Module SXL-3125:
Evidence

Module Facts

Run by School of Law

20 Credits or 10 ECTS Credits

Semester 1

Organiser: Ms Chaynee Hodgetts

Overall aims and purpose

Evidence is an optional module in the LLB programme.

The aim of this module is: To enable students to state and apply the rules of the English and Welsh law of Evidence dealt with in the course accurately and relevantly; To enable students to make critical assessments of the law and the scholarship pertaining thereto, and to form their own, individual, critical academic opinions; To enable students to compare and contrast that law accurately and relevantly with the equivalent areas of any other legal system with which the student is familiar; To enable students to relate that law to the particular circumstances – political, social, cultural – in which it developed; To encourage all to develop their own understanding of this area of law by provoking curiosity to seek information for themselves, ask questions, and consider views other than the status quo.

Course content

The module will allow the student to study the modern English and Welsh law of evidence, including the law relating to: the burden and standard of proof, hearsay, confessions and the right to silence, corroboration, competence and compellability, identification evidence, opinion evidence, evidence of character, and similar fact evidence.

Assessment Criteria

threshold

An answer which, while predominantly correct in its presentation of material, contains a significant level of error and is therefore not entirely reliable.

good

A comprehensive answer, containing all the material relevant to the question and no irrelevancy, all the material and references being accurate and correct, there being no inaccuracy or error, the whole presented in an argument which, while clear, logical and critical, leaves room for improvement in its construction and presentation. An answer which shows complete competence in the subject.

excellent

An outstanding, possibly brilliant, answer, containing all the material relevant to the question and no irrelevancy, all the material and references being accurate and correct, there being no inaccuracy or error, the whole presented in a clear, logical, critical argument with little room for improvement. An answer which demonstrates a complete mastery of the subject.

Learning outcomes

  1. Exhibit a critical understanding and appreciation of the law of evidence, including the rules governing the admissibility of evidence, the admissibility of confessions, the standard of proof, hearsay and bad character.

  2. Critically evaluate and discuss the debates and recent developments in the law of evidence and relate the principal characteristics of that law to their political, social and cultural contexts.

  3. Demonstrate an understanding, and be able to suggest explanations for, differences in the rules related to the allocation of significance to evidence and the rules governing the admissibility of evidence.

  4. Understand the rules concerning the evidential value of a person's silence in response to police questioning or in court.

  5. Apply a detailed knowledge of the law of evidence to complex actual or hypothetical factual scenarios.

  6. Undertake independent legal research using relevant legal sources.

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
Written assignment 1
Examination 2

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Private study 160
Seminar

20 seminars, two hours per week over two semesters. Seminars will routinely require students to engage individually and in groups in acquiring, commenting upon and applying the principles and details of the subject under the guidance and instruction of the tutor.

 40

Transferable skills

  • Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
  • Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
  • Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
  • Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
  • Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
  • Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
  • Safety-Consciousness - Having an awareness of your immediate environment, and confidence in adhering to health and safety regulations
  • Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
  • Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
  • Mentoring - Able to support, help, guide, inspire and/or coach others
  • Caring - Showing concern for others; caring for children, people with disabilities and/or the elderly
  • Management - Able to utilise, coordinate and control resources (human, physical and/or financial)
  • Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
  • Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
  • Leadership - Able to lead and manage, develop action plans and objectives, offer guidance and direction to others, and cope with the related pressures such authority can result in

Subject specific skills

  • Develop the ability to interpret legal rules and employ techniques of legal reasoning competently and efficiently in order to offer a range of solutions and conclusions to actual or hypothetical complex legal problems, all supported by relevant academic literature, jurisprudence and legislative research. Such solutions will be clearly communicated and presented
  • Develop the ability to analyse complex legal issues, set against the background of the political, social, economic or cultural contexts in which they may arise
  • Develop those skills which are necessary for scholarship and research in legal subjects, namely the ability to identify relevant primary and secondary legal sources and to retrieve accurate legal information using paper and electronic sources

Resources

Pre- and Co-requisite Modules

Courses including this module

Optional in courses: