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Criminal Law

Module description

Crimes are the laws with the most serious consequences: commit a crime, and you could go to prison, even for the rest of your life. So pervasive is the criminal law that most people who have never studied law before are already aware of a range of crimes. In this module, we start by drawing upon your background awareness of criminal law, or at least your sense of right and wrong, and from there build a methodical knowledge and useable understanding of some of the major crimes found in the law of England and Wales. This module is an opportunity for you to explore the legal details and moral underpinnings of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and criminal damage, and the defences that may be available to those who commit them. You will be encouraged to adopt a critical attitude towards the criminal law, reflecting on why the law is written and implemented as it is, and what difficulties are encountered when the legal principles are applied in practice.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In this module, you will cover the core elements of some of the major crimes in the law of England and Wales. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how the criminal law can be applied to real-life ‘problem’ scenarios. You will also be encouraged to reflect on whether or not the law could be improved, and even propose some creative new approaches. In particular, the module aims to enable you to:
(a) Communicate knowledge and understanding of the major principles and controversies of the criminal law syllabus.
(b) Identify the relevant issues from the criminal law syllabus that arise in a problem or essay question.
(c) Analyse, evaluate and apply the criminal law syllabus in context to reach conclusions.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the criminal law syllabus, using appropriate concepts, interpretative techniques and terminology;
• 2. Identify and analyse (with guidance) the general concepts and principles underpinning criminal law, together with related theories and academic commentary;
• 3. Research a legal question and demonstrate competence in applying criminal law in order to formulate and evaluate a response to it;
• 4. Demonstrate understanding of some of the relevant legal practice, social, economic, political, historical, philosophical, ethical and cultural contexts within which the criminal law operates;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 5. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of legal rules, concepts, values and principles, and the capability to explain and discuss the relationships among them;
• 6. Make an informed judgement about the merits and relevance of particular information and make reasoned choices between alternative solutions or arguments;
• 7. Communicate technical legal information and argument effectively and concisely, in a manner appropriate to the discipline;

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 8. Take responsibility for own learning (with support), and to work effectively with others within a group, meeting obligations to the other members of the group;
• 9. Identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of resources with some guidance;
• 10. Manage time efficiently in preparing for learning activities, and to work independently within a limited time frame to complete a specified task.

Syllabus plan

Whilst 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:

• The basic components of criminal liability
• Murder
• Manslaughter
• Non-fatal offences
• Sexual offences
• Property offences
• Defences

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)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Child and Ormerod, Smith, Hogan & Ormerod’s Essentials of Criminal Law (Oxford University Press) – latest edition

For further reference:
Herring, Great Debates: Criminal Law, (Palgrave) – latest edition
Horder, Ashworth’s Principles of Criminal Law (Oxford University Press) – latest edition
Ormerod (ed), Smith and Hogan’s Criminal Law (Oxford University Press) – latest edition
Simester et al, Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine (Hart) – latest edition

Key words search

Law, crime, criminal