University of Sussex

The study of law encompasses a broad variety of human experience and contexts. Students are not only taught what the law is likely to be in any given case, but also why the law has developed in the way it has. In addition, students are encouraged to think about how the law might or should change in the future. They grapple with the problems that human beings face each day and reflect not only on how law reacts to these problems, but also think about whether it should react differently. Law at Sussex is a stimulating subject to study.

Core courses are spread over the first two years of study. Students also have four optional courses, usually taken in the final year. These explore in depth, the legal principles relevant to particular aspects of human behaviour and activity.

Core courses Year One: Students study core courses in private law, the legal regime that governs the dealings between individuals, and in public law, which governs the relationship between an individual and the state. These include-

• Contract (how the laws protect agreements between individuals).
• Torts (how society provides compensation – if it does at all – for injury or property damage suffered by someone as a result of the acts of another).
• Frameworks of English Law (an introduction to the nature of law, legal sources and the wider context of law in society, as well as the fundamental legal skills).
• Public Law (the study of Parliament, the making of law, the organisation of the courts, aspects of the judiciary and matters relating to the constitution of the United Kingdom, and of human rights).

Core Courses Year Two:

• Equity and Trusts (the substantial collection of legal principles that has grown out of the phenomenon of property (things) being owned by one person, not for that person’s own benefit, but for the benefit of another)
• Land Law (the collection of legal principles concerned with the ownership and exploitation of land)
• Criminal Law (what conduct should be classed as a crime, what is or should be the relationship between criminal behaviour and immoral conduct, and what constitutes the many particular and familiar crimes).
• Law and Policy of the EU (how the EU has developed its own public law as well as its own law dealing with the economic, financial, social and other laws in matters with which it is principally concerned, and the effect this has on the UK and other member states)

Final year

• Students select from a range of options, currently including Civil Liberties in England and Wales; Commercial Law; Company Law; Criminology; Dissertation; Employment Law; Family Law; Forensic Science and the Legal Process; Healthcare, Law and Ethics; History of English Law; Human Rights in Theory and Practice; International Litigation; Law and Development; Law and Politics in Britain and the US; Law of Evidence; Legal Theory; Personal Property Law; Professional Negligence and Liability; and Public International Law.