LLB Commercial Law

Course content

What will you study on the LLB Commercial Law?

In Year 1, you will study English Legal System, Legal Method, Public Law, Contract Law. Year 2 will focus on Criminal Law, Tort, EU Law, English and International Commercial Law, and in Year 3 you will study Land Law, Equity and Trusts, Company Law plus one optional module (if part-time, these modules will be studied over 4 or 6 years).

You will develop your knowledge and understanding, and cognitive and practical skills, through lectures, seminars, workshops and self-directed study using a variety of resources, including the library and e-learning.

What will you gain?

In a competitive but thriving legal field, graduates who combine sophisticated understanding of business with solid grounding in legal analysis and knowledge have a significant advantage. The knowledge and understanding you will gain includes primary sources of law such as case law, legislation and other relevant material including examination of how the laws are made and developed, of the institutions within which the law is administered and the personnel who practise law. You will understand a wide range of legal concepts, values, principles and rules, and the complexities of commercial law.

The cognitive and practical skills you will gain will allow you to identify accurately and analyse legal issues by applying knowledge of legal principles and concepts to complex practical situations and make reasoned judgments based on informed understanding of arguments. You will have the ability to research and interpret the primary and secondary source material of law and apply the findings to the solution of legal problems, and evaluate and judge the value of relevant doctrinal and policy issues in relation to commercial law and a range of legal topics.

You will undertake independent research and identify, retrieve, investigate and manage information from a range of academic sources, both paper and electronic, and from websites to produce up-to-date and relevant information, and then be able to use and apply correct and accurate legal terminology orally in moots and presentations and in writing.

Modules

This module aims to enable you to develop an understanding of the English legal system and how it works in order to provide a foundation for the further study of law. You will examine the nature and function of legal institutions and the role of the legal profession within the English legal system and explore the provision of legal services and methods of alternative dispute resolution. You will become familiar with, and be able to use, legal skills and knowledge in respect of issues and problems involving the English legal system.

This module aims to broaden and expand your understanding of the common law system, legal reasoning, case analysis, the judicial hierarchy, handling precedents and statutory interpretation. After studying this module, you will comprehend the basic principles and debates underpinning the position of the courts in the UK constitution, appreciate how to read a case, and be able to pick out its material facts and ratio, as well as distinguish this from obiter dicta and develop an understanding of the different rules and approaches that courts use to interpret statutes. The module will also provide you with a grounding in legal ethics so as to instil a basic understanding of a lawyer's duties toward their clients and the court.

This module aims to provide you with a sound knowledge and understanding of the law of contract, focusing on the main principles, cases and statutory provisions relevant to contract law. This will act as a firm foundation for subsequent law modules as well as for postgraduate and professional study after the programme. The module also aims to develop your competence in the analysis and solution of legal problems, develop your legal research skills and recognise the relationship between the law of contract and other areas of English and European law. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to examine general principles relating to the UK Constitution and the organisation and powers of the State. You will gain an awareness of the law and practice relating to the control of the Administration of the UK State and will consider the law relating to Human Rights and aspects of Civil Liberties in the UK. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to enable you to acquire a sound knowledge and understanding of criminal law, including a detailed knowledge of the key principles, cases and statutory provisions relevant to criminal law. You will develop skills in the analysis and solution of legal problems and in researching case law and statute law in relation to criminal law, while recognising the relations between criminal law and other areas of law. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

The module aims to provide a general knowledge and understanding of tort law and lay a sound foundation upon which to develop knowledge, skills and competencies needed for the Vocational Stage of legal education and training, and subsequent careers in legal practice or higher qualifications in law. The study of case law will develop skills in extracting and communicating the meaning of written reports. Students will be challenged to achieve a higher level of understanding and application of the law in practice and attention will be given to the ethical issues that can arise. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to provide a thorough understanding of the legal system of the European Union (EU) and of the rules and principles governing the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital within the EU’s internal market. You will apply knowledge of EU law to the analysis of legal issues and develop your skills of information retrieval from a range of sources. The module includes the study of the history and development of the EU, the EU’s institutional framework, sources of EU law and law-making procedures, the main substantive principles underlying EU Law and the relationship between EU law and national law. An exhaustive overview of the jurisdiction of the EU courts will also be offered. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to provide a sound knowledge and understanding of the origin, history and contemporary principles of commercial law. It will introduce the most important of those legal issues arising in commercial transactions, both those completed within England and those that cross jurisdictional lines. The module will present and analyse the concepts of property, the role of agents, and the matters of payment, finance and security. You will gain exposure to conflict of laws and efforts to harmonise national law in order to facilitate trade, manage risk, and to litigate or otherwise resolve disputes. The module will introduce international trade terms, contracts of carriage, and insurance. Legal issues arising from electronic commerce will also be considered.

This module aims to provide a critical understanding of the law in the context of dealings in land. The module will build upon your knowledge of legal principles by bringing these together with rules of land law. Your ability to evaluate issues, including ethical issues, and to solve land law problems at a high level of understanding is enhanced, together with your personal and professional development and employability skills. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to build upon your knowledge of legal principles by bringing these together with rules of trust law and principles of equity, including the ethical principles which govern the role of a trustee as fiduciary and principles relevant to the quantification of damages and availability of assets for their recovery. You will develop your critical understanding of the law of trusts and equitable principles, and your ability to present and argue positions in relation to issues of equity and trust law. You will analyse practical problems accurately and debate issues at a high level of understanding. This is a core module and is a requirement of the professional bodies.

This module aims to provide you with a sound knowledge and understanding of the law governing companies and other business organisations in the United Kingdom. Comparisons are drawn between the laws underpinning the various business organisations/relationships and their different purposes are evaluated. A framework of basic principles of company law is provided, with some detail of how these principles are worked out in practice. The module will further aim to perfect legal reasoning and logic, legal synthesis, analysis and problem solving skills; to enhance research skills and the use of primary source material and to enable you to bring this together with previously learned legal principles.

This module aims to examine the international legal framework for international trade provided by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The importance of the WTO has dramatically increased in the last two decades, shaping the global trade regimes and regulatory governance. You are provided with a thorough understanding and knowledge of global trade regimes, an overview of globalisation and contemporary international economic relations, the regulation of international trade through the WTO, and the relationship among international trade, harmonisation of the law and trade-related issues. The course aims to deepen your understanding of the origins, structure, rationale and scope of the global trading system. Its objective is to enable you to demonstrate your legal and multidisciplinary knowledge, analytical skills and understanding through extended writing in a cogent and appropriate writing style.

This module aims to provide an opportunity to develop practical skills in legal drafting, advocacy and litigation. It includes a taught element with a concentration on the drafting of documents and written submissions. The majority of the course is devoted to guided student participation in moot court exercises and internal/external competition(s) which will involve as appropriate domestic, European, Human Rights or international law. You will be assessed on the basis of written and/or oral submissions and such other assessments. It is limited to 16 students selected by the programme team.

This module aims to develop your employability skills by achieving the set of agreed learning outcomes in the Three Way Negotiated Learning Agreement and other skills learned in placement. This practical experience module provides the means to link academic work with the 'real world' situation in order to conceptualise the meaning of theory in the wider world context. This module facilitates the embedding of transferable and graduate skills necessary for future career paths and employment. It is envisaged you will reflect upon areas of knowledge relevant to the placement learning experience and develop personal knowledge through a review of your learning. The placement learning experience provides the opportunity to enhance your skills of self-expression, communication, self-reliance and co-operation. It operates as an extra placement year and requires permission from the Programme Leader before registration.

This module aims to provide undergraduate law students with the skills necessary to undertake research into a specialised area of legal study selected by you, building on the skills of legal research introduced in the first two years of the programme.

You can find more information about this course in the programme specification. Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.