Public Law 1

LW588/LAWS5880
LW614/LAWS6140

2019-20

MODULE GUIDE

This module guide contains all the information you need for success in
this module. It is essential that you familiarise yourself with its content
at the start of the course.

Mr Sebastian Payne

Office: E1S1, ext. 3012

[email protected]
Module convenors:
Dr Suhraiya Jivraj

Office: W2.N2, ext. 4172

[email protected]

Number of credits: 30

2 x 1 hour lectures
Contact hours per week:
1 weekly seminar (see schedule).
LW588 1 hour/LW614 2 hour

Expected student study hours LW588 246 hours/ LW614 228 hours
Contents
Public Law 1 1
Introduction 3
Teaching Staff 4
Learning Outcomes 5
Reading 6
Information Technology 7
Teaching Arrangements 8
Teaching Schedule 9
Assessment Methods and Schedule 11

2
Introduction

Public Law 1 is a compulsory module on the LLB and an essential foundation for the study of
Public Law 2, which is also compulsory. It provides the basis for the study of optional
subjects such as Human Rights, Law and Political Theory, Statutory Interpretation, Legal
History and International Law.

This module has three main parts and provides a critical introduction to the following topics:

(i) Constitutionalism - the module looks at law and political theory to ask:

i. What is a Constitution and Constitutionalism?

ii. What is a state and how does it constitute itself?
iii. What is the relationship between the citizen and the state?
iv. Where does sovereignty lie?
v. What is the role of law?
vi. What do Constitutions tell us about political projects for Reform?

(ii) Forms of government

vii. Democracy
viii. Federalism
ix. Regionalism
x. Supra-national bodies

(iii) Constraining the power of the state

xi. Human Rights
xii. Judicial Review
xiii. Other mechanisms

3
Teaching Staff

Main Lecturers: Suhraiya Jivraj (Autumn Term) and Sebastian Payne (Spring Term)
Other Lecturers: Alex Magaisa and Mohammed Afshary (both terms)

Course convenors:
Sebastian Payne [email protected]
Suhraiya Jivraj [email protected]

Mohammed Afshary [email protected]

Christabel Eboso [email protected]

Stephen Crawford [email protected]

Anamika Misra [email protected]

Lara Tessaro [email protected]

Josipa Šarić [email protected]

Graham Tegg [email protected]

Alex Magaisa [email protected]

The office location and office hours of seminar leaders will be communicated by them
separately to the members of their seminar groups.

Policy on email and telephone calls

Given the large number of students taking Public Law 1, we would be grateful if students would
kindly avoid emailing or telephoning teaching staff with requests for general information which is
readily available by other means i.e. at lectures, in the module guide or seminar guide, on
Moodle, from the KLS office, etc.

4
Learning Outcomes

Intended subject specific learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Knowledge and understanding, including an introduction to a range of critical and
theoretical perspectives, of the structure and distribution of public power
2. A knowledge and understanding of the legal and conventional constraints on
government
3. An introduction to and understanding of Human Rights protection
4. A knowledge and understanding of judicial review and other administrative law
remedies
5. An ability to identify the source of legal authority for government action
6. An ability to identify controlling institutional structures and identify their causal power
in determining the way in which individuals can respond within the public law sphere
7. An ability to evaluate the impact of a range of political texts on the emergence and
development of:
1. British constitutionalism
2. Other examples of constitutionalism
3. Human Rights
8. An ability to read and evaluate legal texts and cases and understand their relevance
to the British Constitution and to the development of administrative law and human
rights law

Intended generic learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an ability to construct an argument based on authoritative sources and convey it
in written form, with appropriate and accurate use of language, referencing and citation
2. Analyse case law, identify the key concepts, the inter-relation between the facts and the legal
arguments, and provide a coherent account of the judgment
3. Advance coherent legal and constitutional arguments in written form
4. Demonstrate an ability to provide a sustained analysis properly researched and thought
through in essay form
5. Make proper use of web based material and to distinguish good sources from inadequate ones

5
6. Make proper use of the library resources by way of law reports, articles and monographs and
textbooks

Reading

Reading materials will be available on the module web pages on Moodle. Some of this
material will be essential for your studies; other material will enable you to pursue your own
interests in public law.

Core/recommended texts:

The main text book you will be directed to is:

 Le Sueur, Sunkin and Murkens, Public Law Text, Cases and Materials, 4th
edition (2019, Oxford University Press).

We also recommend a range of other texts that are available in the library which you
are encouraged to consult for their range of scholarship and accessibility:

 Ian Loveland, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Human Rights:

A critical introduction, 8th edition (2018, Oxford University Press)

 Anthony Bradley and Keith Ewing, Constitutional and Administrative Law,

17th edition, (2018, Longmans)

 Colin Turpin and Adam Tomkins, British Government and the Constitution,
7th edition (2011, Cambridge University Press)

You must locate for yourselves relevant articles from Public Law and other law journals.
You will learn how to do this in lectures from the Law Librarian. Do not assume that West
Law is the only source of additional materials. Use the on-line journal data base in the library
website to find relevant materials.

If you want to read more widely you will find the essays in The Changing Constitution (2015)
edited by Jeffery Jowell, Dawn Oliver and Colm O’Cinneide (8th edition) a stimulating starting
point. Borrow it from the library.

You are expected to read a good quality newspaper on a daily basis. Newspapers are
available in the library, and on sale at a discounted price in the campus shop. We will also
refer you to relevant articles as appropriate. Listening to politics and legal programmes on
the radio and TV will help you become familiar with the language and concepts of public law.

6
Information Technology

Information technology is used in a variety of ways in KLS, and you should familiarise yourself
with the pages for undergraduates on the KLS website.

i) The module web page in Moodle at https://moodle.kent.ac.uk/:

This enables you not only to read all the course handouts, including lecture outlines and seminar
worksheets, reading materials and assessment details, but also to download them. In addition to
handouts, the page will contain a selection of web links, audio files of the lectures where
relevant, announcements, and links to further resources.

ii) Electronic legal resources:

Journal articles, law reports and legislation - with the same text formatting as the originals - can
be obtained via the Internet - see Lawlinks (http://www.kent.ac.uk/lawlinks/) for the gateway to
these web resources. There are self-help tutorials built in to the library website to help you do
this, or the law library staff can help you.

Note that searching the Internet (e.g. with Google) will not pick up the datasets in which most
electronic versions of primary and secondary legal sources are held. Sites like Wikipedia are not
authoritative sources of legal information and do not provide a sound basis for your research.

7
Teaching Arrangements

Lectures
There will be 2 lectures per week on Public Law unless the teaching schedule in this guide
indicates otherwise. Please check your timetable for lecture times and venue.
These lectures begin as soon as the induction programme has finished. Lectures provide
you with an opportunity to learn how to approach the study of Public Law at Kent Law
School. They are designed primarily to introduce you to new ideas and to provide a
framework for you to understand your readings and to elaborate key themes of the course. It
is therefore strongly recommended that students attend lectures in order to facilitate their
learning and understanding of the legal principles and issues addressed in the module.
Lectures are recorded and may be listened to on the LW588/LW614 Moodle website
although NB students are advised to attend lectures and not to rely solely upon lecture
recordings. Some lectures will be accompanied by power point slides which will be made
available on the Public Law 1 Moodle page prior to the lecture. Not all lectures will be
accompanied by power point slides in which case an accompanying lecture handout will
usually be given. Learning to take a contemporaneous note of a talk is an important
skill for law students as well as experienced lawyers. There will be a revision sessions
provided at the end of the spring term taking into account that the written examination is
convened in May/June 2020).

Seminars
There will be weekly seminars through the autumn and spring terms. Check the schedule
of seminars including breaks for Research and Assessment Weeks below. The purpose of
the seminars is to allow you to develop your ideas in relation to the topics covered and the
materials studied. You will be provided with readings and questions and must come to the
seminar fully prepared, with notes on your readings and answers to the questions.

Additional help with your work

There are podcasts of lectures on academic skills on the KLS Skills Hub Moodle page, and
other sessions will be run by the Skills Hub throughout the year. These can help you to get the
best out of your classes and assessments.

Note: KLS also has 'Skills Hub weekly drop-in’ hours where students can go to ask for
guidance on study-related issues. More details (including opening times) can be found on the
Skills Hub Moodle page.

You are welcome to discuss your understanding of the module content with seminar leaders
during their contact hours. However, seminar leaders will not read/correct any draft work or
plans.

8
The Student Learning Advisory Service also offers workshops, online study guides, and one-
to-one appointments to help with study skills, including essay writing and referencing:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/about/slas.html

Teaching Schedule

AUTUMN TERM 2019

Kent Date Lecture I Lecture II Seminars

Week
Tuesday 5.00pm Wednesday 11.00am (as timetabled)

1 23 Public Law institutions and Law Making : See Induction week

Sept See Induction Week timetable timetable
2 30 Public Law : an overview and key themes Seminar 1
Sept Introduction to Public Law 1
3 7 Oct Constitutionalism & Democracy Seminar 2
Introduction to Constitutions
4 14 Constitutional Principles I: Parliamentary Seminar 3
Oct Sovereignty Constitutions & Democracy
5 21 RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT WEEK: NO SEMINARS
Oct NO LECTURES

6 28 Constitutional Principles I contd: The Royal Seminar 4

Oct Prerogative UK Constitution:
Parliamentary Sovereignty

7 4 Constitutional Principles II: Rule of Law Seminar 5

Nov Royal Prerogative
8 11 Constitutional Principles II: Rule of Law Seminar 6
Nov Contd and Preparing for the Assessment Parliamentary Sovereignty
contd. & Miller case
9 18 Seminar 7
Nov Assessment Preparation: Skills Hub Rule of Law
sessions

10 25 RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT WEEK: NO SEMINARS

Nov NO LECTURES Deadline for Assessment
1: 2pm on Thursday 28
Nov.
11 2 Constitutionalism Seminar 8
Dec Limits of the Rule of Law –
human rights
12 9 Review of key themes: an assessment of Seminar 9 : Key themes –
Dec their impact on Public Law and democracy taking stock

9
SPRING TERM 2020

13 13 Devolution Devolution No Seminar

Jan

14 20 Sovereignty and European Convention Seminar 10

Jan the EU on Human Rights
Devolution

15 27 Human Rights Act Human Rights Act Seminar 11

Jan
The European Convention
on Human Rights (ECHR)

16 3 Feb Introducing Introducing Judicial Seminar 12

Judicial Review - Review - Formalities
Human Rights
Function

17 10 Standing Seminar 13
Feb
Prelim. Of Judicial Review
and Standing

18 17 RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT WEEK: NO SEMINARS

Feb NO LECTURES

19 24 Judicial Review Seminar 14

Feb
Judicial Review

20 2 Ombudsman Seminar 15
March
Judicial Review

21 9 Tribunals and Inquiries Seminar 16

March
The Parliamentary
Ombudsman

22 16 Assessment Preparation: Skills Hub Seminar 17

March sessions
Tribunals and Inquiries

23 23 RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT WEEK: NO SEMINARS

March NO LECTURES
Assessment 2: DATE
TBC

24 30 REVISION WEEK Lectures Seminar 18 Revision

10
 March seminar

NB: Some topics may change according to current developments.

Assessment Methods and Schedule

The assessments are designed to:

a. ensure that you have the necessary knowledge and understanding of the syllabus
b. that you have developed the relevant legal and intellectual skills appropriate to a
level 5 course
c. provide you with feedback on your progress

Assessment criteria: Students are referred to the Assessment Grades and Criteria cited in
the KLS Student law guide (available on Moodle). The criteria provide general guidance on
understanding what is required for a good quality legal essay or other assignment.

Assessment Type To be completed by %

A Writing Task of no more than 2000 words to 2pm on Thursday 28 30 th

develop and assess skills necessary for November 2019 (Kent

academic writing including, citation skills. Week 10)
A Multiple Choice Test (MCT) of 30-50 Date TBC (Kent Week 20
questions to assess students’ abilities to 23)
identify concepts, establish their meaning and
function they perform in Public Law in particular
in relation to human rights and judicial review
and the law relating to that area.

An examination of 3 hours where you will See summer exam 50

answer 3 questions on topics from the whole timetable
course.

Essay Feedback

Please note that some seminar leaders will mark your work online via Turnitin, in which case
your feedback will be available to view there, while others will mark on printed copies and
return the copy to you with feedback during the next seminar after the return date. If you
have no more seminars you should collect it from the Law School Office. Your seminar
leader will tell you which of these applies to your class.

11
Once you have read the written feedback, you may still have queries, in which case you
should see your seminar leader during their office contact hours.

School and University policy on avoiding plagiarism

What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct. Plagiarism may be committed in a number of
ways, including:
 Copying others work or ideas. This includes copying from other students and from
published or unpublished material such as books, internet sources, purchased work,
or similar. Failing to adequately reference your sources is also deemed as copying.
 Submitting previously submitted or assessed work of your own without attribution
(referred to as ‘Duplication of material’ in the University of Kent, Credit Framework for
Taught Programmes- Annex 10: Academic Discipline,)
 Submitting work solicited from (or written by) others
The above are only examples and are not comprehensive, furthermore these may not be
mutually exclusive.

Plagiarism and duplication of material, as defined below, are cited in the regulations as
examples of breaches of General Regulation V.3 in the University of Kent, Credit Framework
for Taught Programmes- Annex 10: Academic Discipline:
 Plagiarism: Reproducing in any work submitted for assessment or review (for
example, examination answers, essays, project reports, dissertations or theses) any
material derived from work authored by another without clearly acknowledging the
source
 Duplication of material: Reproducing in any submitted work any substantial amount of
material used by that student in other work for assessment, either at this University or
elsewhere, without acknowledging that such work has been so submitted

If you use someone else's work, you must acknowledge your original source or sources:
 in the body of your work (via the appropriate citation method) AND
 linking your citations to your list of works using the appropriate format in your
reference list or bibliography.

In this module, material which you must acknowledge includes but is not limited to:
 exact words (written or spoken) *Note that exact words must be placed in quotation
marks. See the OSCOLA reference style guide via the Skills Hub webpage page for
details
 summarised or paraphrased text

12
  ideas or concepts
 theories
 opinion or analysis

More information is available in the Law Student Guide and at the Academic Integrity
website: www.kent.ac.uk/ai.

Word limits & marking

Ensure that you understand word limits (the word count includes quotations and footnotes).
Exceeding word limits will result in a mark reduction (see KLS’s Word Count Policy, available in
the Law Student Guide on Moodle).

You should also familiarise yourself with the categorical marking scheme. The KLS application of
the categorical marking scheme can be found in the KLS UG Assessment Guide which is
available on the Law Student Guide via Moodle.

Deadlines and Extensions

Please note that assessment deadlines are strictly enforced (see the ‘Deadlines and Extensions’
section in the Law Student Guide). This means that if you submit an assessment late, it will not
count unless:

a) there is a good reason for the lateness and

b) the work is handed in before others’ work is returned or the assessment is discussed in
seminars and

c) an extension has been approved by the relevant Stage Chief Examiner (see below).

Staff will not accept coursework submitted after the deadline except in concessionary
circumstances and as authorised by the chief examiner for the appropriate Stage. Concessions
applications requesting an extension for coursework must be submitted using the appropriate
Late Coursework Submission Form (available at the Student Advice Office or the Law Student
Guide on Moodle). Individual seminar leaders cannot grant extensions. Concessions
applications will be considered only if submitted with a clear and concise account of the

13
concessionary circumstances and the impact on the student’s studies and with all necessary
documentary evidence.

14