UCL FACULTY OF LAWS

LLM Programme

The taught modules offered on the LLM programme vary from year to year. Please check the full list of taught modules list for details of modules running in specific academic years. We make every effort to ensure that every module will be offered, but modules are subject to change and cancellation. You are therefore advised to check this site regularly for further updates throughout the year preceding entry to the LLM programme.


PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL JUSTICE (LAWSG160)
Credit value: 30 credits (12 ECTS)
Module Convenor:
Dr John Sorabji 		Other Teachers:
Intercollegiate teaching: No
Teaching Method: 20 x two-hour seminars
Who may enrol: LLM students
Prerequisites: None
Barred module combinations: None
Core module for specialism: Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Assessment
Practice Assessment: To be confirmed
Assessment method for LLM students: 3-hour unseen written examination
Assessment method for SIL students: N/A
Module Overview

Module summary

This module provides an in-depth study of the Principles of Civil Justice.

It is a programme of study about the fundamental questions and issues of principle common to all civil justice systems. As such it critically examines the various theories of procedural justice from Bentham to contemporary theories; procedure's relationship with substantive law, the manner in which the principles which underpin theories of procedural justice are given concrete expression in civil justice systems, through judicial-decision making and the right to fair trial gauranteed at common law and under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The module enables students to examine problems which arise in individual aspects of any civil justice system through a consideration of principle. It does so, primarily, through examining the approach taken to specific aspects of procedure within the English civil justice system, and the manner in which principle has shaped, and been applied to reform, them. It also calls for a degree of comparative study, particularly of Commonwealth, United States and civilian systems.

Module syllabus

Term 1

  • Introduction to Civil Procedure in England and Wales
  • Theories of Procedural Justice
  • Bentham’s theory of Judicial Procedure as Procedural Justice
  • Justice on the merits – England’s approach from 1873 – 1999
  • The Woolf reforms and a new approach to procedural justice
  • Adversarial process and effective active case management
  • Collective Proceedings, adversarial process and proportionality I
  • Collective Proceedings, adversarial process and proportionality II
  • Alternatives to Civil Justice – ADR I
  • Alternatives to Civil Justice – ADR II

Term 2

  • The right to fair trial under the common law and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights I
  • The right to fair trial under the common law and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights II
  • Interim Relief
  • Expert Evidence
  • Disclosure
  • Privilege from Disclosure I
  • Privilege from Disclosure II
  • Costs and Funding I
  • Costs and Funding II
  • Appeals and Finality of Litigation

Recommended materials

The following list of recommended materials is not intended to be compulsory. A detailed reading list for each topic will be also be supplied.

Civil Procedure Rules
The Civil Procedure Rules 1998
The White Book (Sweet & Maxwell)
The Green Book (Butterworths)

Journals
The Civil Justice Quarterly
The Journal of the International Association of Procedural Law

Reform Reports
Woolf, Access to Justice: Interim Report to the Lord Chancellor on the Civil Justice System in England and Wales (Interim Report)
Woolf, Access to Justice: Final Report to the Lord Chancellor on the Civil Justice System in England and Wales (1996) (Final Report)
Jackson, Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Preliminary Report Vol I. and Vol. II. (May 2009)
Jackson, Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report (December 2009)

General texts
Jolowicz, On Civil Procedure, (2000)
Fox, Justice in the Twenty-First Century (2000)
Andrews, English Civil Procedure (2003)
Zuckerman, Zuckerman on Civil Procedure: Principles of Practice (2006)
Joseph Jacob, Civil Justice in the Age of Human Rights (2007)
Andrews, The Modern Civil Process (2008)
Andrews, The Three Paths of Justice, (2012)
Issacharoff, Civil Procedure (2011)
Genn, Paths to Justice, (Hart) (1999)

Hamlyn Lectures
Jack Jacob, The Fabric of English Civil Justice (1987)
Zander, The State of Justice, (Sweet & Maxwell) (2000)
Genn, Judging Civil Justice, (Cambridge) (2010)

Collections of Papers
Jack Jacob, The Reform of Civil Procedural Law and Other Essays (1982)
Scott (ed), International Perspectives on Civil Justice (1990)
Galligan, Procedure (1992)
Cranston & Zuckerman (eds), Reform of Civil Procedure: Essays on ‘Access to Justice’ (1995)
Zuckerman (ed), Civil Justice in Crisis: Comparative Perspectives of Civil Procedure (1999)
Dwyer (ed), Civil Procedure Rules Ten Years On (2009)

Preliminary reading

Andrews, English Civil Procedure (2003) or Andrews, The Three Paths of Justice, (2012)
Zuckerman, Zuckerman on Civil Procedure: Principles of Practice (2006)
Solum, Procedural Justice, (78) Southern California Law Review (2004) 181

These books and the article contain an overview of the issues which will be discussed in the module.

Other information:

Lecture handouts and other materials will be provided electronically. Students will be encouraged to read widely; specific articles and authorities from the reading list will be highlighted for study.

Guest lectures from leading scholars, judges and other experts will be organised. A detailed knowledge of English civil procedure is not required for this course.
Prizes for this module: To be confirmed


APPLICATION NOTICES

The application process for the 2013-14 academic session is open.
The deadline for applications to be received has been extended to Monday 1 July 2013

Please refer to the How to apply section for information on the application process.