Law with Politics LLB (Hons)

In this module you will be introduced to the fundamental concepts and techniques of legal study and legal reasoning as well as the skills and attributes that you will be expected to develop as a law student. To enable this, the module will support you to actively engage in your personal and professional development and, in keeping with the identity and mission of the School, will set the scene for exploring key legal systems, processes and concepts through an explicit social justice perspective. You will develop your understanding of how the English legal system operates as well as exploring fundamental questions including ‘What is Law?’, ‘Why is Law the way it is?’, and ‘How does Law evolve?’. You will be introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives of law and explore how they help us understand, apply, and critique the application of the law in ways that promote social justice values such as equality, inclusion, fairness and access to justice.

The module is a foundation subject required by the Legal professional bodies for any law degree to be a ‘qualifying law degree.’ The aim is that students should acquire a solid knowledge of the legal principles and rules applied by the courts in Contract Law, whilst also developing fundamental legal skills of case analysis, synthesis and problem-solving. Students will undertake the study of Contract Law in its social, political and commercial context.

Public Law concerns the law creating and relating to the UK’s system of government. The module covers key issues in constitutional and administrative law, exploring legal questions and principles in the wider context of the practice of political actors and institutions. The module’s programme of lectures and seminars will support students in developing a range of core legal and transferable skills, and becoming effective independent learners.

This module provides students with a critical introduction to a number of political concepts such as power, the state, legitimacy of sovereignty and gender through engaging with political thinkers such as Weber, Dahl, Tilly, Hooks and Rousseau. It also aims to establish a grounding in a number of areas that will benefit the students in the academic study of politics. For example, essay writing, debating in seminars, and an introduction to academic research. In so doing the module develops on the skills gained at A-level to ensure students are fully prepared for degree level study in Politics. Principally this will be accomplished through interactive lectures and seminars, as well as detailed feedback on their assessments. This module provides students with the tools they require to master different forms of assessment and course work. It also lays the foundations for the development of research confident students by making them active learners with a responsibility for their own academic study.

This module provides an introduction to the main schools of thought and key issues in the field of International Relations (IR). It starts by offering an outline of these schools of thought and introduces students to important thinkers and theories within them. It then moves on to applying and comparing and contrasting different theories to a range of important contemporary issues, from the persistence of war to the environment. It concludes with a discussion of possible futures.

This module introduces students to civil wrongs which are actionable in the law of torts. These actionable wrongs or ‘torts’ include trespass to the person, nuisance, and defamation, but it is the tort of negligence which takes up the largest component of the syllabus. In addition to learning about the legal principles which make up each tort, the module offers students an appreciation of the modern landscape of compensation claims. The Law of Tort is one of the seven Foundation Subjects which must be studied and passed in order to practice law in the UK.

This is a 30 credit, FHEQ Level 5 module. It covers the important concepts of trusts, equitable remedies and concepts of property.  It is one of the Foundations of Legal Knowledge, necessary for a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD). Module delivery concentrates on inculcating legal and transferable skills.

Stimulate the academic interest of students in a complex area of law;
Enhance general legal and transferable skills in the context of the subject area;
Deliver the substantive elements of the subject in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Joint Announcement of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Bar Council governing the content of the qualifying law degree;
Carry out independent tasks and research to a highl evel of aptitude.

In Law and Social Justice, students will enhance a range of core legal and transferable skills, engage in group work, and critically evaluate the impact of the law with reference to a specific case study. After initial introductory lectures, students will select and follow a ‘research pathway’ in the module, in the context of which they will seek to explore the relationship between law and some aspect(s) of social justice.

The international system has no central authority that makes and enforces laws, yet it is not totally anarchic. A large number of international organisations allows states to co-operate in areas as diverse as the economy, international security, or the protection of the environment. The aim of this module is to enable students to systematically study international organisations. We focus on key questions: How do international organisations become (and remain) legitimate? Are they independent from their member-states? What inequalities and hierarchies do they transform or reproduce? Through a series of empirical examples – such as the United Nations, the WTO, the World Bank – students will be able to systematically analyse the role and functions of international organisations in global politics.

Understanding security in international relations and how it is challenged by contemporary globalisation.

This module introduces students to the study of elections and voting behaviour. It uses post-war British elections and referendums as the focal point for introducing key political science debates about voting and party competition and as a context for analysing political change in Britain. In place of seminars, students attend required data lab sessions, in which they are taught quantitative skills (e.g. t-test, Chi- Square test, statistical correlation, linear regression) through the analysis of key election datasets (e.g. vote shares, opinion polls, election surveys, candidate spending) in guided PC sessions. These sessions involve the use of both Excel and SPSS software and students will need to be confident in their ability to undertake basic mathematical procedures and to learn introductory statistical methods.

After years of authoritarian stasis, the tectonic plates of Middle East politics began to shift with the "Arab Spring" of 2011. Much media analysis reduces political explanation of the region’s politics to a single variable (Islam) or its impact on Europe (refugees, terrorism). This module will provide students with the tools to analyse the region’s politics in its richness. Students will critically engage with key concepts and debates in the study of Middle East comparative politics. These include the role of oil and the "rentier-state", democratisation and authoritarian resilience, and the role of religion in politics.

The module examines devolution in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and within England. How did it come about? How has it changed politics in each country? How have political parties responded and what are the key devolved issues in each country?

This module examines struggles for democracy across history from a comparative perspective, focusing on contemporary Southeast Asia. It challenges students to reflect on why a particular variety of democracy, representative government (or ‘polyarchy’), has become one of the dominant political systems in the modern world. It explores the circumstances under which dictatorship gives way to representative government, and the conditions under which representative systems have the best chance of surviving. We will examine the prospects for democracy in Southeast Asia, asking whether the region will follow the examples of Europe and Latin America or whether new hybrid political systems might consolidate themselves. The course focuses on three major approaches to questions of democratisation: modernisation theory; the social forces tradition; and transition theory. These rival theories provide the framework for an exploration of global trends (‘waves of democracy’, and ‘reverse waves’ of democratic breakdown) and recent Southeast Asian developments. The course assists in the development of student skills, specifically in conducting case studies and performing straightforward statistical analyses using a spreadsheet.

This module aims to develop students’ knowledge of British political parties and the party system within which they operate. It explores questions and issues surrounding party structure and organisation, electoral strategy, party ideology and the socio-historical contexts which lead to the rise of certain types of parties rather than others.

This module focuses on the concept, institutionalization, and politics of human rights in international politics. It will provide an overview of the philosophical foundations and debates on human rights. Students will learn about the history and development of human rights in international politics. The module will explore how policies, institutions, and actors aim to improve human rights regionally and globally. It will critically assess the efforts to promote and protect human rights in international politics. At the same time, the module will look at human rights in various regions in the world, as well as issues including war crimes, genocide, torture, environmental rights, women and children’s rights and others.

This is the first module offered to second year undergraduate students to examine the process of political speech and its impact upon the quality of democratic discourse. The module will scrutinise the kind of audiences political figures face, issues of freedom of speech, the development of authentic political rhetoric, the advancement of ideological perspectives, the impact of political manipulation through concepts such as ‘fake news’, and also the process of delivering political speeches.

This module will introduce core concepts in contemporary gender politics – including feminist theoretical understandings of power, agency, institutions, citizenship and the state. Gender and feminist politics will be explored more deeply by engaging with intersecting identities and current theories of the concept ‘woman’. Concepts will be illustrated with real world, contemporary case studies (for example, gender based violence and reproductive rights) and also consider non-traditional forms of political engagement including activist organising. The module will encourage students to critically engage with topics through popular culture, media sources, films, books and pod casts and reflection on their own experience. Research and presentation skills will be developed through coursework assessment.

This module is designed to introduce second year undergraduates to issues surrounding racialization in comparative politics. It will locate ‘race’ as an enduring feature of access to power and look at critical race theory in relation to national (UK) and international politics. This module will enable students to develop critical thinking skills about the construction of ‘race’ and ethnicity and how this construction affects certain marginalised communities and precipitates particular modes of democratic engagement and disengagement, participation and resistance and privilege and disadvantage.

This module is introduced to increase the variety of modules offered to third-year BA students and graduate students in the Politics Department. With increasing student numbers and diversity of students in terms of their programme choices and their interests, this module offers a degree of specialisation and deepening of understanding of transnational security and the ways in which state and non-state actors (especially in the Global South) are responding to ‘new’ security challenges. The focus on the Global South aims at challenging dominant framings of regions such as Africa, Asia and Latin America as sources of insecurities that lack agency on transnational security issues. This module builds student’s understanding and knowledge of the processes and the politics of securitisation, crucial for understanding international peace and security in the context of shifts in global power distribution. This module provides specialised knowledge for final year BA students and graduate students interested in security or international relations.

The module covers the media’s relationship to politics, with a particular (but not exclusive) focus on Britain. It touches on the political, economic, moral and legal contexts in which journalists cover politics, and looks at how subsequent coverage relates to citizen’s attitides and to democratic politics. The module deals with a range of key topics, such as ‘the economy’, ‘climate change’ and ‘Europe’. Students should, as a result, get a rounded appreciation of the media’s role in contemporary society and politics. The module is delivered via a standard lecture and tutorial format.

International (or Global) Political Economy (IPE/GPE) is a sub-discipline of International Relations. This module examines the interplay between politics and economics and the way this relationship is influenced by domestic and international forces. It examines the social underpinnings of economic transactions, the political frameworks that shape economic activity at national, regional and global levels, and the economic imperatives that impinge upon political decision-makers. During the module, you will be introduced to influential perspectives, theories and ideas that have been advanced to explain and anticipate events and developments in political economy. The module covers the most important issue-areas in international political economy and examines recent developments, including the global financial crisis of 2008, challenges to the western liberal order, and the impact of the ecological crisis on global political economy. Firms, individuals, markets, societies, social classes, and states are all important elements of IPE. Theories differ in the way they deal with these elements and the relative significance they accord to each of them. The tension between the elements, resulting in cooperation and conflict, is a major feature in the theory and practice of IPE.

This module analyses the major ideologies in British politics and explores how ideas have brought about change in British politics and society since 1945.

This module explores the ethical dilemmas that arise in some of the most controversial public policy debates. We will explore questions such as: should people have the right to euthanasia? Should we ban pornography? Should the consumption of, or testing on, animals be banned? Should we criminally punish people for taking recreational drugs? Are reparations morally justified? We will explore these questions by critically assessing the arguments of political, moral and legal philosophers, and evaluate the implications of their arguments for policy making.

This module explores contemporary sexual politics, connecting key debates in European sexual politics to global flows of regulation and resistance. We will examine topics such as: moral panic; sex tourism, sex work and sex trafficking; reproductive technologies; and sexual rights. Through the module, students will explore these contested political arenas, critically engaging with intersectional feminist and queer scholarship, activist campaigns and policy approaches.

This module examines politics in the ancient world via narratives about the past (or ‘history’), and at the same time evaluates the role of history in politics. Moving from the Near East to Greece and then Rome, students learn about key political events (for example the battle of Marathon and the Jewish revolt), political phenomena (for example Persian kingship, Athenian imperialism, and Roman expansion), and influential persons (for example Pericles, Augustus and Boudica). In the process they become familiar with the different ways of telling history in antiquity: not only through written history (‘historiography’) but also poetic and theatrical performances, philosophical writings, biographical studies, public buildings and monuments and public ceremonies, such as the Roman funeral. While grappling with these different types of history, students develop understanding of the structures, strategies, debates and anxieties that characterized politics in the ancient world. And they recognize that in the ancient world, as today, to represent the past was to participate in politics.

The Basque language is the axis of a long-standing culture that came to feel at risk around the late 19th century. The Basque nation has since embarked on a fight for survival that has largely contributed to transform the Basque Country into an open, modern, and dynamic society. But contemporary Basque society is characterised by its conflicting identities, Basque and Spanish being the most noted of them. This module will analyse the most relevant areas of that conflict from a cultural, historical, and anthropological perspective. It will also offer a taste of contemporary Basque arts and the identity play between the local and the global in which they are inscribed. This is not a theoretical module. It is practical through and through. But by means of studying contemporary Basque society and culture students are invited to reflect about the concept of identity, both its importance to all of us and its striking fragility, and the way all that is linked to their own experience of nationality.

This module introduces students to the study of globalisation in the early 21st century. In the 19th and 20th centuries there were big debates between those who think things work best when people are left to decide how they want to live and get what they need by trading with each other, and those who wanted a communist society where people get what they need and contribute what they can to the common good. Of course it did not work out that way, and now for many people free markets, or neoliberalism is the only serious game in town. The course examines those debates before moving on to examine case studies of how they have worked out in practice.

This module is about politics, about policies, political institutions, and the political culture of Rome in the Late Republic. It does not only trace the deterioration of political consensus amongst the senate aristocracy and the rise of powerful individuals like Marius, Sulla, Pompey, or Caesar
put also aims to explore the wider cultural context within which politics unfolds.

The module develops a decolonial approach to the history of Italy, Africa and the Mediterranean, focusing on trajectories of colonialism and migration to and from Italy, from the age of the empires to the present. Adopting a decolonial perspective on the history of the Italian empire, its languages and cultures, the module examines some of the cultural and geopolitical tensions that shape ideas of heritage, citizenship and belonging between Italy and Africa. Exploring the making of individual and collective memories through a variety of media and languages, the module develops a language-sensitive approach to the study of history, memory and culture in the 21 st century.

The media are now central to any discussion of contemporary war and conflict while global news reporting is supposedly in decline. How can we understand the interplay between global news, media and war in the context of rapidly evolving communication technologies and journalistic practices? This module explores the broader context of global news focusing on media in different parts of the world and the way they report on global issues. It considers the professional practice of foreign reporting and the challenges that notions of ethics, objectivity and attachment present for journalists. Then it engages with both the responses of states, including the use of media management and persuasion, and those of audiences who are often conflicted in reaction to distant conflict. The module concludes with an investigation of specific wars of recent years and a look at the future of reporting war and beyond.

This module introduces students to the constitutional and institutional law of the European Union before moving to consider some areas of substantive Union law. The module encourages a critical understanding of how the EU came to be and how it has developed, which lays the foundations for analysis of the Union’s institutions including their composition, their accountability and democratic legitimacy, and how they formulate EU legislation. Areas of substantive Union Law addressed are: the development of EU law relating to the free movement of goods, free movement of workers and free movement of economically inactive citizens (such as students and retired persons). Throughout the module, students are encouraged to think critically about the European integration process.

Company Law aims to give students an understanding of certain fundamental aspects of Company Law including the regulation of companies, the effect of separate legal entity, duties of directors and minority shareholder. At the same time the module will introduce students to some of the more essential, topical and developing areas of Company Law which have a national/international impact, including the recent reforms under the Companies Act 2006. Company Law is a 15 credit, level 6 course. Assessment consists of one 105 minute unseen examination. This is a useful specialty option for students interesting in corporate careers

This module seeks to introduce students to the law governing rules of evidence in criminal cases. The course briefly examines the development of the law on criminal evidence, including an assessment of the judge and jury’s functions, before focus switches to more substantive matters relating to the operation and admissibility of criminal evidence. Such matters comprise consideration of burden and standard of proof, both of fundamental procedural and human rights significance for the parties in a criminal case. Other topics addressed include examination of witnesses, specifically examination-in-chief, cross-examination, competence/compellability and corroboration/identification. Later in the module selected types of evidence are investigated, in particular character evidence, hearsay evidence and confessions. The module is taught by use of two one-hour lectures per week and six seminars in fortnightly cycles. Formative assessment is via MCQ and constitutes 10% of the module mark.

This module includes a detailed consideration of legal liability for medical negligence (both the law and some context, such as the number and cost of claims against doctors), consent to medical treatment (which considers the principles applied to competent adults and children, the position where adults or children do not have the capacity to give a valid consent, and the requirements to disclose information to patients) and medical decision making at the end of life. Medical Law and Ethics is a 15 credit module for Level 6 students only.

This module will introduce you to the field of international human rights law. The course will provide you with an overview of the historical and philosophical foundations of human rights, various substantive rights that are protected through universal and regional instruments, as well as providing a general introduction to the international mechanisms for human rights protection and promotion. The course aims to provide the student with both substantive and procedural knowledge of human rights protection, as well as knowledge and understanding of some of the key contemporary challenges in international human rights law.

Further Tort broadens and deepens students’ knowledge and understanding of tort law. Assuming prior knowledge of the foundational aspects of this subject, Further Tort advances student learning in three ways. First, the module offers an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of tort law, introducing students to the concepts of corrective and distributive justice, torts-as-rights theories, utilitarianism, and feminist and critical approaches to tort law. Second, the module builds on students’ existing knowledge by examining special liability regimes, such as that governed by the Animals Act 1971, as well as the rules that govern the tortious liability of public bodies and employers. Thirdly, Further Tort expands on the LAW209 syllabus by introducing students to other civil ‘wrongs’, such as conversion, the ‘economic torts’, and misfeasance in public office. This module will be of interest to students who enjoyed the LAW209 module and would like to further their knowledge and understanding of tort law, perhaps as a prelude to a career in common law practice or advanced academic study.

This module explores fundamental issues in Commercial Law with a particular focus upon Sale of Goods and the Law of Agency. Students will be introduced to certain key areas of importance, including legal issues stemming from the passing of property and title in sale transactions; implied terms within sale contracts and the role of agents in Commercial Law. Teaching and learning uses a ‘blended learning’ approach – the module utilises lectures, seminars, optional drop-in sessions and e-learning strategies to guide the student through a complex area of law. Lectures focus on the delivery of key information and fundamental principles. Building on this acquired knowledge, seminars will focus upon the application of those fundamental principles to complex factual scenarios and advanced legal problems. Post-seminar podcasts and follow-up exercises will serve to offer feedback on the performance of the cohort as a whole, nurture advanced understanding and also guide further work. Commercial Law is assessed through one unseen examination (135 minutes). Commercial Law is a very lucrative and popular area of legal practice, and this is a useful specialty option for students interesting in corporate and commercial careers.

Clinical Legal Skills is a final year optional module based in the Liverpool Law Clinic, an in house legal practice within the School of Law and Social Justice. Learning on the module is experiential: Students will work in small groups or “firms” of 6 students throughout the term and there is an emphasis on collaborative learning and problem solving throughout the module.   The bulk of the student learning takes place through working in the Liverpool Law Clinic with student firms assisting in-house and external solicitors and barristers to provide an advice service to member of the general public. Casework includes working to strict deadlines. The Law Clinic operates during office hours 8 am to 5.30pm and for reasons of client confidentiality, students are only permitted to work on their client case in the Law Clinic. Remote working on case files is prohibited.   There are weekly practical workshops which will cover skills and legal content. Students will give presentations about the cases that they are working on, so that they whole group can learn from the legal and professional issues encountered and the legal advice provided. Workshops will cover areas including researching legal problems, letter drafting, client interviewing, access to justice, reflective practice and law and procedure relevant to client cases.   In addition to weekly workshops each firm has a weekly 1 hour case supervision meeting to receive feedback on practical case work.  

This module will provide an introduction one of the main areas of intellectual property law – copyright law. It will cover the various requirements to obtain copyright protection and will deal with the expansion of rights available to copyright holders. The module will study the complexities in relation to the copyright infringement due to the emergence of digital technologies and examine whether the private rights granted through copyright law is adequately balanced with the protection of public interests.

The module provides students with in-depth specialist knowledge of the principles and structure of international law, with a special emphasis on law-making processes. It offers a selected introduction to the field by placing the issues covered into the political and historical context of international relations. The module features discussions of some of today’s most debated theoretical and practical international legal issues against the backdrop of multiple international, regional and domestic legal and policy frameworks. They include the evolving role of international law in international affairs, the forms of law making, the ever increasing number of actors involved, the expansion of international adjudication, the creation of states, the various faces of sovereignty, and the impact of international law on domestic systems.
Each lecture addresses selected elements of these debates and the basic principles underpinning them. Examples of basic questions include: What is international law? Is international law really law? How did it develop as a body of rules separate from domestic law? What types of norms define the international legal order? What are the main international decision-making processes and who are the actors involved? What are the manifestations of state sovereignty and how do states exercise sovereignty from the perspective of international law and relations? How does international law affect domestic law? Or what is the status of international law within domestic legal orders?

This module is intended to introduce students to the law of the European Convention on Human Rights. Students should develop an understanding of the basic doctrinal concepts adopted by the European Court of Human Rights.

This module introduces students with the fundamental principles of international arbitration as reflected in national laws, international law, arbitral rules, and arbitral and national court decisions. It concerns theoretical and practical aspects of international commercial, as well as investment arbitration.

This is a project-based module that requires students to work in teams using a specific ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) technology to solve a challenging legal problem. Students will use their experience of working on their project to inform their individual analysis of the appropriate role of AI in the justice system. The module has been designed in collaboration with key partners from the legal and technology sectors and it builds on contemporary debates about the future of law and the future of the legal professions. Using our project as a point of reference we will discover how AI can be developed to tackle problems that involve legal reasoning, and we will debate competing ethical, economic, regulatory and other arguments concerning whether AI should be used in the justice system, and if so, how it should be used. As a project-based module, LAW383 will require sustained commitment by students both to their respective team-mates and to the project itself. This module will be more suitable for students who are not solely interested in the conventional approach to learning and applying the law, but who have a strong desire to expand their technical skill set and project-management skills to meet the growing demand in the legal sector for lawyers who are also capable ‘legal designers’, ‘legal engineers’, and ‘innovation leads’.

This module introduces students to key ethical principles as they relate to the legal regulation of medical practice. This module will look at autonomy in greater detail, such as children and decision making / adolescent autonomy; reproductive autonomy and the right NOT to reproduce (contraception, sterilisation and abortion), the right TO reproduce (both regulation of current assisted reproductive technologies and those on the horizon such as ectogenesisartificial / mechanical wombs and uterus transplants). At a formal level, the module encourages students to develop reasoned ethical perspectives on autonomy as applied in various contexts .

This module provides students with an introduction to key aspects of family law in England and Wales in the context of both public and private proceedings. Students will begin by critically exploring the legal regulation of various family relationships (notably marriage, civil partnerships and cohabitation) in the light of human rights norms and recent reforms. This will involve consideration of the legal requirements for entering into regulated family relationships as well as the legal consequences when such relationships come to an end, both financially and in terms of the arrangements made for children. The module then moves on to explore the conditions under which the state can legitimately intervene in family life and the various orders at its disposal to protect children from abuse and neglect. All of this will be grounded in a detailed review of the statutory framework, the relevant case law and academic commentary.

The Banking Law module’s overall focus is on risk and threat’s (both traditional and emerging) to the banking system. Specifically we will focus on the role law plays in addressing these challenges. Initially, we will look at how the Bank works with the HM Treasury to safeguard the banking sector from emerging and evolving risks, specific focus will be placed on its role as Lender of Last Resort. We will then go on to examine the Bank’s response to the 2008 financial crisis, paying particular attention to the legal structures in place to help foresee and manage these threat’s to the health of the economy. This will then followed by an examination of the banker and customer relationship, and the role the legal duties owed between the parties plays in reducing risk and uncertainty in terms of the everyday course of dealings between the bank and its customer. The module will then focus on the bank’s Anti-Money Laundering obligations, we will consider the importance of the framework in reducing a bank’s exposure to risk, but will also note the heavy burden on complying with it. Relatedly, we will then look at the banks role in the UK sanctions regime, thinking in particular of the developments in 2022 in relation to Russia, and question their success. Penultimately, we will look at cyberattacks on banks, the impact on customers, and ultimately the risk of bank failure – linking to some of the themes drawn out in our financial crisis lectures. Finally, we conclude the module with a look at crypto-banking, with a focus on the potential benefits and risks it presents to consumers, and how it may challenge the traditional banking system

Clinical Legal Skills is a final year optional module based in the Liverpool Law Clinic, an in-house legal practice within the School of Law and Social Justice. Learning on the module is experiential:     Students will work in small groups or “firms” of 6 students throughout the term and there is an emphasis on collaborative learning and problem solving throughout the module. The bulk of the student learning takes place through working in the Liverpool Law Clinic with student firms assisting in-house and external solicitors and barristers to provide an advice service to member of the general public.   Casework includes working to strict deadlines.    The Law Clinic operates during office hours 8 am to 5.30pm and for reasons of client confidentiality, students are only permitted to work on their client case in the Law Clinic.   Remote working on case files is prohibited. There are weekly practical workshops which will cover skills and legal content.   Students will give presentations about the cases that they are working on, so that they whole group can learn from the legal and professional issues encountered and the legal advice provided.   Workshops will cover areas including researching legal problems, letter drafting, client interviewing, access to justice, reflective practice and law and procedure relevant to client cases. In addition to weekly workshops each firm has a weekly 1 hour case supervision meeting to receive feedback on practical case work.

Jurisprudence aims to give students an understanding of the basic problems of legal theory: what is law? Why do we obey it? How is law related to morality? Is an unjust law really a law? How should judges decide cases? At the same time the module will introduce students to the work of some of the most important modern legal theorists, in particular H.L.A. Hart, Lon Fuller and Ronald Dworkin. Students will also consider some of the crucial concerns of contemporary legal philosophy, such as the relationship between the rule of law, rights and democracy. Jurisprudence is taught in weekly 90 minute seminars, rather than through lectures and tutorials. This maximises the time available for discussion and evaluation of each week’s reading assignment, in both smaller sub-groups and the class as whole, which is the most interesting and effective way of gaining an appreciation of legal philosophy. Students will produce a group presentation on a topic of their choice in the second half of the module. The module is assessed through one piece of coursework (3,000 words).
Jurisprudence provides an opportunity for reflection on the philosophical foundations of law, and should appeal to students who are interested in understanding more about the essential nature of legal systems and legal practice.

This module will be of interest to students who wish to learn about the way in which borders operate within the UK and in Europe, as well as how asylum seekers, refugees and migrants living in the UK and the EU are treated under the law. The course will also be of interest to students who wish to study topics related to human rights issues. The course focuses broadly on the area of asylum and immigration, and is also intended to be responsive to current developments in the area. Examples of topics that will be covered include, international refugee law and the UK asylum system, the enforcement of immigration rules through detention and deportation, and rights to family reunification and family life.

This module provides an introduction to trade mark and patent law. The first half of the module will examine the system for registered marks (including the process of registration, revocation, invalidity and infringement). The second half of the module will look into the rationale, requirements and enforcement of patent rights that protect technological innovations. It will also cover the main aspects of exclusions and exceptions that limit the subject matter of patentability.

Who should take this Module? Students interested in using social media or learning about data protection and privacy risks should take this Module. This Module will also be of interest to those seeking to demonstrate to future employers their commercial and practical awareness of the policy and compliance developments both in the UK and EU.
What are the Issues? The Module will adopt a thematic approach to the study of the challenges posed by social media and new technologies to individual identity and privacy. These include privacy, data protection, surveillance, hacktivism, and freedom of expression. Topics covered include, Surveillance Trends, Facebook and Privacy; Social Networking and Online Data Surveillance; Data Protection; Topical issues and Emerging Legal Developments. No prior knowledge of Technology is needed.
What you will gain from taking this Module? I will provide you with instruction and guidance on the latest developments in the law and share with you some emerging legal challenges and help bridge “theory” and “practice”. The class will be complemented by a series of specialist sessions given by leading academics and practitioners. These aim to give you an insight into the wider practice of Social Media Law and Privacy. Opportunities will also be provided to students to undertake Dissertation Projects, work on research projects or participate in Law School/University of Liverpool presentations with Joseph Savirimuthu. You will be provided with a challenging and positive learning experience. Finally, a good understanding of social media will provide you with an opportunity to maximise the potential of gaining professional and personal benefits as well as recognise the risks involved.

This module is an opportunity for you to gain an understanding and insight into issues relating to access to justice. You will undertake a placement in a public sector or non profit organisation, develop skills and undertake tasks within a practical context, apply academic knowledge from your degree, and develop your personal and employability skills within a working environment. This experience will develop understanding of access to justice issues in a practical setting.

​This module is an opportunity for you to undertake further study of charity law. The team-taught module will offer interactive workshops covering a different current topic in charity law each week. You will be expected to prepare and contribute to the debate. You will enhance your understanding of a complex topic of law, and have the opportunity to gain practical skills. The module will be assessed via a small group problem-based assessment, as well as coursework.

This module is intended to further develop the students’ understanding of the law of the European Convention on Human Rights building on concepts and material covered in LAW362. Students should be able to understand and analyse complex concepts used by the European Court of Human Rights and critically analyse reform of the European Court.

​ This module offers you the opportunity to delve deeper into the law as it affects the strategies and operations of corporations, both internationally and domestically. Existing legal frameworks surrounding businesses are complicated, limited and at times contradictory, especially with respect to the operation of multinational corporations. The module will focus on various areas of business law, each of particular modern-day relevance, e.g. corporate social responsibility; corporate human rights violations; corruption and bribery; LIBOR/PPI scandals. 

This course will provide students with an in-depth understanding of the complex international legal
questions that make the headlines. Students will learn to demonstrate and critically evaluate how law and politics interrelate and how issues of globalisation are incorporated into the international legal language. The course will also encourage students to take a step back and critically analyse why it is that international law seems to be focussed on crises that make headlines. Through the means of recognising and ranking complex issues, a further site of enquiry will be the question of whether there is also an every-day international law that is not discussed in the news?
The course will provide students with a strong understanding of the complex and specialist concepts, principles, institutions and debates that define international law today. By unravelling these concepts with the help of current affairs and various legal sources students will be able to contextualise succinctly international law as it relates to politics, the media, social phenomena, and historical settings. Focusing on a number of key issue-areas, the course will enable students to understand how international legal norms emerge, the way they shape subjectivities, competences and responsibilities, and their impact with regard to contemporary issues/problems of global scale.
Overall, the aim is to lay the foundations for an informed and critical assessment of the contribution and limits of international law as a force in world affairs.

Transnational crime is regarded as a major threat to contemporary political and economic regimes. Concerns about the cross border activities of criminal organisations, in particular, has become a key feature of the global political agenda in recent years. This had led to the creation of a number of international agreements, institutions, and legislative proposals to encourage inter-state cooperation against transnational crimes. Yet, concerns and responses to transnational crimes differ across diverse regions, and with regard to different forms of crime. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, this module will explore the emerging field of transnational criminal law, examining the challenges of transnational law enforcement. The module will begin by introducing students to key theoretical concepts, political debates, and principles of transnational criminal law. We will then explore some of the more substantive transnational crimes, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and migrant smuggling. In addition to examining the nature and extent of these crimes, we will consider the strengths and limitations of current legal and policy responses.

​The module will explore international rules and practice on the protection of business actors investing abroad. How does international law protect corporations and private business actors when they invest into projects in other countries? Are businesses entitled to any protection of contracts they sign with foreign governments? What remedies does international law offer in cases where businesses are unfavourably affected by legislative and regulatory changes in the host state? The module will be delivered through lectures, seminars and online exercises. The module will be of interest to students wishing to specialise in commercial law, international economic law, dispute resolution as well as those who would like to deepen their knowledge of international law in general.

This module investigates the following questions: How does law affect gender and how does gender affect law? As a result of taking part in this module, students will develop the necessary critical thinking skills to recognise how law and state structures in general influence and are influenced by gender. Using critical feminist and queer legal and political theories, we will investigate how individuals from disadvantaged groups in terms of their gender and sexuality as well as some other characteristics, such as race, disability, or immigration status, could be disenfranchised by law.
Teaching of this module will begin with a set of introductory lectures on feminist and queer legal and political theories. These will be followed by smaller group pathway lectures, which will focus on the role of gender in a specific field of law. These will be taught by a team of lecturers with expertise in that particular area. Students will be able to choose the specific pathway they would like to take part in in the beginning of the semester. Specific fields offered might change from one academic year to another depending on staff availability.
Assessment will be based on group presentation and an essay.
As a result of taking part in this module, students will become aware of covert ways in which law, even when it is seemingly impartial, could result in or exacerbate inequalities. The module will also help students to develop research, presentation, group work, communication and critical argumentation skills due to the teaching, learning and assessment methods used in the module.

This module aims to provide students with an overall introduction to the UK Parliament and, in particular, to how its role has changed over time. It will provide students with key knowledge and understanding of the institution and of how it has changed. We will examine how the institution is organised, who MPs and Peers are and how they perform their representative role. We will then focus on key roles such as law-making and scrutiny and accountability, where we will explore in particular the role of Select Committees and of questions to the government. We will also consider how Parliament relates to outside actors such as the public, government and pressure groups. Throughout our enquiry we will identify the role played by tradition in Parliament, as well as outlining paths for reform. The module has been developed in conjunction with the Parliamentary Outreach Service of the UK Parliament and includes guest talks by parliamentary officials and Clerks. Whilst the module introduces students to the key literature and theories on Parliament, it also has a very practical insight. It is therefore particularly suitable for those students considering a possible career in public relations, lobbying, journalism, as well as in parliament itself or party politics.

The module’s assessment has a strong practical component. It is composed of two reports, each actively encouraging the use of resources from Parliament and each putting students in a real life scenario.

The module will cover a range of contemporary mass media and their role in the power structures of British society. Students should achieve an understanding of the mechanisms by which power is (or is not) exerted through and by the mass media; which models of power distribution are most plausible in this context; and which case studies best exemplify the mechanism at work (including mediation of protest; political mobilisation via the web; public relaations and spin practices; and the phone hacking affair). The module will be delivered via lectures and workshops, and will be assessed by exam, short essay and a student’s performance in a presentation undertaken in a group alongside other students.

This module discusses classic and current topics of electoral politics from an international comparative perspective. It adopts a heterodox approach to voting behaviour, simultaneously covering rational, socio-structural and psychological explanations. Sessions are structured thematically, with cases of specific countries and parties being used as illustration. Attention to the effect of context is therefore drawn upon in relation with the different topics covered in each session. Among the themes covered by the module are class voting, issues and economic voting, ideology, partisanship, leaders and campaigns, and the impact of gender, religion, ethnic background, national identity and age on voters’ behaviour in Western democracies and beyond. The module will also cover the electoral support of non-mainstream parties, including the radical left, the radical right and Green parties. The focus of the module is both theoretical and empirical. Each week, a particular topic will be introduced in a lecture and this topic will be explored further by analysing real survey data during the PC sessions using SPSS. Quantitative training is therefore provided covering different types of univariate and bivariate analysis. The module is highly recommended for students interested in elections and voters, as well as those who have taken modules with a focus on data analysis in the past. Previous statistical training is not required to take this module.

This module aims to acquaint students with terrorism and counter-terrorism in today’s world. It starts by examining key concepts, theories, and history and then moves on to looking at a range of issues that have been the subject of particular debate, such as whether terrorism works, whether there are regularities in how campaigns end, and the necessity and contributions of literature on ‘Critical Terrorism Studies’. The module concludes by looking at whether we are at the end of the religious wave of terrorism and what we might expect to occur next.

This module analyses the ideology of the Labour Party historically through discussions of the ideas of key thinkers from the 1920s to the present day.

This module analyses the ideology of the Conservative Party historically through discussions of the ideas of key thinkers from the 1930s to the present day.

Conflicts, terrorism and wars have plagued human societies since their inception: which factors are likely to explain their occurrence and duration of wars? How are civil wars different from inter-state and ethnic conflicts? Who is more likely to become a terrorist? How does the public react to terrorist attacks? How do states respond to terror? This course examines a number of theoretical and empirical debates in the study of conflict and terrorism. We will investigate how empirical analyses can help settling some debates while others remain still open. By the end of this module, students are expected to (1) develop an understanding of the major explanations for conflicts and terrorism and critically discuss their strengths and shortcomings (2) interpret the findings advanced by the empirical literature against or in line with the discussed theoretical predictions (and students’ own pre-theoretical intuitions) (3) get exposed to the data and techniques employed by empirical scholarship to investigate conflict and terrorism.

Please note: this is a theory and method heavy course and the application of both will be a mandatory requirement for the assignment(s). Students should be prepared to devote considerable time to familiarize themselves with methods and theory.

Civil war is the most common form of armed conflict today. While around thirty interstate wars have been fought since World War II, over one hundred civil wars have been recorded. Scholars have long focused their attention on civil conflict, producing a large body of literature on different aspects of civil war, e.g. exploring onset, duration, strategies, outcomes and termination, the formation of rebel groups, and the various forms of intervention in civil war. The module will introduce students to this body of research.

Substantially, the module is divided into four parts. The first part provides an introduction to the study of civil war and an extensive methods discussion. The latter will emphasis concepts and measurement, causal assessment, and case selection. In the second part of the module, we will look at civil war onset. War is a costly and risky endeavor, and rebels face particularly steep odds going up against states that are typically far more powerful. Why do they occur? The third part explores the dynamics in civil wars. Why do parties target civilians? When do civil wars spill over? The fourth part looks at the end of wars and termination of conflict. Why do some civil wars last longer than others? Why do some end in a negotiated settlement while others do not? Does outside intervention facilitate the termination of civil wars and prevent their recurrence?

This module unravels why and how immigration, and the ‘crisis’ that surrounds it, has become ever more central to political debates. Students will learn how to assess and use theories and apply to case study material relating to a range of countries, but there will be particular focus on receiving states – mainly the UK and the US and selected European countries. The module explores how the topic of immigration connects with some of the deepest political questions which face contemporary democracies including human rights, citizenship, identity, globalisation and nationalism. It is through the international movement of persons that the edges – and limits – of the state (both territorial and conceptual) are rendered visible. The approach is to analyse state responses to immigration as a lens to critique the nature of liberal democracy and the contemporary nation-state. The module maintains a clear focus by locating the very wide range of debates that exist over immigration within a theoretically-informed perspective on policymaking and liberal democratic states as political systems.

This third year module examines how burgeoning economic, political and security relations between Africa and China are contributing to changes in the global order. Challenging framings of states in Africa as ‘system ineffectual’, inconsequential to global politics, and lacking material and ideational capabilities to structure their foreign relations, the module, through critical IR theories, examines how these states’, the rise of China and the dynamics in China-Africa relations are impacting, shaping and reframing the norms and practices of development and global security governance.

This module explores the theories, ideas and concepts that underpin the development of contemporary public policies.

​What are the institutional prerequisites of economic development? Global development institutions such as the World Bank or UNDP have proposed the concept of "good governance" as an answer to this question. This module critically engages with this concept by juxtaposing it with various historical institutionalist accounts of the state, including the East Asian developmental state, Africa’s failed states, and the Middle Eastern rentier state. Students engage with key debates about the role of the state, democracy, corruption and the "resource curse" in economic development.

This module examines the different ways in which states intervene in the domestic affairs of other states or territories such as humanitarian intervention, invasion, annexation, peacekeeping, and colonial interventions. It explores how intervention has changed and developed historically, especially during and after the Cold War. It analyses whether state-practice has out-run the rules and norms that guide international state behaviour, particularly the legal framework of the United Nations and other relevant bodies of international law. From this basis, the module will use examples of different kinds of interventions as cases to study and to evaluate whether their mere existence heralds a change in state-practice and a concomitant need to revise legal and political codes of conduct. Such cases include the shift in peace operations from first generation peacekeeping during the Cold War under the strict rules of impartiality, neutrality and the limitation of force to self-defence, to the robust and partial peace enforcement practiced by the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and NATO troops in Afghanistan. It further includes historical and recent examples of invasion, such as Iraq in 2003, annexations of foreign territories such as the Crimean annexation by Russia in 2014, the contentious cases of humanitarian intervention for which Kosovo and Libya are used as precedents, and will ponder the question whether there is such a thing as the Responsibility to Protect. Finally, the module will also examine less overt more and subtle forms of state intervention such as covert action and state-sponsored terrorism in the physical and cyber realm.  

This is the first substantive module in the UK to examine the rhetoric of British political parties at Undergraduate level. It roots its theories and methods in the classical schools of rhetorical analysis, alongside developing a more contemporary understanding of discourse analysis. This module will enable students to think critically about the political message, how it is constructed, and delivered to a range of audiences.

The principal aim of this module is to analyse the political significance of identity (national and ethnic) in international politics. Module deals with cultural diversity, the role of the nation-state, migration, ethnic conflict, diasporas and the European Union. ​

The module begins with an analysis of the validity of comparative approaches to the study of the politics of peace, before moving to a series of individual case studies. These include Northern Ireland, Bosnia, the Middle East and the Basque Region.

The module will look at the manner in which a range of media engage with climate change and energy security, and the political and social implications that follow. Students should achieve an understanding the context of coverage (including the science, the surrounding political environment, and journalistic practice). They should also be able to understand the principal features of coverage (and their impact), and the political implications that follow. The module will be delivered via lectures, workshop-tutorials, and online tutorials. It will be assessed by exam, short essay and a student’s performance in a presentation undertaken in a group alongside other students.

This will be the first module offered to third year undergraduate students and to students from the Europe and the World MA programme to examine whether and how psychological factors and health problems influence citizens’ political perceptions, attitudes and behaviour. Drawing from psychology, neuroscience and political behaviour, the module is strongly interdisciplinary and will scrutinise the relationships between politics and biology, personality, ideology, emotion, decision making, health, disability and mental health.

Race and civilisation are fundamental concepts through which societies have organised the international order and imagined the hierarchies that exist between them. As such, racism and civilisationism have had a crucial influence on international politics and practices, and are still used to sustain global inequalities. In this module, students will explore how the ideas of race and civilisation have enabled a variety of practices of violence, exploitation and domination in global politics. They will also explore how some actors have fought against racism and civilisationism, and which of these strategies have proved successful.

This module provides alternative perspectives on global politics, drawing on feminist theory and gender analysis, with a focus on conflict and peace, and the implications for global politics and International Relations (IR). The module will engage with theoretical concerns (how are women affected differently by conflict and peace, how do we engage feminist methodologies) to practical concerns (conflict, security, participation, sexual violence, human rights). Theories and concepts will be illustrated with relevant global case studies and examples. The module aims to encourage engaged, critical reflection on feminist approaches to our understanding of issues in world politics.

Whilst for many people, colonialism has ended, we live in a world where the effects of colonialism are still visible. Many academics have taken a critical perspective on these continued legacies, and this field of thought is now broadly known as ‘postcolonialism’. This module explores the social, political and cultural effects and legacies of colonialism as they occur in particular contexts.

The module is divided into two sections, one exploring the theoretical ideas of postcolonialism, the other looking at how thinking postcolonially helps us to understand the world.

You will be assessed through two pieces of coursework, one a theoretically driven essay on a student-chosen topic, and one, focused on authentic assessment, which analyses the postcolonial aspects of contemporary culture (e.g. a film, book or museum).

Humans have constructed visions of a better world throughout history: in fact, social movement scholars argue that the history of humanity is the history of this struggle. Certain forms of protest have existed throughout time: taking up arms to fight for what you believe in, or to defend a way of life. Some forms of resistance date back centuries: the revolt, the uprising, the rebellion, the strike, the march, the petition, sabotage, etc. More recently, social movements have used social networks and media to create what some argue are new forms of protest. This course surveys how geographers and others have theorised protest, resistance and other strategies for change though a range of approaches and case studies.

Over the last decade the environment, and perhaps more importantly the concept of sustainable development, is claimed to have become a critical dimension that underpins decision making at a variety of different spatial scales, more particularly international, European, national, regional and local arenas. In this module we explore the extent to which environmental concerns are taken into account in various decision-making processes within the public, private and third sectors. The module will be assessed by an essay (50%) and an open book exam (50%) which provides students with significant choice to explore those parts of the module they find most interesting.

This module will introduce students to debates about democracy in Latin American during and after the Cold War, including the breakdown of democratic regimes and democratisation. By examining the changing relationship between the state, civil society and citizens since the mid-twentieth century, we cover various aspects of the democratisation process in the region, including theoretical explanations. In the first half of the module, we examine the influence of the Cold War on Latin American politics, including the Cuban Revolution, US-Latin American relations, and the emergence of military regime. This is followed by an examination of the ‘transitions to democracy’, including topics such as transitional justice, human rights, and the memory and legacy of dictatorship. We finish by studying some of the challenges confronting Latin America societies today and the prospects for democracy.

The module studies human rights through the lens of the media in order to critically understand the changing nature of human rights’ representation and the role media play in representing and responding to critical human rights issues. It explores the interconnections between media and human rights focusing on media and human rights theory, policy and practice and exploring both historical developments and contemporary issues. In particular, the implications of the global media in the current information age for a range of key human rights’ issues are analysed. Among the issues that will be reviewed are terrorism and war on terror, freedom of speech, human trafficking, asylum and immigration, torture and genocide, humanitarian intervention.

This module familiarises students with some of the main theories and arguments in debates about issues that raise problems for traditional ethics. These include the treatment of disability, the issue of humanitarian intervention and other matters of global concern, such as international justice, and issues raised by what some call the ‘environmental crisis’. The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment is via a 3,500 word essay (comprising 90% of the module mark) due in the January assessment period. Students will have the opportunity to receive formative feedback on a draft essay plan towards the end of the autumn term. Students will also give one 10-15 minute seminar presentation that provides the remaining 10% of the module mark.