LW301-6-AU-CO:
Jurisprudence
2024/25
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 13 December 2024
15
14 September 2022
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
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)
Jurisprudence is a module that enables you to think in depth about how law works and the impact it has on the society around us.
For example: How is law different to other rules and principles? Should law reflect moral opinion, and if so, how do we decide what is moral? Can judges really be objective when they make decisions? How do we judge if law is making society fairer?
The module covers many key theoretical approaches to understanding what law is and how it functions. In doing so, we will look at the relationship (and conflicts) between law, on the one hand, and politics, markets, and social justice on the other. You will be asked to think for yourself about these issues, and reflect on which perspectives provide us with the most accurate, and the most useful, ways of thinking about law.
The aim of the module is to introduce students to the main currents of thought about the nature and social functions of law and its relationship to morality and politics. A related aim is to improve students’ ability to reason critically and to argue.
Students should gain a basic understanding of the currents of thought referred to under ‘module aims’ above. They should also develop their capacity to reason critically and to demonstrate this ability in written work.
The syllabus is likely to include the following:
1. Natural law
2. Classical Legal Positivism
3. Legal Realism
4. Modern Legal Positivism, especially the theory of H.L.A. Hart
5. The legal theory of Lon Fuller
6. The legal theory of Ronald Dworkin
7. Marxist approaches to law
8. Critical Legal Studies
9. Feminist legal theory
10. Postmodernism and law
This module will be taught via weekly lectures and fortnightly 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 |
Formative Essay (LW301 Jurisprudence) |
|
0% |
| Coursework |
Multiple Choice Questions - Continuous Assessment (LW301 Jurisprudence) |
|
20% |
| Coursework |
Essay (LW301 Jurisprudence) |
|
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
Dr Tom Cornford, email: tomc@essex.ac.uk.
Tom Cornford, Dimitrios Kyritsis, Dr. Konstantinos Kalliris, Ms. Ronit Matar
Law UG Education Administrators - schooloflawug@essex.ac.uk
Yes
No
Yes
Dr Paolo Sandro
University of Salford
Lecturer in Law
Available via Moodle
Of 824 hours, 15 (1.8%) hours available to students:
754 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
55 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
Essex Law School
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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.