LLB International Law and Globalisation second year modules

Land Law

The Land Law module is designed to deliver a thoughtful and critical account of the legal issues generated by English Property Law as it relates to Real Property. This may include an examination of the following aspects: fundamental concepts of Real Property such as Property and Land; the relationship between Law and Equity; tenure; estates and interests in land, and the importance of the property legislation of 1925; priority of title; the defects of the unregistered title to land system; registration of title to land, and the importance of the Land Registration Act 2002; freeholds; leaseholds; licences to use land; the trust of land and co-ownership; mortgages; freehold and leasehold covenants; adverse possession; proprietary estoppel; and easements. 

Law of Torts

This module is an introduction to the law of tort, including its historical origins, its theoretical underpinnings and its aims and functions; negligence, including public authority liability and liability in respect of omissions, psychiatric harm and pure economic loss; and nuisance.

In addition, at least one of the following topics will be covered: alternative compensation systems; intentional torts; defamation.

Legal Foundations of the European Union 

This module covers core issues arising in the field of European Union Law. The topics set out below may be covered:

The historical origins of the European Union and its economic and political objectives; the principal substantive provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (in outline); the institutional framework of the European Union and its decision-making processes; the legal status of the law deriving from the Treaties on which the European Union is based and its relationship with the national laws of the Member States. The composition, organisation and general approach of the European Court of Justice; the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and the General Court. 

The following heads of jurisdiction are examined in detail: the action against Member States for infringement of their Treaty obligations; the action for annulment and the preliminary rulings procedure; general principle of EU law and human rights in the EU; the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Legal Solutions

Students will be presented with a selection of legal problems that legal service providers and associated services face in the real world and will be required to work in groups to research the associated issues and devise a ‘solution’ to one of those problems. Problems will be posed by a range of partners from commercial and service industries along with British and International NGOs and potentially academic colleagues on issues arising from or linked to their research. 

Students will be introduced to examples of legal solutions and approaches to addressing them through the taught component of the module.  They will be required to present their solution in a summative presentation and to reflect on the process.

Contemporary Issues in International Law and Globalisation

This module builds upon the knowledge gained from the ‘Foundations of International Law and Globalisation' and ‘Global Law and Globalisation’ modules in year 1.  This format is designed to provide students with an opportunity to acquire a more in-depth understanding of the nature, function and development of global law by engaging with a series of contemporary issues.

This module is designed to encourage students to reflect on recent developments and study key conundrums in the field of public international law and globalisation such as gender and development, the persistence of widespread poverty migration of environmentally displaced persons, humanitarian crises, global trade, banking and finance, health and medicine, and the governance of emergent technologies and free and Open Source Software Licensing. 

International Dispute Resolution

This module explores the legal frameworks governing, and politico-legal concerns relating to, international dispute resolution. Students will be introduced to the different methods for resolving disputes between different types of actors at the transnational, regional and international levels. They will gain an understanding of international disputes, the options for resolving them, and how the nature of a dispute might inform decisions as to resolution mechanism used. The module will explore questions such as the legal and political factors relevant to selecting dispute resolution approaches, the choices available to parties, ‘forum shopping’, informal resolution structures (such as negotiation, conciliation, good offices, and mediation), arbitration, and international judicial adjudication.