Scots Law

In Year 1 (SCQF Level 7), students study 5 core modules, which provide a strong foundation in key principles of Scots Law and one optional module.  

Term 1 has 3 core modules: two ‘foundations of’ modules and Constitutional Law. This first term provides a broad understanding of Law as a social concept and introduces students to legal skills techniques. The two Foundations of modules are Foundations of Law and Foundations of Rights. These two modules alongside Constitutional Law will give students a solid grounding in the skills and knowledge they require to learn specific legal subjects in Term 2 and in subsequent years of study.  

The two core Term 2 modules in Year 1 are Scots Criminal Law and Voluntary Obligations. The Scots Criminal Law module will give students a foundation of criminal liability and defences. They will build on this in subsequent years when they study aspects of Corporate Crime and where they will study International Law, in particular Public International Law and International Humanitarian Law, where they will look at War Crimes and Genocide. 

The Voluntary Obligations module provides a contemporary understanding of the law of contract in Scotland. It will look at:

• how contracts are formed and their substance
• how contracts may be vitiated
• on what grounds contractual validity may be challenged
• how contracts break down or otherwise are terminated and the remedies available to the parties. 

Year 2 (SCQF Level 8) builds upon the foundation skills and knowledge developed at Level 7. It will focus on most of the Outcome modules required by the Law Society of Scotland, such as:

• Involuntary, Obligations and Property Law.
• Commercial Law 1.
• Family Law and Succession and Trusts.

There are additional options, such as Roman Law, in this case to facilitate admission to the faculty of advocates later in the graduate’s career, should they so wish.

Students can also opt to take Legal Advocacy Skills 2 to further improve their oral advocacy skills, through modes of both content delivery and assessment and Contemporary Issues in Law 2 to build on their work from Year 1, should they wish to deepen their knowledge in the same area or to undertake a new area of personal study. 

In Year 3 (SCQF Level 9), students will be encouraged to deepen their engagement with the Law and to further develop their academic skills. 

One of the core modules to be taken by all students is Legal Research Methods. It builds on written assessment skills the students will have already been developing and hones these with a view to focused preparation towards the Honours Dissertation in Year 4 of the programme.  

Students will also undertake mandatory modules in EU Law, Evidence, and Commercial Law. A variety of elective subjects, covering broader, more discursive legal topics, will be offered, such as:

• Public International Law
• Human Rights Law
• Immigration Law

In addition to innovative, real-world delivery and assessment techniques across the Year 3 programme, an elective Tribunal Skills module will be offered. It continues the tradition of developing high-quality oral presentation and advocacy skills. Students will be encouraged and empowered to work on an increasingly self-directed basis, in preparation for Year 4, and for the workplace. 

In Year 4 (SCQF Level 10), the primary focus is the Honours dissertation. Students will be supported by a supervisor, allocated on the basis of subject matter expertise and design. They will carry out their own research project, working largely independently on this for the entirety of the academic year. 

This will be supplemented with a selection of elective modules on advanced topics and in-depth issues, enabling students to fully specialise in their Honours year. Students will become confident, independent earners, capable of undertaking large, complex pieces of work and ensuring their ability to enter a competitive and ever-changing workplace.