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The very first module that you will study on the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) at Cardiff
Law School is the English and Welsh Legal System (EWLS) which comprises a short and intensive introduction to the institutions and procedures of the legal system of England and
Wales. The module also introduces you to the principles of judicial reasoning and statutory interpretation. The module will be delivered in the first two weeks of the GDL with the assessment taking place in the third week of the course (see further below).
You will then move on to study the “Seven Foundations of Legal Knowledge” subjects of
Land Law, Contract, Tort, Equity and Trusts, Public Law, Criminal Law and European Union
Law. In addition, towards the end of the GDL course, you will need to write an extended essay on a topic taken from a different area of law.
As you are aware, given the intense nature of the EWLS module and the fact that the assessment takes place very early on in the GDL, you are required to undertake some reading before you enrol so that you can make the most of the initial lectures and other teaching sessions. This note tells you a little more about the module, how it is assessed and what you need to read and do by way of preparation before you enrol on the GDL.
Module content
In outline, on completion of the EWLS module, you should be able to:
1 describe the main legal institutions and procedures of the legal system of England and Wales;
2 explain the doctrine of precedent and recognise principles of judicial reasoning; and
3 explain and recognise the application of the rules of statutory interpretation.
The module covers the following topics:

the sources of law of England and Wales;

legislation – the enactment process;

the impact of the European Union and of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998;

the doctrine of judicial precedent;

statutory interpretation by the courts: rules and approaches;

the court system and hierarchy; tribunals; appeals; civil and criminal cases.
Assessment
As mentioned above, in the third week of the GDL course, on Thursday 19 th September
2013, you must take a summative assessment in EWLS. You must pass this assessment, or pass it at one of two later in-course reassessment opportunities, in order to be able to proceed with the GDL course. This is a mandatory requirement of any GDL course. Your mark in this assessment does not count towards your final grade on the GDL but you must pass the assessment in order to pass the GDL.
The assessment will be by way of a closed book examination lasting 1½ hours comprising a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions. It is pitched at an introductory level and designed to test basic knowledge and understanding of legal institutions and procedures without requiring extensive use of higher analytical skills, apart from some ability
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to use legal sources and recognise certain aspects of legal reasoning. For example, you may be required to identify and interpret, at a basic level, certain aspects of an extract from a judgment. We appreciate that this may seem a daunting prospect as you embark upon legal studies for the first time, but we aim to give you every support so that you are able to face this with confidence.
By way of preparation for the assessment, you will undertake at least one class test in a broadly similar format to that of the summative assessment and there will also be opportunities to answer assessment type questions and to carry out simple case analysis during the initial teaching period.
Pre-course reading
You will need to complete the reading detailed below from the set text for this module which is “Unlocking the English Legal System”, R Huxley-Binns, J. Martin, 3rd edition (2010),
(Hodder Education/Routledge) (ISBN 978-1-44-410919-1).
You should pay particular attention at this stage to the reading from chapters 1 – 5 (see below) although all topics covered in the set reading (other than those covered in Chapter
10) are potentially examinable.
The required reading from this textbook is as follows:
Chapter 1: The sources of law
Chapter 2: The doctrine of judicial precedent
Chapter 3: Statutory interpretation
Chapter 4: Civil courts
– the following sections only:

4.1

4.2

4.6 – 4.6.2

4.7
Chapter 5: Criminal courts and procedure – the following sections only:

5.1

5.3 – introductory paragraph only

5.5 – 5.8.4
Chapter 6: Appeals – the following sections only :

6.1

6.2
Chapter 8: Juries – the following sections only:

8.1

8.6
Chapter 9: Lay magistrates - section 9.1
only
Chapter 10: The legal profession – not examinable but this chapter is worth reading as it contains useful information about the profession and routes to qualification.
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Chapter 11: The judiciary – section 11.1 – 11.6 only
Appendix 1: Activities on judicial precedent and statutory interpretation (referred to in chapters 2 and 3).
Some guidance on the reading and other resources mentioned in the textbook
The required reading is detailed and not easy to understand and absorb in one go. You will therefore need to read the set chapters/sections more than once if at all possible before you enrol on the GDL. The reading may seem daunting at this stage, but do bear in mind that following enrolment there will be a short and intensive series of lectures and teaching sessions covering the EWLS module topics. We aim to give you every support so that you quickly acquire the knowledge and understanding of these topics to be able to face the assessment with confidence and to progress to the next stage of the GDL course.
The chapters contain various ‘learning features’ to reinforce and test your knowledge. We would encourage you to attempt the self-test questions, the answers to many of which will be reviewed during the delivery of the EWLS module. The sample essay questions are worth reading but the assessment in EWLS will not contain questions of this type, so please bear this in mind when reviewing these.
There is no need to do any of the further reading referred to at the end of each chapter, although some of the reading referred to here may be useful later on as you progress on the
GDL.
The textbook mentions a number of websites and you will find it helpful to have a look at some of these as they provide useful and reliable additional sources of information that will be relevant throughout your legal studies. We will also refer to some of these during the teaching of EWLS.
Useful websites include: http://www.parliament.uk/
The home page of the UK Parliament
– contains useful information about primary and secondary legislation and how it is enacted. Contains updates about the progress of bills through Parliament and records of debates. http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/
Judiciary of England and Wales: this website provides information on how the judicial system evolved, where different judges sit and what they do and how the justice system works. http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/
The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases. It hears appeals in criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population.
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Interactive online resources
There are some interactive online resources to support the Unlocking the English Legal
System textbook and these are available online at: www.unlockingthelaw.co.uk or http://cw.tandf.co.uk/law/login.asp?page=%2Flaw%2FIndex.asp&websitename
You will need to register to use this website and access the materials. You can either register as a student with your own user name and password or you can use the following:
User name: unlocking
Password: law
These resources include:

Law updates – updating the current edition of the textbook - please consult these and update your textbook accordingly;

Multiple choice questions – you will find these a particularly useful way of checking your knowledge and understanding as multiple choice questions will feature in the assessment of EWLS;

Key questions and answers – these are useful as a means of improving your knowledge and understanding although you will not be assessed in this way in
EWLS;

Mp3 revision lectures - these are short, mini lectures on some of the more difficult topics covered in your reading. They do not always focus on the matters that will be emphasised in the EWLS course, but you will find it useful to listen to these if you have time.
You will also find a link to the interactive resources on the shorter, revision text “Course
Notes: The English Legal System” comprising useful practice multiple choice questions.
There are also model answers to essay questions which are less useful for the EWLS course but worth looking at if you have time.
Want to do something different?
In addition to doing the preparation mentioned above, or as a break from it, we would recommend watching the following two documentaries about The Supreme Court, both of which are available on You Tube:
BBC4 – Justice – A Citizen’s Guide: Supreme Court – The Highest Court in the Land
(October 2012) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtYENfNa7k
“They are the UK's most powerful arbiters of justice and now, for the first time, four of the
Justices of the Supreme Court talk frankly and openly about the nature of justice and how they make their decisions. The film offers a revealing glimpse of the human characters behind the judgments and explores why the Supreme Court and its members are fundamental to our democracy.
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The 11 men and one woman who make up the UK Supreme Court have the last say on the most controversial and difficult cases in the land. What they decide binds every citizen. But are their rulings always fair, do their feelings ever get in the way of their judgments and are they always right?
In the first 14 months of the court they have ruled on MPs' expenses, which led to David
Chaytor's prosecution, changed the status of pre-nuptial agreements and battled with the government over control orders and the Human Rights Act.
They explain what happens when they cannot agree and there is a divided judgment, and how they avoid letting their personal feelings affect their interpretation of the law. And they face up to the difficult issue of diversity; there is only one woman on the court, and she is the only Justice who went to a non-feepaying school.”
Britain’s Supreme Court (February 2011) (Channel 4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcYjOu56hEQ
“This gripping feature-length documentary from the True Stories strand charts the first year in the life of Britain’s new Supreme Court: the highest court in the land. With unprecedented access the film meets the judges, lawyers and ordinary people whose cases will have a farreaching effect on the everyday lives of people across the UK.
For those bringing these high-profile cases to court there is a lot at stake, and the programme reveals their hopes and fears as they and their legal teams come face-to-face with the most powerful jud ges in the UK.”
Good luck with your preparation and we look forward to seeing you in September!
Ceri Hughes hughescr@cardiff.ac.uk
Karen Millwater millwater@cardiff.ac.uk
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