Legal Systems and Methods

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenor: Professor Daniel Monk
• Assessment: a short in-class writing exercise (5%), in-class multiple-choice test (30%), in-class editing exercise (15%) and 1250/1500-word take-home essay (50%)
  

This module acts as an introduction to your law degree and to many of the skills you will need to be successful in it.

We will provide you with essential knowledge about:

• basic legal concepts
• sources of law
• institutions of the English legal system and the people who work within it.

We also introduce you to the unique features of studying law and the different ways of reading law and asking questions about law.

You will learn how to approach assessments effectively and practise some of the skills necessary to do this. Our team of experienced tutors will also introduce you to the styles of teaching used by Birkbeck Law School, balancing a mix of theory, case studies and rigorous academic analysis of law and the legal system. The module is taught through lectures and seminars which will help you to start thinking about law in a more analytical and critical manner.

By the end of this module, you will:

• be able to identify, locate and appraise a wide range of legal materials
• have knowledge about and an understanding of the structures of the English legal system
• understand the diversity, composition and roles of the professionals who work within the legal system
• have been introduced to the major legal concepts, values, principles and rules of the legal system, legislation and case law
• have an awareness of the range of possible approaches to legal scholarship
• be able to identify and understand the specific skills required to study law as an academic subject.