Diploma in Legal Studies Options

Administrative Law is concerned primarily with judicial control of the activities of the executive branch of government. The main topics covered are: (1) the grounds on which decisions and rules made by the executive can be challenged in the court - some of these relate to the substance of the decision or rule and others to the procedure by which it was made; (2) the remedies which can be obtained by applicants challenging administrative decisions; (3) the liability of public authorities in contract and tort.

Some tutors also deal with tribunals, public local inquiries, next steps agencies, contracting out and public sector ombudsmen. Some of these topics are the subject of lectures, which also occasionally deal with more theoretical aspects of the subject. Administrative Law is now one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honours School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor.

Advanced Criminal Law provides students with an opportunity to return to and learn more about the criminal law that they studied for Moderations. The idea behind this course is that by examining some of the areas where criminal law touches other forms of regulation, or has to draw a fine line between unwanted and socially useful behaviour, we will understand better what it is that criminal law is and does, and thus get a better understanding of the core of the subject by considering its limits. It will therefore draw on the general knowledge of criminal law that students have from Mods, but it will go deeper into some of the general principles and philosophical or other concepts which underlie the subject. 

We will consider, in particular, the following areas: 

• Tort and crime
• The regulation of sexual activity
• Terrorism and intelligence
• Violence Against Women
• Discrimination and hate crime

This course will introduce students to key procedural rules and principles in civil litigation (and alternative dispute resolution) and teach them how to critically evaluate the rules and the leading cases seeking to apply them. 

The course is divided into 4 topics, although the time dedicated to each varies substantially:

1. The right to fair trial: the rights to which people are entitled in court, and to get to court, and exceptions and limits on those rights.
2. Litigation procedures and the overriding objective of the Civil Procedure Rules: how the courts balance accuracy, timeliness and cost in resolving disputes.
3. Alternative dispute resolution: principles of mediation and arbitration, and the benefits and costs of private dispute resolution.
4. Theories of procedural justice: the nature of procedural justice, its relationship to substantive law, and the role of the legal system in the rule of law.

The company is one of the most important institutions in our society. There are over two million registered companies which, of course, vary radically in size and commercial significance ranging from the "one person" company to the large public companies. By virtually any measurement the company is the dominant vehicle through which business is conducted. There are a number of reasons for this, but principally it is because it is a very flexible commercial institution and it is made conveniently and cheaply available. 

The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the basic conceptual apparatus of company law and to analyse some of the policy issues raised in regulating this pervasive commercial form. It is important to note that the course is of relevance not only to those who wish to pursue a career as commercial or company lawyers, but also to those who have no such aspirations, as a knowledge of the company and how it works is relevant to many aspects of legal practice. The course involves an analysis of not only cases but also statute law and, although the Companies Act 2006 is among the largest statutes on the statute book, the course is not overly dominated by the study of statutory materials. 

By the end of this course, students should have developed an understanding of the laws relating to the creation and regulation of companies.

As a society we strive to protect competition between businesses as a means of enhancing consumer welfare. We do so, since the rivalry between businesses and traders delivers lower prices, greater choice, increased innovation, and better quality of goods and services. Sometimes, society has to work hard to maintain the benefits that come with competition. While the competitive dynamics benefit consumers, it makes the life of producers, sellers and service providers rather difficult. If they fail to remain competitive, they may find themselves pushed out of the market. And so, at times, these firms may look for ways to dampen the competitive process by engaging in anticompetitive activities such as price-fixing, market sharing or abuse of dominance.

Our competition laws are designed to address these risks, remedy possible market failures, and safeguard consumer welfare. Competition agencies and courts are tasked with enforcing the law. As they do so, they face the challenge of correctly identifying the conduct that amounts to an anti-competitive activity and curtailing it to ensure dynamic and competitive markets.

The course will explore these competitive dynamics and the policy considerations that shape the level and scope of competition law enforcement. It will further focus on the European competition provisions and their practical application to anticompetitive agreements, abuse of dominance and merger control.

The lecture series is devoted to examining relevant statutory and case law frameworks, and the discussion of basic economic concepts. The tutorial series provides practical experience in the application of competition law through problem solving.

This course covers the law of the constitution, including the structure and basic principles of the British constitution, and the impact of European Union law on the constitution. It also provides an introduction to the protection of human rights in English law.

Constitutional Law covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a profession qualification in England and Wales.

Students taking the BA in Jurisprudence (Course 1 and Course 2) take Constitutional Law as one of the three papers for Law Moderations and will in general cover eight topics in tutorials. Students taking the BA in Jurisprudence with Senior Status may choose to take Constitutional Law as an option in the Final Honour School and these students will in general cover seven topics in tutorials.

The precise pattern of tutorial teaching varies from college to college. Lectures are given in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms on most aspects of the course.

The syllabus comprises the general principles of the law governing enforceable agreements. It is not concerned with special rules governing specific types of contracts, such as sale, carriage or employment, except where these are significant for the general principles. The principal topics normally discussed are: (a) the rules relating to the formation of agreements and to certain further requirements which must be satisfied to make agreements legally enforceable; (b) the contents of a contract and the rules governing the validity of terms which exclude or restrict liability and unfair terms in consumer contracts; (c) the nature and effects in a contractual context of mistake, misrepresentation, duress and undue influence; (d) the general principle that right and duties arising under a contract can only be enforced by and against the parties to it and its main exceptions; (e) performance and breach, including the right to terminate for failure in performance and the effects of wrongful repudiation; (f) supervening events as a ground of discharge under the doctrine of frustration; (g) remedies for breach of contract by way of damages, action for the agreed sum, specific performance and injunction. (h) the basis of contractual liability.

Contract is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales.

The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Particular areas are also explored in lectures.

Syllabus:

Candidates will be required to show a knowledge of such parts of the law of restitution as are directly relevant to the law of contract. Questions may be set in this paper requiring knowledge of the law of tort.

Teaching Conventions:

The teaching is based on the assumption that questions will not be asked on contracts that are illegal or contrary to public policy or on gaming and wagering contracts; and that detailed knowledge will not be expected of formal requirements, agency, assignment or contractual capacity.

Ideas matter. They matter for political, cultural, expressive and economic reasons. Ideas also manifest in a range of ways: as inventions which have the potential to improve lives, like vaccines; as creative works which enrich our culture; and as brands in modern consumer society. Intellectual property (IP) law regulates the extent to which such valuable intangibles are recognised and protected. In turn, the importance of IP for economic growth is well established, with the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation noting that innovation is a major driving force of long-term economic growth and sustainable development (WIPO 'Direction of innovation in developing countries and its driving forces' (2022)).

In this course we introduce two of the principal IP regimes which protect aspects of this intangible value. Copyright protects creative authorial works and modes of distributing them (such as books, music and films). Trade Marks protect signs that indicate the commercial origin of goods and services (such as the Starbucks logo). Yet when it comes to delineating property entitlements in intangibles, the subject matter is notoriously slippery. While the literal text of a book is relatively easy to identify, should we protect its plot? Or fictional characters? At what level of abstraction? As for why we protect creativity, should the book be protected if it was written by AI rather than a human author, and should existing authors have to give consent before their works are ingested as part of AI training? How about the positive associations of luxury or reliability which consumers associate with their favourite brands? Can we reconcile brand-driven consumerism with environmental concerns over waste and energy consumption? In this course, we critically engage with:

• the basis for protecting valuable intangibles (justifications);
• the appropriate form of protection (registered or without formalities);
• the scope of protection granted; and
• the outer limits of protection (defences)

The course should appeal to those interested in the arts and entertainment industries, brand management, the consumer society, and private law and human rights more broadly. It will be taught through seminars and tutorials spread over Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, focusing not only on doctrinal analysis but also engaging critically with current issues and enduring controversies.

The course is not available for those who have taken the subject in Law Moderations and is intended for those who have transferred to Law after Mods, and for senior status students. The syllabus is the same as for the Law Moderations course, but only covers topics 1 - 7 (it does not include topic 8). The paper in the Final Honour School is examined separately, and is intended to be more challenging.

Criminal Law covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken (if not taken in Law Moderations) by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor.

Teaching Conventions:

The following matters are examinable. In every case, candidates are expected to have knowledge of other statutory provisions which are relevant to the interpretation of examinable offences. 1. General principles of criminal liability: actus reus (including liability for omissions); mens rea (including different kinds of fault, such as intention, negligence, strict liability); causation. 2. General defences to criminal liability. 3. Liability as a party to a crime, including participation as a principal and secondary participation (including "joint enterprise"). Questions will not be set on sections 4 or 5 of the Criminal Law Act 1967 (assisting offenders after the fact and compounding offences). 4. Liability for the inchoate offences of statutory conspiracy, attempt and the offences created by sections 44, 45 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. 5. Liability for the following kinds of homicide: murder; manslaughter (excluding corporate manslaughter); the offence created by the Suicide Act 1961, s.2(1). 6. Liability for the offences created by sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Candidates will be expected to know of the existence of the other offences created by that Act. 7. Liability for the following offences: common assault and common battery; the offences created by the following sections of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861: 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 47. 8. Liability for the following offences: the offences created by the Criminal Damage Act 1971 sections 1-3; the offences created by the Theft Act 1968, sections 1, 8 and 9; and the offences created by the Fraud Act 2006, sections 1-4. Candidates will be expected to know of the existence of the offences created by sections 12, 21, 22 and 25 of the Theft Act 1968 and section 3 of the Theft Act 1978.

Learning outcomes: an understanding of the criminal law of England and Wales including criminal liability, general defences, offences against property and economic interests.

Environmental law is the law of environmental problems. Climate change, planning, air quality, water quality, waste, and nature conservation all give rise to a range of different legal issues that require significant legal expertise to deal with. This course fosters that expertise by providing an advanced introduction to UK environmental law.

This course takes into consideration the socio-political and physical context in which environmental law operates and it explores the innovative, complex and ever-expanding case law and legislation on the subject. Environmental law builds on the core public law subjects as well as other areas such as criminal law and tort law. The teaching method for this course is via a series of inclusive seminars and tutorials. Seminars are also supplemented with guest speakers from the legal profession and the environmental policy realm.

By the end of this course, students will have gained knowledge of the substantive legal aspects of environmental law in the UK; understanding of the complexity of environmental problems and how that complexity affects the application of the law; and knowledge of how environmental law relates to core legal areas, particularly administrative law and EU law where relevant.

The law of the European Union is based largely on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, and legislation made under the Treaties by the Council, the Parliament, and the Commission. The case law of the European Courts is of considerable importance and looms large in the study of EU law. EU law takes immediate effect in English Law, and is enforceable by English courts. EU law raises issues of intrinsic theoretical interest, and considerable practical importance. No linguistic expertise is necessary, since EU legislation and case law are published in all official EU languages, including English.

 The Oxford course deals with: (i) the institutions of the EU, including the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice and General Court; (ii) the essential features of the EU law, and its incorporation into national law; (iii) the principle of free movement of persons and services within the EU; and (iv) the rules governing the free movement of goods within the EU. Study of the institutions entails consideration of the majority voting rules used by the Council in making EU legislation, and examination of the roles of the Commission and European Parliament in decision-making. Emphasis is placed on the scope of the law-making competence of the institutions, in particular as regards the internal market, and on the principle of subsidiarity, which is intended to act as a brake on the exercise of such competence. Most of the course, however, is concerned with the nature and operation of rules of EU law rather than with institutional matters.

 The ‘general part’ of the course covers such matters as the aims and policies of the European Union, the sources and supremacy of EU law, its direct effect before national courts and its impact on domestic legal rules, procedures and remedies, including the principle of State Liability for breach of EU Law. The court of final recourse in matters of EU law is the Court of Justice of the European Union. It has jurisdiction, e.g., to give preliminary rulings on references from national courts (references are an increasingly common occurrence in the U.K.), and to review the legality of EU legislation. Such matters receive detailed treatment in the course.

 The free movement of persons aspect of the course presents a combination of social and commercial law. The rights of EU employed and self-employed persons to free movement and non-discrimination graphically illustrate the significance of the EU legal system for such persons, while at the same time being of considerable significance to commercial undertakings and their advisors. General principles applicable to mutual recognition of qualifications are covered, as are the Directives on establishment and service provision by lawyers. All nationals of Member States are also “EU Citizens” and this status is of increasing importance as regards rights of free movement, residence and equality. The syllabus also includes study of EU rules on the free movement of goods. These have been given wide-ranging effect by the European Court and have given rise to considerable litigation in English courts, which have made many references to the European Court.

 The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor.

This course focuses on the legal regulation of individuals’ intimate personal and family lives. Studying Family Law often involves taking a legal concept or underpinning idea with which most have some familiarity from daily life, such as marriage, divorce, parenthood, or children’s rights, and then exploring exactly how the law regulates that subject and why. Key issues are examined within their historical, social, economic, and theoretical context. For instance, what is the purpose of the consanguinity restrictions on marriage and should those have been extended to civil partnership? What does it mean to say a child is a rights-holder? If we cannot offer a coherent account, is there no such thing as ‘children’s rights’? Why do so many people believe the ‘common law marriage myth’? Should the courts and Parliament care that these people think that legal benefits and obligations exist when they do not?

Family Law is inter-disciplinary in terms of the range of materials students are expected to read and the nature of the arguments and debates with which students are expected to engage. This includes working with social science research, government publications, and non-government public and social policy materials. Our focus is on the substantive law, though an awareness of the family justice system in practice adds an important additional perspective to key debates.

Family Law involves an examination of statutory law, which is more extensive than in many other subjects. Property law and trusts law are relevant to discussing the legal position of relationships outside of marriage and civil partnership, and students may find the background from having studied these as part of their core courses useful. Underlying conceptual covered in Contract Law are also relevant to private ordering and adult intimate relationships more generally. Discussion of contentious issues in parenthood, including children born as a result of fertility treatment, is discussed from a different perspective as part of the Medical Law and Ethics course. The child’s capacity to make medical treatment decisions also features as part of both courses; in Family Law, it is one aspect of a larger discussion of children’s rights and children’s involvement in decision-making affecting them in various contexts. Examination of the legal approach to child protection includes limited discussion of public authority liability in negligence, as explored in Tort Law.

As the title suggests, the course is defined by a specific critical perspective on the law – a feminist one. It cuts across standard legal areas and methodologies to cover topics from private and public law; it looks at both domestic and international law; and introduces students to legal, as well as socio-legal, perspectives on the subject.

Often, rather than starting from the law and its logic, the intellectual journey is problem-driven, discussing the various ways the law responds to real life, irrespective of formal, potentially limiting, legal categories. The course brings together ten experts on various aspects of the regulation of women’s status and gender relations in law as seminar-leaders. The following topics are discussed:

• Introduction to Feminist Legal Thought
• Gender and Reproduction
• Equal Pay
• Women, Gender, and Constitutionalism
• Violence Against Women
• Migration
• Urbanism
• Intellectual Property

There is no prerequisite for this course.

This course studies the history of the judicial system and sources of English law, and of the principal features of the branches of law that are today known as tort, contract, land law, and trusts. The course is taught using a selection of primary sources (in translation where necessary) and of academic literature. The timespan covered varies with each topic but is roughly between the thirteenth and the nineteenth century. This period, of course, contains a large number of separable issues, and the assessment is designed so that individuals can follow to some extent their own preferences, both amongst and within the major heads of study.

The treatment of the subject is primarily legal, though the political, social and economic constituents in the story are referred to whenever this assists our perception of specifically legal ideas. The teaching presumes a familiarity with the notions of property, tort and contract. The legal history does not serve as an introduction to the modern law; if anything, the converse is the case. It is in this sense an advanced course; the feedback to the modern law is conceptual or theoretical, though a study of the history may occasionally illuminate a modern problem. There is, however, absolutely no need to have studied any other kind of English history, nor is familiarity with foreign languages necessary since the course is designed around translated materials.

By the end of this course, students should have:

• An understanding of the origins of English law and the judicial system
• A more specialised knowledge of developments in English law during the period between the thirteenth and nineteenth century, including an understanding of relevant social, political and economic contexts.

Asian comparative law is built on new developments of comparative law in the twenty-first century. Asia is a significant region of the world with 51 jurisdictions and 60% of global population. The rise of Asia, particularly major world powers such as China and India, has generated great demands for understanding of laws in the region. It is also important to study the laws of Asia where legal experiences are rich, law reforms and legal developments are dynamic.

This course introduces students to major features of seven common themes of comparative law in Asia, including:

• religious law
• colonial law
• authoritarian law
• legal diffusion
• law and development
• regional law
• international law

This course illustrates the themes by experience in four jurisdictions, namely: China, Japan, India, and Singapore. By first focusing on jurisdictions in Asia, this course will expand the jurisdictions covered by comparative law studies beyond the familiar jurisdictions of the Global North. Second, the course goes far beyond the conventional focus on private law, and traditional categories of comparative law in general, to examine under-examined factors that are salient to, and shape, the legal dynamics in Asia. These are religions, colonialism, authoritarianism, economic development, globalization, regionalization, and internationalization. Third, beyond doctrinal and formalist analysis of judicial decisions and legislation, this course adopts an inter-disciplinary and global approach by situating the comparative analysis of laws within the pluralist social context of the Asian jurisdictions, and the dynamics of globalization.

The focus of attention within the course is on interests in land: interests which do not merely operate not merely between the parties to a particular transaction involving the land, but can also affect third parties - other people coming into contact with it, such as later purchasers. Examples of such interests are the fee simple (virtually equivalent to ownership of the land), leases, easements and mortgages. The course concerns itself with questions such as: What interests count as interests in land? How are they created? Exactly when will they affect third parties?

Land Law has a well established set of principles, often regulated by statute, to govern it. In part this is because people dealing with land need to know with certainty what the result of a particular transaction will be. Even so, there are many areas of the subject which are currently being developed by case law.

The course is not about conveyancing, the buying and selling of land. It is true, however, that in Land Law we are conscious of the needs of purchasers. Thus, for example, the circumstances in which purchasers will be bound by interests are inextricably tied in with the way land is bought and sold.

Land Law covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. Candidates in the FHS examination must offer both Land Law and Trusts.

The subject is taught in tutorials by your college tutor. For an introduction to the subject see Simon Gardner with Emily MacKenzie, An Introduction to Land Law (Hart Publishing, 3rd edn, 2012).

The aim of this option is to examine a selection of contemporary issues at the law and technology interface, focusing on the nature of the issues and the law’s construction of and response to them, and on the relationship between law and technology more generally. The readings are chosen with a view to situating contemporary legal developments concerning digital and bio technologies in their wider legal, theoretical and policy context, and to equipping students with a range of perspectives from which to critique them.

By the end of this course, students should be able to critically unpack and assess contemporary debates concerning law and technology, and contribute to conversations around a diverse range of issues of relevance, including the role of law in supporting technological advance and access to its benefits, resolving tensions between individual and public interests, identifying and addressing new types of harm, reconciling the needs of sovereign and global communities, accommodating changing conceptions of health, identity, and family, and managing radical uncertainty. The option should appeal to students who are interested in the philosophy of law and technology, fundamental rights, property/intellectual property, privacy/data protection, liability for online harms, and reproductive rights.

Media Law is a fast developing and increasingly high-profile area of law. It is an area that allows scholars to look at advanced issues relating to freedom of expression and the right to communicate, and the way these rights intersect with competing interests. This course covers a number of key themes in Media Law and will begin by looking at the justifications for and meanings of media freedom. This introduction will provide a theoretical background against which the later topics will be evaluated. The topics in the course can be grouped into three broad categories:

1. Liability for media content – for example, when can the press publish facts about a person’s private life? Do public figures have weaker rights to reputation? Will media coverage prejudice a jury trial?
2. Legal assistance and control of newsgathering – can the police seize journalists’ notebooks? When do journalists have a right not to disclose the identity of confidential sources?
3. Media regulation – what system of regulation should govern the press? Why do we have different regulatory systems for television and newspapers (and where should the internet fit in this scheme of things)? How much media should any person or company be allowed to control?

In different weeks, this course will build on areas already studied in Tort Law, Criminal Law and Constitutional and Administrative Law, and will analyse these various issues in the light of the political and social functions (and responsibilities) of the media. In doing this, aspects of media theory and policy may be drawn on in the readings and discussion.

This course covers selected legal, ethical, and medical issues arising in medical practice and research. It focuses on issues of consent, autonomy and best interests of the patient and other interested parties, and how these create intersections with other areas of law, such as tort, criminal and personal property law. Four core areas of medical law are covered:

• Intentional torts and clinical negligence
• Reproductive medicine and rights
• Organ donation and transplantation
• End of life issues

Lectures cover both the legal and ethical issues arising in those areas of medicine and assume knowledge of the relevant law already covered in the Law Moderations Criminal Law course, and the FHS Tort Law course. Students will be encouraged to take a critical approach and consider where the law may require reform, drawing on the legal and ethical literature to support their views. The course also includes lectures on reasoning in ethics, which will cover various methodologies in ethics for determining about how to act, to give students a grounding in how conclusions about ethical issues are reached (and critiqued), and on a range of issues in medical ethics not covered elsewhere in the course.

The lectures are intended to be interactive, and students should expect to be called upon to participate in discussion and debate. Lectures will cover the syllabus, and a number of guest lecturers will also speak on topics of interest in medical ethics. These guests will include barristers, medical practitioners, religious leaders and members of the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.

The Roman law option focuses on set texts from the Institutes and Digest. Its primary aim is to understand those texts and the ideas and methods of the great Roman jurists who wrote them. The secondary aim is, by comparison, to throw light on the law of our own time. It caters for the interests of those who are interested in making use of their classical background or of developing the knowledge of Roman law they have acquired by taking the ‘A Roman Introduction to Private Law’ course in Law Moderations, although it is not essential to have done the Moderations Roman law course. It allows students to study in some detail the outlook and methods of reasoning of the classical jurists, who provide the models on which professional legal argument has ever since been based. In practice, this will lead to discussion of fundamentals of the law of delicts/torts, aided by comparisons with English cases.

The lectures are based, so far as the Roman law is concerned, on the set texts, in English translation. Indeed, one of the advantages of this course from the point of view of students is that the body of relevant texts and other authoritative material is more limited than it is in most, perhaps all, the other options. It is possible to concentrate on detail. In the examination, candidates are required to comment on selections from the set translated texts and on questions regarding the literature provided in relation to the texts. Knowledge of Latin is not required or necessary; sensitivity for philological dimensions of the original texts, where relevant, is. Much literature will quote Latin phrases but in practice this should not cause problems; for sources on the reading list, translations are provided either in the sources or separately.

By its nature, this course attracts and is suitable for only small numbers. This fact tends to dissolve the distinction between tutorials and lectures. However, it remains true that the backbone of the course is an exposition of the set texts, supported by further lectures on associated topics.

Learning outcomes: an understanding of the concepts of Roman law and of the ideas and methods of classical jurists, and a capacity to reflect on their influence on English common law.

Succession law examines what happens to an individual’s rights and liabilities at the time of their death. The subject builds upon Core private law topics, especially Trusts, Land Law and Contract, but focuses on the effect of death on private law rights. The topic’s practical importance has grown in recent years: more complex family structures, the growth of cognitive disorders (such as dementia) in an elderly population, and increasing property values, have each made inheritance disputes more prevalent. Although succession law links most obviously to other private law topics (especially Trusts), it also intersects with issues in family law. Where marriages end as a result of a death, succession law deals with issues regarding the maintenance and support of the surviving spouse and children of the deceased person. The topics we will examine on the course include:

1. Who should inherit on death? – we consider whether the legal system ought to allow complete freedom of testation, or whether some controls on the testator are justifiable.
2. Testamentary dispositions and wills – we examine the nature of gifts by will, their substantive requirements, and claims that can arise when they are defective
3. The notion of an “estate” – we will look at what happens when your legal personality passes to your executor on death.
4. The fiscal consequences of owning wealth – how inheritance tax can effect an inheritance and attempts by testators to avoid the tax.

By the end of this course, students should develop:

• An understanding of what a testamentary disposition is and the modes by which it can be made.
• An understanding of alternative modes of passing wealth on death.
• Knowledge of the concept of an “estate”, and how legal personality devolves upon death.
• Awareness of the fiscal consequences of owning wealth at the time of death and how this affects behaviour.

Taxation pervades every area of life, including property, family, employment and business affairs. Tax law is well suited to interdisciplinary study, intersecting as it does with economics and politics. It also offers rich opportunities for the study of many areas of law, given that tax factors have frequently influenced development of legal concepts and principles. In turn, tax laws are shaped by concepts of property, commercial, corporate and employment law and approaches to drafting and interpretating legislation. This course introduces students to selected issues in the law of taxation, which illuminate fundamental concepts and link to other parts of the undergraduate law course. The focus is on tax law, but the technical issues are examined by focusing on themes and principles and by placing the law within its political and economic context, in order to understand the requirements of a tax system and the difficulties in designing, legislating for and administering such a system. 

Students taking this course will use a variety of sources, ranging from statute and case law to accessible literature from other disciplines, such as economics and political theory, of which no prior knowledge is required. All the material is non-mathematical and no computation is for this course. The approach taken and topics chosen ensure that the course is of interest to a wide range of students. Those entering the legal profession will find that knowledge of taxation is of value whether or not they intend to specialise in taxation. In this field, there are many opportunities, both in the City and in private client work, or as background to practice in other areas. The course will provide a valuable intellectual framework for the tax element in the professional legal training courses. Students interested in careers outside the legal profession will also find that the tax course provides a thorough grounding in a topic of central importance to business, politics and government. 

The course examines the objectives and functions of a "good" tax system and how these affect what society chooses to tax. The focus of the course is on direct taxes - income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax in relation to individuals and businesses and the application of these taxes to private trusts. The issue of tax avoidance is of central concern in most tax systems. The course examines the way in which our tax system has lent itself to ingenious tax avoidance (or tax planning?) schemes and the attempts of the judges and the legislature to combat these activities.

Tort is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. The law of tort is mainly concerned with providing compensation for personal injury and damage to property, but also protects other interests, such as reputation, personal freedom, title to property, enjoyment of property, and commercial interests.

The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor.  Lectures in Michaelmas and Trinity terms cover most, but not all, of the topics on the agreed reading list.  Revision lectures on contract and tort take place in Hilary term.

The institution of the Trust is one of the most important ideas in English law. Its very definition is heavily contested, but most would agree that a trust arises where someone (a trustee) nominally owns property, and may wield many of the powers of ownership, but is generally unable to take advantage of that ownership. Instead the trustee-owner holds the property to the benefit of some other person (known as a beneficiary), a class of persons, or an object such as a charitable purpose bringing benefit to the public. Trusts can arise in two main ways – by intention; or because the law has other reasons to make an owner into a trustee. The purpose of the intentional trust is to transfer wealth in a more complex way than would be easy or possible to achieve by straight-out conveyance, such as to have the property distributed on particular terms and conditions, or to disperse ownership to win tax advantages, or to allow ongoing management of the asset. There are myriad situations in which the law has other reasons to make an owner of property into a trustee; one very important one is where a couple’s home is nominally owned by only one partner, but the other partner deserves a share in it. The course looks at the scenarios in which the different kinds of trusts arise, and at how they behave.

In one respect, the course also looks outside trusts. A trustee is a fiduciary, being someone having a duty to act for another’s benefit through the control of property. But there are other examples of fiduciaries too, such as solicitors, who must act for their clients’ benefit; or agents who can contract on behalf of their principals. The course looks at the law’s control of fiduciaries in general, whether they are trustees or persons otherwise charged with promoting the interests of others.

Trusts is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honours School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales.