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The aim of this core module is to enable students to apply a wide range of practical legal skills and research methods when investigating legal questions. Working in groups, students will be given opportunities to explore the nature of legal reasoning in a variety of contexts, drawing on materials from diverse areas of law. Students will also be encouraged to analyse legal and cross-disciplinary scholarship and demonstrate independent learning and critical thinking. 

Written work on a legal topic of your choice resulting from individual research and normally based upon material falling within the area covered by the degree for which you are registered.

An introduction to international criminal law issues, with particular emphasis on institutions (such as Nuremberg and Tokyo IMTs, the ad hoc Tribunals and the International Criminal Court) as well as substantive and procedural aspects of international criminal law.

The module focuses on the institutional developments in international criminal law as well as the definition and application of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. Principles of liability and defences will also be covered.

This module examines how companies raise equity and debt finance. Whilst the focus will be the law of England and Wales, pertinent international legal frameworks will also be touched upon. The module explores the various options available to a company when raising finance, and engages in a critical assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of each option. It also examines the risks that raising finance entails, for the company, its creditors, and the wider financial system.

This module considers: fundamental issues in company law such as separate legal personality and limited liability; enforcement of directors’ duties; theories of corporate governance and the implications of these in practice; the evolution of corporate governance across different jurisdictions; key corporate governance debates including shareholder-stakeholder debate, directors’ remuneration; and the relevance of corporate governance in the wider social, economic, and political context within which corporations operate. 

This module looks at principles and laws governing unilateral and multilateral resort to force by states under the United Nations Charter and in customary international law. Instances where force is permissible will be considered as well as the more controversial claims to use force.

This module studies the key characteristics of multilateral and regional trade law. The multilateral context reviews World Trade Organisation Law in light of contemporary challenges to multilateral trade, while the regional dimension considers the relationships within and between various regional blocs, and how these blocs fit into the broader multilateral trade law regime. These matters are studied in the context of the global economy, paying attention to whether the current system of international trade rules addresses the challenges presented by increasing globalisation.

This module addresses the private law relating to the financial aspects of international trade, especially payment mechanisms and guarantees. Emphasis is placed upon the rules promulgated by the International Chamber of Commerce.

The module also explores important international trade finance mechanisms such as documentary credits and demand guarantees. These include Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600) and Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees.

This module examines issues relating to the regulation of public procurement from perspectives other than trade liberalisation. Issues covered include the pursuit of value for money through competition avoidance of corruption outsourcing and procurement for privately-financed infrastructure projects. The module pays particular attention to the UNCITRAL Model Law on procurement and the procurement rules for developing countries' projects financed by the World Bank.

This module will examine theories of equality to understand how equality is conceptualised, protected and promoted in law. It will also examine the interaction of individuals with protected characteristics including gender, race, disability and sexuality as both victims and defendants with the criminal justice system. It will critically evaluate the discrimination and barriers to justice they experience and the extent to which law and policy effectively prevents discrimination and promotes justice for these groups. 

This module gives a broad-based introduction to the philosophical foundations of human rights and criminal justice, emphasising the moral and political underpinnings of legal rules, doctrines and principles. It considers key issues and questions in contemporary debates surrounding human rights and criminal justice through the contrasting lenses of two rival philosophical perspectives, utilitarianism and liberal deontology. 

International Environmental Law is a foundations module on international environmental law (IEL). It will provide a broad overview of IEL and allow you to develop a number of research-related skills.

At the start of the course, you will study the basic principles of IEL. The next block of seminars cover some major multilateral environmental agreements, primarily concerned with pollution, climate change, and biodiversity. You will develop an in-depth knowledge of these instruments: their key mechanisms, institutional architecture, and related legal/policy frameworks.

In the final set of seminars, you will apply this knowledge by researching how contemporary and emerging issues of IEL are addressed through the law. The selected topics will cut across two or more environmental treaties and so you will develop a deep understanding about the connections between different areas of the law.

This module deals with key aspects of the international system for the regulation of foreign investment. The module focuses mainly on issues arising from investor-host state relations under Bilateral Investment Treaties or BITs but also touches upon international investment contracts. Special attention will be given to the means of regulating investment using BITs, including standards of treatment, such as fair and equitable treatment, full protection and security, national treatment and MFN, and breaches thereof, the taking of foreign property and the settlement of investment disputes by means of third party dispute settlement.

Attention will focus on the substantial and procedural aspects of international investment arbitration with specific reference to ICSID, as well as ad hoc arbitration, using UNCITRAL arbitration rules or the rules of other relevant arbitral fora.

This module begins with a consideration of the historical origins and philosophical underpinnings of economic and social rights (ESR). Key themes that will be developed throughout the course include perceptions of the nature of such rights and the related question of the extent to which such rights are, and should be, justiciable.

You will evaluate the different ways in which ESR are protected and implemented, both domestically and internationally. The module will consider litigation and judicial enforcement of ESR in various jurisdictions.

The module will equip you with the knowledge and understanding necessary to engage in, and critically analyse, the debates surrounding ESR that exist both amongst legal commentators and at a broader societal level.

This module offers an in depth examination of the laws and regulatory perspectives relating to the digital economy. It explores the implications of UK, European and international rules that apply to digital platforms and Big Tech, and their impacts on end-users and digital consumers. The module engages with a series of themes and topics like privacy and commercial surveillance in data-driven economies, cybersecurity, social media and online harms, algorithmic governance and automation. participation for digital citizens. 

The module will deal with the basic principles of copyright law at an advanced level. British copyright law will be studied with reference to the international and European obligations of the United Kingdom in this respect. This covers an introduction to copyright law, subject-matter of protection, authorship, ownership and dealings, economic and moral rights, term of protection, infringement and defences.

This module aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the risks and harms that the digital environment and technologies pose to the effective exercise of human rights. The module enables students to critically reflect upon the potential, and limitations, of human rights law and reasoning to accommodate and address such risks and harms posed by technology. While doing so, students will engage with applying human rights-based and ethical approaches to technology.

This module aims to develop an understanding of the legal and ethical challenges posed by AI and robotics technologies, along with consideration of appropriate legal and regulatory responses. It provides a philosophical and legal framework for considering concepts and principles that relate to the development and use of such technologies. It also considers legal and regulatory governance at the international, regional, and national levels.

The module examines the global competition law development from the perspective of international business. In summary it uses the US, EU and Chinese competition regimes and high-profile international business cases as targets for analysis.

It first critically examines the origins of global competition rules against international business, by focusing on EU, US and Chinese competition regimes on the one hand and international organizations on the other hand. It then examines in-depth the challenges faced by international business in the areas of international price cartel regulation, multiple regulations on abuse of market dominance and cross-border mergers. It further critically examines the public and private enforcements of competition rules against international business in the global context.

By critically examining the challenges faced by international business in both the substance and enforcement of global competition regulation, the module aims to engage and motivate you to undertake original thinking and explore innovative solutions to tackle the challenges.

This module examines the international institutional law and general international law governing the United Nations, including the central organs (for example the Security Council and General Assembly), subsidiary organs (such as the UNEP and the UNDP), and the specialised agencies (for example, the WHO, UNESCO, ICAO). 

It considers:

• the UN's constitutional basis
• its legal personality and powers
• membership and budgetary matters
• representation and decision making
• sanctions regimes
• the UN's military options
• issues of responsibility, accountability and immunities
• the UN's contribution to the development and enforcement of international law

The module will deal with the basic principles of trade mark law and it will do so from an international and comparative perspective. Special attention will be paid to European and US trade mark law before attention will turn to passing-off and comparative advertising issues.

This module adopts a critical and cross-disciplinary approach to the study of criminal justice (drawing from insights in sociology, race and gender studies, postcolonial thought and global law, psychology, and criminology). It looks at topics such as 'the war on terror' and the 'war on drugs' through the lens of criminal justice.

This module aims to provide students with an introduction to a broad range of critical approaches to the study of crime, social control, and criminal justice. The overall aim is to provide students with a variety of critical analytical tools which will be useful to them in the study of all the other modules in the programme (whether domestic, transnational, or international in focus).

This module is concerned with the European Union's (EU) status as a global power. Topics may include: the EU's powers to conduct international trade law, to promote human rights and international development, to pursue foreign policy objectives on the global stage and the emergence of the EU into other international policy arenas.

This module critically considers the concept of ‘fair (criminal) trial’ in theory and practice. International human rights law, particularly as it derives from Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, will naturally be central to this inquiry. But the law of human rights is neither our starting point nor our final destination. More ambitiously, this module draws on criminal justice, socio-legal, and comparative approaches and perspectives in order to place the law and practice of English and Welsh criminal trials in their broader legal, political, social, and moral contexts.

Although some points of law and practice will be treated in detail, developing an exhaustive account of English criminal trials is not the principal objective. Rather, we will use these details as examples and case-studies to illustrate methodological issues, broader themes and trends in criminal policy, and international comparisons highlighting the ways in which western democracies have attempted, successfully or otherwise, to meet the challenges of integrating human rights law into their domestic criminal trial processes.

This module offers the fundamentals of international commercial arbitration, the most important dispute resolution mechanism for international business transactions.

The module begins with the legal framework of international commercial arbitration. It then deals with jurisdiction of arbitration tribunals and certain procedural issues arising in arbitration practice. The module ends with the setting aside and recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. 

The module focuses mainly on English law of arbitration which is put in comparative perspective and compared and contrasted especially with the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

This module provides an introduction to energy law. Through scholarly works and practical case studies, it will address some of the most important legal issues which relate to energy such as: the exploration of natural resources in disputed areas; transparency and control of oil revenues; environmental law issues; and justice and gender in energy transitions. Although both fossils and low carbon/renewable resources will be examined, considerable attention will be paid to hydrocarbons, as they still dominate the energy sector.

This module examines the legal constraints of international and national warfare. It traces the historical and contextual development of the law and focuses upon the principles which govern warfare. During the module, you will also study the mechanisms for the enforcement and the implementation of international humanitarian law.

The module will explore the rights of the child in international human rights law, focusing on topics such as the concepts of childhood and the best interests of the child, family rights and the right to family life, education, child soldiers, child labour, gender and the rights of the girl child.

International disaster law is an emerging field of international law, which is seeing growing prominence within international legal research, international law and policymaking, not least since Coronavirus emerged. States, international organisations, NGOs and community actors are increasingly addressing the effects of disasters in terms of human rights law, refugee law, and international humanitarian law, particularly when it comes to laws regarding humanitarian assistance.

In addition, international conferences on disaster risk reduction including the Sendai conference in 2015, and arguably the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, show appetite within the international community to develop a unified ‘International Disaster Law’.

This module addresses international disaster law both as the application of existing international law as applied to disasters, and as a new legal field, which draws on, and adds to, existing principles. This module addresses current issues affecting all actors and people within the international community from humanitarians, to politicians, to economists, to academics, to the people on the ground affected by disasters.

This module examines the body of rules and principles governing international sales transactions under two prominent legal regimes of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980), and English Sales Law.