LW234-5-AU-CO:
Justice

The details
2025/26
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 02 October 2025
Friday 12 December 2025
15
01 July 2024

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

LLB M100 Law,
LLB M100CD Law,
LLB M100CS Law,
LLB M100DE Law,
LLB M100LD Law,
LLB M100MD Law,
LLB M100MS Law,
LLB M100TD Law,
LLB M100TS Law,
LLB M101 Law (Including Foundation Year),
LLB M107 Law (Including Placement Year),
LLB M107DE Law (Including Placement Year),
LLB M120 Law (Including Year Abroad),
MLAWM199 Law,
MLAWMA98 Law (Including Placement Year),
MLAWMA99 Law (Including 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 MN00 Law with Business,
LLB MN01 Law with Business (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MN02 Law with Business (Including Placement Year),
LLB MN03 Law with Business (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MN10 Law with Finance,
LLB MN11 Law with Finance (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MN12 Law with Finance (Including Placement Year),
LLB MN13 Law with Finance (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),
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)

Module description

Justice is a 15 credit module providing students with an understanding of the nature of law, its relationship with society and the question of justice itself.

The module introduces students to aspects of legal theory, contextualised and explains how the authority of law may be justified, as well as providing critical perspectives on law's relationships with power, money, and socially marginalised groups. Students will apply their existing understanding of legal concepts and institutions to wider debates around the effectiveness of law in delivering social justice, connecting doctrine with broader topical debates

Module aims

Students will understand the nature of law and prevailing theories on what makes law a legitimate source of authority, the competing ways in which we can think of justice, and how law succeeds or fails in delivering justice. The module allows students to connect knowledge of legal doctrine with underlying theoretical debates and topical issues, and provides the tools needed for a critical analysis of law’s relation with other societal sources of power.

Module learning outcomes

Upon completing the module, students will be able to

1. Understand the theoretical justification for law’s authority within society.
2. Critically compare and evaluate competing understandings of what we mean by justice.
3. Utilise and compare critical perspectives on law’s relationship with money, gender and race.
4. Apply their skills and knowledge to critically analyse the role of law within contemporary and contentious social issues.

Module information

The syllabus is designed to be flexible, so as to allow for timely current events to be included year-on-year. An indicative syllabus includes the following topics:

* Competing meanings of 'justice'
* Why should we obey the law?
* Rights
* Law, money and capitalism
* Gender and the law
* Race and the law

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via: 1. One 2-hour lecture per week 2. One 1-hour tutorial per week

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting

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

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Tom Cornford, email: tomc@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Tom Cornford
The Law Education Admin Team - lawschoolug@essex.ac.uk

 

Availability
No
No
No

External examiner

No external examiner information available for this module.
Resources
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.

 

Further information
Essex Law School

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