Hale's Resolutions - modified

Readers who have delved into Lord Thomas Bingham's excellent book, "The Rule of Law" would no doubt have been introduced to Sir Matthew Hale in Chapter 2. Hale was noted as a jurist and legal researcher, and his Analysis of the Common Law was influential on Blackstone's Commentaries.

 Bingham (Ch 2 (5)) quoted Hale's Resolutions, a list of 'Things Necessary to be Continually had in Remembrance'. 

Having given some thought to these resolutions, I had in mind that some were too antiquated to stand in a modern world, though they were likely to have been adequate in Hale's time. Resolutions 1 and 3, I reject in their entirety; God has no business in the administration of justice; neither King nor Queen. The Law should stand above all and no man should answer to more than the Rule of Law and his conscience. 

Having these thoughts, and similar, in my mind, I decided to rewrite Hale's list to fit my own thoughts and also to 'modernise' them to fit in with today's world/knowledge. 

1.    That in the pursuit of justice, I am bound by the Rule of Law and my conscience, and in seeking justice I will do so:

2.    With

a.    Forthrightness

b.    Purpose

c.    Tenacity

d.    Regard that the path to justice may not be easy or quick; but

3.    I will be prepared to do right, and my best endeavours will not be withheld for lack of trying; and

4.    I will be passionate about my cause but not a slave to my passions, or fall to them however provoked; and

5.    Focus my attention and energy to the business at hand; and

6.    Never prejudge before the entire matter is done and over with; and

7.   Recognise that bias and paucity of thought are my failures and no one else’s; and

8.    That discretion and compassion and mercy are equally part of justice and law as much as punishment and rehabilitation; and

9.    Law should not give way except and only to conscience and justice; and

10. That the law is supreme except as conscience and justice demands it to bend or fall.

Keeping in mind that I do not administer justice (Hale was a judge) but intend to practice law, resolution 1 is therefore clear in stating 'the pursuit of justice'. Note too, that 'justice' does not imply a "win at all costs" stance on behalf of a client. The aim should be to give your best, but if your client is guilty, then justice should still be administered by those so charged. The Rule of Law and your conscience should be your guide in doing what is right, and your best.

     Bias and paucity of thoughts refer to defects in thinking in yourself, and therefore has no one else to blame . This is where I am a strong believer in critical thinking. While studying law introduces elements of critical thinking, it does not go far enough on its own to really eliminate defective thoughts. Critical thinking is best practiced after studying it as a subject by itself.

     Resolutions 9 and 10 refer to conscience. Note that in this instance the conscience referred to is not my conscience as in Resolution 1, but is a reference to a 'collective' conscience (of society). So what was the law in instances such as permissible marital rape, outlawing homosexuality etc fell to the collective conscience of society through the judges administering what is right. The law as it stood then fell to the changes in society. This is what I mean by conscience.

     Thus, Resolution 1 is a reminder that if a law is unjustifiable (to a client or society), then I consider it a duty to argue for it to be changed or discarded. Resolution 10 then becomes clear in its intention.

      Any thoughts?

Pro Bono – Will you do it?

If I have to be completely honest, I have never actively thought about getting involved in pro bono work. I think, for me at least, it has always been part of my internal ethical character – to help people who find themselves in unfortunate circumstances, mainly in part because of my personal circumstances. I had worked many years in social welfare, as well as doing voluntary work in the community, and assisting several government initiatives (in Trinidad and Tobago) to help those who were not capable of helping themselves.

Since March 2018, I have been volunteering as an adviser in the advice centre at my local community centre. I would like to think that I have made a difference in the lives of the clients who visit seeking assistance. I have had success stories; for example, the single mother living on benefits who bought a cooker which was defective – condemned within a few days of purchase – and the company refused to replace it or refund the money, for nearly one year. Law students will know that this is a breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. After I got involved, it was replaced within a couple of weeks. I remember when the client came to say thank you, she literally had tears in her eyes, as she could not afford to buy a new cooker.

I see many people who have been living in atrocious circumstances. Usually, it is the City Council which is most at fault but also private landlords. Many times, repairs are not done in a timely or adequate manner and can cause significant health problems for tenants. Mould and damp are much too common and cause respiratory problems. It is not an exaggeration to say that many of these problems put the health of little children at risk – considerably more so than adults. The problem is so bad that I now have a standard paragraph in my complaint letters:

“The RSPCA would certainly disapprove of an animal living under these conditions! In fact, I dare say that the owner of any animal living in such accommodation would soon be prosecuted in court.”

The fact that Councils try to balance the use of resources against the health and well-being of tenants is certainly not a problem as far as the rights of tenants are concerned – Hotak& Ors v London Borough of Southwark & Anor (Rev 1) [2015] UKSC 30 made that very clear:

“an authority’s duty under Part VII of the 1996 (Housing) Act is not to be influenced or affected by the resources available to the authority. Once they have determined the status of an applicant under Part VII of the 1996 Act, their duty to that applicant is as defined in the Act: the fact that the authority may be very short of money and/or available accommodation cannot in any way affect whether an applicant is in priority need. In so far as a balancing exercise between housing the homeless and conserving local authority resources is appropriate, it has been carried out by Parliament when enacting Part VII.” [Emphasis added].

“Aha!”, you may say, “That only refers to homeless people.”

Well, under the Homelessness Code of Conduct Guidance, “a person who has accommodation is to be treated as homeless where it would not be reasonable for them to continue to occupy that accommodation.” [Emphasis added].

On 2 November 2018 I represented a client in Small Claims Court, pursuant to Section 3(1) of the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999, and as set out in CPR 27 and PD 27, paras. 3.1 and 3.2.

The client had a leaking roof since 2010. The City Council owned the property then and did not do any effective repairs. In 2016, the client bought the apartment he was living in. It was one apartment, in a building that contained 4 such apartments. The result was that he owned the apartment under a lease for the building, which was still owned by the Council and who was still responsible for repairs to the outside of the apartment where the client lived, including the roof of course.

The leak in the roof continued up to February 2018 this year when the client filed his claim in court, then the Council hastily put down a tar covering on the roof to stop the leak. It wasn’t enough, as by then 8 years of leaks had damaged his apartment to some severity. He was so stressed he had to be medicated and treated for depression and anxiety.

At court, the Council was represented by a barrister, a solicitor and a junior lawyer. Plus, the Council’s witness who was the person responsible for the computer system that logs the repair calls and passes the jobs to the repair contractors. This witness brought in a partial list of the call logs for the past 8 years showing that when the tenant (my client) called to get repairs done, he was not at home when the workers turned up. 13 pages of call logs.

But here is the Council’s mistake. The barrister argued first that the tenant, my client, had a responsibility to call the Council to repair the roof. Well, the very fact that there were 13 pages of call logs was like shooting themselves in the head, right? I couldn’t believe a qualified barrister made such an elementary error.

Second, he argued that the tenant/my client should be home to allow access to the roof. I merely pointed out to the judge that the Council’s own witness said in his witness statement that the roof was accessed at least twice using an elevated electrical platform from outside and that was at times the tenant was not at home. So that was another headshot, right?

The result was that the judge agreed that my client had no duty to inform the Council more than he already did, that he was not needed to access the roof and that the statutory law, as well as his lease, made the Council responsible for the repairs. He was awarded £6000, plus costs.

There are some lessons to learn from the anecdotes I related:

a)   No matter how experienced you are in law, you can make elementary mistakes. In fact, the more experienced you are, the more you have to watch that you do not overlook very basic principles and ideas.

b)   Do not be intimidated by the ‘big names’ opposing you. Prepare your argument well, and you have nothing to fear, or be ashamed of.

c)   The law is not contained only in statute or statutory instruments. There may be guidance orders, case law etc and a well-prepared argument involves spending time on research, even if you do not need it in court or in your arguments. Better be prepared.

d)   Don’t be afraid to assert yourself and your client’s (really your) argument. I can be assertive to the point of being aggressive, as you can see. Experience has taught me that being too polite gets you ignored.

e)   The law is both a shield, to protect your clients, and a sword, to assert their rights. Used appropriately, the battle is half-won.

f)    Mind map everything. I actually presented my case to the judge as a printed mind map.

g)   Clearly state that you are making a “formal complaint” when writing your complaint letter/email. Without the use of the words ‘formal complaint’, a complaint is treated as an informal complaint and there is no requirement to act upon it (advice from the Housing Ombudsman).

h)   Always put complaints in writing. Never by phone calls – but if you do make calls, log the date, time and name of the person taking the complaint.

i)    Keep copies of all your documents. You may need them as evidence if you need to go to court.

j)     Resolving problems take time. Don’t get (too) impatient but follow the policies and complaint procedures and allow the time limits for responses and resolution.

k)   Do not hesitate to escalate your complaints. Remember, the law does not help those who ‘slumber’ on their rights.

There may be other lessons that more experienced lawyers can share. This is a few that I have learnt in my volunteering experience so far.

I hope more people do get into pro bono work.

Thought for the Day

“The law is both a shield, to protect your clients, and a sword, to assert their rights.”

© 2018 OU Law Student

A little advice for newbies

A whole bunch of newbies will be starting in October. As a 'seasoned' OU law student (and Learner Experience Rep), I would like to share a little advice on what studying law entails… This is from my own experience of course! I will not speak for anyone else.

First, the law is not that difficult to understand. It teaches a logical and strategic thinking process even while you are learning the content. At first, probably the first four months of W101, you will be confused and find the concepts a bit difficult to understand. This is only natural. However, by the time March or April comes around in 2019, you will find that everything is falling together in place. In the beginning, what I found was that the concepts appeared to be isolated from each other. But then, when you begin to see how it all fits in together, it is far easier to understand.

Try not to put things off at the last minute, whether it is reading that unit or doing that TMA. Falling behind makes it difficult to catch up but not impossible. Your tutor is usually your first port of call. If you have difficulties contacting your tutor then, by all means, contact student support (SST). You will find the link on your student homepage. You will also find that the OU is very flexible and very willing to help you catch up if you fall behind. The most important thing is not to panic, don't feel that the task ahead is impossible, and to take it one small step at a time.

When you are starting off, try not to pay too much attention to what your peers are saying – you will find that there are often misconceptions and bad ideas promulgated on different groups! Remember that they are also new to law, and may be having the same struggles in understanding the concepts just as you do. This is why I am stressing, and I am sure the University will support me in this, please try to contact your tutor first! Your tutor is paid to help you, so do not feel guilty about contacting them.

During the course of your law studies, you will begin to learn many new things, some of which are:

learning how to learn

learning how to write academically

learning how to do proper referencing

learning how to read critically

learning how to think critically

learning how to analyse complex ideas

learning how to summarise these complex ideas

The above list is not exhaustive of course.

If this all sounds complex, don't panic. You will be gradually eased into these, and in most cases, you will never know that you are learning. 

Important:

1) Pay attention to your grammar and spelling. Law requires words, to explain and to convey ideas. Avoid complexity, by thinking that you are explaining these concepts to your grandparents or someone who is less educated than you – as will be your future clients. You can set Microsoft Word to check your grammar as well as spelling, and it will give you a "readability score" on how easy your writing is to understand.

2) Do not take tutor feedback personally. Tutor feedback is usually given in positive terms, but because it is a critique of your writing skills and thinking processes, it is difficult not to feel offended or disheartened. Keep in mind that your tutor is there to help you, not to discourage you and that if you follow their feedback, you will certainly improve – there's no question about that. By following my tutor's advice my grades jumped from the early 70s to the early 90s.

3) Begin to bookmark important legal websites. I will add some of my favourites at the end of this blog post to start you off.

4) Read as many judgements as you can. I love judgements coming out of the Supreme Court because they are written in very simple English, explains complex ideas very simply, and are very good examples of how to write for law.

5) Many law firms have part of their websites dedicated to explaining concepts of law. These are written by experienced solicitors and barristers and will offer you an opportunity to understand the concepts in a simpler format than many of the textbooks. Again, this has been my personal experience. I do not use these websites for reference, merely to understand and break down complex ideas.

I have another post in this forum on software, telling you how to get free software to assist you in your studies and give some examples of useful software that I have used over the years – I have 20+ years ICT experience. Still, you are free to choose whatever your preference is. I only recommend my personal favourites and I am not a replacement for the IT helpdesk at the OU.

Tips:

I have created a folder in my computer with many subfolders inside. The subfolders are named for each course example, W101, W102, et cetera. Inside of these subfolders, I have further subfolders for the TMAs, judgements, statutes (Acts of Parliament) et cetera. Think of your computer like a filing cabinet, and begin by arranging things neatly. You will find that this is beneficial later on for finding stuff – especially after a few years of study when you need to go back refer to previous studies.

Do try to make time to attend your local courts to see how the judicial process works. Most local courts will have volunteer opportunities as well. I appreciate that many of you will be fully employed and also busy with studies, family life et cetera, but it is well worth the sacrifice and time spent. After all, you are studying law to get into this world – hopefully.

Some of my favourite websites:

http://www.bailii.org/ – a repository for cases. You will find almost any case here, and it is an acceptable official source.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules – the Civil Procedure Rules 1998

http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Home.php – website explaining very simply and briefly important concepts with case examples

https://www.cps.gov.uk/ – homepage of the Crown Prosecution Services

https://www.jcpc.uk/ – homepage of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), the final court of many Commonwealth countries.

https://www.supremecourt.uk/ – the UK Supreme Court

https://publications.parliament.uk/ – webpage dedicated to publications arising out of the UK Parliament at Westminster.

Blogs I like:

http://oulawstudent.blogspot.com/ – my personal blog where I document my own study journey

http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/openjustice/ – the Open University's pro bono blog

https://howtogetafirst.wordpress.com/ – how to get a first-class honours degree in law by someone who did it

https://publiclawforeveryone.com/ – Prof Mark Elliott's blog – beautifully and simply written

http://www.thingslegal.co.uk/forum/index.php – a forum that I set up for discussing ideas about law, with a lot of resources uploaded. Members include already qualified lawyers, so the advice given is sound and based upon actual practice.

I hope that you find these tips useful. Good luck with your studies.

Is it worth it, part 2

Remember when I wrote about a student who pretended to know the law at an expert level when she didn’t? This person sadly has not learnt any lessons. The crux of the matter is as follows:

The student made large claims that she was ‘a solicitor with 25 years practicing experience’. This has been continually affirmed in writing, that is, the student continues to make this claim even though there is no evidence of this… in fact, the evidence points to the opposite, a rather low understanding of the law, and basic English Language.

A polite request wondering why the student wanted an(other) LLB when that student was already a practicing lawyer returned the response that ‘the student wanted to become a judge’. Basic Google searches reveal that a ‘second’ LLB is not a requirement to be a judge.

You may be wondering why I brought this up again… well, the matter is now in the public domain as the student filed a claim for defamation in the County Court where it was dismissed because (a) it was the wrong court, and (b) the case had ‘no prospect of success’.

Not to be deterred, the valiant warrior for the underdog again took up cudgels and, armed with a mighty misunderstanding of law on the whole, and defamation law (and the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR)) in particular, strode boldly into the High Court to seek and do justice. The fight was short and not especially vicious, and didn’t even raise a sweat on the defendants’ brows as the referee (judge) took one look at the wandering of the wayward warrior’s mind and ruled “particulars of claim and accompanying documents are an abuse of the court's process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of proceedings”.

The gist of the circumstances at the High Court is this – the claim was initially stayed to give the claimant (our student and intrepid warrior) opportunity to rewrite it because the original claim was some 10 pages of incoherent rambling and which was not in compliance with the CPR (16 and 53). The revised claim was 79 pages (nearly 270 paragraphs) of even more incoherence which led the judge to ask if the claimant even knew the meaning of the word ‘concise’. The claim was then dismissed in its entirety because ‘it had no real chance of success’ as the claimant appeared to have no understanding of law or of how civil litigation works.

Nevertheless, our intrepid warrior refuses to stay down. A request to appeal has been made, itself having no ‘real prospect of success’ but further reiterating how this person lives in a world created entirely within her own mind.

Sadly, among the evidence submitted to the court was a medical letter which affirms that this student has mental health problems. What is even sadder is that even such a person is allowed to make mistakes in making decisions, because under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, a person is deemed to have capacity unless “it is established that he lacks capacity” and “a person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision”.

Her mistakes in this case has caused her over £8,000 so far in awards against her for defendants’ legal expenses.

As I said before, pretending to know the law is not advised, especially among people who actually know the law.

A free month of HP Instant Ink

Use the following code to get a free month of HP instant ink.

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Course Notes

Note to every law student,

I have some course notes I can share on the following topics:

1. Constitutional and Administrative Law
2. Equity and Trusts
3. Tort law
4. The English Legal System

I have also, notes on critical thinking and academic writing in Plain English.

If anyone wants them, please email me. Click on my profile to access ways to contact me.

It's free. I have spent months compiling these but my view is that we are all here to learn, hence my 'offer' to share.

Why law?

It is quite common to hear expressions such as, “That is my right!”, “I have the right to [insert comment of choice here, such as ‘free speech’]”, “I have the right to privacy”, and so forth. So, to those who frequently trot out this phrase, I ask this question:

“What is a right?”

How many readers can answer that question? How many will have to turn to Google, or use a legal dictionary? Where do rights come from? Rights are such a fundamental thing; everybody has them, governments and courts must respect them, yet the percentage of people who can answer that question is very small.

As a person pursuing an LLB in law, I admit that I find law to be a fascinating subject. I also admit not everyone will. My purpose for writing this column though, is not to “teach” law to the readers of this website/column. What I hope to achieve is to provide some clarification of how the law works as related to issues that we see in the news daily. Far too often, the layman does not understand the concepts and principles behind the law, and there is a public outrage when behaviour does not conform to what we perceive as being “fair”. It’s the nonsensical opinions that are promulgated that stoke anger, racial hatred and other intolerance.

Before embarking on my law journey, I was one of the blissfully ignorant. Ignorant because I did not know, and blissful because my ignorance permitted me to expound views on matters I did not understand… much like many persons today. We see it daily in letters to the editors of newspapers, and contributions to online forums and even in complaints when we feel aggrieved. Later, in a subsequent column, I will come to the ‘invincible ignorant’, and how they differ from the ‘mere’ ignorant.

Law is evolutionary. It evolves in small increments as society sees fit. At the heart of the law lies the principles of fairness, justice, equity, and equality but also principles of punishment and deterrence for wrongdoing – to prevent harm to others. Law is a method of social control, clamping down on aberrant behaviour that bring harm to others and where harm has occurred, it punishes the perpetrator and tries to compensate the victim adequately and fairly.

Law is based around the society. The truth of this statement can be seen from the different legal systems around the world, which are influenced by culture and religion, as well as political agendas. In the following questions, I use the word ‘right’ to mean whether we think it is fair and ethical. By which/whose yardstick do we measure ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’?

Is it right to bury persons to the neck and throw stones at the head until they are dead? Is it right to throw a homosexual person off 12 storeys? Is it right to hang a person if there is a possibility that he is innocent? Is it right that the police can frame a person to satisfy crime statistics? Is it right that abortion is illegal/legal? Is it right for the Catholic Church to ban condom use while tens of thousands of deaths could be prevented by using a condom? Is it right for a man to ‘marry’ and have sex with a 12 years old girl?

When we understand how the law works, we can understand the reasoning behind court judgments and recognise the logic and legal principles Judges use to arrive at their decisions. We can also understand matters of public policy, politics, arguments (not quarrels but rather units of critical thinking). We can understand the need for contracts and courts, we can understand what a crime is and why it is a crime. We can understand the need for laws and why we should obey the law, and what penalties apply if we don’t. We even understand why the penalty is what it is and whether it is fair.

When we understand how the law works, we will understand when and how to express an opinion, based upon evidence and persuasive arguments.

Oh, as for what is a right? I’ll leave you to work that one out.

Is it worth it?

Pretending to know the law is not a good idea, especially when you are among people who actually know the law. Let me explain.

Some time ago, there was a brouhaha on the OU law forum. The gist of the 'argument' was this:

A student, who started studying law approximately 20 years ago, but started at the Open University on the very beginning module of W101, made some rather outrageous claims on the LLB forum, to wit –

• that students who had a negative experience with the OU, and dared to say so on the LLB forum, were actually defaming the OU

"but to write how disappointing the end of the course was (publicly) in my opinion and after reading the rules of the forum (which every student should have done). is rather unnecessary. I would never do that and I have seen that other students are actually courteous to others (including the OU) too. Perhaps I should have mentioned all the student names I was referring to. The actual statement includes more than just defamatory:

Don’t write or share anything that is: defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, illegal, incites hatred or could damage the reputation of the University.”

When challenged, it was clear that the student did not know the difference between criticism and defamation. The student posted numerous messages on the forum, suggesting that her legal qualifications and experience were far in excess of those which a first-year student may reasonably be expected to have. When challenged, she was unable to substantiate her claims, and appeared to be pursuing an agenda of dominating forum discussions.

The starting point at which the student’s credibility was undermined, was when she asserted that she was “a practising solicitor with 25 years’ experience”, an assertion which is clearly ridiculous for someone starting out on the Level 1 LLB modules, as well as being a potential offence pursuant to Section 21 of the Solicitors Act 1974.

The student then asserted that she had represented a person at an Employment Tribunal. When asked to provide a link to the case report on the HMCTS website, she then stated that the barrister had advised that the details be kept private, which suggests that, while she may have assisted in some way, representation at the substantive Tribunal hearing was undertaken by Counsel. All of the above examples, and many others, indicate that the student inhabits a world of fantasy, in which she exaggerates her qualifications and experience out of a misplaced sense of self-importance.

Requests for proofs of her qualifications resulted in the posting of some strange documents purporting to be certificates of achievement, including some typed up in MS Comics font as well as various redacted scans and photos.

The robust challenges to the student’s outlandish claims resulted in the challengers, other OU students, being accused of – and subsequently sued for – defamation against this student's imaginary qualifications. Additionally, the student made several complaints to her local constabulary that she was being defamed on the OU forum – not surprisingly, the police did not take her seriously, and no action was taken by the police. On the other hand, the student sent approximately 110 emails in the space of a few hours, resulting in those receiving the emails reporting harassment to the police. Subsequently, a written warning was issued to the student by her local police.

The assigned Master to the lawsuit deemed that “the claim form, particulars of claim and accompanying documents are an abuse of the Court’s process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of proceedings…”

Sadly, the penance this student now has to undergo for having grandiose ideas of her own knowledge and capabilities is likely to prove a heavy burden. Ask yourself whether the consequence of your boastings is worth the repercussions you may suffer, then… DON’T!

Forum

An alternative to the Open University law forum where all things legal can be discussed. Also for having a little chatter about other things.

http://www.thingslegal.co.uk/forum

Open invitation

I don't know why I did not think of this before. Possibly because this blog is about MY journey through a law degree.

Still, there are merits in inviting guests to submit posts which are interesting and applicable to the law. So, take this as an invitation to submit any interesting articles, blogs, et cetera that you feel would be interesting to readers of this blog.

Note: I reserve the right to edit for clarity, accuracy, grammar et cetera.

Changes at the OU (Law)

Some readers who follow this blog, and who have been enrolled in the LLB at Open University, may already know that this year has been replete with problems at the Open University getting its online system going. The following is a small description of past and ongoing problems – keep in mind that this applies to the law degree, and I cannot speak for other courses.

This academic year, the Open University is attempting to put everything completely online, including the textbooks. The theory behind this is that digital literacy is an essential skill in today's world, and therefore it is essential that students learn to work online and with computers. Aside from the entire course and textbooks being available digitally, there is a new tutorial system: the Open University is attempting to put tutorials in "clusters" – students within particular geographic areas will be assigned to tutors and will be able to book the tutorials according to their geographic location. For those students who do not have access to physical locations for the day school (face-to-face tutorial), there will be two alternative online sessions to make up for each day school. This sounds like an admirable plan. The problem was/is that all of the arrangements have not yet been made and students are unable to access tutorials via their Studenthome page. Therefore many students cannot book their tutorials due to the tutorials not being available online at all and has resulted in some of them missing the initial tutorials over the past week.

The other problem that I see being vented is that some someone in Ireland might say that the tutorial they have access to book is located in Wales, and not locally. Additionally, some of the tutors are not even offering face-to-face/day school tutorials, being only available for the online ones. All in all, the new system is not ready, and has been described as "shambolic".

I hope that this situation is soon sorted and that students and study groups will be able to settle down and get to the business of studying.

Technical tip: the Open University IT helpdesk is saying that there is a problem with Windows 10 and the Blackboard Collaborate software. This is simply not true. I am using Windows 10 and the latest version of Collaborate without any problems; I think the HelpDesk is just too lazy to troubleshoot.

Q79–Bachelor of Laws (Honours)

I thought I’d post the overall learning outcomes for this degree as stated by the OU:

Bachelor of Laws (Honours) - Learning Outcomes

Educational aims

The law degree aims to provide learners of all backgrounds and abilities with the opportunity to explore and develop their interest in the law and legal system of England and Wales. Your studies will: provide you with the opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of the legal system of England and Wales, provide you with an opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of the role and function of law in an increasingly globalised world, enable you to become independent learners, and to develop other associated and transferable skills and attributes, provide those who wish to continue their legal education and progress on to the vocational stage of training with the intellectual and practical skills necessary to do this effectively.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

• in-depth knowledge of a substantial range of the concepts, values, rules and principles of the foundation subjects of law, and of the legal system of England and Wales
• an understanding of legal methodology
• an understanding of the social, political, economic, historical and ethical dimensions of law
• an understanding of the principles and methods of legal research.

Cognitive Skills

• apply legal principles and authority in a logical and coherent way
• organise and assimilate legal and factual material and express a reasoned personal view about that material
• identify the relative merits of different legal and policy arguments as articulated in case law and legal scholarship
• present and make a reasoned choice between alternative opinions and solutions
• explore and apply exceptions to legal rules and principles

Key Skills

• communicate effectively and accurately (using appropriate legal terminology)
• organise information and illustrate its relevance to the intended audience
• appreciate the requirements of intended audiences and select an appropriate mode of presentation and style
• appreciate and demonstrate the techniques of legal argument
• read and discuss legal materials (whether statutes, cases or academic commentary) which are written in technical and complex language
• comprehend and use basic numerical information
• use basic keyboard skills and perform basic computer tasks
• use the internet, WWW and some dedicated electronic information retrieval systems to access legal information
• work with a group to find agreed solutions to set problems
• negotiate the performance of (and accepting responsibility for performing) an aspect of a team task.
• reflect critically on your own performance with the assistance of feedback
• take steps to improve your learning and performance with the assistance of feedback
• assess your own progress, identify issues on which assistance is needed and obtain such assistance.

Practical and/or Professional Skills

• identify legal issues in relation to material facts (both real and hypothetical)
• apply legal principles to resolve identified issues
• present arguable and reasoned conclusions
• access, comprehend, interrogate and use legal materials (both primary and secondary sources) using electronic and hard copy methods

© The Open University