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Semester 2

Public Law Interpretation (LAWS10261)

Subject

Law

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

4

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 3 Law courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. This course is only open to visiting students who are nominated to study with us on a Law exchange agreement. Exchange students outside of Law and study abroad students are not eligible to enrol on this course before teaching begins, with no exceptions, and spaces cannot be guaranteed to those students at any time. **Please see Additional Restrictions**

Course Summary

The course addresses how to interpret public law instruments (such as constitutions). We evaluate the leading approaches to public law interpretation, and focus on the problem of originalism (i.e. whether, and how, laws may change in content over time).

Course Description

Legal interpretation is a key skill for everyone needing to identify the content of legal instruments, and so to determine what they are permitted or required to do (or prohibited from doing). Among the most important legal instruments are constitutions, as well as statutes concerning constitutional (or other public law) matters. The course addresses how to interpret and apply public law instruments from both theoretical and practical legal perspectives. We look at what, interpretation is, critique the leading theories of legal interpretation, and examine the similarities (and differences) between statutory and constitutional interpretation. We then ask whether (and how) the content of a Constitution can change simply through the passage of time (the problem of originalism). Finally, we turn to some issues specific to interpreting UK public law: conforming readings under the Human Rights Act 1998, s.3, and the highly controversial so-called principle of legality.

Assessment Information

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

Additional Restrictions

**All 3rd year Law courses are ONLY open to visiting students nominated on an exchange agreement within the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific exchange). Exchange students outside of Law, and independent study abroad students, are not eligible to enrol in these courses, with no exceptions.** Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces. These enrolments are managed strictly by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the Law School directly to request additional spaces. If there is sufficient space for other visiting students to enrol at the start of the semester (which cannot be guaranteed at all), visiting students must meet the pre-requisites listed above.

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