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Semester 2

Critical Legal Thinking (LAWS08139)

Subject

Law

College

CAHSS

Credits

10

Normal Year Taken

1

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Although this course is open to all visiting students, spaces are limited and priority will be given to visiting students who are nominated to study with us on a Law exchange agreement.

Course Summary

This course has three basic, interrelated objectives: - To teach students the basic building-blocks of legal reasoning, from the basic conceptual apparatus necessary to precisely express legal positions, through the identification and elaboration of valid and sound arguments, to an understanding of the distinctive features of legal reasoning and the ways in which logic and rhetoric intertwine in legal discourse. - To further hone and develop the skills in critical thinking introduced during the Scottish Legal System course, providing students with both the capacity and the confidence to approach complex texts and claims from a critical/analytical perspective. This will include, inter alia, classes on different critical methods, and the construction of persuasive arguments; - To function as a bridge between Scottish Legal System in 1st year and Jurisprudence in 2nd, providing some important theoretical background and context to the technical issues and debates raised in the former, whilst introducing students to a range of the themes that they will go on to study in greater depth in the latter during the first semester of their 2nd year.

Course Description

Indicative teaching programme: The 22 lectures will cover the following topics: - The analysis of legal concepts; - The analysis and reconstruction of arguments; - The nature of legal authority, and the issues this raises; - The specifically 'legal' forms of reasoning and justification; - The role of rhetoric and narrative in legal argumentation. This course will be heavily skills-focused. The relevant skills will be demonstrated in the course of the lectures, and then students will have the opportunity to practice skills for each unit in a dedicated tutorial.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 100%, Coursework 0%, Practical Exam 0%

view the timetable and further details for this course