Select 60 credit points from level 3 courses in Economics, plus 60 credit points from Legal Studies LX Honours courses listed below:
-
Law of Sales Honours (LX4011)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines the law of sales in both a Scottish and international context. Seminar topics will give students a good working knowledge of issues that occur when a difficulty arises (e.g., non-conformity of goods, passing of risk, damages, exemption, avoidance) and the role of important European law as well as international treaties and conventions. The precise focus of the course varies from year to year and depending on the teaching staff involved there may be a greater or lesser focus on Scots law, and in some instances, the students will be asked to analyse and compare the legal solutions in English law as well.
-
Criminal Justice (LX4019)
-
30 Credit Points
This course looks in depth at the main aspects of the Scottish criminal justice process, focussing upon its mainly adversarial nature. Topics addressed include: prosecution systems; the position of the accused; the status of the victim; plea-bargaining; the trial process; and appeals. The emphasis is not so much on ‘black-letter law’ but on the principles and policies, often clashing, which underlie the detailed legal rules and regulations governing the relevant institutions and processes.
-
Gender, Law and Society (LX401E)
-
30 Credit Points
The issue of how gender impacts upon and interrelates with law and legal processes is topical and socially important, with questions relating to gender equality and gender-based violence currently attracting a high degree of academic, media and government attention. Through examining topics connected to the themes of criminal justice and family law, this course will introduce students to current legal dilemmas and legal responses in the area of gender and the law, in addition to sociolegal and feminist approaches to law.
-
Intellectual Property Law (LX401L)
-
30 Credit Points
The course explores patents (right to control an invention) and trade marks (right to control the use of a sign, commonly, but not necessarily, a logo). We will consider theoretical arguments for and against them, thresholds which must be met for them to exist and be infringed, the relevant international, regional and UK frameworks and limits on the rights conferred. Particular attention will be paid to contemporary controversies. We will also consider the various avenues by which these registered rights can be obtained and the relevance of other legal fields to the power conferred. Assessment is by essay and MCT exam. The course has a strong focus on advanced preparation and enjoyable, supportive and interactive discussion.
-
International Human Rights (LX401P)
-
30 Credit Points
The course is
intended to offer insights into the dynamics of the development of
international human rights law. It provides advanced instruction in several key
aspects of international human rights law (freedom from torture, freedom of
religion, social rights, right to self-determination, etc.) in order to develop
a critical understanding of the protection of human rights at the global level.
It also seeks to shed light on the way the forces of globalisation and global
civil society activism shape the conditions under which human rights law can be
created and maintained.
-
American Constitutional Law (LX4021)
-
30 Credit Points
The aim of this course is to introduce students to American constitutional law through the study of landmark Supreme Court decisions on controversial moral issues. The material on the course will be organised in relation to broad themes that will enable students to develop and refine their understanding of major issues in American Constitutional Law. The themes include abortion; homosexuality and same-sex marriage; freedom of religion; affirmative action. The course will also help students to familiarise themselves with the main approaches to constitutional interpretation.
-
Company Law (Honours) (LX402F)
-
30 Credit Points
This course seeks to guide students through the core aspects of company law and corporate governance including, inter alia, corporate legal personality, directors’ duties, the protection of minority shareholders, and the basics of corporate finance. The legal study will be combined with commercial and strategical scenarios such as private equity deals, initial public offerings (IPOs), and corporate control battles. Major policy debates will also be engaged. There are numerous career opportunities associated with this course
-
Civil Law Honours (LX402G)
-
30 Credit Points
This course offers an introduction to study of the civil law tradition and may be taken by students with no prior knowledge of the subject. The two seminars in the first part of the course examine the sources and literature through which the tradition has taken shape. The two seminars in the second part examine selected topics from the law of property, and the two seminars in the third part selected topics from the law of obligations. In each part some attention is paid to the relationship between Scots law and the civil law tradition.
-
Privacy and Data Protection Law (LX402Q)
-
30 Credit Points
The course aims to introduce students to the core aspects of privacy and data protection law, exploring its international, European, and national dimension.
The course addresses, in particular, the role of data privacy regulation in the digital environment, critically discussing key global challenges, such as: international data transfers; artificial intelligence and its impact on data subject’s rights; the balance between the right to data protection and other fundamental freedoms (e.g. freedom of expression)
-
Law and Artificial Intelligence (LX402T)
-
30 Credit Points
The course aims to introduce students to the legal challenges raised by Artificial Intelligence. It aims at offering an overview of the applicable legal framework, critically discussing its potential shortcomings in concrete case scenarios. The course will focus on the UK context, but – given the cross-border nature of the topics involved - it will be open to a comparative perspective.
-
Law and Economics: Selected Topics (LX402V)
-
30 Credit Points
This course invites students to engage with the law from an economic perspective. Why and when should property be privately, communally, or publicly owned? How can a legal system minimise the social costs of accidents? Why and to what extent do we need to regulate contracts? These are some of the questions that the course will address. Each seminar will focus on a legal topic that will be analysed through an economic lens. No prior knowledge of economics is needed.
-
Delict (LX402X)
-
30 Credit Points
This course builds upon the introduction to Delict provided in LS2025 and LS1536 examines a number of aspects of the law of delict in greater detail. Topics will be discussed in a comparative, historical and/or theoretical context. The specific topics covered will vary on a year-by-year basis as the course aims to examine issues of topical interest. Some of the topics covered in previous years include: causation; product liability; liability for breach of privacy; liability for pure economic loss; psychiatric injury; advocates' immunity and the liability of the police for negligently-conducted investigations.
-
Criminal Law (LX4035)
-
30 Credit Points
The course builds upon the basic understanding of criminal law acquired in LS1020 although it is very important to understand that the topics are approached from a much more theoretical perspective. The course examines in detail selected principles of criminal liability, including the role and limits of the criminal law, the defence of mental disorder, murder, rape, provocation and the limits of excusability. Comparative material from a variety of jurisdictions is included.
-
Animal Welfare Law (LX4039)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines the way in which the law regulates the treatment of animals in Britain. Topics include: historical development; legal and moral status of animals; the basis and nature of regulation; the legal and political framework, including the impact of the WTO and the EU; the legal meaning of unnecessary suffering; the scientific concept of animal welfare; enforcement; and legislation relating to animals in specific contexts. Consideration is also given to relevant political, scientific, ethical and commercial issues which influence the substantive law. Students are expected to undertake significant personal research under the guidance of the course coordinator.
While self-evident from the Course Description, students should be aware that this course includes consideration of the ill-treatment of animals.
-
International Criminal Law (LX403C)
-
30 Credit Points
This course offers students the opportunity to engage with the history and nature of international criminal law, to develop their understanding of the core crimes, how these offences have evolved, and the road to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Through traditional seminar discussions, students can discuss their informed views on issues as varied as the role of international cooperation to suppress international crimes, how this has worked (and where it has failed) and to research their ideas on contemporary problems in the area, from a critical perspective.
-
International Law of the Sea (LX403D)
-
30 Credit Points
The ocean provides us with oxygen, freshwater and food and is crucial for sustaining life yet is under increasing pressure from human activities. These include including climate change, overfishing, pollution, and potentially deep-seabed mineral exploitation. This course focuses on the international legal framework for the ocean, based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other legal instruments.
-
Free Speech Honours (LX403L)
-
30 Credit Points
This course engages with the overarching question of the appropriate limits on freedom of expression in liberal democracies in the digital age. It does so through a comparative constitutional approach to the regulation of extreme speech in different jurisdictions, including the US, Canada, the EU, and the UK (among others), with a particular focus on the regulation of online speech. It examines existing constitutional frameworks for the regulation of extreme speech as well as proposals for reform.
-
The Legal Architecture of Global Commerce (LX403N)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines the legal dimensions of sustainable and equitable global commerce. The course introduces students to varying conceptions of development, ranging from economic development to sustainable and human development, while situating development within the legacy of colonialism and the ensuing barriers to development. Students then focus in on the role of trade in promoting development and legal drivers of sustainable and equitable trade, including responsible business conduct, mandatory human rights diligence, model contract clauses, and business and human rights litigation.
-
Copyright and Allied Rights (LX451K)
-
30 Credit Points
This course considers various aspects of copyright law including subject matter, the term of protection, criteria for protection, infringement and defences, and the moral rights of authors. Copyright is of importance given the value of the digital economy and the significance of the cultural industries. In terms of career opportunities, students may practice in large intellectual property firms or provide advice to large entertainment companies etc.
-
Voluntary Scotland, Scottish Charities, Clubs, Community Organisations (LX451P)
-
30 Credit Points
Many students will be members of clubs and societies and will go on to become board members for clubs and charities, or community organisation chairpersons and secretaries.
The aim of this course is to ensure that potential future practising lawyers can develop a good grounding in a commercially and socially important field of law. In this respect it worth noting that the Third Sector is a growing area of specialism in law firms.
-
International Family Law (Honours) (LX451T)
-
30 Credit Points
The course will provide a clear overview of the successful family law conventions made at the Hague Conference on Private International Law, as well as an analysis of the working methods of the Hague Conference in making, reviewing and helping to ensure uniform interpretation of Conventions. Students will acquire a thorough knowledge of the Hague Conventions on child abduction (1980), intercountry adoption (1993), child protection (1996) and maintenance (2007); a good understanding of private international law relating to surrogacy with an international element, and an appreciation of the options for the legal regulation of family agreements at the global level.
-
Criminal Evidence (Honours) (LX451V)
-
30 Credit Points
The course seminars will engage students with; understanding the rules of evidence and the regulation of the admissibility of evidence; the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial; issues surrounding evidence from vulnerable witnesses; issues with expert evidence; hearsay evidence and the reverse burdens of proof; corroboration and similar fact evidence.
-
Corporate Governance (LX452C)
-
30 Credit Points
This course will discuss the trajectory of the development of corporate governance over the past three decades, especially in the UK and the US, with a view to understanding the extent to which underlying theoretical assumptions and policy decisions impact legislative, regulatory and self-regulatory arrangements as well as reform options. Students will gain an understanding of why the company as a legal entity has the shape and form that it does; why certain actors are regarded as internal to corporate governance arrangements and others external; and why ongoing (and sometimes apparently futile) reform efforts take the form that they do.
-
Children, Young People and Crime Honours (LX452K)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines the way in which children and young people interact with the justice system, from a domestic, comparative, and international perspective.
-
International Cybersecurity Law (LX452L)
-
30 Credit Points
The course addresses international legal issues raised by the increasing need to secure information and communication technology. It explores the modalities of international cyberattacks; discusses data protection in the EU and UK; questions the scope of the obligation of States to secure cyberspace; studies the role of private companies in monitoring online content and reacting to international cyberattacks; analyses how cyberoperations can be attributed to States; examines what cyberoperations violate international law and how States could react to unlawful international cyberoperations; and gives a comprehensive map of the governance and standards organisations in the cyberspace ecosystem.
-
Regulation of Biometric Data and Profiling: Social, Ethical and Legal (LX452M)
-
30 Credit Points
The course examines the regulation of biometric data and profiling in the European Union and the United Kingdom, focusing on striking a balance between technological development and regulatory processes. It begins with an in-depth exploration of biometrics and profiling within the legal framework of data protection and anti-discrimination laws, particularly the EU GDPR and the EU AI Act, and applies a comparative method to analyse the 2018 Data Protection Act (DPA). The course also addresses the ethical, social, and human rights aspects of biometric technology, aiming to foster innovative legal thinking to resolve the "privacy paradox."
-
Law of the Digital Economy (LX452U)
-
30 Credit Points
The course aims to introduce students to the legal aspects of the digital economy. The course will first explore the historical and economical dimension of the ‘platformisation’ of the digital market, to then dig into the relevant areas of law invested by the “disruptive” intervention of online platforms. The course will have a focus on domestic and European Law.
-
Space Law: Public International Law (LX452W)
-
30 Credit Points
This course addresses the international legal rules and principles applicable to activities in outer space, including the UN-based space treaties and international customary (space) law, and also the many specialised regimes such as those applicable to the protection of the outer space environment, the regulation of military activities and the peaceful settlement of international space law disputes.
-
Legal Storytelling (LX452Z)
-
30 Credit Points
Storytelling is firmly embedded within the law. Advocates use narrative techniques to present their clients’ stories and to evoke responses from audiences. Histories of our laws and legal institutions are taught to us from an early age. But who has the power to decide which stories get told? Which stories are ignored, forgotten, or marginalised?
The aim of the course is to critically examine the use of legal storytelling in scholarship and practice. Through close readings of texts and other media, it will encourage students to reflect on how legal stories are created and challenged.
-
Shipping Law (LX453F)
-
30 Credit Points
The majority of commercial goods are carried by sea. This course examines the law concerning the carriage of those goods by sea in terms of: a) the operation of ships by charterparty; b) the allocation of liabilities between the shipper, carrier, charterer /shipowner for goods carried under a bill of lading (or similar document); and c) the practical operation of a marine cargo claim under the main international carriage of goods by sea conventions.
-
Fundamental Issues in Environmental Law (LX453H)
-
30 Credit Points
The impact of human activity on the environment is indisputable, prompting governments to adopt measures aimed at halting and reversing environmental degradation. This course explores the causes of environmental degradation and how the law is responding to these problems. It introduces the principles of environmental law and their application and effectiveness in protecting the environment. It also considers some of the legal regimes established to address issues such as biodiversity loss, air pollution, land degradation, chemical and plastic pollution, and climate change.
-
Principles of Tax Law (LX453J)
-
30 Credit Points
This course introduces students to the basic frameworks, principles, and skills related to tax law. It will also engage students with cutting-edge legal and policy issues in this field. While the primary focus of the course will be on the UK tax system, a comparative and international perspective will also be engaged. The course targets both students aiming to become tax lawyers and those seeking to enhance their tax knowledge and skills as general commercial lawyers.
-
Property Law (Honours) (LX453K)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines some key aspects of the Scots law of property. We shall build on many of the topics covered at pre-honours level. This subject draws upon a diverse range of sources and a long history. Topics will vary from one year to the next but may include original and derivative acquisition, real securities, title conditions, co-ownership and tenements, land reform and human rights issues in the law of property.
-
Scottish Legal History (Honours) (LX453M)
-
30 Credit Points
This course provides students with a knowledge and understanding of certain key points in Scottish legal history. Seminar topics have been chosen to show students how to evaluate primary material as well as to engage with academic debate. Students will also in some seminars engage with research projects based at Aberdeen.
-
Human Rights Law in the UK (LX453P)
-
30 Credit Points
This constitutional law course considers how core political freedoms are protected by human rights law in the UK. The course takes the form of seminar discussion, based on prescribed reading, of civil liberties such as freedom of expression; freedom of thought; freedom to protest; and the right to vote. Students are encouraged to reflect critically on how the law guarantees those rights. The broader context of class discussion includes the relationship between the law of the ECHR and domestic law on human rights; and the balance of power between courts, Parliament and government to determine the scope of civil liberties.
-
Law and Medical Ethics (LX4553)
-
30 Credit Points
Changes in medical technology frequently cause changes in ethical attitudes and in the content of the law. The purpose of this course is to explore the interaction between law, ethics and medicine with an emphasis on the ethical aspects.
-
Administrative Law (Honours) (LX4557)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines the relationship between the law and the exercise of public power. Topics covered include: the nature of public administration and administrative law; mechanisms by which public administrative power is regulated; the development, role and impact of judicial review in both Scotland and England.
-
Media Law (Honours) (LX4561)
-
30 Credit Points
Through a series of seminars, this course engages students with a body of ‘media law’ which covers topics such as the freedom of the press, freedom of expression, access to information, open justice principle on the one hand, and on the other hand, the right to fair trial, right to privacy, right of publicity, right against defamation, and the regulation of obscene publications. The focus is on the regulation of media contents. While the course follows the relevant current developments in the law, it also lays the foundation and the broader social and historical contexts within which these developments take place.
-
The use of Force in International Law (LX4584)
-
30 Credit Points
The course aims to develop an in-depth and critical appreciation of current issues in the area of the use of armed force in International Law.
The course will first analyse the fundamental principle of the prohibition of the use of force between States. It will then examine the current exceptions to this principle; further, what types of arguments States tend to use to “justify” the recourse to force - and how scholars of International Law have addressed this question. The course will also study how the international community has reacted to the most recent cases involving the use of force on the international plane (in particular, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Libya, Ukraine, and Syria) and what the implications are for the evolution of International Law in the field of recourse to force.