Studying and researching law at the University of Bristol Professor Paula Giliker
Bristol is well situated in the South-West of the UK with its own airport (with direct links to Valencia!) and only 1 ¾ hours by train from London.
The School of Law
The law library
LLB Law curriculum • Year 1 – Law of Contract, Law of Tort, Criminal Law, Law and State, Constitutional Rights, Introduction to Law. • Year 2 –Crime, Justice and Society, Jurisprudence, Law and Policy of the European Union, Land Law + + Optional Units. • Year 3 – Law of Trusts, Research Project, +++ Optional Units (Law or non-Law).
4 year programmes with year abroad in third year? •
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LL.B. Law with Study in Continental Europe. A four year single honours degree in law, with the third year spent studying law in one of our partner universities in Europe. LLB Law with Study Abroad. A four year single honours degree in law, with the third year spent studying law in Singapore, Hong Kong or Japan. Students admitted to study LLB Law may apply to transfer to this degree at the end of their first year of study. LLB Law and French. A four year joint honours degree in Law and French. Students study both Law and French language and literature in Bristol, and spend their third year studying law at a French university. LLB Law and German. A four year joint honours degree in Law and German. Students study both Law and German language and literature in Bristol, and spend their third year studying law at a German university.
Exchanges with? •
LL.B. Law with Study in Continental Europe, LLB Law and French, LLB Law and German France (Bordeaux, Poitiers & Tours) Germany (Göttingen & Würzburg) Spain (Granada & Valencia) Italy (Siena & Bologna) Belgium (Antwerp) Denmark (Aarhus) the Netherlands (Groningen).
In Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands teaching is in English.
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LLB Law with Study Abroad. Singapore Hong Kong Japan.
New Exchange with Nanjing University, China •
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The link which has now been created between the two Law Schools provides for the exchange of an average of two students per year over the course of the agreement. Students taking part in the exchange will pay no fees to the university they are visiting, the only fees they pay will be to their home university. The essence of the exchanges is that students will study of the law of the country they are visiting in the language of the country they are visiting. So Bristol students in Nanjing will study Chinese law in Chinese, and Nanjing students in Bristol will study English law in English. In each case, the students may be able to substitute some language courses for their law courses, so that Nanjing students in Bristol may take some courses in English language, rather than English law, and Bristol students in Nanjing may take some courses in Chinese language, rather than Chinese law, but the central expectation is that the students will be studying the law of the country they are visiting.
Some of our LLB options Criminology, Employment law, Evidence, European Human Rights Law, Insolvency Law, Human Rights in Law Politics and Society, International Law, International Child Law, Law and Government, Legal History, Medical Law, Shipping Law, Banking Law, Commercial Law, Company Law, Contemporary Legal Theory, Environmental Law, Family Law, Intellectual Property, Regulation of Financial Markets and Institutions, Restitution, Tax Law, Transnational Arbitration, Transnational Business Litigation
LLM (one year postgraduate programme) I The LLM by Advanced Study is a taught Masters degree which offers opportunities for specialist legal study, and the development of research skills through the production of a dissertation. It is one of the most flexible taught postgraduate law programmes in the UK. The School of Law’s strengths are reflected in the wide range of options taught and/or supervised by specialist tutors. The LLM by Advanced Study has two parts. In Part One, which runs from October to June, students take four taught units, chosen from an extensive list of legal subjects. In Part Two, students undertake an extended period of supervised research leading to the submission of a final dissertation in September Tuition The vast majority of LLM units are taught by fortnightly small group seminars. In many units this mode of tuition is supplemented by lectures. Students are given detailed programmes of reading to prepare in advance for seminars. Students are able to take the programme full time or part time.
LLM (one year postgraduate programme) II The nine LLM programmes There are 9 different LLM by Advanced Study Programmes: Commercial Law European Legal Studies Human Rights Law International Law Law and Globalisation Maritime Law Public Law General Legal Studies Labour Law and Corporate Governance Assessment: Part One and Part Two (1)Examinations: Usually a combination of assessed written coursework and an unseen written examination taken in May/June. However, some units are assessed wholly by coursework, and some wholly by unseen written examination. (2) The dissertation: An essential feature of postgraduate work is the development of independent research skills. For that reason LLM candidates are required to submit a 12,000 word dissertation after completing their taught courses. Students select their own topic in discussion with tutors - either building upon something already studied or exploring something new. Supervisors support students and compulsory research training is provided to students in the summer, shortly after the end of the summer examination period.
LLM in European Legal Studies Requirements To obtain an LLM by Advanced Study in European Legal Studies, students must both: •submit a 12,000 word dissertation; and •take either four European Legal Studies core units or three European Legal Studies core units plus one other LLM unit or two European Legal Studies core units and two International Law core units and select a topic in European Law for their dissertation.
European Legal Studies Units •Competition Law of the European Union •Constitutional and Substantive Law of the EU •Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union •EU International Relations Law •EU Trade Law •European Contract Law •International and European Immigration and Refugee Law •Social Policy and Social Rights in Europe
Teaching Styles Depending on the unit, a mixture of teaching styles are employed…. •Lectures (around 6 per week) •Tutorials (around 4 per week) Postgraduate units will generally be more seminar based.
Teaching Styles
Small group tutorial or seminar teaching.
Teaching Styles
Lectures
Graduating!
Research at Bristol •
The School of Law conducts research in a wide range of legal and socio-legal fields. 90 per cent of our research was recognised as of international quality in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, and 55 per cent was internationally excellent or world leading. As we submitted the work of 43 full time equivalent members of staff, this attests to wide ranging research capability in Bristol Law School. The School has a thriving body of research students, and welcomes applications from visiting researchers who wish to spend time at Bristol. The School has a strong international reputation for collaborative research.
The School has three research centres: • Centre for IT and the Law • Centre for the Study of Law and Religion • Human Rights Implementation Centre The School also has significant concentrations of expertise in the following areas: • Commercial Law Family Law European/Comparative Law • Human Rights Law International Law IT and Law • Labour Law Law and Religion Private Law • Public Law Socio-Legal Studies.
Three types of Research degrees The School of Law has a very strong research culture and usually has as many as 35 research postgraduates at any one time. They work in a wide variety of subject areas and adopt a range of different approaches to legal research (doctrinal, socio-legal/inter-disciplinary and theoretical). PhD. A supervised higher degree in Law, awarded on presentation of a thesis, on a specialist legal topic, of not more than 80,000 words, following a minimum period of study of 3 years (full time) or 6 years (part time). Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) A supervised higher degree in law awarded on presentation of a dissertation on a specialist legal topic of not more than 50,000 words, following a minimum period of study of one year (full time) or two years (part time). MSc in Socio-Legal Studies. A 1 year interdisciplinary degree suitable for graduates of a wide range of disciplines (in particular, from Law, the Arts, Social Sciences or the Natural Sciences) who have an interest in how law operates in society. Part taught, part researchbased, this degree is specifically designed to prepare students for future research in the field of socio-legal studies.
European Law at Bristol •
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The University of Bristol, School of Law is an international centre for the study of the law of the European Union. In recognition of its excellence in teaching and research of European law, the School of Law has been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in European Law by the European Commission. Its holder is Professor Panos Koutrakos. Our expertise is wide and covers EU constitutional law, EU international relations, competition and internal market law, EU labour law and social policy, and European immigration law. As an international centre of excellence in European law, we: have a team of internationally renowned scholars, including Panos Koutrakos, Tonia Novitz, Achilles Skordas, Charlotte Villiers, Nina Boeger, and Phil Syrpis participate actively in shaping cutting-edge research in EU law (for instance, Panos Koutrakos is the joint editor of European Law Review, Nina Boeger is on the editorial board of German Law Journal) offer a wide range of postgraduate units and a specialized LLM stream in European Legal Studies in addition to offering PhD supervision in a variety of fields in EU law host conferences, workshops, and seminars regularly with high profile scholars, practitioners and policy-makers across Europe work closely with other scholars in the Law School whose research has a EU dimension.
EC/International Law Forum
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The Bristol EC-International Law Forum is a series of meetings that held by the School of Law every two years. Participants include eminent scholars, judges, practitioners and policy-makers. The Forum has established itself over the years as an important setting for the examination of the intersection between EU and international law and the fruitful dialogue between EU and international lawyers in the field. The Forum has produced several collections of essays over the years. The 2011 Forum, International Responsibility: EU and International Perspectives, will be held in the Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, 12-13 May 2011.
Previous meetings of the Forum leading to publications • 2009: M Evans & P Koutrakos (eds) Beyond the Established Legal Orders: Policy Interconnections between the EU and the Rest of the World (Hart, April 2011) • 2007: N Boeger, R Murray & C Villiers (eds), Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility (Edward Elgar, 2008). • 2005: N. Tsagourias (ed.), Transnational Constitutionalism: International and European Models (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Other notable academics: Professor Malcolm Evans OBE is an expert in international human rights and specifically in the area of torture prevention and has particular expertise on the practice of the European Committee on Prevention of Torture (CPT). He has been appointed as Chair of the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT).He is also a member of the UK Government’s Human Rights Advisory Group.
Home of world-renowned Innocence Project Dr Michael Naughton established the Innocence Network UK (INUK) in the School of Law, University of Bristol, in 2004 to undertake casework, research and communications in the area of wrongful convictions. Similar to the innocence projects that originated in the United States in the early 1990s, the University of Bristol Innocence Project sees undergraduate and postgraduate law students investigating cases of long-term prisoners maintaining factual innocence under close academic supervision with the pro bono assistance of practising lawyers, forensic scientists and other experts. Student members investigate individual cases either in pursuit of grounds for possible appeal and/or an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the statutory body charged with investigating alleged and suspected miscarriages of justice and referring them back to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division); or, alternatively, for applications to the Secretary of State for consideration for a Free Pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy if evidence of factual innocence does not constitute legally admissable grounds of appeal.
Legal Research Network I Groningen Ghent Uppsala Turku Göttingen Bristol Budapest (ELTE) Lille - Nord de France Members The Faculties of Law of the universities of Groningen, Ghent, Uppsala and Turku founded the Legal Research Network in 2008. The university of Göttingen, Bristol, Budapest (ELTE) and Lille - Nord de France have since joined the network. Annual Conference Every year the Legal Research Network organizes a conference, consisting of a keynote lecture and several workshops dedicated to the current year's theme. A number of other workshops are also organized, open to all subjects, on e.g. Administrative, Private, Criminal law and open to researchers using interdisciplinary approaches to law, such as sociology, economics and philosophy. Depending on the number and quality of the papers, the organizing committee offers researchers the possibility of making papers available online on the conference website, and will contemplate publishing a conference volume targeted at the theme of the conference.
Legal Research Network II Previous conferences: •2011 Human Rights and Their Impact on Various Fields of the Law •2010 Experts in the judicial process •2009 European dimensions to national law •2008 Public and Private Interests and the Law Summer School The Legal Research Network also organizes a Summer School, dedicated to the same theme as the Annual Conference. Participating PhD students will present their papers, which will be discussed in workshops. For further details: www.legalresearchnetwork.eu
Textbooks written by Bristol academics
Monographs written by Bristol academics
Further Information Generally: www.bris.ac.uk/law European Office: iro@bristol.ac.uk Erasmus Administrator in School of Law: toni.walsh@bristol.ac.uk