability to repay debts (corporate insolvency and personal bankruptcy respectively).

While the focus of the class is on ‘a black letter’ analysis of relevant statutory and common law in the broad commercial area, in order to aid understanding of relevant principles, the class also examines the policy rationales underlying the current law and recent and projected reforms in this area

The EU law class focuses on the constitutional and institutional order of the EU as well as one the internal market. To this end, the class looks at the European integration process, the EU institutions, EU competences, the decision-making process within the EU, the principles underpinning the EU legal order and the principles governing the internal market.

The aim is to enhance students' ability to undertake independent learning, and to ensure that they take a reflective approach to their work while at the same time developing a consciousness of the ethical dimensions of professional legal practice. 

In addition, students will be required to do three elective modules. Optional modules change year on year, so please check with the Law Course Support Team at the start of the semester to confirm which classes are available.