LAW1262 : The UK and EU Law
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Dr Sylvia de Mars
- Lecturer: Dr Francesco De Cecco
- Owning School: Newcastle Law School
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
Following the Stage 1 Semester 1 Constitutional Law and Legal Institutions and Methods modules, to start situating the UK as a legal actor in the rest of the world by examining its relationship with the European Union on a legal level. This module pays particular attention to the effects of ‘Brexit’ on the UK.
Outline Of Syllabus
The module will be framed by the overarching question of what Brexit has meant for the UK. Several case studies of topics of constitutional law will be addressed, examining first the UK’s situation when it was still a Member State and then considering the ‘future relationship’ between the EU and the UK.
Case studies will vary from year to year, but may include topics such as:
• Law-making in the EU, and law-making outside of it: how were decisions affecting the UK taken when the UK was a Member State, and how are they taken now that it is not?
• The role of the Court of Justice in developing EU law: to what extent did CJEU activism affect the UK as a Member State, and to what extent will it do so in the future?
• Movement of goods between the EU and the UK: how did it work before Brexit, and how does it work now?
• Movement of persons between the EU and the UK: how did it work before Brexit, and how does it work now?
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 3 | 1:00 | 3:00 | Feed-forward and feedback and revision lectures |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 2 | 1:00 | 2:00 | Pre-recorded lecture materials: 2 hours of skills-related recordings |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 24 | 1:00 | 24:00 | In person lectures |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 45:00 | 45:00 | Suggested: 5 hours to prepare for the MCQ on Topic 1; 40 hours to prepare notes for the summative take-home exam. Preparation for the formative take-home exam will form part of seminar preparation. |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 8 | 0:15 | 2:00 | Multiple Choice Quizzes with formative feedback |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | Small Group Seminar |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 120:00 | 120:00 | Independent reading/research and preparation for seminars |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures will set out the knowledge base that students will need to explore the case studies tackled in the subject, which will be done in detail in the small group seminars. The small group seminars will have a dual function: to have the students critically consider and develop their own opinions about the debates introduced by the lectures, and to help them hone their practical skills by testing out their approaches to both essay questions and problem questions in group contexts that enable peer review. The quizzes in relevant teaching weeks are there to for the students to check their understanding and to enable the teaching team to provide targeted further feedback on complex topics.
Private study is directed so as to broaden student knowledge and understanding and prepare them for research assignments, seminars, and assessment. Assessment preparation time gives an indication of the level of research or revision expected for each of the three assessments in this module.
'Drop-in/surgery' contact time is reserved so students can ask specific questions about the module content or any of its assessments.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Examination | 1440 | 2 | A | 75 | 24 hour take-home paper (answer 2 questions from a choice of 5). |
| Written Examination | 60 | 2 | M | 20 | 24 hour take-home paper (answer 1 compulsory question) |
| Written Examination | 30 | 2 | M | 5 | Canvas Multiple Choice Exam (20 questions), due by week 4 of term. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The use of examination is justified in order to test the basic knowledge base conveyed in the module, which is structured around four bespoke but related topics that introduce students to how EU law works and what Brexit has meant for EU law’s role in the UK. The specific preference for take-home examination lies in the fact that it enables the students to avoid memorising material and to instead work up their notes on the material they have been taught throughout the year, and the recommended reading they have explored in addition to the required reading, with the ability to rely on those notes when they sit their end of year examination.
To cover essential but basic content, the students will sit a 5% MCQ to assess their knowledge/understanding of these foundational issues in EU law; and to practice ahead of the final exam, the students will sit a 20% take-home exam during the semester that will cover a single topic by means of a question they will have discussed in one of the seminars. These two assessments are consequently designed to be 'low-stakes' and to bolster student confidence in the material ahead of the final exam.
On a broader level, the assessments are there to test (directly or indirectly) the intended skill and knowledge outcomes identified above.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- LAW1262's Timetable