Module SXL-3126:
Family and Welfare Law

Module Facts

Run by School of History, Law and Social Sciences

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 1 & 2

Organiser: Dr Marie Parker-Jones

Overall aims and purpose

The aim of this module is to enable students to state and apply the rules of English and Welsh family and welfare law. Students will be required to develop a critical appreciation of the particular circumstances – political, social, and cultural – in which Family and Welfare law has developed. Students will be expected to make critical assessments of relevant scholarship, particularly in relation to public policy debates relating to fundamental matters pertaining to Family and Welfare law including the rights of cohabitants, divorce law, same-sex couples, and approaches to child protection.

Course content

The module will allow the student to study modern English and Welsh family and welfare law, in particular the law relating to adult relationships and family property, the relationship between children and adults, the resolution of disputes concerning children, the protection of children, legal responses to domestic abuse, and the law relating to homelessness and the protection of elderly and vulnerable adults.

Assessment Criteria

excellent

Excellent: A- to A* (70+%) 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.

threshold

Threshold: D- to D+ (40-49%) An answer which, while predominantly correct in its presentation of material, contains a significant level of error and is therefore not entirely reliable.

good

Good: B- to B+ (60-69%) High Standard: 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.

C- to C+

C- to C+ (50-59%) An answer which, while always in the main accurate and correct, fails to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant material and is lacking in criticism. An answer which while reliable with regard to correctness is either not comprehensive or not entirely pertinent.

Learning outcomes

  1. Demonstrate good knowledge of contemporary debates in relation to English and Welsh family and welfare law.

  2. Demonstrate comprehensive practical understanding of relevant law relating to English and Welsh family and welfare law.

  3. Demonstrate comprehensive understanding and the ability to carry out independent legal research in relation to English and Welsh family and welfare law.

  4. Articulate detailed knowledge of English and Welsh family and welfare law and apply them to actual or hypothetical factual scenarios.

  5. Identify, synthesise, and analyse relevant legal sources in relation to English and Welsh family and welfare law.

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
ESSAY Written assignment

40% of the assessment for this module will comprise of a 3,000 word essay. The word limit excludes footnotes and bibliography.

 40.00
EXAM Final examination

60% of the assessment for this module will comprise of a 2 hour exam.

 60.00

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Lecture

There will be a 2 hour lecture per week.

 40
Private study

Students will be expected to carry out private study. This will include carrying out background reading and research.

 160

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 sentistevely 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.
  • Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
  • Mentoring - Able to support, help, guide, inspire and/or coach others
  • 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

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

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/sxl-3126.html

Reading list

Core Text: Nigel Lowe, Gillian Douglas, et al., Bromley's Family Law (12th edn, OUP 2021)

Pre- and Co-requisite Modules

Courses including this module

Optional in courses: