To cultivate a knowledge and understanding of the rationale and development of the law governing criminal evidence, specifically the operation and admissibility of evidence in criminal cases;
To foster an ability to appreciate the significance of those rules of evidence for defendants in criminal cases;
To develop competence in critically evaluating the law governing the admissibility of evidence in criminal cases;
To assist in the capacity to apply the law on criminal evidence to hypothetical situations in an effective manner;
To inculcate additional electronic and bibliographic research skills, particular the ability to research the law of evidence and the policies underlying specific rules of evidence;
To aid students in the presentation of legal and critical argument re: criminal evidence both orally and in writing.

(LO1) Have a reasonably good theoretical and doctrinal appreciation of criminal evidence principles.

(LO2) Extract the relevant law on criminal evidence from legislation and case law.

(LO3) Trace the development of the law on criminal evidence through legislation and case law.

(LO4) Demonstrate orally and in writing a thorough knowledge and understanding of the general principles of criminal evidence.

(LO5) Apply their knowledge of the law on criminal evidence to hypothetical factual situations.

(LO6) Identify gaps and ambiguities in the law on criminal evidence.

(LO7) Use traditional and electronic sources of material.

(LO8) Participate in group work.

(LO9) Reflection their understanding of the syllabus and use feedback to develop the quality of their work.

(LO10) Complete specified tasks with direction from academic staff.

(S1) Improving own learning/performance - Reflective practice

(S2) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills – oral

(S3) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills - written

(S4) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Influencing skills – argumentation

(S5) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Academic writing (inc. referencing skills)

(S6) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis

(S7) Critical thinking and problem solving - Problem identification

(S8) Working in groups and teams - Group action planning

(S9) Skills in using technology - Information accessing

Indicative Syllabus

The law referred to in this module is that of England and Wales. The indicative syllabus outlined below is necessarily not an exhaustive attempt to cover the entire scope of criminal evidence in this jurisdiction. Please also note that this module deals with criminal evidence and not civil evidence.

Introduction, general principles and terminology;
Functions of the court and discretion;
Burden and standard of proof;
Course of trial;
Competence and compellability;
Corroboration and identification evidence;
Forensic evidence (guest lecture);
Evidence of character;
Hearsay evidence;
Confessions.

Teaching Pattern
Lecture

There will also be 5 x 2 hour seminar sessions which will run fortnightly. Five seminars will mirror substantive topics on the module and each seminar will have allocated time for a skills element – e.g. legal approach, critical thinking and summative writing technique.

Some additional 15-minute podcasts on selected issues will be used throughout the semester that students will be required to engage with in the seminars, e.g. case commentary, discussion of a particular article or theory/approach in more detail.