Unit information: Advanced Tort in 2016/17

Unit name	Advanced Tort
Unit code	LAWD20042
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Stanton
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	LAWD10011 Law of Tort
Co-requisites	None
School/department	University of Bristol Law School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The Unit aims to develop students’ understanding of the theories underlying tort law and of the scholarship relating to the operation of this area of law. It thus builds on the elementary law taught in the first year Tort unit. The unit will address a number of contemporary issues relating to the development of the role of the law of tort in the light of developments in the EU and under the European Convention on Human Rights. The unit will develop students’ skills in analysing and evaluating this area of private law and legal developments and policy initiatives relating to it.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of:
   • the literature concerning the theory of tort law
   • the materials relating to the accident compensation systems used in a number of other jurisdictions
   • the socio-legal and empirical literature on the working of the accident compensation system
3. Demonstrate an understanding of materials relating to the harmonisation of the law through the EU, the development of European private law and the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights and Human Rights Act 1998 on contemporary tort law
4. Demonstrate that they have developed an understanding of the operation of accident compensation law through studying of research literature on the subject.
5. Demonstrate familiarity in handling theoretical, comparative and EU derived legal materials and a critical appreciation of current law.
6. Apply analytical, critical and evaluative skills.

Teaching Information

10 lectures and 8 two-hour seminars, plus 5 lectures in the Foundations of Legal Research programme

Assessment Information

A mandatory formative essay (1,000 words) will be used in the first teaching block to assess the development of the students’ knowledge of the theories of tort liability and of the operation of different models of accident compensation systems used in different jurisdictions.

The first summative assessment (2,000 words 50% choice of four titles) will assess the contextual and critical skills learned in the first teaching block in relation to different accident compensation systems and the theories of compensation.

The second summative assessment (2,000 words 50% choice of four titles) will assess the students’ legal and critical skills in relation to the topic of commercial torts and the impact on tort liability of the EU, European Private Law and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The first summative assessment will assess intended learning outcomes 1, 3 and 5.

The second summative assessment will assess intended learning outcomes 2, 4 and 5.

Reading and References

• Atiyah, Accidents, Compensation and the Law
• Wright, Tort and Human Rights
• Lunney and Oliphant, Tort Law, Text and Materials
• Steele, Tort Law, Text, Cases and Materials