ADVOCACY AND LEGAL ETHICS IN CRIMINAL LAW - 2025/6

Module Overview

The module links with directed SQE1 preparation from relevant sections of the embedded online learning tool.

The module will introduce students to the essential skills of advocacy and to the requirements of professional ethics in advocacy. 

The module will take a practical and theoretical approach. 

Students will receive an insight into the characteristics of good advocacy including effective case-analysis, communication skills, rhetorical persuasion, analytical rigour, and effectively constructed oral argument.

They will be required to practice their skills using advocacy exercises that are common in practice.  The module will also focus on the standards of professionalism that apply to conduct and behaviour in practice and comprise a framework for ethical and competent practice.

Successful completion of the module will enable students to be effective advocates for the benefit of clients, and the efficient administration of justice. Students will know how to use advocacy skills that are compatible with sound ethics, be able to respond to ethical issues, and know where to find additional support for complex ethical problems.   

This module fosters resourcefulness and resilience, advocacy being a skill that requires confidence, the ability to think on one’s feet, and to be resourceful in identifying effective responses to argument.

The module is also important to global and cultural capabilities with legal ethical concerns often uniting various global jurisdictions. 

Employers welcome the skill of advocacy in the wide range of contexts where being able to give effective oral explanations is important; the module thus enhances employability.

All modules in this programme link with preparation for the SQE and for future professional practice. The pedagogy of this module, including the assessment pattern, relates academic and vocational skills to professional practice in a legal environment.

Module provider

Surrey Law School

Module Leader

PETERS Katy (Law)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 60

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

The module will link with directed SQE1 preparation from the embedded online learning tool; in particular the section relating to criminal law and practice.

Students will build on the SQE1 preparation materials to prepare plans and to present arguments in a courtroom setting.

Guest speakers and presenters (solicitors, barristers & Judges) will lead interactive workshop sessions on professional ethics and masterclasses on advocacy theory and practice.

Students will have the opportunity to participate in mock courtroom scenarios.

Students will have the opportunity to consider issues of perspective, positioning and presentation in relation to physical, hybrid and online court hearings.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to equip students with sound theoretical understanding and practical skills to:

1. Critically understand the theoretical strands which contribute to designing a successful advocacy strategy.


2. Critically differentiate between the different models and techniques of advocacy.


3. Engage in planning, structuring, and rationalizing an advocacy plan in relation to an assigned practical case study.


4. Develop and apply practical and transferable professional interpersonal skills (teamwork, oral communication, problem solving, conflict de-escalation etc.)

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

1. A single advocacy exercise  – Students will be presented with a complex fact pattern (which may involve multiple parties) and will be required to deliver an advocacy exercise

Students will be assessed on the skills demonstrated during the advocacy exercise, and their planning. (Addresses all learning outcomes stated above)  

Formative assessment:

• Submitting a draft advocacy plan


• Simulated advocacy exercises

Feedback: Students will be provided with formative feedback during the learning activities in the module. All students will undertake simulated advocacy exercises during their teaching sessions and will be provided with comprehensive tutor and peer feedback. The students will also be provided with written general feedback on drafting their advocacy plans which will be uploaded on Surreylearn.

Module aims

• Directed SQE1 preparation from relevant sections of embedded online learning tool (including completion of MCQs).
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the theories of advocacy.
• Demonstrate effective application of the different models of advocacy.
• Demonstrate a sound and practical understanding of applicable ethical standards.
• Identify ethical issues.
• Respond appropriately to ethical issues.
• Draft and deliver a structured and practical advocacy plan.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Follow a problem-based learning methodology.


• Delivered via interactive workshops with a clinical related element in the form of advocacy exercises.


• External practitioners contribute towards discussions and feedback during workshops.


• Provide experiential learning to enable students to develop effective techniques for preparation and delivery of advocacy in a mock scenario that resembles real practice.

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

Lectures, workshops and individual study.

Introductory lectures and captured content will provide students with guidance on advocacy skills.

Working in groups, students actively engage in interviewing skills practice and provide feedback to each other. Class feedback will assist students to identify general strengths and weaknesses.

Students gain important transferable skills, enhancing employability including digital literacy and research, communication, organisation and analysis.

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: LAWM170

Other information

The School of Law is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Digital Capabilities: Students will apply and refine their digital capabilities through engagement with a variety of online learning applications and activities. Students are expected to be proficient in navigating the University of Surrey’s VLE (Surreylearn) to support their learning, communicate with peers and tutors and submit assessment output. Students are further expected to be proficient in utilizing a variety of digital legal databases to effectively source research materials and complete learning tasks. The teaching activities in this module will also embed usage of interactive digital educational applications such as Padlet, Mentimeter and Poll Everyhere to enhance student learning. All students are expected to be proficient in using professional digital tools such as email, MS Suite applications and digital communication applications such as Zoom, MS Teams, Google docs etc. at a basic level and will be provided with opportunities to engage with these tools during their learning activities and communications with tutors and peers. Students will be able to make use of the School of Law’s Court of the Future to explore the use and impact of technology in a courtroom setting.

Employability: This module is a strong embodiment of the Employability pillar and is a vital contributor towards students developing and refining a key transferable and professional skill. Advocacy is not only a fundamental function of the legal profession, skills of effective advocacy are also essential to successful interpersonal relationships and conflict resolution, important in all professional environments. The module will prepare students to be effective advocates when they embark on legal practice and will empower them with skills to diversify their professional engagement into areas of ADR, international relations, diplomacy, and agency.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: This module supports the development of students’ global and cultural capabilities by strengthening their understanding of one of the foundational elements of global communication. Effective advocacy is essential for building greater global connections which will prove advantageous for all parties. Advocacy is frequently used in building and mediating international relations and in resolving international conflicts and disputes. A nuanced understanding of advocacy techniques will add to students’ cultural capital in an increasingly internationalized professional and personal environment.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: This module supports the development of resourcefulness and resilience in students by requiring students to engage in a variety of learning techniques designed to encourage active learning through participation, reflection and co-operation. Students will draw on individual and collective resourcefulness to design practical and critically reasoned solutions to the challenges raised by the complex issues within the workshop problem tasks. Resilience and resourcefulness are further integrated within the module through the assessment strategy which require students to complete a multi-faceted practical exercise through which they identify and apply appropriate and relevant skills to the desired standard. Students will be able to undertake self-assessment, engage in open-ended inquiry and to make and defend their own choices and to determine and manage suitable tasks in the completion of their assessment. The practical assessment will also build and utilize resourcefulness and resilience by requiring students to construct and adapt strategies in real time and where unknown and unpredictable variables may arise in course of the task. The exercise will also assist in building students’ confidence in their ability to make independent decisions and to reflect and take ownership of the results arising. The classroom simulation formative exercises and feedback provide an opportunity for students to fail or make errors in a “safe” environment and to learn from such experience to building confidence and self-efficacy.

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 2025/6 academic year.