University Calendar 2008/9
Section VI : Academic Regulations - Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences
School of Law



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SECTION IX
ARCHIVE 2002/3
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ARCHIVE 2004/5
ARCHIVE 2005/6
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ARCHIVE 2007/8
Regulations for the Degrees of Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Laws (European Legal Studies) and Bachelor of Laws (International Legal Studies)


  1. The degrees of Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Laws (European Legal Studies), and Bachelor of Laws (International Legal Studies) may be awarded with honours.

  2. The programme of study for the degree of Bachelor of Laws may extend over two, three or four years; the two year programme is for accelerated entrants (see Regulations 23 to 27); the four year programme leads to the degree of Bachelor of Laws (European Legal Studies) or the degree of Bachelor of Laws (International Legal Studies) (see Regulations 4 to 5 and 15).

  3. In order to qualify for the degree of Bachelor of Laws a candidate must have:

    1. satisfied the requirements for admission to degree programmes as specified in Section IV of the General Regulations;
    2. followed a programme of study in accordance with the Regulations, and
    3. satisfactorily completed the prescribed examinations which may include coursework.

  4. A candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Laws (European Legal Studies) or for the degree of Bachelor of Laws (International Legal Studies) shall, in addition to the requirements of 3 above, be required to follow a programme of study abroad for such period and under such conditions as may be approved by School Board. Normally the programme of study abroad will last for one academic year following the second year of study.

  5. Any student wishing to study for the degree of Bachelor of Laws (International Legal Studies) must apply to do so at the end of the first year of study, and this application is subject to approval by the School Board.

  6. The modules to be studied in the first year of the programme shall be:

    Legal Method
    Constitutional and Administrative Law
    Criminal Law
    Contract Law
    Property Law I

  7. Subject to Regulations 9, 10 and 11 the modules to be studied in the second year of the programme shall be:

    Law of Tort
    Property Law II
    Law of the European Union

    Plus one of the following:

    Commercial Sales
    Criminology (2nd year only)
    Family Law
    Health Care Law
    Law, Government and Administration
    Evidence and Procedure
    Public International Law

  8. Subject to Regulations 9, 10 and 11 the modules to be studied in the final year of the programme shall be:

    Legal Research and Writing (examined by dissertation)

    Plus any three of the following not already taken in the second year of the programme:

    Admiralty
    Carriage of Goods by Sea
    Commercial Conflicts of Laws and Litigation
    Commercial Sales
    Company Law
    Comparative Civil Liberties
    Employment Law
    Evidence and Procedure
    Family Law
    Health Care Law
    Information Technology Law
    Intellectual Property Law
    International Human Rights Law
    Jurisprudence
    Law, Government and Administration
    Public International Law
    Revenue Law
    Social Security Law
    Unjust Enrichment

    In place of the modules above, a candidate may choose two full modules plus two half-modules from the following list, provided not more than one half-module is studied in a single semester:

    Child Support Law
    EC Competition Law
    Law of the ECHR
    Renting Homes: Law and Policy
    Penal Policy
    Youth Justice

  9. The outline of the content of each module shall be specified in programme Regulations. The availability of options is dependent on staffing and timetabling constraints and it cannot be guaranteed that every option will be available in any particular year. Additional options may be made available from time to time in the second or final years with the approval of the School Board. It may be necessary to limit the number of candidates taking a particular module.

  10. The selection of second and final year options by each candidate shall be subject to the prior approval of the Head of School who may also, in exceptional cases, permit a candidate to study in the second year of the programme a module or modules which would otherwise be available only in the final year of the programme.

  11. Where in accordance with Ordinance 7.2 modules completed at other places of learning by a candidate are counted as equivalent to examinations in the programme for the Bachelor of Laws, the School Board may permit such a candidate to qualify for the degree by following such a programme of study and completing such examinations as it shall specify.

  12. Candidates shall not normally be entitled to present themselves for any examination unless they have regularly attended and performed the prescribed work of the programme to the satisfaction of the Head of the School. For the purpose of this Regulation, examination shall include all methods of assessment. Candidates' attention is also drawn to the University's General Regulation 6 concerning non-attendance.

  13. At the first year examination, which shall ordinarily be held in May/June, candidates shall be examined in all modules studied during the first year of the programme. No candidate shall be allowed to proceed to the second year of the programme unless the candidate has satisfied the Board of Examiners at the first year examination.

  14. At the second year examination, which shall ordinarily be held in May/June, candidates shall be examined in all modules studied during the second year of the programme. No candidate shall be allowed to proceed to the final year of the programme unless the candidate has satisfied the Board of Examiners in the second year examination.


  15. At the final year examination, ordinarily held in May/June, candidates shall be examined in all the modules studied in the final year of the programme. In accordance with Regulation 4, candidates studying for the LLB (European Legal Studies) or for the degree of Bachelor of Laws (International Legal Studies) will be required to have completed successfully the programme of study abroad.

  16. Each candidate shall submit the title of his/her dissertation (the assessed component of the Legal Research and Writing programme) at a time to be specified by the Module Co-ordinator on behalf of the School Board. Completed dissertations, which shall be word processed, must be lodged with the School Office by such date as shall be specified by the Module Co-ordinator, normally the last Friday of the second term of the final year.

  17. A list of final year candidates who have satisfied the Board of Examiners will be issued with the names arranged in alphabetical order within the following classes: first class honours, second class honours (in two divisions), third class honours.
Resit Regulations
  1. Every candidate shall have an automatic right to resit all of the papers taken in a particular year once during his/her undergraduate programme. No such candidate who is permitted to resit an examination in the following year shall be allowed to repeat that year as an internal student save with the permission of the School Board. When a candidate resits an examination in the following year the candidate shall normally be required to take the papers set for that occasion regardless of any change of syllabus.

  2. A candidate who resits the first or second year examination, by exercising his/her automatic right, shall do so in the supplementary examination ordinarily to be held in August/September of the same year. If a candidate satisfies the Board of Examiners at such supplementary examination the candidate shall proceed to the next year of the programme. Subject to Regulation 22 below, failure to satisfy the Board of Examiners in that examination shall lead to termination of the candidate's degree programme.

  3. A candidate who fails to reach the required standard in the final year examination and who resits the examination by exercising his/her automatic right shall do so at the next available examination. A candidate who resits such examination shall also be required to present a fresh dissertation in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 16.

  4. Every candidate shall be entitled to retake a single paper in the first or second year examination. The maximum mark that may be awarded on the retake of a single module shall be 40%. This shall not affect a candidate's automatic right to resit under Regulation 18.

  5. Where a fail mark has been recorded by the Board of Examiners and where medical or other exceptional and substantial circumstances have affected a candidate's performance, the candidate may be granted another attempt at the examination or part thereof without recording the previous attempt provided, in the opinion of the Board of Examiners, this is considered appropriate. In the absence of such circumstances, where a candidate fails the examination under the automatic right of resit, an exceptional discretionary resit of the entire examination may be granted. In reaching its decision the Board of Examiners will take into account the overall quality of that resit performance, whether the candidate had the benefit of an internal rather than external resit and, if so, the attendance record of the candidate. This Regulation will also apply mutatis mutandis to a candidate who has exhausted the automatic right of resit by passing an examination in a previous year, who later is deemed to have failed more than one paper in the examination for a subsequent year of the programme.

Accelerated Degree

  1. The School Board may, at its discretion, deem a candidate who has graduated at a university in the United Kingdom, or is the holder of a degree recognised for this purpose by Senate, to be an advanced student and to qualify for the degree of Bachelor of Laws on completion of the prescribed programme. This will be studied in accordance with the above Regulations and Regulations 24 to 27 below and shall extend over not less than two academic years. Candidates may apply for entry in the same way as for the LLB.

  2. The modules to be studied in the first year of the programme shall be:

    Legal Method
    Constitutional and Administrative Law
    Criminal Law
    Contract Law
    Property Law I

  3. Subject to Regulations 9, 10 and 11 the modules to be studied in the second year of the programme shall be:

    Legal Research and Writing (examined by dissertation)
    Law of Tort
    Property II
    Law of the European Union

  4. The outline of the content of each module shall be specified in programme Regulations.
Automatic Right to Resit

  1. Where an advanced entrant is exercising the automatic right to resit in respect of the second year of the examination the candidate shall be treated as a final year student under Regulation 20 above.

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Submitted by the Secretariat
Last reviewed: 16-Jul-2008
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