Course Catalogue

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The course will examine the law of free speech (or freedom of expression) in the United Kingdom. In particular, it will examine the law of: obscene publications, breach of confidence, official secrecy, political libel, political advertising and broadcasting, offensive and hate speech, and online speech and online safety. The focus is on the law of the United Kingdom (as influenced by article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights) but, where appropriate, that law will be examined in comparative perspective, the principal point of comparative reference being the US and its jurisprudence of the First Amendment.

The focus will be on current law, but the course will place its examination of the law in historical context. As such, the course will consider where the idea of free speech came from, who promoted it, and why they did so, asking why we protect free speech in the first place, and examining whether it is plausible to distinguish speech from behaviour, action or conduct.

Ten weekly two-hour seminars

This course is only available to LLB students.

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Students will be required to submit two essays.

The first, worth 20% of the overall credit for the course, will be both formative and summative. This will be a 1500-word essay.

The second, worth 80% of the overall credit for the course, will be a summative essay of 3500 words.

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. 

The course aims are:

■ To explore where the idea of free speech comes from and why free speech is a fundamental, constitutional, or human right in liberal legal systems; 

■ To investigate the extent to which and the ways in which statute and common law protect free speech in the United Kingdom; 

■ To analyse a series of legal controversies relating to free speech in the United Kingdom, and to understand these controversies in comparative perspective; 

■ To assess the impact and influence of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the law relating to free speech in the United Kingdom; 

■ To evaluate the strengths and limitations of arguments relating to free speech in modern law.

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

■ Explain the emergence and development of free speech as a legal and constitutional idea in the United Kingdom; 

■ Assess the contributions that both statute and the common law have made to the protection of free speech in UK law;

■ Write critically about the impact and influence which the European Convention on Human Rights has had on the law relating to freedom of expression in the United Kingdom; 

■ Compare UK law on freedom of expression with aspects of US Constitutional Law arising under the First Amendment and evaluate UK law in the light of insights drawn from other jurisdictions, such as the US, Canada, Australia, and Israel.  

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