FAMILY LAW - 2021/2

Module Overview

The law relating to the family is of crucial importance to every individual whether adult or child.  It is family law that regulates interpersonal relationships.  Family law provides the legal framework for the establishment of marriage and civil partnerships, the dissolution of marriage and civil partnerships, the legal consequences of marriage, civil partnerships and cohabitation, the financial implications upon the dissolution of those relationships and the legal regulation of domestic violence.

 

Module provider

School of Law

Module Leader

THANAPAL Vickie (Schl of Law)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None  

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• History and development of family law: themes and trends


• The law of marriage (including same sex marriage) and civil partnership


• The law of nullity


• Cohabitation


• The law governing divorce and dissolution


• Financial provision upon separation, divorce and dissolution


• The role of child support


• Family Law's response to the problem of domestic violence


• Discretionary power of the courts under Inheritance (Provisions of Family and Dependents) Act 1975

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

Identification of Issues

students should demonstrate the ability to identify the legal issues raised by the questions

Analysis of the law and application

students should demonstrate the ability to analyse the relevant law, recognising gaps and inconsistencies, and should be able to apply that law to the issues raised by the questions

Evaluation and synthesis

the law should be subjected to critical analysis and, where appropriate, its wider context should be considered.

Conclusions

students should demonstrate the ability to draw appropriate conclusions, based upon their analysis of the issues raised by the questions

In particular, the assessment addresses all learning outcomes listed above.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

1 x 2 hour exam where students are required to answer two questions. One essay question, and one problem question.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will undertake 1 x formative mock exam where they will be required to answer one question in 1 hour.

‘The assessment method for each module has been selected to test a variety of key skills, competences and outcomes as required by QAA. As such, assessment method cannot be changed. Reasonable adjustment may be made on application subject to ALS approval AND only where such adjustment still allows for the required skills, key competences and outcomes to be assessed at an equivalent level.’

Module aims

• To provide an understanding of the way in which family law operates in the UK and how it compares to other jurisdictions where appropriate
• To critically assess the sources of family law
• To identify and critically assess the law governing marriage, civil partnerships and   cohabitation
• To understand the law concerning divorce, dissolution and separation
• To critically assess the ambit and nature of financial provision and child support
• To highlight the role of the law in dealing with the issue of domestic violence
• To achieve practical and critical understanding of the scope and extent of courts¿ discretionary powers under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Introduce students to the subject areas and provide an overview to enable students to understand the basic principles and concepts.  The tutorials will delve deeper into the complexities of the subject and consider key principles for the analysis of familial legal situations.  Students will be provided with preliminary reading references but will be expected to undertake additional independent research into the subject.  During tutorials students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to apply that research to discuss given legal problems, to demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and proposing solutions to such problems, and to evaluate, critically research and advance scholarship in relevant areas.

The learning and teaching methods include:

11 x 2 hour lectures and 6 x 1 hour tutorials

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: LAW3065

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.