module specification

This module aims to provide students with knowledge of the legal rules and  principles relating to Child Law and proposed reforms and to encourage critical analysis of the law in context.

In Child Law module, the topics covered in the module are private law disputes concerning children, local authorities and families, assisted reproduction and parenthood.
cogent academic writing in the context of criminal law, emphasising the use of primary and secondary sources.

This module supports graduate opportunity and employability by giving you key knowledge of a subject which is practised within the professional legal sector; and by giving you a host of transferable skills, including research, critical thinking and communication.

•    Introduction to the course including funding, paternity and professional conduct
•    Parental responsibility and child arrangement programme
•    Delay principle and no order, prohibited steps and special guardianship 
•    Child arrangement order and domestic violence
•    Child arrangement orders and special guardianship, change of name, leaving the jurisdiction of UK
•    Local Authority provision and support for children, care supervision orders, deprivation of liberty order
•    Adoption
•    Child abduction
•    Revision and Consolidation

All these subjects pervade each of the Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
 

Learning & Teaching Strategy
Weekly two-hour lecture and one-hour seminar.
The lecture will be used for:
• Dissemination of knowledge through an overview of each topic with detailed guidance on appropriate aspects;
• An introduction to relevant academic literature;
• Guidance on learning strategies;
• Use of WebLearn and IT resources;
• Whole group questions and discussion.
The seminar will be used for the development of skills necessary to attain the module learning outcomes through:
• Written and oral questions/answers designed to reinforce fundamental rules, principles and cases;
• A range of step-by-step analytical exercises;
• Problem solving;
• IT tasks, such as research of cases and statutes;
• Legal writing;
• Oral presentation;
• Oral communication;
• Teamwork.

Blended Learning
All learning materials, previous examination questions and sample Q/A’s will be on blackboard for use in directed private study.

Student engagement will be encouraged in both lectures and seminars through weekly use of WebLearn for access to all of the above materials.

There will be required use of the professional legal databases, especially Westlaw and Lexis Plus, for legal research.

Opportunities for reflective learning/pdp
Each weekly seminar will contain space for students to reflect on what they have learnt in relation to the overall syllabus. There will be frequent feedback opportunities structured into the timetable and a range of sample answers posted onto WebLearn.

There will also be a formative exam of multiple choice questions.
This will assess the ability cogently to analyse legal case studies within the context of the child law, by way of situational judgment and fact-based MCQ’s.

Employability
Employability strategy will aim to acquaint students with a range of employment avenues both in the legal profession and in those professions into which legal qualifications and skills are transferable.

Student’s Study Responsibilities
The need for attendance, punctuality, preparation and engagement will be emphasised with particular reference to written and IT research, problem-solving, team-work, discussion, debate and critical awareness of the subject.

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

1, Demonstrate a systematic understanding of key aspects of the syllabus.

2. Demonstrate the ability critically to discuss case study problems relating to the syllabus, devising and sustaining arguments, and showing appreciation of uncertainties and ambiguities in legal principles and policy.

3. Demonstrate the ability to write critical, discursive essays relating to the topics covered in the syllabus, commenting on current research and primary sources.

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/A324F487-D350-8897-9102-D7C28938FC35.html

CORE
Family Law: Text, Cases, and Materials, by R George et al, 5th edition 13 July 2023
Family Law by Jonathan Herring , (Longman Law Series) 11th edition, 2023
Straightforward Guide to Family Law, A: Revised Edition, by David Bryan - 2025 
ADDITIONAL
Blackstone's Statutes on Family Law (Blackstone's Statute Series), by R George, 31st edition,  2023
Family Law Paperback, edited by Ruth Lamont, 2nd edition, 2022
DATABASES
Westlaw Edge UK
Lexis+ UK