LAW3481: ACCESS TO JUSTICE

• Introduction to English Law and Legal Method (LAW 1121) (at the discretion of the Chair of the Board of Studies or delegate, a suitable module from another Department may be substituted for the Law pre-requisite(s)).

• None

• None

• To understand the nature of access to justice and its various components, including an understanding of the degree to which it can be regarded as an entitlement;
• To gain a critical understanding of the extent to which that alleged entitlement is actually embedded in the common law legal systems, most emphasis being given to the legal system of England and Wales and that of Scotland;
• To gain a critical understanding of general normative arguments that might be made in favour of this putative entitlement;
• To gain a critical understanding of the relative weight of this supposed entitlement;
• To critically evaluate the relation between legal ideals and legal practice.

• The module will examine the following topics:
• 1. Theories about the scope of access to justice;
• 2. Theories about why access to justice is necessary, including different explanations of legal complexity;
• 3. Different accounts of the basis of an entitlement to access to justice, including arguments from the rule of law, non-domination, citizenship and need;
• 4. Competing accounts of the relative importance of this alleged entitlement;
• 5. The various ways in which regimes of access to justice might be realised.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students should be able to:
• Develop a critical understanding of the nature of access to justice and its various components;
• Evaluate critically the various ways an entitlement to access to justice might be justified;
• Evaluate critically current legal, political and policy discussions about this entitlement;
• Evaluate critically the ways in which this supposed entitlement is honoured or denied in current legal systems.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the nature of access to justice;
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the various arguments in favour of (and possibly against) an entitlement to access to justice;
• Show an ability to weigh those arguments as against one another;
• Engage in informed debate about the extent to which this entitlement is or is not realised in particular legal systems and the consequences of this.

Key Skills:

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate developed research and writing skills, including the ability to work independently and to take responsibility for their own learning.

• The modes of teaching, learning and assessment have been chosen in order to facilitate the achievement of the learning outcomes of the module.
• Seminars will concentrate on developing students' knowledge of the subject area and introducing them to the relevant critical, analytical and evaluative skills.
• The modes of assessment will encourage independent learning and research skills and will examine students' ability to meet the learning outcomes of the module.
• The examination tests the ability to focus on relevant legal and normative issues and organise knowledge and argument appropriate to questions raised. The examination questions will provide the means for students to demonstrate the acquisition of subject knowledge and the development of their argumentative-cum-evaluative skills.

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