LPC
Study Unit Specifications (Elective Subject)
Code: UJXTS4-10-M
Title: Advanced Criminal Litigation
Version: 2
Level: M-level
UWE credit rating: 10
ECTS credit rating: 5 Module Type: Non-MAR
Owning Faculty: Social Sciences and Humanities
Field: n/a Field Leader: n/a
Valid From: September 2008 Discontinued from:
Contributes towards: Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice
Pre-requisites: none
Co-requisites: none
Excluded combinations: none
1. Rationale:
As with all study units on the programme, the rationale is to prepare the student for the first day of work as a professional lawyer (i.e. as a new trainee solicitor in a firm of solicitors). Specifically in this case, the rationale is to prepare the student for work in either a firm undertaking criminal litigation or the Crown Prosecution Service.
2. Learning outcomes:
On completion of the study unit, students are expected to be able (at a professional level) to:
2.1 understand and critically analyse the law of evidence and procedural law, in particular the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), the PACE Codes of Practice and the right to silence provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994..
2.2 appreciate and evaluate the skills that are relevant when advising a suspect detained at a police station.
2.3 recognise and comprehend the nature of an ethical approach to police station practice.
2.4 understand and critically evaluate the process of defending a suspect detained at a police station.
2.5 understand the methods of assessment used by the SRA/Criminal Defence Service accreditation scheme.
2.6 understand and critically analyse the process of preparing a case for trial both in the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court.
2.7 appreciate and critically evaluate the law, procedure and practice relating to the disclosure of unused material.
2.8 understand and critically analyse the law, practice and procedure of sentencing.
2.9 appreciate the various avenues of appeal, and the practice and procedures relating to the same.
2.10 Use research and enquiry techniques to access, interpret, critically analyse and apply relevant knowledge.
3. Syllabus outline:
The study unit builds on the work done by students during the criminal litigation component of the compulsory subject of litigation and advocacy. The study unit identifies and explains the role of the legal adviser attending upon a suspect in police custody. The study unit introduces the student to the process of police and forensic investigation of crime. Further, it explores in depth the process of preparing a contested case for trial in both the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court. It also examines the law and practice of sentencing, with particular reference to youths and road traffic offences. The study unit also identifies and explains appellate procedure. In particular, students will consider:
3.1 Powers of arrest
Police powers of detention
Duties of custody officers before and after charge
Detention time limits and reviews of detention
Rights of detained persons
Charging and alternatives to charging
Police bail
3.2 Police investigative methods
Identification procedures
Powers to search persons and property
Powers to take intimate and non-intimate samples
Powers to take fingerprints and photographs
The conduct of police interviews
3.3 The following skills in the police station context:
* assertion
* investigation
* legal advice and representation
* negotiation
3.4 Prosecution obligation to disclose evidence it intends to use
Prosecution obligation do disclose material it does not intend to use
Defence obligation to disclose material
3.5 Methods of commencing the criminal process
The criminal trial process in summary courts.
Preparation for summary trial.
Fact management and analysis..
Opening and closing speeches.
The elements of offences
Modes of participation
3.6 The criminal trial process in the Crown Court
Committal proceedings
Plea and Directions Hearings
Briefs to counsel
3.7 Burdens of proof
The evidential consequences of:
* silence/selective silence
* denying guilt in interviews
* confessions
Legal professional privilege
Trial exclusion of confessions and unfairly obtained evidence
Statements of co-accused
Other rules of evidence in a practical context
3.8 The role of the prosecution and defence lawyer as advocates in criminal cases.
Ethical and professional rules of conduct.
3.9 Appeals
Case stated
Judicial review
Court of Appeal
House of Lords
3.10 Sentencing
Road traffic penalties
Youth sentencing
Note that included in the syllabus are some areas of assumed knowledge, and other areas where assumed knowledge may require updating.
4. Teaching & learning methods:
Students are required to prepare in advance for all teaching sessions through directed reading and research. In addition, they are required to undertake problem-solving, drafting or similar tasks. Teaching and learning methods employed are:
4.1 Large group sessions to assist students’ understanding of aspects of practice and procedure that are not readily accessible.
4.2 Small group sessions where students undertake aspects of practical criminal litigation tasks, either individually or in sub-groups, using a variety of methods including:
• individual and group presentations following problem-solving exercises.
• role-playing exercises, involving the deployment of negotiating and interviewing techniques.
• drafting notes for addressing a court, in the context of both a trial and a sentencing exercise.
• drafting relevant documentation (e.g. a defence statement, a brief to counsel).
• extensive use of case studies and other practical factual scenarios.
5. Indicative sources:
• Relevant LPC manual, namely Criminal Litigation in Practice by Atkinson and Sharpley
• ‘Defending Suspects at Police Stations’ by Professor Ed Cape
• ‘Emmins on Criminal Procedure’
• Other practitioner texts for research purposes, e.g Blackstone’s Criminal Practice.
6. Assessment Infrastructure:
One 3-hour unseen, open book examination (with an additional 30 minutes of reading time).
The examination constitutes 100% of the marks for the study unit. The pass mark is 50%.
Second and final attempts: Re-assessment is by the same method as detailed above. See Assessment Regulations for further details.
Specification confirmed by ............................................ Date …...... February 2004
(Associate Dean, Faculty of Law)