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Supreme Court Studies

Module description

This module studies the UK Supreme Court as an institutional actor within the UK’s legal system and in a global context. It is expected that this module will include some guest materials delivered by employees of the Court and the opportunity to visit the Court. You will explore legal controversies relating to the Court, examine how the Court reaches its decisions, analyse leading cases in depth, and assess how the Court’s work relates to other courts around the world and to the work of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module explores the UK Supreme Court’s role as an institutional actor within the UK’s legal system. Rather than providing an overview of a specific area of law, this module will use the Supreme Court’s work as a lens through which you will explore contemporary legal issues (both general controversies such as judicial diversity and matters specific to the Court itself such as the socio-legal impact of specific decisions and the work of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in hearing appeals from certain Commonwealth nations) and to develop legal skills such as case analysis and argument.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Critically discuss the role played by the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) within the UK’s legal jurisdictions.
• 2. Critically analyse selected areas of controversy relating to the work of the UKSC

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the domestic and global socio-legal and global context within which courts act
• 4. Explain some of the factors which relate to judicial decision-making.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Demonstrate a range of skills in legal analysis through a portfolio assessment.
• 6. Manage time independently and efficiently in preparing for learning activities and for assessment.

Syllabus plan

While the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

It is intended that some of the lecture or seminar time will be given over to guest materials delivered by employees of the UK Supreme Court

• the establishment of the Supreme Court;
• the Court and judicial diversity;
• the process of judging; case studies of key decisions;
• the Court in a comparative legal perspective;
• the work of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as defined above. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Kate Malleson, ‘The Evolving Role of the Supreme Court’ [2011] PL 754
• Lady Hale, ‘When There Are 12: Legal Education, Gender Diversity and the Judiciary’ (2021) Law Teacher
• Christina Lienen, ‘Judicial constitutional Comparativism at the UK Supreme Court’ (2018) 39 LS 166
• Lord Neuberger, ‘The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the 21^st Century’ (Caroline Weatherill Memorial Lecture, Isle of Man, 13 October 2013) https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/speech-131011.pdf.
• Lord Reed, ‘The Supreme Court: 10 Years On’ (Bentham Association Lecture 2019, University College London, 6 March 2019):https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/speech-190306.pdf

Key words search

UK Supreme Court, legal system, legal reasoning, Privy Council