C/L/195. Critical Review of 'Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison' (1977) by Michel Foucault

The paper reviews the work 'Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison' (1977) by Michel Foucault focusing on 'Panopticism' and the issues of power and surveillance which surround it. Foucault's ideas are applied to modern conditions including the Internet.

S/L/147. Holiday Law

The paper examines the legal issues involved in holiday making conducting a case study of a disastrous holiday experience and analysing what went wrong and why. Legal advice to the aggrieved party is offered.

C/L/142. What, if any, relationship is there between law and justice?

To understand the fundamental principles of law and justice one must look at the period surrounding the Enlightenment because this is the time when the individual became an important entity, no longer was the individual part of a class on a hierarchical structure, with power relating to that class. The natural rights theorists aim was to show that man was born in a state of nature, and given the right to do as he/she wished, but this was sacrificed to the governance of the land, i.e. that the rational man would give up the state of freedom, for the security and safety of law, governance and sovereignty. This argument is going to look at these theories and illustrate that law and justice are inextricably linked in modern democratic systems, as per the original intentions of western legal thinkers.

C/L/127. Fuller's View of Natural Law

The key feature of Fuller's theory of natural law is that it is this process that protects the autonomy of the individual and protection of their moral values. In this view of natural law, there is no strict moral code but an activity that grows and evolves with the changing mode and views of the society. Fuller's approach accepts the basic precepts of natural law and natural rights; however the rule of law cannot be vague it needs to ensure that the autonomy of the individual is protected but effectively balanced with the duty of the state to provide a safe and secure society for all. Therefore in many ways Fuller takes pieces from natural rights law and procedural legal theory to create a theory of law that can be instituted; rather than full of moralistic values that cannot be practically instituted into law making. This discussion will consider Fuller's approach and its critics, such as Hart. It will also consider positivism, Holism and Dworkin's theory of the rule of law.

S/L/169. Examination of a Restorative Justice System

The paper examines the concept of restorative justice comparing it to retributive justice, describing the models of restorative justice (i.e. family group counselling, circle sentencing, etc.) and evaluating their effectiveness in reducing the level of crime in the USA.

E/L/50. The legitimacy of the law is based upon its effectiveness. Do you agree?

The paper examines the role of power and authority with respect to law discussing the nature of legitimacy, the keys to the effectiveness of a legal system, etc. Examples of ineffective laws in domestic and international spheres are analysed.

E/L/41. McLibel Trial Case: over McDonald's food advertising

The paper examines McLibel's case over McDonald's false advertising of their food as nutritious. A review of academic literature is offered including the theories of utilitarianism, the ethics of duty, feminist ethics, etc. Conclusions are made about whether McDonald's actions were ethical.

E/L/35. Describe the method of alternative dispute resolution

The paper examines the method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) reviewing academic literature on the subject and discussing the reasons behind the ADR use, the forms of ADR, the advantages and disadvantages of ADR, etc.

E/L/31. Do Judges make the law? Should they?

The paper examines the role of judges in British law making reviewing their interpretation of statutes in various court cases, and discussing formalistic and realistic approaches to legislation. The so-called rules of statutory interpretation are discussed.

S/L/105. Under what circumstances would a hypothetical rational person commit an unlawful act? Can an unlawful act ever be reasonable?

The paper looks at the concept of rational behaviour examining the reasons why it may result in unlawful actions. Related academic literature is reviewed touching on the nature of social interactions, individual beliefs, breach of contract, etc.

E/L/29. Alternative dispute resolution

The paper examines alternative methods of dispute resolution (ADR) critically analysing the mechanisms and applications of arbitration, mediation and conciliation.

C/L/113. Legal advice on will execution

The paper offers legal advice on executing a will identifying a type of trust related to the case, the concept of final certainty, the power of appointment, the duties of the administrators of the estate, the classification of assets and debts, etc.

S/L/103. An Exploration into How the Children Act, 1989 Seeks to Act in the Best Interests of The Child and Considers the Child’s Views in Court Proceedings

This assignment provides an Exploration into the Children Act, 1989 and how it seeks to act in the child's best interests and explores if it goes far enough to satisfy the principles enshrined in the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also considers orders relating to parental disputes where a child is concerned. It then considers the child’s view in court proceedings.

E/LI/13. Use of linguistics in courtroom and police enquiries

The paper examines the role of linguistics in police enquiries and in the courtroom reviewing literature on forensic linguistics and its areas relevant to law, i.e. voice identification, author identification and discourse analysis. Scepticism about forensic linguistics’ expertise is reviewed.

E/L/19. Legal aspects of defamation and libel

The paper examines the concepts of defamation and libel reviewing definitions of libellous actions from the perspective of law. Difficulties faced by defamation law are discussed using examples of legal cases related to the ambiguity of defamation through libel. The defamatory aspects of euphemisms used by journalists are discussed.

P/PS/116. Emotions in courtroom decision making

The paper examines the influence of emotions on the jury’s decision making providing a review of literature on the theory of rationality and methods of reasoning, the explanatory coherence theory, the role of emotions in decision making, etc. Events that can affect the reasoning processes are outlined focusing on the principles of criminal evidence and decisions made in the courtroom setting.

S/L/93. ‘Without law there would be no order’. Discuss.

This paper examines the relationship between law and order by first highlighting the relative concept of order. It then continues by looking at the basis of social order and the role of law from different theoretical perspectives, i.e. conflict theorists, functionalists, Marxists and phenomenologists. It then illustrates that order without law is possible by looking at anarchist principle and anthropology studies. The paper ends with the difficult definition of law by naturalist theorist and positivism and how does it fit into the conception of order.

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