Introduction

This course considers the way that judges make law, how the common law system works and the advantages and disadvantages of a system like the British one that relies heavily on such rules and rule making. The course will set out the basic differences between ‘civil code’ systems and ‘common law’ systems, and consider the relationship between judge-made law and statutory law. This course provides a sample of Level 1 study in Law.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Understand what is meant by a common law system
• Demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of what is meant by the common law and how its rules are made and changed
• Discuss how a precedent can be altered or avoided
• Identify the ratio decidendi and obiter dictum of a court case
• Read and analyze legal materials (cases, statutes and academic commentary).