LAW2263 : Equity and Trusts
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Available for Study Abroad and Exchange students, subject to proof of pre-requisite knowledge.
- Module Leader(s): Mr William Norcup-Brown
- Lecturer: Dr Yang Guo, Dr Anna McClean
- 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 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
1) To develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles of equity, with a particular focus on the institution of 'the trust.'
2) To understand the use of the trust in its original social context and in a modern context, both domestic and commercial.
3) To understand how the trust operates, and why it must operate within these constraints.
4) To develop critical views of the aims, approaches and doctrines equity takes.
Outline Of Syllabus
What is 'Equity': equity as assisting the common law or equity as an independent jurisprudence?
The institution of the trust
Topics to do with its nature, constitution, management, obligations and regulation, including judicial responses to things going wrong
Third party claims (personal/ proprietary)
Topics importing logically-ordered reasoning and multifactorial reasoning
Precise details within these bounds to be specified in the course handbook and topic outline. Whilst the module's precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
1. Express Trusts: Three Certainties, Constitution and Formalities
2. Resulting Trusts
3. Purposive and Charitable Trusts
4. Trusts of Land and the 'Common Intention Constructive Trust'
5. Liability for Breach of Trust and Equitable Remedies
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 22 | 1:00 | 22:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 60:00 | 60:00 | N/A |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 10 | 0:30 | 5:00 | MCQs as to (i) basic learning outcomes and (ii) ‘gotchas’; the latter feeding into further study. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | Seminars |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 3 | 1:00 | 3:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 105 | 1:00 | 105:00 | Reading, revision and seminar preparation |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lecturing will be used to provide an overview of both matters that need to be known in outline (where little further reading is required), and also matters that need to be known in detail, where it must be followed up with self-study from textbook chapters and academic articles.
Self-study is critical in order for the learner to grasp the detail and to spend time considering the material in depth, and for working through problems and constructing arguments at a slow enough pace for deep learning.
Seminars focus on developing students' understanding and knowledge of the law, as formulated at a basic level from the lectures and self-study. Students can check they have understood the foundational materials properly, before stretching their understandings of the law and key concepts further through comprehensive, analytical discussion.
Learners should close the feedback loop by reconsidering the seminar material that they have not fully understood or completed, after a seminar, in further self-study.
Five seminar cycles are required to meet the knowledge and skills objectives.
Consultation hours are another way of closing the feedback loop. Here, individual feedback and discussion is provided for matters that require further clarification following a seminar or lecture, or from a student's further reading.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Examination | 480 | 2 | A | 100 | 8 hour structure (beginning 8am and closing 4pm) |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The examination provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate achievement of the knowledge-based outcomes of the syllabus. Importantly, it also precludes skipping large parts of the module as the paper set will test the students' understanding of the entire syllabus. This assessment format will require full engagement from the students and will prevent them from focusing only on a small number of individual topics in order properly to prepare.
Furthermore, the open book, take home format is designed heavily to dissuade students from adopting memorisation and 'flash card' preparation strategies. Instead, this assessment will prioritise critical thinking, problem solving skills, research skills and the ability to construct persuasive legal arguments. The students will be supported throughout the semester in this transition away from the conventional examination approach used at secondary and further education levels, and the module is designed actively to develop the skills assessed in the chosen assessment format.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- LAW2263's Timetable