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LAW3302 - Border Criminology: Laws, Borders and Immigration

  • Offered for Year: 2027/28
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Mohamed El-Shewy
  • Owning School: Newcastle Law School
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 1 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0

Aims

  • To introduce students to the developing field of border criminology.
  • To promote deeper thinking and critical analysis of border controls by assessing the growing intersection between criminal justice and immigration policy
  • To familiarise students with criminology and border studies literature.
  • To provide students with an understanding of key elements of the UK law on citizenship, immigration and border controls, placing them in their historical, political and social context.
  • To develop a deeper understanding of the legal, social, and cultural implications of the growing emphasis on border controls in contemporary policy-making.
  • To enable students to apply their knowledge in a clear, logical and critical manner to factual scenarios.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module starts by introducing students to critical debates and developments in the field of border criminology. The module is interdisciplinary by nature. Students will be engaging with the subject through theoretical perspectives such as critical legal studies, criminology of mobility and postcolonial theories. The syllabus will be organised around the following key themes:

  • Introduction to Border Criminology: Law, Crime and Mobility (What is border criminology? The concept of crimigration/Overview of UK immigration law framework)
  • Theoretical Foundations: Criminalisation, Social Control and Mobility
  • Citizenship, Nationality and the Production of Illegality
  • Criminalisation of Migration: From Administrative to Penal
  • Policing the Border: Discretion, Surveillance and Control
  • Digital Borders and Everyday Bordering
  • Immigration Detention and Punishment
  • Border Harms and Violence (direct and structural violence)
  • Race, Gender and Postcolonial Perspectives
  • Contestation, Resistance and Legal Challenges
  • Alternative Futures

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities Lecture 13 1:00 13:00 Two lectures in week 1 and 2. Then 1 lecture per week
Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities Small group teaching 3 1:00 3:00 Week 2, 10 and 11
Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities Workshops 7 2:00 14:00 Week 3 – 9. Max. 4 groups with 20-25 students
Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities Dropin/surgery 3 1:00 3:00 N/A
Guided Independent Study Directed research and reading 107 1:00 107:00 N/A
Guided Independent Study Assessment preparation and completion 60 1:00 60:00 N/A
Total 200:00  
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures provide students with an overview of each topic, including academic scholarship, key concepts and issues. The first two weeks will have two lectures to frontload the legal foundations and key discussions, providing the basis for the remainder of the module.

The seminar (weeks 2, 10, 11) enables students to develop and consolidate knowledge and understanding.

The workshops (weeks 3 - 9) are active, experiential sessions that will foster practical legal skills, critical thinking, and professional competence. In the workshops, students will engage with the intersection between criminal law and immigration management through structured discussion at the beginning of each workshop to develop and consolidate knowledge and understanding, followed by active and group-based activities such as simulations, case studies, role-plays, and collaborative problem-solving. The workshops will also provide a collaborative learning space with core sessions structured to guide students in the drafting of the policy paper, from identifying the policy area to peer-to-peer feedback on their legal critique and reform/ policy suggestion.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay 1 1 M 30 Policy paper 1,500 words
Essay 2 1 A 70 Essay 2,000 words
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Summative assessment is provided by means of an assessed essay and the production of a policy paper. Together, these assessments ensure that students are evaluated across both analytical depth and practical application, mirroring the interdisciplinary and practice-relevant nature of the field.

Policy Paper: The policy paper is an authentic assessment that gives students the opportunity to demonstrate the essential knowledge and skills within a real-world addressing an area in which they believe needs reforming. This assessment promotes students' higher-order thinking and deeper learning. Scaffolding for the assessment will be delivered via the workshops, where students will be guided to identify a policy problem, analyse the legal framework, critically engage with it, and draft recommendations. The workshops will also include peer review of the draft policy paper.

Essay: The essay enables students to engage deeply with the theoretical, legal, and socio-political dimensions of border criminology. The assessment aligns with the module's emphasis on critical thinking, doctrinal understanding, and engagement with academic literature.

Timetable