Rules–Rights and Responsibilities

When I started the Y166 course, I learnt early on the need for rules. Without rules, society cannot be a success.

Laws are essentially the rules with which members of a society are subjected to, in order to realise a harmonious interaction with each other. Laws define how we work, play and socialise with each other, seeking to minimise, punish and deter antagonistic behaviour. Laws guide how all of this is done.

Each and every person in society has rights – certain permissions or entitlements that are guaranteed.

Every person also has responsibilities. Rights and responsibilities work in tandem with each other. Either has limits brought about by the other.

An easy way to explain this: the right to ‘free speech’ (freedom of expression) is curtailed by the responsibility to avoid libel and slander for example. So freedom of expression is not absolute. Neither are most other guaranteed rights.

Laws ensure that everyone’s rights are respected and that individuals, groups, organisations, or governments do not encroach upon any other persons rights. At the same time, laws ensure that we keep our responsibilities. For example, we have a responsibility to see that our children are not denied an education.

The legal system developed over centuries balances rights and responsibilities.

Y166– Starting with Law

The OU law degree comprises of 7 modules, 4 compulsory and 3 optional courses.

The starting point to the LLB at OU is the W100 – Rules, Rights and Justice. This is a 60 point course at Level 1.

However, I chose an alternative introduction called Y166 – Starting with Law. This is an introductory 10 point course that aims to introduce law concepts and “why law matters, how laws are made, why we need laws and who the key players are in the legal system”.

The cost of this course is £120.

I completed this course some time ago, and found it useful in the extreme, although it will not count towards my LLB.

The main reason I chose this as my starting point was to give myself confidence in starting ‘formal’ education again after many years. Not only did I find the course useful for building confidence, it also started me thinking on how to write better.

Writing ‘regularly’, for example on this blog, is a bit different to writing for law. I found law requires precision and concise wording, especially if you have to stick to a word limit. More on this when I move on to discussing the W100.

The Y166 does not give a grade, but instead a pass or ‘fail’. There are 2 tutor marked assignments (TMAs) and an end of course assessment (ECA). Tutors are contacted by phone (usually the tutor calls) at scheduled times, but they can be contacted via email and can be contacted by phone if additional help is required. Grading is as follows: “Achieved, Just achieved, Not quite achieved, Not achieved”.

The course requires reflective learning, i.e. throughout, the student is asked to reflect on how and what he has learnt. So a learning plan is submitted with every assignment as well as an essay plan. My essay plan was done as a mind map. I used the free EDraw Mind Map to do this.

Assignments are submitted by post in hardcopy. The feedback from the tutor is also in hardcopy, mailed back with the assignments. TMAs are sent to the tutor and the ECA to the OU. Care has to be taken to mail these before the actual deadlines so that they can reach before the deadline date – inclusive of unforeseen delays in the postal system.

I obtained ‘Achieved’ on all my learning outcomes.

An Introduction

This is my first post. More like an introduction and a test combined.

I am a mature student in my 40’s, just embarking on a law degree at the Open University. Two questions jump out at that statement:

1. Why law? Law wasn’t my first choice as a career, hence my late start. Growing up, my father and uncle chose my career – medicine. Yes, there was pressure, as ever, coming into this world into an East Indian family which, like all East Indian families, place strong emphasis on education. I started working in a hospital after I finished my A levels; and when I saw the shitty life (no joke) new doctors led, I was turned off from studying medicine. I got into other jobs, mainly engineering, and eventually circumstances led me to the UK where I am now able to study law through distance learning at  the Open University. 
2. Why Open University? Open University allows me to study while working. The course requires a certain amount of hours at study, and while more is better, at least I am able to work and support myself. I don’t attend formal classes but monthly tutorials. The work is laid out in great detail through the course materials, and is supported by exercises and DVD lessons etc. It is also affordable. OU has a good reputation.

While meandering through the muddle that is law, I hope that enlightenment comes to both myself, and readers of this blog. Feel free to comment, but try to be polite. I will moderate comments and attacking me or other readers will certainly draw censorship. I strongly recommend a screen name for posting comments – anonymous commenters tick me off big time, mainly because Anonymous 1 can’t be differentiated from Anonymous 2 and so on.

This blog may eventually change pattern as I progress. In the meantime, I have the idea to outline my lessons,my reasoning, and perhaps comment on legal situations in the news. Occasionally on legal judgments from the courts.

I may post mind maps, judgments, etc. What I will not be posting are my actual assignments (don’t want future students copying, that’s the lazy way out). I may however mention what the assignments are, and how well I did. I will give the feedback from the tutor , especially important if I do poorly.

I will also point the way to resources I find, like this free course on Learning How To Learn.

I write and spell in British English. If worldwide readers notice discrepancies from their own language, this is the reason. Language is a sore point for me, so I try to be accurate as far as possible. If you find errors, be sure to point them out. Learning never stops, and I certainly won’t mind if my occasional lapses are corrected.

If I am mentioning people on this blog whom I know/encounter, I will use either fictitious names or nicknames to maintain privacy.

I hope you enjoy, and learn, from my experience.