• Inactive for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Dr Sylvia de Mars
• Lecturer: Dr Francesco De Cecco, Dr David Reader

• 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.

Aims

Following the Stage 1 Semester 1 Constitutional Law and LIM modules, to start situating the UK as a legal actor in the rest of the world by examining its relationship with the European Union on a legal level. The first semester focuses on the constitutional effects of ‘Brexit’ on the UK, and the second semester considers trade law from the perspective of a country that used to be in the EU and is now (primarily) outside of it.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will be framed by the overarching question of what Brexit has meant for the UK.

In the first semester, several case studies of topics of constitutional law will be addressed, examining first the UK’s situation when it was still a Member State and then considering the ‘future relationship’ between the EU and the UK.

Case studies will vary from year to year, but may include topics such as:

•       EU institutions and decision-making: how were decisions affecting the UK taken when the UK was a Member State, and how are they taken now that it is not?
•       The role of the Court of Justice in developing EU law: to what extent did CJEU activism affect the UK as a Member State, and to what extent will it do so in the future?
•       ‘Retaining’ EU law: what happens when ‘retained’ EU law changes at the EU level? (This will follow on from Stage 1 teaching.)
•       The End of EU Free Movement of Persons: a substantive case study of changes wrought by Brexit

In the second semester, we consider the foundations of the EU – the EU single market – from the perspective of a country that used to be in and is now outside of that market. We do this by considering the movement of goods and services at different levels of economic integration, and comparing how they function and what this means for economic activity in the UK.

•       Why do we trade, and how do we trade?
•       Little integration: the WTO rules
•       Extensive integration: the EU Single Market (using Northern Ireland to investigate free movement of goods, and the EU more generally to consider free movement of services)
•       The Brexit aftermath: a simple FTA (using the TCA concluded between the UK and the EU as an example)

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures (live as well as online lecture materials) will set out the knowledge base that students will need to explore the case studies tackled in the subject, which will be done in detail in the small group seminars. The small group seminars will have a dual function: to have the students critically consider and develop their own opinions about the debates introduced by the lectures, and to help them hone their practical skills by means of peer review and analysis of written work. The quizzes in relevant teaching weeks are there to for the students to check their understanding and to enable the teaching team to provide targeted further feedback on complex topics.

Private study is directed so as to broaden student knowledge and understanding and prepare them for research assignments, seminars, and assessment. Assessment preparation time gives an indication of the level of research or revision expected for each of the two assessments in this module.

3 hours of 'Drop-in/surgery' contact time are provided in this module as part of the Law School assessment and feedback policy such that markers and/or module leaders will offer the opportunity for one-to-one oral feedback on students' written work, in addition to written feedback on coursework front sheets and generic class feedback. The time given above is merely indicative and more time may be scheduled if necessary to meet the demand for individual feedback.

Assessment Methods

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

Exams

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The use of examination is justified in order to test the basic knowledge base conveyed in the module.

The coursework will evaluate written skill, research and analysis of a debated topic in the area of ‘Brexit’ law. On a broader level, both forms of assessment are intended to test the stated subject-specific and cognitive skills.

The weighting of coursework v exam was adjusted in light of student feedback in 20/21 and to reflect that the coursework examines fewer topics than the exam does.

Reading Lists

• LAW2162's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• LAW2162's Timetable