Legal Systems coursework guide

Hi everybody and welcome back to the Frived Tutor podcast for BCU Law Students with me, Karl Swini, one of your Frived Tutors. As I've said on previous episodes, this podcast series is to help to support law students at this university and this episode specifically is about the legal systems module at level four. So we're here today talking about the upcoming piece of written work that's due in on the 12th of January. So if you're a student at a different level, this episode is probably less relevant to you because this is very specifically targeted at the students doing legal systems at the moment. And I'm delighted to be joined by the module leader for legal systems and his name is Philip O'Amen and Philip, how are you today? And thanks for joining me. Hello, Kelly. Hello, everyone. I'm good. Not too bad. How are you? Very good. Thank you. We're recording just before Christmas. So certainly, I'm feeling very festive, Philip. I hope you are too. It's been in long semester. So yeah, I don't wait till being the festive module. Absolutely. And yeah, obviously students will also be aware that this assignment is coming up in January. So Philip, can you just give us a quick overview of this assignment? Can you talk us through some of the basic details about what's actually involved of this piece of work? Sure. So this coursework, the title of the coursework is the Human Rights Act 1998 on the mind parliamentary sovereignty. So it is a 1500 word essay. I will want students to unpack that particular subject area by looking at what they understand by parliamentary sovereignty, which we have discussed in class. So we also want them to look at the different elements of that and then bring it into the context of the human rights act, how the courts have interpreted the human rights act vis-à-vis parliamentary sovereignty can record in the process of integrity, any provisions of the human rights act on the mind parliamentary sovereignty or can they take a more differentia approach? So that is what we really want students to discuss. Perfect. And how would you advise students to prepare for this assignment? And in particular, I'm wondering what are the most useful resources they can look at on Moodle? I think the starting point will be for students to download the assessment brief, the coursework assessment brief is online and this assessment is what 80% of the entire month. So in that brief, there is comprehensive information on what we want them to do. I have also uploaded what I call coursework guidance on that the assessment information brief, where students will be able to know exactly what we are looking for. So in terms of the assessment, we're looking at two different things, one, the contents, the substantive content and also we very particular about the procedural aspect of it. So it is not just noise law, but noise hard to articulate the law in such a way as to convince a judge. As Marcus, we as a judge, so we have played that role. So they should be able to provide a very good introduction. And in that introduction, they should do three things. The first one is to tell the reader what the essay, what they seek to do in the essay. So this essay seeks to do a B and C, right. Then they should also use the introduction to provide context. Why would discuss the parliamentary sovereignty? How relevant is it? Is it a pillar in the within the UK position of framework? They should provide that context. And the last thing a good introduction should do is to signpost the arguments that we follow. So what are the sections? Does the essay, is it made up of say five sections and what are articulated in those sections? So all of this would be articulated within an introduction. And just one thing in terms of Moodle that I'll mention, which you welcome to agree or disagree with. But I know on your Moodle page for the week six, there's a feedback document, which if students look at that, it's from the workshop in week six, the feedback document. If they go to task three in that week, there's quite a nice breakdown that will be very helpful for this task. Is that right? Yes, I will just go to come to that. In terms of substantive contents, there are some weeks that are really important as far as this assessment course. And week two, the lecture in week two is fundamental because as well we discuss parliamentary sovereignty. Then the feedback in week three is also very important because that is the feedback on parliamentary sovereignty. Then week five was devoted to examine how to structure and essay. So the lecture I gave you week five will help them to actually know what we are looking for in terms of the substance and the procedure. So they should download and also listen to the recording in week five. Then week six, the workshop in week six was devoted to provide the support on how to use a scholar and all of that. So they should also download the feedback in week six. Then week nine and ten or with nine and ten are also very important because what we did in those two weeks was to consider human rights. And because the assessment is not just on parliamentary sovereignty but also touches on human rights, those two weeks would also be important. They should download the documents and those those two weeks. Yeah. Right. So in other words, students, there's lots of useful stuff on Moodle that's going to help you with this assignment. So I feel that if you obviously talk a bit there about what students can include in their essay in their introduction, for example, is there anything else you wanted to say about what you want to see students do in this piece of work which could be about the structure or the content or whatever you think it's useful to talk about right now? What would you say? Yeah. Yeah. Beyond the introduction, of course, the issue also have the main body where they will discuss the parliamentary sovereignty and human rights. I do it that I normally encourage students to use subsections. Yeah. A good structure is really recommended. It should use structure for each of the thematic areas within the essay. For example, parliamentary sovereignty, the impact of human rights. So those could be subsections so that the reader can clearly see that the talking points are present. Then you mentioned earlier whether there are sources that will help students. Yes, there are relevant sources that have been made available Moodle, but we also encourage students to carry out independent research. A strong student or that aims at having the first class is one who goes beyond what has been made available. So they should be able to articulate within the wider context of the body of knowledge. And they should also be mindful that not all sources are relevant and authoritative. So there are some predatory sources that we don't give credit for. I have seen students using law teacher Wikipedia or bridge. No, when we see those sources, we don't give credit to them because they are not authoritative. You know, so they should rely on the West law. I mean, sources from West laws. It can use West law, the database necessities here online to get peer review journals that we enable them to underpin their arguments. That is, yeah, that is really important. And the other thing I wanted to say is they should try as much as possible to be professional in communicating their ideas. What I mean by that is, well, where they speak to us in class, we could see that they use contractions, which is really okay, but in the professional right top like this, just say, I cannot, not, I can't, don't say, I won't, I will not. So it's important you write everything in full because it is a former essay. So we pay attention to the use of grammar, the use of, you know, yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. So yeah, I was going to ask you about some of the things you want to see students avoid doing in this piece of work. I think you've touched on one or two of them already, such as avoiding using sources that are not credible. But is there anything else you wanted to say about, you know, perhaps some common mistakes students might be tempted to make with this assignment that they should try to avoid? Is there anything you'd recommend? Yeah, I think the other thing I will recommend is a student should try to, they should avoid using or their reference style. Oscola is important. So that is what they're good to use if they find a safe to research after that graduation. So that is what we want them to use. So it is important they abide by that. And another thing is that students should avoid being descriptive. At this level, we do not expect them to have the same level of criticality that a PhD student would have, but at least let them show that they can be analytical. So they should be more analytical than descriptive. So you don't don't a particular case decision or case law decision or a journal article because scholarly piece on us. You need to engage with it. If you say according to Philip, then you have told me what he says, what have you made of that? So you should be able to take a position. Like the way we have framed the question, it's such that there are two ways to it. So does the human rights act on the mind parliamentary solidarity? They say yes, aspect, aspect, aspect. So it goes to them will be the one who will be able to consider both sides of the divide and then take a position. By telling us that having looked at this and looked at the other one, I think I align myself with A rather than B. So it is really part that I would know where his student starts on this particular essay. Yeah, that's great. Thanks, Philip. What I would add at this point is that like I said earlier, this assignment is due in on the 12th of January. Of course, the deadline date might be slightly different for students with extensions and so on, but the 12th of January for most students. The university is going to be closed for a period over Christmas and new year, but then we're back on the 5th of January and both myself and Fatima, the other 5th tutor, will be around in that week beginning the 5th of January to help students if they need it. So you're welcome to book a one-to-one tutorial with us, for example, where you can either ask us any questions about things like the structure, about things like is my argument clear enough here? Like Philip was just saying students need to articulate their position. We are not experts in the subject, but we can, we've read a lot of essays, we've written a lot of essays, so we know how to check essays for things like clarity, video, or meaning, and so on. So that week of the 5th of January, if you need support students, do reach out. Either via email, we also will send out the link so that students can book in with us on the university system. There'll be lots of support available, basically from both of us, both of the five tutors, if you feel like you need it. And that will be the same, of course, when we get to semester two and your next set of modules as well. Okay, well, thanks, Philip, is there anything else you wanted to mention at all about this assignment? Or do you think we've covered the main, the main things students need to hear about? Yeah, I think we've covered everything. The other thing I would say is students should also try to prioritize the meta-head spirit. Yeah, they should take time off to rest so that it's not just the assembly, they need to be in the best state of mind to be able to come up with a very good piece of work. Yeah, I think that's a good message to convey. I would also say good luck everybody for this assignment when you do get there in January. Again, if you need support, please do reach out because myself and Fatima are here to help. So yeah, that brings us to the end of this particular podcast episode. I'll be back with more of these episodes in 2026. If you're listening to this and you want to get in touch with me for any reason whatsoever, feel free to email me at [email protected]. As I said, there's a bit of a university shutdown over Christmas and New Year, so there's a period where it might take me a while to get back to you, but I'll be back in January and we'll be available. But that's all for today. Like I said, good luck for this assignment students, and until next time, take care. Bye now.