Law with Politics LLB Hons - 2019 Entry

Course Overview

Interested in developing practical legal knowledge and an understanding of how interplay between Law and Politics affects issues such as war and peace, poverty and inequality, order and justice, governance and power? This qualifying Law degree is taught by the world-leading, research-active academics based in our prestigious Law School and PPR Department. They will introduce you to core topics in Politics and Law and support you as you develop specialist and transferable skills.

You will benefit from our strong links to Chambers, Law firms and Institutes from across the UK, including magic circle firms from London. We host a judicial lecture series, alumni visits and lectures, and a Law Fair, which is your chance to meet lawyers (including trainees, associates and partners) and members of their recruitment teams. The Richardson Institute for peace and conflict research offers a wide variety of research projects, providing you with the opportunity to work alongside external clients such as the Ministry of Defence and Radicalisation Research. All of this helps you to make professional connections and get a head start on your chosen career.

Our student-run Law Society provides you with a wide range of extracurricular activities including mooting and negotiation competitions (judged by barristers and members of the judiciary), a Law Ball, sporting fixtures, and a careers dinner. Each event is designed to help you build your peer and potential employer networks.

Practical experience is integral to this degree and you can take part in initiatives such as our newly-launched Law Clinic which gives you real-world experience providing free legal advice to members of the local community. Our Miscarriages of Justice Project gives you the chance to work on real criminal cases alongside practising lawyers as they support prisoners who maintain their innocence and have exhausted their appeal rights. Through the Street Law project you can gain experience in schools and organisations, advising and supporting them on specific areas of law.

Your degree can be the first step towards a career as a solicitor or barrister but Law with Politics graduates are also in demand beyond these roles. Our graduates often choose to pursue careers in the Civil Service, local and national government or public affairs, or use their degree as a foundation for careers in commerce, industry, accountancy, law, teaching, academic work, journalism and the armed forces.

At Lancaster, you will develop the skills required to negotiate competently, work effectively in a team, speak in public and be confident when presenting information in variety of formats - all are highly prized by employers. Many of our graduates also choose further study (Legal Practice Course, Bar Professional Training Course, LLM and MSc programmes) or enrol in graduate training schemes with HMRC, the Civil Service, and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Entry Requirements

Grade Requirements

A Level AAB

IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements webpages.

Other Qualifications

International Baccalaureate 35 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects

BTEC Distinction, Distinction, Distinction

We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualification. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions webpages.

Contact Admissions Team + 44 (0) 1524 592028 or via ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Course Structure

Many of Lancaster's degree programmes are flexible, offering students the opportunity to cover a wide selection of subject areas to complement their main specialism. You will be able to study a range of modules, some examples of which are listed below.

Year 1

Core

• Criminal Law

  This engaging module immerses you in a broad investigation of criminal law, including legal rules, substantive crimes, the conditions of criminal responsibility, and law in practice. We will explore the scope of law and its enforcement in a political, economic, moral and social context.

  You will develop an understanding of the principles of criminal liability, and the elements of major offences from homicide to theft, fraud to sexual offences, and offences against the person. You will also explore complicity, inchoate offences and defences.

  We encourage lively discourse and debate through a combination of workshops and seminars, both of which are linked to a lecture programme. This helps you to consolidate knowledge, analyse and argue about criminal law.

  Our teaching is research-led and you will be encouraged to read as widely as possible on the subject. Not only does this module provide the foundation for further study in Part Two, but it also establishes key skills in presentation, critical analysis, and intelligent debate.

• Law of Contracts

  Contract Law at Lancaster is studied from an interesting perspective – we begin by looking at resolution for breach of contract. This includes monetary compensation, injunctions and orders compelling parties to carry out their promises.

  By starting at the end, you are constantly reminded of the purpose of Contract Law (to provide a remedy to an aggrieved party when the other party has broken its contractual obligations). It also means that you get to practise applying the law while studying this important but difficult topic, and, you will be able to competently address the main concern of clients when you begin practising law: resolution.

  Of course, we also study the formation of contract, terms of contract, and their interpretation and enforceability. But heavy emphasis remains on remedy.

  The course involves self-study of the historical and theoretical aspects of contracts and contract law. For this you will use ‘Contract in Context’ co-authored by Dr Richard Austen-Baker, the module convenor. The book includes cutting-edge research that is presented in wholly accessible way – ideal as you take your first steps in the study of Law.

• Politics and International Relations in the Contemporary World

  This module introduces students to some of the key areas of Politics and International Relations. It will provide a basic introduction and a foundation for future study, as well as expand and develop knowledge into new areas.

  The module tells a story about the 20th century that enables students to make sense of the 21st century world. Beginning with the consequences of the First World War, the module introduces students to the events and ideas that have transformed societies in complex ways: the evolution of the welfare state; the problems of democracy; increasingly global formations of governance; the transformation from Cold War geopolitics to the 21st century’s War on Terror; and the emergence of new issues such as global warming, amongst a wide range of other issues.

  Students are introduced to the research concerns of members of the department, as well as setting the scene for modules offered at advanced stages in the degree structure.

Year 2

Core

• EU Law

  This course is compulsory for second year students who have not taken Law 105 in their first year. The EU as a legal system operates differently to English law, as such; this module will give you a basic understanding of the European Union (EU). The institutions of the EU, the way law is created and developed, the principles governing relations between the EU and its Member States, and the substantive law of the EU will introduce you to new concepts. The course as a whole focuses most greatly on the constitutional aspects of the EU; however you will also be introduced to substantive law relating to the free movement of goods and persons.

• Law of Torts

  This core module introduces students to torts. Students critically explore the key torts and tort principles including, trespass to the person, negligence, torts of strict liability and vicarious liability. Students also consider defences to torts and remedies for aggrevied parties.

• Public Law

  This module aims to develop a critical understanding of Constitutional Law. The course seeks to problematise the legitimacy of the constitutional arrangements of the UK. A contextual approach is adopted which entails drawing upon historical, political, comparative and jurisprudential materials. The module will constantly question whether Constitutional Law functions as a 'real' regulator of legitimacy or as a symbolic one.

  This module also provides an introduction to Administrative Law, and Human Rights/Civil Liberties in the UK.

• The Politics of the European Union

  This module examines the origins, workings and policies of the European Union. It begins by considering the treaties that led to the contemporary union and focuses on the key strains of thought that have given rise to contemporary debates about the form the European Union ought to take.

  At a time of unprecedented financial crisis and the prospect of a British exit from the EU itself, the module offers a comprehensive focus on all key issues from European politics, government, and economics, to public policy. It includes an analysis of the process and dynamics of European integration, especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union; an account of the various European institutions which have developed (including the work of the Commission in Brussels), a discussion of key public policy areas (with an emphasis on the European Social Model) and finally a focus on European party politics, covering influential European ideologies such as Social Democracy, Christian Democracy and also Euro-scepticism.

Year 3

Core

• Equity and Trusts Law

  This course covers the major types of trust and the key elements required for their validity and operation as well as relevant aspects of equitable remedies. The overarching imposition of Equity will be interwoven with the discussion of the substantive types of trust. As well as an in-depth exploration of the workings of each mode of trust, the emergence of each will also be examined before modern uses and policies are considered. Key current developments in relation to the law of trusts will also be drawn upon.

• Land Law

  How does the law relate to land and property? And is the current law still fit for the 21st Century?

  Our Land Law module immerses you in real life scenarios to promote an understanding of how the law actually works. You are given the opportunity to work through legal problems as though you are advising a client, and we discuss some of the documentation and protocols that are used by property lawyers.

  We encourage lively debate and discussion - by the end of the module you will be able to think and reason logically and creatively, to challenge convention and to understand how land law has shaped our environment and society. You will also have a greater appreciation of the ways in which land law has developed and changed.

  Topics covered include:

  • co-ownership of family homes and division of property between cohabitees

  • mortgage law, including undue influence and the rights of lenders and borrowers

  • landlord and tenant law, including the law on tenants’ rights and ‘sham licences’

  • adverse possession and squatters’ rights

  • rights of airspace and the three dimensions of land ownership

  • the law of easements and restrictive covenants

  You will be taught by lecturers who are specialists in their field and active researchers. Current, cutting-edge research within the teaching team addresses the system of land registration for the protection of title or ownership of land, and, the history of property law and how well it works – with a focus on access to land and the different ways in which property can be valued.

Optional

• Africa and Global Politics

  African states are among the poorest, most artificial in the world. This means their relations with the global system have a critical impact on African politics from the global to the local level.

  This module aims to:

  • Provide an overview of major issues facing Africa in the global system since independence
  • Introduce and assess alternative approaches to the study of Africa, through analysis of particular issues facing African states
  • Contribute one perspective to an overall understanding of the new structure of the global system in the twenty-first century.

  This module provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The module is divided into four sections. The first focuses on the impact of colonialism on shaping the economy, the state and perceptions of race. The second section examines the first four decades of independence. The third and fourth look at key contemporary issues such as HIV/AIDS and actors such as China and South Africa.

• Britain in the World

  This module presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain's changing role and status. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain's participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the 'special relationship' with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain's global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline. Understand the major developments in Britain's role in the world since the Second World War.

  The syllabus will include the following topics:

  • Decline of a great power, 1870-1945
  • The audit of war, 1945-50
  • Britain: a nuclear state
  • From Empire to Commonwealth
  • The 'special relationship'
  • Foreign policy under Thatcher, 1979-90
  • An ethical foreign policy? Britain under New Labour
  • Conclusion: still seeking a role?
• Company Law

  The company law course covers the key areas of company law from incorporation to insolvency including corporate personality and piercing the corporate veil, the company’s constitution, contracts and companies, directors’ duties and minority shareholder protection. These practical, substantive areas of company law are discussed in accordance with relevant theories relating to the corporation and its role in society generally.

• Competition Law

  The Competition Law module is designed to give students a good grounding in contemporary competition law and the economics and policy which underlie it. The main focus will be on EU and UK competition law, but reference will also be made to US and Australian law where it provides a useful counterpoint. The course will examine the way in which antitrust and behavioural economics interact and inform the development of competition law and policy. Substantive areas such as the main EU antitrust provisions, their UK counterparts, and the merger control regimes in the EU and UK will be covered. The module will cover the basic provisions but special focus will be given to areas of controversy or recent reform. The enforcement of the law will also be given special consideration.

• Contemporary Issues in Human Rights

  This module introduces students to human rights as a political and legal concept. It provides a critical overview of contemporary debates in the field, without losing sight of key theoretical questions. What are human rights? What is their source? In what sense are they universal and inalienable? Following a discussion of philosophical and historical foundations the module will examine the post-World War II international legal regime for the protection of human rights. It will explore the political implications of enshrining human rights at the international level, and engage with questions of culture and diversity, development and globalization, poverty and health.

  Students will have the opportunity to research and discuss such issues as gender-based violence, torture in the ‘war on terror’, treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. These empirical case studies of recent human rights struggles and controversies will shed light on the complexity of global human rights politics in the early 21st century.

• Contemporary Issues in the Middle East

  This module introduces students to key issues in Middle East politics today. It explores the people, society and politics of the region and the role that religion, ethnicity, gender and class have played in shaping contemporary issues. It examines the major internal and external actors in the region; conflict and peace; the geo-strategic importance of the region; issues of political economy; political change and reform; the issue of identities in the Middle East and ideologies around this; the emergence of political Islam; rising anti-Americanism; 9/11 and the fall-out in the region from the 'war on terror', the 'Arab Spring' and the unfolding revolutions.

  Through class discussions, completion of coursework and the exam, students should be able to understand the complexities of society in the Middle East, and show an in-depth understanding of key themes and issues in the contemporary Middle East.

• Corporations, Global Political Economy and the Law

  This module explores the analysis of the corporation in the global political economy. It will help students develop their knowledge of the character and practices of corporations and place that analysis within the wider context of analyses of International Political Economy.

  At the end of the module students will better understand the variance and multi-faceted character of the corporate (global) sector, be able to account for a range of (political) positions about corporations and have some experience of the interaction between political economic and legal analyses. The module overall is intended to demystify the corporation as a political economic actor and support students in developing a nuanced appreciation of their own analyses of the role and practices of (global) corporations.

• Crime and Criminal Justice

  The Criminal Justice System has been constantly discussed in recent years by politicians, journalists and academics and the subject is vast and constantly shifting. This course seeks to explore selected issues in the area of Crime and Criminal Justice using a large number of sources to reflect the depth and variety of ways in which the subject can be approached. Students will be asked to consider whether, despite the interdependency of many of the Criminal Justice Agencies and some central themes, there is any real system at all. Students will be encouraged, wherever possible, to create their own understanding of the Criminal Justice System through their own experiences. Even brief visits to courts, police stations, barristers’ chambers etc. can often open students’ eyes and provoke a more analytical and critical response to the subject than detailed study alone. The outline Syllabus includes key themes in Crime and Criminal Justice, women in the Criminal Justice System, sentencing policy and procedure and prisoners and the law.

• Crimes of Power

  This course focuses on the crimes that power makes possible. Criminological theory and research has traditionally prioritized the crimes of the powerless over and against the crimes of those that make laws, wield influence and capital or authorize State violence. As such, this course will introduce students to theory, research, and case-studies on corporate and white-collar crimes, as well as state crimes like genocide and torture, in order to provide an analysis of the commission and punishment of such crimes.

• Dissertation

  The dissertation is an independent, in-depth inquiry into a research topic of your choosing. The topic will relate to a key legal question or issue and may also directly relate to your professional/career interests.

  You will:

  • Identify and define a discrete research topic in Law

  • Complete and submit a Dissertation Proposal Form, signed by your chosen supervisor

  • Carry out a literature review of the relevant field, incorporating a comprehensive range of relevant legal materials

  • Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the selected legal issues through independent research

  • Construct and sustain a cohesive argument within your writing

  • Outline the implications of your findings and how they may inform further research, policy or practice

  The module structure includes a seminar on Research, Methodology and Writing, workshop sessions and regular meetings with your supervisor to track your progress and help you to set work plans.

  This is your opportunity to make a contribution to the legal and academic community with new and original research and writing on a legal issue.

  Please note: This module is reserved for those who are interested in developing more sophisticated research and writing skills, and you are expected to arrange your own supervision.

• Dissertation

  This module provides an opportunity for students to choose a topic related to some aspect of Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Religious Studies which particularly interests them, and to pursue it in depth. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. The intention is that students will develop their research skills and their ability to work at length under their own direction.

  Students are expected to start thinking seriously about the 9,000-10,000 word dissertation towards the end of the Lent term of their second year, and to submit a provisional topic by the end of that term. Work should be well advanced by Christmas in the third year. The completed dissertation must be submitted by the end of the Lent term in the third year.

• Elections, Voters and Political Parties

  This module focuses on the most fundamental component of democratic political systems – elections. In particular, it analyses key political behaviour issues related to models of voting, electoral system design, and party organisation. It adopts a broadly comparative approach, with an emphasis on advanced industrial democracies in the west – especially the UK, but also other parts of the EU and the US.

  The module will examine the merits of different voting behaviour models; the politics of electoral system design and choice; the rise of anti-party / anti-politics sentiment; as well as the modern methods parties utilise as they attempt to market themselves to voters. There will also be classes on developments in party organisation; contemporary party ideologies; the nature of party system change and continuity; and finally the relevance of public opinion to modern government and public policy.

• Evidence

  This course introduces students to the principles of the law of evidence in criminal cases. It also introduces students to the nature and theory of proof. These general issues are developed through the study of particular topics such as the burden and standard of proof; confessions and illegally obtained evidence; disputed identification evidence and other warnings to the jury; hearsay; the credibility of witnesses and bad character evidence.

• Exploring the Persian Gulf

  The module aims to help students to gain an in-depth understanding of the main historical events, processes and actors that have shaped and continue to shape political dynamics in the Persian Gulf.

  Specific focus will be upon the key challenges to peace and security within the region, but the module will also cover a range of other topics including:

  • A theoretical overview/history of region
  • States and regimes
  • Politics and Islam
  • The resource curse?
  • Globalisation and soft power competition
  • Conflict resolution in the Persian Gulf
  • The Arab Spring in the Persian Gulf
  • Security, insecurity and stability: future trajectories

  Students on this module will form an academically informed, independent and critical knowledge of the Persian Gulf and the relations that states within the region have with ‘the West’.

• Immigration and Asylum Law

  This course introduces students to the principles of UK immigration and asylum law. Asylum is a subject seldom out of the press and it has received unprecedented political attention in the last decade. Given that immigration is now such a wide subject, with seven major new statutes in the last decade, students will only be introduced to selected highlights and the course will focus mainly on the asylum process. Consideration of the general issues is developed through the study of particular topics such as the nature of an asylum claim and the link between human rights and asylum. Immigration detention and the foreign prisoner crisis and deportation issues will also be discussed. Students will be required independently to visit the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal prior to or in the first two weeks of the course and that the coursework essay is based on a title of the students own choosing.

• Intellectual Property Law and Policy

  The Intellectual Property Law and Policy module at Lancaster is at the forefront of teaching in this field.

  Focusing on new technologies, it addresses the changes in the law that are necessary to accommodate the impact of the internet, developments in 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and advancements in bio-technology.

  You will examine intellectual property law and the protection of intangible property, particularly copyright and patent law. And you will explore the theories that justify the legal protection of human creativity, whilst also studying its practical application.

  You will consider copyright protection and its basic tenants alongside the defences and exceptions that allow society to benefit. Following this, you will look at the impact of the Internet and the ability to infringe upon copyright at an unprecedented level.

  We will also cover the basics of patent law protection, along with issues relating to the ownership of patents by employers. And you will undertake an in-depth study of the current UK and international policies relating to bio-technology patents.

  Intellectual Property Law is led by Dr Catherine Easton who is at the forefront of the field, having published and spoken on areas such as artificial intelligence, internet addresses and bio-technology. Dr Easton’s knowledge and expertise will ensure that you develop your own robust perspective on this fascinating legal area.

• International Political Economy of Globalization

  Globalization remains a buzzword in academic and policy discourses. It is often related to the acceleration of global communication as well as internationalization of the economic, political and social processes. This module addresses some of these changes especially those related to trade, production and investment in the international political economy. There are many approaches in understanding these changes, this module introduces students to both liberal and critical ones (e.g., neo-Gramscianism). Drawing from their insights, it investigates and analyzes the roles of state and non-state actors (e.g., transnational corporations and NGOs) in rebuilding the governance of global production and finance. Finally, it examines the rise of transnational justice movements in offering alternatives to globalization and its uneven development, before and after the financial crisis of 2007.

• Islamic Politics

  The aim of this module is to introduce students to the inner dynamics of political Islam and the attendant challenges that comes with it, particularly in contemporary international society.

  The module will cover the working of Islam in the governing process; its position in contemporary international order; practical contemporary topics such as governance, violence, terrorism and such; and will deliver an understanding of key concepts and intellectual debates.

  The module is designed as much for students with little or no background in Islamic Politics, as it is for students who already have some grounding. It is built around an examination of the principal debates, features, and manifestations of Islamic politics in the twentieth and twenty first centuries.

• Law and Religion

  To what extent does English law accommodate religious belief and practice? How has the law interacted with religion historically? What is the current interplay between law and religion? And how does the UK model of religious accommodation compare with those adopted in European jurisdictions?

  Religion in the 21st century continues to attract and engage the attention of the government, parliament and the courts - as it has done throughout English legal history. Law and Religion, an engaging, policy-significant and popular module, will tackle the central questions outlines above and introduce you to the laws that regulate religion and belief in the UK.

  The module covers the following topics:

  • history of relationship between religion and English law

  • legal definition of religion

  • legal status of established and non-established religious groups

  • religious freedom

  • religious discrimination

  • religious offences

  • religion in schools

  • religious law

  • religious tribunals

  Our module is unique in its particular focus on two very pertinent topics in the area of religion and law: the application of Islamic law in the UK, and religious tribunals in the UK. The lead lecturer feeds cutting-edge research regarding the phenomenon of Shariah tribunals in the UK into this module, ensuring that your studies link to issues that are high on the agenda of policy makers and are part of current media discussion.

• Politics Employability and Engagement through Outreach

  This skills-based, CV-enhancing module enables Politics/IR students to develop skills and knowledge that are highly valued in a range of professions, including, but not limited to, those associated with teaching and the public and charity sectors. The core activities, which all take place on campus, are grounded in, and contribute to, the Politics/IR Outreach and Widening Participation programme which engages with A Level pupils in Sixth Forms (see wp.lancs.ac.uk/politics-outreach). Using communication, analytical, mentoring, feedback and writing skills, students will:

  1) Work with Careers staff to identify and articulate the transferrable skills and knowledge acquired during the course of undergraduate studies and to communicate those skills to potential employers.

  2) Work with successful PPR alumni in positions in Politics, the Civil Service, the Media and NGOs on practical scenarios/case studies which require the application of skills acquired in the sessions in order to identify and enhance capabilities of importance to potential employers in CVs and personal statements.

  3) (Assessment 1) Develop a four minute individual presentation filmed in the LUTV studios explaining Politics in lay terms to Sixth Form pupils. This will take place in week 5 and constitute 20% of the overall mark. Selected presentations will, with student consent, appear in Outreach, Widening Participation and Recruitment materials and can be cited by students in CVs.

  4) (Assessment 2) Participate in a mentoring programme with Sixth Form pupils from Widening Participation backgrounds completing Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs) in a local school. Students will receive mentoring training from Lancaster University’s UK Student Recruitment and Outreach (UKSRO) service, work one-on-one with pupils in two mentoring sessions and then produce one 1,000 word feedback report to be submitted in week 8, constituting 40% of the overall mark, on outline plans for their respective pupil’s project.

  5) (Assessment 3) Develop a 2,500 word coursework role play/simulation outline to be submitted in week 10, constituting 40% of the overall mark. Role plays are practical means of students adopting and pursuing in an educational setting the roles, characteristics, motivations, aims and objectives of actors in political conflicts or processes. The role play outlines are intended for use by Sixth Form students as part of the Politics/IR outreach programme. Selected students will have their outlines added to an online bank of role play outlines for use by schools and will be offered the opportunity to run their role play in schools, interest from schools and logistical considerations permitting.

• Politics of Cultural Diversity

  This module will introduce students to a series of understandings of culture. Culture is first outlined with regard to its shape, scope and purpose, before being examined in relation to debates regarding homogeneity, change and conflict. This problematizes popular understandings of culture as fixed and unchanging, enabling students to grapple with two contrasting accounts of the source of conflict: Samuel Huntington’s The Clash between Civilizations and Dieter Senghaas’ The Clash within Civilizations.

  The module then examines normative approaches to culture, beginning with the debate between relativism and universalism, which leads into an approach – value pluralism – which appears, at first sight, to offer a middle ground between the positions. This involves introducing and examining the validity of a range of conceptions of wellbeing. The module then examines toleration and recognition as approaches to diversity, comparing and contrasting them and identifying internal contradictions through engagement with real world cases. The political implications of the module are then consolidated and drawn out in full.

• Politics of Global Danger

  What makes the world dangerous? Is global politics the extension of war by other means? Do security policies inscribe peace with the logic of war? How has the RMA, and the digital and molecular revolutions changed the ways in which we think about security and war? In what ways have these revolutions made the world more rather than less dangerous? What happens to security and war when these take the life of the human species rather than sovereign territoriality as their referent object? How and why does securing life pose a wholly different security problem from that of securing states? Why does securing life appear to increase rather than decrease global danger? In the process of exploring these and related questions this course will introduce students to the ways in which biopolitical dismodules of security and war differ from geostrategic dismodules of security and war. The world is said to be dangerous in many changing and conflicting ways. Dismodules of security and war teach us what to fear and prioritise danger differently. They challenge how we think. Part One introduces students to ways of thinking about the problematisation of security and war, including new approaches to understanding power. Part Two applies these new perspectives to interrogate changes in the practices of security and war; especially those introduced by the informationalisation of weapons and the weaponisation of information.

• Prisons, Punishment and Society

  How should we understand the role of punishment under democracy? How do the historical, cultural and ideological relationships that underpin and, to a certain extent, determine punishment inform our conceptions of Justice, Fairness, and Equality? This course examines both the historical and philosophical dimensions of modern democratic punishment. We will probe the punitive landscape charted by theorists like Michel Foucault, Norbert Elias, and Emile Durkheim. This module will also consider the “new punitiveness” and the “old” in search of an explanation for the rise of the incapacitative approach to punishment, its permanence and its implications for the legitimacy of the democratic project.

• Reading Political Theory

  Students will study the thought of two seminal thinkers in political theory. This module provides an opportunity to explore texts slowly, methodically and in depth, allowing students to link that thought to wider literature that has developed as a response to the thinkers' ideas, and see how those ideas link-up into a wider systematic and philosophic whole.

  Topics include among many others:

  • Plato: forms and the good-itself, the structure of the kallipolis, the lies of the rulers and censorship, women, children, and slaves, freedom and totalitarianism.
  • Aristotle: links between politics and ethics, community and the political animal, and natural law
  • Kant: freedom and autonomy, roles of the individual, the role of reason, cosmopolitanism, government by agreement, censorship and the state, enlightenment.
  • Nietzsche: early and later political philosophy, the role of state, the death of God, the slave revolt in morals, the Ubermensch, sovereign individuals, radical aristocracy.
  • Marx: the early Marx, Hegel, species-being, alienation, historical materialism, bourgeois philosophy, critique of the modern state, the communist alternative.
• Research-based Dissertation

  Pre-requisites CRIM102, CRIM 204 and CRIM 205. The Police Service is able to provide only 8 placements for students, so we need to be selective, out of all the students who register for the module we will select the ten who have the highest average 2nd year marks, and they will be the students who undertake the placements. You will be quite intensively vetted before being accepted as suitable to be a volunteer with the police. The vetting will include a Criminal Records check, checks on your address and who else lives there, and a drugs test. The 8 students who are selected will be on placement in the Police Service. Utilising live data provided by the various Departments within Headquarters, students will undertake a piece of analysis/research. Students will be working alongside (and will receive training and supervision from) serving officers. They will also receive supervision from an academic member of staff.

  Students who register for the module but are not in the 'top eight' will take the taught part of the module along with the others and then work on a research dissertation, but without the practical placement. All students will have the benefit of contact with serving police officers, since some of the teaching will be delivered by them.

• Responses to Massive Human Rights Violations

  This course will assess the legal and practical issues surrounding responses to massive violations of human rights, before the political and moral issues involved in using national and international courts will be discussed. The imposition of truth commissions as well as other techniques of ‘transitional justice’ to respond to massive human rights violations will be critically analysed in order to deduce the success of such responses.

• Understanding External Intervention in Violent Conflicts

  This module will examine the politics of external intervention in violent political conflicts and the attempts made to manage, prevent and transform these wars into more peaceful situations.

  The module aims to develop student understanding of how international organisations have attempted to intervene within conflict zones to prevent an escalation in conflict, to enforce UN resolutions or to assist externally mediated peace 'settlements'.

  The module also aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of how violent conflict has changed since the end of the Cold War and how transnational organisations such as the EU, UN and NATO have attempted to deal with the new challenges and opportunities presented since the beginning of the 1990s until the present day.

  Conceptually, the course will examine the principles of the liberal peace; state failure; international conflict prevention; peace keeping; and global governance. Empirically, the course will focus on post-Cold War conflicts such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China.

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster visit our Teaching and Learning section.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research.

Careers

Your law degree can open doors to a wide range of careers within, and beyond, the legal sector. We carefully devise, structure and support our degree programmes to ensure that you are prepared for the next step towards a career of your choosing.

Throughout your time at Lancaster University Law School you will:

• Develop excellent subject-specific knowledge
• Enhance your range of transferable skills
• Secure practical legal experience (through our Street Law, Miscarriages of Justice and Law Clinic projects)
• Learn to quickly digest and analyse large amounts of information
• Improve your ability to listen, read and write carefully, manage your time and work in a team
• Improve your ability to speak in public, present confidently, and think on your feet.
• Have the option to extend your range of experience through a Placement Year in business, or, on certain degrees, a Study Abroad year with a partner university overseas
• Access a range of extra-curricular activities with the Law Society (including mooting competitions, a careers dinner and a Law Ball)
• Build a network of peers and employers
• Gain insight into future options through voluntary roles with the Citizens Advice Bureau or Lancashire Constabulary's Special Constables, will provide invaluable insight into your future career options.
• Be guided by a dedicated Careers Officer

All of this ensures that you have the best chance to stand out in a crowded employment marketplace.

Your Law degree can lead to a wide choice of rewarding jobs in the public, private and third sectors.

Roles in the legal profession include: Solicitor, Barrister, Paralegal, Legal Executive, Trademark or Patent Attorney, Legal Secretary.

Wider roles with an appreciation of, and a need for, legal understanding include: Legal Recruitment Consultant, Chartered Company Secretary, Compliance Officer, Investment Banker, and many more.

Many of our graduates also go on to Graduate Training Schemes or pursue opportunities with: Civil Service, Ministry of Justice, Probation Service, HM Courts and Tribunal Service, HMRC, Local Government and Trading Standards.

An undergraduate degree can also lead on to further study or academia.

Fees and Funding

Fees

We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2019/20 entry fees have not yet been set.

As a guide, our fees in 2018 were:

Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Some science and medicine courses have higher fees for students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. You can find more details here: Island Students.

Funding

For full details of the University's financial support packages including eligibility criteria, please visit our fees and funding page

Students also need to consider further costs which may include books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation it may be necessary to take out subscriptions to professional bodies and to buy business attire for job interviews.