Year:11/12
Department:Law
Level:Part II (yr 2)
Learning Hours:150
Credit Points:15
Weight:0.5
Course Convenor:Dr M Butler
Status:Live
Syllabus Rules
back to top
The following modules may not be taken:
Assessment Rules
back to top
Curriculum Design: Outline Syllabus
back to topThe module will cover the following topics:
- English Legal System, statutory interpretation, judicial precedent,, sources of law;
- the nature and purposes of contracts;
- the legal context of negotiating contracts (common, mutual and unilateral mistake; and innocent, negligent and fraudulent misrepresentation);
- contract formation and validity (offer and acceptance, intention, and consideration);
- incorporation of terms, terms implied at common law, in fact, and by statute;
- controlling the secondary obligations – exclusion, limitation, penalty and liquidated damages clauses, and the unfair contract terms regime; and
- discharge of contracts by performance, agreement, frustration and breach, and damages for breach.
Curriculum Design: Pre-requisites/Co-requisites/Exclusions
back to topStudents taking LAW.217 are excluded from taking this module.
Educational Aims: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
back to top
The aim of this module is to:
· introduce students to the English legal system
· develop students’ understanding of the principal features of the common law method
· introduce the substantive law governing contracts in the law of England
· explore the basic principles of negligence liability within the context of negligent misrepresentation
· develop a capacity for critical and informed discussion of English contract law
Educational Aims: General: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
back to top
The aim of this module is to:
- improve students’ basic research skills
- develop analytical and critical skills
- develop an ability to work independently
Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
back to top
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
- describe the principal features of the English legal system and the common law method
- outline the structure of the courts
- give an account of the doctrine of judicial precedent and its practical significance for the lawyer
- demonstrate a knowledge base of legal materials related to contracts, particularly of case law and relevant statutory provisions
- evince a sound basic knowledge of the substantive legal rules generally applicable to contracts in English law
- explain, analyse and evaluate the legal rules, concepts and values governing and regulating contractual relationships
- engage in critical and informed discussion of the nature and purposes of contract law and the extent to which the law achieves these ends
Learning Outcomes: General: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
back to topOn successful completion of this module students will be able to demonstrate:
- basic legal research skills
- analytical and critical skills
- an ability to work independently
Assessment: Details of Assessment
back to topThe report is intended to be a concise account with a maximum length of 1500 words. Each student will choose for him/herself on which workshop to submit a report, which should summarize the exercise carried out in the workshop, the legal and theoretical problems presented, how the student’s group approached the issues raised, and whether, and if so how, the individual student might have dealt differently with the problem. The report should demonstrate the student’s ability to explain analyse and evaluate relevant legal rules concepts and values governing and regulating contractual relationships.
The examination will be a timed 2 hour exam. This will include a series of multiple choice questions and one discursive question.
Assessment Moderation Methods
Sampling of reports.
Normal examination arrangements will be made
Curriculum Design: Select Bibliography
back to top
Primary Sources:
Students will need to use a range of primary and secondary sources available in the law collections of the library, especially the Law Reports, the Weekly Law Reports, the All England Law Reports, Halsbury’s Statutes, Statutes in Force, The Digest, Current Law and Citator and Current Law Statutes. They will also need to use the online resources of Lexis and Westlaw.
Secondary Sources:
Poole, J., Textbook on Contract, 8th edn., OUP: Oxford, 2006. (Prescribed)
Poole, J., Casebook on Contracts, 8th edn., OUP: Oxford, 2006. (Recommended)
Twining, W. and Miers, D., How to Do Things With Rules, 4th edn., Butterworths: London, 1999 (or any edition).
Williams, G.L. and Smith, A.T.H., Learning the Law, 12th edn., Sweet & Maxwell: London, 2005. Curriculum Design: Single, Combined or Consortial Schemes to which the Module Contributes
back to top
BBA European Management
BSc Business Studies
