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) At the end of this module students will be able to demonstrate theoretical and doctrinal criminal evidence issues.

(LO2) At the end of this module students will be able to extract the relevant law on criminal evidence from legislation and case law.

(LO3) At the end of this module students will be able to trace the development of the law on criminal evidence through legislation and case law.

(LO4) At the end of this module students will be able to demonstrate verbally and in writing a thorough knowledge and understanding of the general principles of criminal evidence.

(LO5) At the end of this module students will be able to apply their knowledge of the law on criminal evidence to problem scenarios and essay based questions

(LO6) At the end of this module students will be able to identify conflicts, gaps and ambiguities in the law on criminal evidence.

(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
Lectures: 11 x 2hr seminars

There will also be 4 x 1.5 hour seminar sessions. Four 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.

2 hour workshop to be included in the teaching provision – focusing on assessment methods and exam technique specifically.