Subject : Law

GCE LAW RESULTS

AS 2011	A Grade	100 %

AS 2011

A Grade

100 %

Law A Level and who teaches this course

When you choose to study A level Law at St Catherine’s you will discover that the specialist study is criminal law. This choice has been made not only because criminal law tends to be the area which many students find particularly interesting, but also because Mrs Jane Bailey (LLB Hons (Bristol), Barrister-at-Law; PGCE (St Mary’s), English and Law (SL)), was a busy, full time practitioner at the Bar from 1984 to 2003 and specialised in Crime. She is therefore very well placed to bring this fascinating and important area of the law alive to her students in the classroom. Mrs Bailey has extensive experience both as counsel for the Crown and as Defence counsel in many contested matters in the Crown Court, the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Mrs Bailey’s classes are characterised by engaging classroom discussion about what happens in real life in a real court of law and students not only learn about the workings and complexities of the Criminal Justice System, but also gain an invaluable insight into whether the practice of Law might be a career choice for them in the future.

Why study Law?

Law is a valuable subject as it affects so much of our lives. To be able to understand the law making process is therefore extremely important and exciting. A level Law offers students the opportunity to become familiar with and gain insight into all aspects of the English legal system. They are encouraged to be aware of the continually changing and developing nature of the subject and become better informed of their legal rights. Students are expected to keep up to date and be aware of recent legal developments by using resources such as the Ministry of Justice website, the law reports in “The Times” newspaper and reading and noting from their copy of A Level Law Review Magazine.

Even if students choose not to study Law at university, they well become better-informed citizens and gain many generic skills such as factual retention, summarizing material, wider reading and independent study - all of which will be of enormous help in any later studies or career.

Which syllabus do we follow?

We follow the AQA specification for Law

How many units are there and when do examinations take place?

There are four units in total: two at AS (Year 12) and two at A2 (Year 13). For an outline of the units and the examination requirements, please look in the subject section of the website under Law.

AS students may sit Unit 1 in January and Unit 2 in June or they may sit both Units in June of their AS year.
Students sit Unit 3 and Unit 4 in June of their A2 Year

What do we study?

AS Unit 1: Law Making and the Legal System:

The students begin with a fascinating study of the legislative process in this country, which includes looking at influences on Parliamentary law making and the need for Delegated legislation. A highly instructive visit to both Houses of Parliament to witness parliamentary law making in practice complements this element of the course. We then go on to consider how Judges in this country both make and interpret the Law, as well as looking at the Legal System as a whole: the Civil and Criminal court structure and appeals process, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and complete this Unit with a close study of legal personnel – Barristers, Solicitors, including sources of advice and legal funding and the Judiciary.

AS Unit 2: Introduction to Criminal Liability and Introduction to Tort

In this Unit students will learn about the underlying principles of criminal liability in relation to five different non-fatal offences against the person and will be taught how to recognise and apply these to given factual scenarios. They will learn how to use authority – to cite relevant statutes and case law – in order to apply the law to the facts in the scenario and come to a reasoned conclusion as to which criminal offence or offences have been committed.

There is plenty of opportunity for students apply their understanding of how a crime is prosecuted through our courts and what they know about the likely outcome as far as sentencing is concerned to up-to-date criminal cases, which may at the time be being reported in the media.

Students are taken to visit the Magistrates’ Courts where they will observe a summary trial. There will also be the opportunity to sit in on proceedings in a Crown Court or, if possible, at the Old Bailey, and witness an indictable or either way offence being dealt with by a Judge and Jury.

Last year, an extremely lucky student was invited to sit as Judge’s Marshall at Inner London Crown Court. She had a completely unique perception of what goes on during a criminal trial as she sat up on the Bench with the Judge for the duration of the case of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to rob which he had before him.

In this Unit, students will also be introduced to the concept of liability in Negligence and study this important and most used tort in relation to liability for physical injury to people and damage to property.

Once again, students’ knowledge and understanding of the topic will be tested by seeing if they can correctly identify the issues raised in a scenario and give a sound explanation of the points using authority. This topic also looks at the procedure that takes place in the civil courts (including opportunities for Alternative Dispute Resolution) from the start of legal proceedings in a civil matter, up to the trial and concludes by examining with the way in which a court may award damages to a successful claimant.

This element of the Unit is very practical as it is quite likely that students may find themselves involved in some kind of civil action at some point or other in their lives. Visits to the local County Court or even the High Court sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, are aimed at giving students a real insight into how the civil justice system operates in this country.

A2 Unit 3: Criminal Law: Fatal and non-fatal offences against the person, including murder, voluntary manslaughter and the defences available

A2 Unit 4: Criminal Law: Offences against Property and Concepts of Law

In the two A2 Units, the knowledge and skills of different aspects of Criminal law acquired at AS are expanded and developed. Students will be expected to stay completely up to date with recent changes to the law. For example, the partial defence of provocation to the charge of murder has just been replaced by the defence of loss of control. It will be necessary for students to monitor how this new statutory defence is applied in the Crown Court and whether, when cases are appealed to the higher courts, new precedents are set. In addition, a new element of evaluation of the defences in criminal law, as well as discussion of possible further reforms of the current law, is now included in these Units.

The Concepts of Law element of Unit 4 will require students to demonstrate their ability to relate their knowledge of legal processes, institutions and substantive law to different concepts of law (Law and Morals, Law and Justice, Judicial Creativity, Fault and Balancing Conflicting Interests), and, at the same time, make references to contemporary issues. This element will be tested in the examination by the requirement that students answer one essay question out of a choice of three.

Beyond A Level for Law Students

The subject is eminently suited to a would-be lawyer, although it must be stressed that it is not necessary to study the subject at A Level in order to read it at university. Indeed, it is not even necessary to read Law at university in order to enter one of the professions (Barrister or Solicitor) as it is possible to do a law conversion course. However, the intellectual discipline, the problem-solving and essay-writing skills developed by this A level are invaluable to anyone interested in taking a Humanities degree at university.

AQA specification

http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-2160-W-SP.PDF

Past Papers and Mark Schemes AQA

http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/business/law_materials.php?id=05&prev=

Text books and resources

AS Level

Title	Author	Link	ISBN -10
AQA Law for As	Currer, Price, Smith	Link	074879865X
A Level Law Review		Link

A2 Level

Title	Author	Link	ISBN -10
AQA Law for A2	Currer, Tufal	Link	0748798668
A Level Law Review		Link

Lectures will take place at 5:00pm in the Drama studio.

(Refreshments at 4:30pm)

Date	Speaker
17th November	Mrs Jane Bailey (Barrister-at-Law)	Mrs Bailey specialises in Criminal Law and will entertain her listeners with stories from her cases in the Crown Court, as well as offering advice to those interested in a career in Law.
1st December	Berwin Leighton Paisner (City Law Firm)	A partner from this top 15 City and International law firm will talk about the firm's work in the real estate and corporate spheres in London, Brussels and Abu Dhabi.