LW108-5-AU-CO:
Foundations of the Law of Obligations
2022/23
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 06 October 2022
Friday 16 December 2022
15
09 September 2022
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
LW101, LW201, LW241, LW242
BA MVC5 Philosophy and Law,
BA MVC6 Philosophy and Law (Including Placement Year),
BA MVC8 Philosophy and Law (Including Foundation Year),
BA VM51 Philosophy and Law (Including Year Abroad),
BA VM58 Philosophy and Law (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
LLB MM20 Law with Human Rights,
LLB MM21 Law with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MM22 Law with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
LLB MM30 Law with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MV06 Law with Philosophy (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MV16 Law with Philosophy,
LLB MV18 Law with Philosophy (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MV19 Law with Philosophy (Including Placement Year),
LLB ML14 Law with Politics (Including Year Abroad),
LLB ML15 Law with Politics (Including Placement Year),
LLB ML16 Law with Politics,
LLB ML26 Law with Politics (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MM00 Law with Criminology,
LLB MM01 Law with Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MM02 Law with Criminology (Including Placement Year),
LLB MM03 Law with Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA VM10 History and Law,
BA VM11 History and Law (Including Foundation Year),
BA VM12 History and Law (including Placement Year),
BA VM13 History and Law (including Year Abroad),
LLB M1Q3 Law with Literature,
LLB M1Q4 Law with Literature (Including Foundation Year),
LLB M1Q5 Law with Literature (Including Placement Year),
LLB M1Q6 Law with Literature (Including Year Abroad),
LLB M1V1 Law with History,
LLB M1V2 Law with History (Including Foundation Year),
LLB M1V3 Law with History (Including Placement Year),
LLB M1V4 Law with History (Including Year Abroad)
This 15 credit module will act as an introduction to the study of contract and tort and set them in the wider framework of the common law of obligations. The main aim will be to introduce students to key concepts in the separate disciplines of contract and tort.
However, the module will also highlight the interplay between contract and tort in order to demonstrate the significance in practice of these distinct branches of the law of obligations.
1. To understand the key principles of the law of obligations, specifically the basics of contract formation and tort law claims in negligence.
2. To be able to identify when a contract has been validly formed, to identify when a claim for negligence might be brought, and to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of both areas of law and how they regulate obligations.
Upon successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand the relationship between contract and tort law
2. Understand how a contract is formed
3. Understand how a negligence claim arises
Indicative Syllabus
The Law of Obligations is an area of the civil law and relates to whether or not a person is bound to act in a particular way.
There are many different types of obligations that the law recognises. In this course we focus on the obligations that arise from contracts and when a duty of care is owed (negligence). One person may be entitled to the performance of an obligation and the other may be bound to perform a particular obligation.
In most of the cases that we look at, there is a dispute about whether or not the obligation is enforceable in law (i.e. whether or not the person has to do it or whether they failed to do something they should have done).
The first five weeks of teaching will provide an overview of fundamental aspects of contract law and explain the relationship of contract law to other branches of the law of obligations. This part of the foundation module will serve as the introduction to a ten week Contract Law module. The second five weeks of teaching will provide an overview of the law of negligence and serve as an introduction to the ten week module Tort Law.
Topics covered include:
Contract Law (common law of obligations: agreement (offer and acceptance), consideration, intention to create legal relations and remedies)
Tort Law (negligence: duty of care, breach of duty, causation and remoteness, defences)
Contract
1. The common law of obligation, the role of contract, tort and restitution <br>
2. Establishing Agreement: offer and acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations, certainty and privity
Negligence
3. The Duty of Care: Donoghue through to Caparo and beyond
- The Foreseeability of Harm
- Proximity
- Fairness, Justice and Reasonableness
4. Breach of Duty
- The Standard of Care: The Man on the Clapham Omnibus/Skilled, Professional, Juvenile or Infirm Defendants
- Factors Influencing a Finding of Breach
5. Causation and Remoteness
- Successive/Overtaken Torts and Joint Liability
- Cumulative Torts
- Causal Indeterminacy
- Novus Actus
- The Egg-Shell Skull Rule
- The Remoteness Rule
6. Limitations and Defences
- Contributory Negligence
- Volenti Non Fit Injuria
This module will be taught via weekly 1-hour lectures and weekly 1-hour tutorials. The module teaching team will upload all relevant teaching materials on Moodle. You will find reading lists, the textbook, weekly handouts and PPS notes on Moodle. The materials in question are designed both to help you navigate the material to be covered in the lectures and tutorials and to equip you to analyse the required readings. You will be expected to have completed the required readings in advance of your tutorials. Your tutorials will enable you to discuss the material covered in lectures and the required readings, obtain feedback on your pre-class preparation and deepen your understanding of key concepts. To help you prepare in the best possible way for your tutorials, you will be completing regular Multiple-Choice Quizzes on Moodle. The quizzes will be based on the reading set for that week so that the quiz forms part of your preparation for each tutorial. The quizzes will enable you to track your progress, understand what you are doing well, and give you clear feedback to help you manage your studies and your progress.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Multiple Choice Questions - Continuous Assessment (LW108 Obligations) |
|
20% |
| Coursework |
Formative Essay (LW108 Obligations) |
|
0% |
| Coursework |
Essay (LW108 Obligations) |
|
80% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Mr Lee Hansen, email: l.hansen@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Niall O'Connor, Dr Ugochukwu Obibuaku, Dr Haim Abraham Ms Fikayo Taiwo, Dr Olayinka Lewis
Law UG Education Administrators: lawschoolug@essex.ac.uk
No
No
Yes
Dr Mateja Durovic
Kings College London
Reader in Law
Available via Moodle
Of 40 hours, 10 (25%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
30 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Essex Law School
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.