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Module

LAW3212 : Mediation and Civil Justice (Inactive)

  • Inactive for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Professor Bryan Clark
  • 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
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

This class examines the relationship between mediation, the law and legal process, in particular looking at such issues as confidentiality, adversarialism and civil justice and the role of judges and lawyers within the process. It considers recent reviews of civil justice for their impact on mediation, the influence that mediation and settlement have held for civil justice as well as critiques of mediation’s ‘institutionalisation’ from the UK and abroad. This module also examines the development of a mediation profession and issues such as training, continuous professional development, accreditation and regulation. The class also examines the role of the lawyer in mediation from the perspective of dispute forum selector and acting as a party advocate in the process.

Outline Of Syllabus

- Introduction to Mediation – history, development and main facets of the process
- Mediation styles and techniques
- Civil Justice – the nature and importance of civil justice; main features of formal justice processes, trends in civil justice reviews, critiques
- Mediation and formal civil justice – trends and critiques
- Lawyers’ relationship with Mediation – resistance, capture and appropriateness – the role of legal education, lawyer personality types, cultural influences and practice norms
- Lawyer advocacy – the role of lawyers in mediation - the new ‘advocacy’ and non-adversarial behaviour
- Current themes in mediation and formal civil justice – regulation, ODR, confidentiality

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture301:0030:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching51:005:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesDrop-in/surgery11:001:00N/A
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study1641:00164:00N/A
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The principal method of teaching shall be lectures with 30 held over the course of the year. Some of the lectures are likely to be more interactive than is standard with student led group work undertaken (where class size and facilities permit). The purpose of lectures is to provide students with a solid grounding in specific, relevant concepts, rules and ideas. The purpose of seminars is to allow students to test and deepen their understanding of particular concepts and ideas and develop their analytical and cognitive skills in the context of the close analysis of specific issues and texts. They also offer an opportunity for detailed discussion of issues covered in the lectures, and for developing and practicing essential legal skills of source synthesis and evidence- and research-based argument, as well as for giving feedback on student progress. In some seminars students will be required to prepare and delivery practical exercises including role plays.

Put together, the lectures and seminars will encourage an active, integrated approach to the study of law and develop critical thinking and allow for the development of new skiils.

Independent study on this module will include directed reading in advance of lectures, consolidation following lectures, and preparation for seminars. Students in seminars will be expected to critically engage with material in a manner consonant with level 3 study

Assessment Methods

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

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Written Examination1351A50N/A
Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay1M352000 words
Reflective log1M15Approx. 750 words
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The class shall be assessed by a combination of different techniques. The exam shall be used to test the breadth of knowledge of students and ability to engage critically across a range of themes. The essay shall the students to engage in a specific topic in detail, taking a critical, analytical approach to the issue. The reflective journal shall be completed at the end of the course. The reflective journal is designed to provide you with an opportunity to think about what you have learned and consider how you will apply it. There is no set format, but the following points may be pertinent: describe things that have ‘struck’ you on the course, describe particular moments in the small group tutorials and how they relate to the reading/teaching; consider situations in your work or personal life where learning from the course could be applied, or where you have applied it; describe your own learning; describe any changes in your thinking as a result of your experiences on the course or in the wider world

Reading Lists

Timetable