Unit information: Law and Government in 2021/22

Unit name	Law and Government
Unit code	LAWD30105
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Tony Prosser
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	LAWD10012 Law and State and LAWD10013 Constitutional Rights
Co-requisites	None
School/department	University of Bristol Law School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will examine the key issues of the use of law as a means of holding government accountable in the UK. It will be organised by reference to different purposes of law as a means of accountability; resolving grievances, ensuring legality, developing and implementing standards of good administration and facilitating participation in politics. As well as examining the rapidly growing area of judicial review, there will be detailed consideration of other mechanisms for accountability, such as ombudsmen, audit, grievance procedures and the Better Regulation initiatives.

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

• Demonstrate a well-developed understanding of the various uses of law to hold government accountable and relate them to recent changes in types of governance, including the procedures before the courts and the role of other institutions such as regulators and tribunals.
• Conduct comparative analysis both of the different ways in which law is used and between the UK and other jurisdictions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of both the context in which law operates and how to analyse the caselaw.
• Apply the law correctly through answering problem questions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the political context within which the law operates.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a variety of asynchronous and synchronous activities

Assessment Information

1 x summative assessment: Timed Open Book Assessment with a specified word count (100%)

The assessment will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWD30105).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.