LLB/JD Dual Degree (SOAS/Columbia)

This course introduces students to the general principles of criminal law and to the social, economic, political and moral context in which they have developed. The course concentrates on fatal and non-fatal offences against the person, sexual offences and offences against property. It also examines the range of defences that may be available to a criminal charge, and principles of secondary and incohoate liability. On successful completion of the course, students should be able to state and explain: the general principles of liability under English criminal law; the substantive elements of major offences including homicide, non-fatal offences against the person, sexual offences, and offences against property; principles of secondary and inchoate liability; both partial and general defences to criminal liability. Students should also be able to demonstrate knowledge of the doctrine of criminal law in its social, economic, political and moral context.

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and skills that are necessary to engage meaningfully in the study of law. Students will be introduced to the idea" of law, given a foundation in the composite elements and structures of the English legal system, as well as an understanding of the global/comparative dimension in which any domestic legal system exists. "

Many specialised areas of contracting such as commercial law, employment law, the law on the sale of goods, carriage of goods and insurance law are areas of law that are based on a set of fundamental principles known as Contract Law. These principles are the starting point for the specific modifications and extensions that make up the law for one of these specific areas of contracting. This course introduces and examines some of the key doctrines in Contract law. Many of them were created in the 19th century and reflect the laissez-faire commercial ideology of the times. Contract law’s key debates and discussions, the evolution of its principles and doctrines, the role of contract and the limits to what it can achieve are examined.

Property is fundamental to the entire legal system. In this course, apart from introducing the theoretical underpinnings of the idea of property, this course also deals with the legal rules pertaining to property in England and Wales. It will go through the idea of ownership, estates, equitable interests in property, trusts of land, registration and the transfer of interests and title.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the study constitutional law and to constitutional theory, crucially looking at critical accounts of constitutionalism, and situate the British constitution in a broader, global context. It will also focus on the core principles of the British constitution and the role of Parliament as well as the practice of the modern constitution and the role of the courts.

This course offers an introduction to European Union law including the history of EU integration, the EU institutional framework, its law-making process, and the law of the internal market und the monetary union. It will provide an overview of the Court of Justice's role as a motor of integration, the major doctrines of European Community law, and analysis of the legal argumentation of the Court of Justice in many key decisions in the main areas of EU law with particular attention given to the Court of Justice's pro-Union interpretative approach.

Other topics studied in the course include the duties owed by occupiers of land to visitors, the obligations in relation to nuisance (usually neighbours), defect products and intentional interference with the person. Tort is a dynamic, developing area of law that requires us to engage in debates about when, and to what extent, the law should intervene to protect certain rights and how the law mediates between the conflicting rights of citizens. In this course we discuss how these issues can be resolved through rules that meet the standards of clarity, certainty and predictability that we expect from the law.

This is the second, more advanced Property course that you are required to study. It can only be taken after studying Property I and builds upon the concepts, mechanisms and substantive interests considered in that course, addressing the more complex proprietary relationships that arise in this context.
The course consequently focuses on the often conflicting interests that arise within property relationships in the context of the substantive interests considered last year, primarily in the area of trusts and real property.

This module introduces students to the study of the traditional and modern legal systems of Asian and African countries. We explore different ways of thinking about the 'law' and 'legal systems' before offering an analysis of the impact of empire and colonialism (especially European/British) on the legal systems of Asia and Africa while paying particular attention to the concerns of gender equality in the multicultural societies of these regions. Our study of themes such as legal pluralism, law and religion, law and colonialism, legal transplants and women's rights is bolstered by indepth case studies from disparate jurisdictions including India, Nigeria, China, Tanzania and Kenya.

This course provides a critical introduction to the legal regulation of global commodities, with a focus on the colonial histories of Asia, Africa and the Americas. Taking some of the world’s most heavily exchanged primary commodities as examples, we will track the development of their production and consumption, from their domestic origins to their circulation in the global sphere today. The histories of the principle commodities – such as coffee, cocoa, rubber, oil – tell the story of today’s global economy in microcosm.

This module introduces students to the basic principles of human rights law. It will provide them with a historical and theoretical context for understanding the contemporary protection of human rights, and introduce them to principles, rights as well as the leading regimes (global and regional) for the protection of human rights.

This module provides an introduction to the main concepts and principles of public international law (PIL) with specific emphasis on their practical impact on the conduct of international affairs. It is structured into three parts. The module focuses on the foundations of Public International Law (subjects, sources, principles and relations between international and domestic law) and prepares students to take specialised modules in public international law. The module highlights the application of public international law and its relevance in relation to Asia, Africa and the Middle East through readings that engage international law outside of the mainstream Western context.

This module introduces the foundations of international environmental law, including its subjects, sources, principles and measures of implementation, compliance and dispute settlement. It explores the range of laws and norms that impact on global environmental problems. This module is built around the understanding that international environmental law is about both conservation and use (captured in the notion of sustainable development). It is also structured around an understanding that it is the North-South dimension of environmental issues that explains a large part of existing international environmental law
It provides an introduction to the principles of international environmental law (such as the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the precautionary principle), environmental justice (human rights, participatory rights), examines questions related to compliance, effectiveness and enforcement of international environmental law; the governance and institutional framework governing the environment at the international level; and links with other branches of international law, such as human rights.

This module will provide students with a foundation of law in the People’s Republic of China in contemporary era and an insight of difficult issues concerning one of the world's leading economic powers and the way in which it deals with matters reating to justice. Our aim is to facilitate a critical understanding of how law operates in Chinese society, and to prepare students for future engagement with Chinese law in various professional contexts, investigating the processes and frameworks through which certain ideas about justice have come to the political and social forefront in China today.

This module is intended to redress that lacuna and afford students the opportunity to explore and understand the multiple dimensions, dynamics and consequences of the long arc from the slave trade through slavery to post-slavery as fundamentally determined, conditioned, enabled, and regulated by law.

This module provides a broad introduction to debates on Criminal Justice, Race and Rights and is designed for students who are interested in theories of race, crime, rights and the Criminal Justice system in the UK. It is set out to give a deep understanding of the theories and rationales underlying race, crime and the criminal justice and to help students critically reflect the system. It engages with some of the most important issues in the UK, such as the discretionary police power, stop and search, police questioning, pre-trial detention, the under-funded and variable quality of criminal defence, the value and limitations of human rights, guilty pleas and its impact on racialised communities in Britain and beyond. It begins with a socio-legal approach to the subject grounding theories of crime and race within a broader socio-political analysis and context.
Criminal Justice, Race and Rights is a broad-based topic and the course therefore adopts a theoretical, substantive and case-study approach while adopting critical, social legal approaches to understand contemporary race, crime and criminal justice issues. The seminar materials provide students with the historical, legal practice and theoretical foundations while adopting an interdisciplinary approach to the study of law and provides tools for analysing the material in the case studies with a critical analysis of case law and statutory instruments.

The module distinguishes and analyses legal systems by reference to the political dispensations in which they exist and which they may play a role in constituting.

This module aims to provide students with an introduction to feminist theory and its intersections with the law and legal philosophy. By focusing on both legal and theoretical materials the module encourages students to critically engage with the ways in which law, gender and sexuality come to be mutually constituted. Using the major schools of feminist theory, including liberal, cultural, postcolonial, critical race and queer legal feminisms, we will examine the relation between law and gender in Asian and African countries.

This module will focus on the evolving drivers of consumer law including the safeguards of consumer rights under English law and emerging trends that impact consumer protection. The module will provide students the opportunity to acquire solid knowledge of the very complex and evolving area of consumer law and its interrelationship with English Sales law. Through this module, students will gain a good balance of knowledge, research, application of knowledge in the evolving field of consumer law. Specifically, the module will cover the basic principles of consumer law, consumer contracts, consumer credit, consumer remedies, consumer dispute settlement, international consumer law and emerging issues in consumer contracts. This module will broadly provide students with a solid understanding of the operation of the legal and regulatory framework of consumer law in the domestic context and the impact of emerging issues.

Islamic family law is comprehensively covered with principal focus on the law of marriage, dissolution of marriages, guardianship and child custody. These are examined in light of classical rules and recent family law reforms in the Muslim world. Current applicable family laws of selected Muslim-majority states will be examined within the context of the classical rules. Judicial decisions from UK courts in relation to Islamic law, as well as from courts in different parts of the Muslim world will also be examined. The module is based principally on contemporary English-language scholarship and no prior knowledge of Arabic language is required or presumed.

Islamic legal theory includes a critical analysis of the legal history, jurisprudential development, the schools of Islamic law, classical and modern theories, evolution of the law up to the present, and its contemporary applications. The module engages with both classical and contemporary scholarship and current critical theoretical debates ongoing in the field. Islamic criminal law and judicial procedure are also covered as aspects of Islamic substantive law in term one.

The module distinguishes and analyses legal systems by reference to the political dispensations in which they exist and which they may play a role in constituting.