Welcome to another module breakdown blog post! So far, I have done 2 posts in this little series on my blog. Essentially, I break down each module and look at it in detail so if you are doing this module, or something very similar, then you know what to expect!
You can find my previous module breakdown posts here:
Today’s post is about the The Legal System of England and Wales. Let’s get to it.
Content
The Legal System of England and Wales is a module that I would argue is almost quite a historical one, especially the first few topics. It looks at key aspects of the legal system and how it has become the legal system we know today. We looked at the criminal justice system, including the trial process and the courts involved. In addition, we looked at the law of equity, the judiciary, judicial precedent, primary and secondary legislation, and statutory interpretation.
Quite a few other subject areas appear in this module. For example, when looking at the legal professions, there were aspects of sociology that popped up in relation to class, age, and other gaps in the legal professions. Politics also pops up considerably but I think that law is very very closely related to politics in every aspect so that is to be expected. I already mentioned History is prominent too.
Lectures
In Semester One, I had two lectures a week which were an hour long. Both lectures each week covered the same topic within the module, as the topics are quite large in terms of content. They were a mixture of online and on-campus but the majority were online. In Semester Two, the lectures are now on campus and in a two-hour slot.
The lectures were for the majority typical of a university lecture but there are instances where my lecturer will ask questions. I find them similar to all of my other law lectures in my other modules.
Tutorials
Tutorials, also known as seminars, happen every couple of weeks or something like that. There are 8 tutorials for the entire year. There are pre-set questions set just to make sure that we understand the content and we also look at possible essay or problem questions. As to be expected, interaction and participation are expected in these tutorials but that’s the same for any tutorial or seminar I have.
Tutorials were a mix of online and on-campus in Semester One but the majority were on-campus with the option of attending online if you so wished. This relaxation has eased in Semester Two. We are expected to be on-campus for our tutorials unless we write a ‘request to study off-campus’ form.
Assessments
Assessments in the Legal System of England and Wales are very similar to some of my other law modules. There was an essay question worth 40% and an exam at the end of the module worth 60%.
My essay was on Secondary Legislation and the advantages and disadvantages of it. I initially struggled with this assessment as it was my first university essay. I had to get some support from my lecturer which she was more than happy to do. I ended up getting a 62 on it which is equivalent to a 2.1. I’m really happy with this result considering it was my first essay question set out of my modules and I struggled with it.
My Overall Thoughts
Overall, I am really enjoying this module. It’s not my favourite module this year but I still find it enjoyable and relatively straightforward. There are a lot of things to remember for this module, particularly statutes and cases, so it requires a lot of concentration. Other than that, I like it!
Thank you for reading!
Beth
Beth Olivia 
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