Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This course will examine the prevalence, causes and consequences of wrongful conviction. The issue of wrongful conviction has been highlighted internationally in recent decades by DNA exonerations, where new evidence has made it possible to conclude to a high degree of certainty that factually innocent people are sometimes convicted of crimes that they did not commit. The course will explore legal issues of criminal evidence and criminal procedure, as well as bringing an inter-disciplinary perspective by considering the psychological processes that might increase the risk of wrongful conviction. It will examine both the evidential and wider environmental causes of wrongful conviction and consider how these might be addressed. It will take an international perspective, drawing on material both from the United Kingdom jurisdictions and common law systems worldwide.

10 x 2-hour seminars

This course is only available to LLB students.

None

None

1 hour exam (50% of final grade). Essay questions. Students will choose 1 question to answer from a choice of 3.

2,500-word report which will analyse a particular example of a wrongful conviction (50% of final grade)

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will:

1. Introduce students to the main evidential, environmental and cognitive causes of wrongful conviction

2. Develop critical analysis skills in relation to issues such as how best the risks of wrongful conviction might be reduced and how the legal system might best remedy wrongful conviction when it occurs

3. Encourage independent learning by providing an opportunity to undertake an independent research project

4. Develop oral communication skills via the use of group discussion in seminars

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Identify the leading causes of wrongful conviction and critically assess the various mechanisms that might be utilised to address these issues

2. Appreciate the contribution that psychological studies can make to criminal justice policy and critically assess the research methods used by those studies

3. Undertake independent research using a variety of legal and non-legal sources

4. Formulate policy responses to issues relating to wrongful conviction and understand how these might be communicated to a non-academic audience

5. Demonstrate oral communication skills, with a particular focus on presenting knowledge and information to support oral argument

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.