Course description
The Graduate Certificate in Law is offered on a part-time evening or day basis. The programme is aimed at graduates from a wide range of disciplines, including those who have not studied any law as part of their first degree.
Designed to supplement students’ existing knowledge and offer a valuable grounding in legal issues, the programme will enhance their graduate career prospects. Employees involved in human resource management, for example, will find the programme beneficial in its coverage of employment law and human rights law – areas which are especially relevant in this sector. Similarly, students from a general management, marketing or public sector management background will be able to select modules to suit their specific needs.
In all law modules the assessed coursework will be based on investigation of relevant legal concepts and either analysis and evaluation, or the application, of legal concepts to hypothetical problems. In addition, students will be encouraged to take a critical approach. The ability to evaluate the law and to draw independent conclusions will be developed progressively in each module.
Course Contents
The Graduate Certificate in Law introduces students both to the general principles of law and to those more specialised aspects of the Scottish legal system. Students may study a number of legal topics which include human rights law, criminal law, employment law, media law, medical ethics, and consumer law. The University regards law as not only a vocational study, but also as a broad liberal education and to this end, both the practical and theoretical aspects of current legal developments are examined rigorously.
*Introduction to Scots Law
If you have not already completed an introductory course in law, you will be required to complete the Introduction to Scots Law module before continuing with the law modules required to attain the Graduate Certificate. The Introduction to Scots Law module provides an introduction to law for business, with particular emphasis on the Scottish legal system, sources of law, law of contract, law of agency and law of delict. This module can be undertaken on a part-time day or evening basis during Trimester 1 as preparation for the advanced modules of the Graduate Certificate.
Professional Recognition
Some law modules will provide subject-by-subject exemptions from the examinations of the relevant professional bodies. Students who wish to go into legal practice may receive subject exemptions from fast track LLB programmes or exemptions for certain subjects, if they choose to work in a law office and take the Law Society exams as a route into the legal profession.
