Course Catalogue

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This course builds on the knowledge and skills already developed in Constitutional Law 1, by assessing the role of the courts and other institutions in seeking to make government (at local, regional, national and European levels) accountable.

1 hour lectures Tuesday and Thursday at 1300 in weeks 1-10 in semester 1

seven rounds of two-hour tutorials in groups of 20 students, taking place over seven weeks in semester 1

Normally, obtaining credit in Constitutional Law 1.

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Assessment one consists of a group research project. You will be asked to form yourselves into groups of (approximately) five students each after the first seminar and these will be the groups in which you will complete the research project. There will be a choice of research projects from which to choose: . Each group will have to negotiate which project to complete. The project is due for submission to the Undergraduate Office in the School of Law  on Friday of week 8 of semester 1. You should therefore start work on your project early in the semester. For further guidance, please consult the Law School document, Key Skills and the LLB Curriculum. Completed projects must be no more than 2,000 words in length and must be typed. If a group considers that one or more members have not contributed to the work of the group and should not be given credit for the completed project, they should indicate this in writing when they submit their project. However, groups should exercise their best endeavours to resolve problems internally before seeking to expel members. In case of dispute, the course co-ordinator will decide who is to be given credit for the project.
Assessment two consists of a two-hour unseen examination, to be held during the semester 1 examination period in December. It consists of two compulsory questions. Question 1 will be a case-noting exercise: you will write a case-note on one of a choice of leading cases. Question 2 will be a problem-solving exercise. Further guidance on the examination will be given in the last one or two lectures.

to introduce students to the theory and principles of accountable government at all levels - Scottish, United Kingdom and European;
to introduce students to judicial techniques for achieving accountable government, in particular, judicial review, the Human Rights Act and official liability;
to introduce students to the peculiarities of litigation against the Crown and public authorities;
to introduce students to alternative techniques of accountable government;
to improve students' written communication skills;
to improve students' legal reasoning and problem-solving skills;
to improve students' group working and research skills.

By the end of this course each student will be able to:

understand and explain the theory and practice of judicial review of government action in both Scots and EU law;

understand and explain the principles of official liability in Scots and EU law;

understand and explain the peculiar features of litigation involving the Crown and public authorities;

understand and explain the theory and practice of non-curial redress of citizens' grievances;

engage in independent analysis and criticism of judicial reasoning;

demonstrate effective legal problem-solving skills;

demonstrate a high level of written communication skills in problem-solving and case analysis;

demonstrate effective research skills, working as part of a group.

The minimum requirement for the award of credit is that the candidate submits all elements of the assessment for the course.

In order to obtain a grade D for the course candidates must achieve an average mark of D over all elements of the assessment, provided that no element receives a grade G or less. Accordingly, candidates will be required to resit any element in which they receive a grade of G or lower. However, they will only be required to resit an element in which they receive a grade E or F if they would not otherwise achieve a grade D average.