1. Explain the law governing adult relations and the position of children in England and Wales.
Knowledge and understanding and learning

2. Identify, analyse and interpret relevant legal materials
Enquiry and reflection

3. Critically evaluate the legal rules surrounding adult relationships and children
Analysis

4. Communicate your explanations and analysis clearly and effectively
Communication

Students will research and deliver a 20 minute presentation on a contemporary issue in family law. The presentation will be accompanied by at least 5 slides and will be followed by ten minutes of questions.



This will be carried out live online using a web conferencing tool such as MS Teams. A copy of the slide presentation must be submitted to the lecturer using the VLE in advance.



The Assessment will assess all learning outcomes as follows:

Explanation of the law governing family relationships: In the presentation the student will explain the relevant law.

Identification and examination of relevant legal material: In the assessment, the student will research and identify relevant legal materials and examine the justifications for them and their effectiveness.

Critical evaluation: In the assessment, the student will analyse and evaluate the relevant law.

Who can marry and the rules on nullity
Divorce
Financial relief and child maintenance
Domestic violence
The law and unmarried couples
Parental responsibility and the rights of the child
Children's welfare and section 8 orders
Child protection
Adoption
Surrogacy

This module looks at how the law responds to the family and the individual within it. It looks at happy times: marriage, birth and at sadder times: divorce and infertility. It discusses the desperate and dangerous situation: domestic violence and child protection as well as the safe and content. This is an area where the law has changed significantly in recent years and where more change is inevitable. Students will find a fascinating subject where their own experiences and views will be treated sensitively

The majority of learning materials will be presented online asynchronously organised as a series of weekly topics. Students will be encouraged to follow the weekly schedule where this is possible.

Three synchronous online webinars will be held to provide opportunities for live interaction between students and lecturer, to cover an introduction to the module and learning expectations, an assessment guidance session, and a consolidation session prior to the assessment date. These sessions will be recorded for the benefit of students who are unable to attend at the scheduled time.

The online learning materials will be organised as a range of short activities for each topic which allow students to construct and apply their own knowledge as they work through them. Instant feedback will be provided where appropriate on computer-aided tests of knowledge. Summaries and explanations of applied tasks will be available, allowing students to assess their progress against suggested answers.

Tutor-student and peer interaction will be facilitated through the use of collaborative online learning spaces. Students will be able to post questions and queries as they reflect on their own developing understanding of the key subject concepts. Students will be given formative feedback from the tutor and from their peers and they will be encouraged to reflect on their progress.

Support for presentations will be offered throughout the module, with a shorter formative task offered for students to receive developmental feedback on both content and delivery.

J. Herring Family Law 9th Edition Longman (2019)
S. Gilmore and L. Glennon Hayes and Williams Family Law 7th Edition OUP (2020)

Oxford Law Trove
Family law journal and Child and Family Law Quarterly both available via lexis Nexis
Westlaw
Practical Law

To undertake this module students will need to have access to a reliable internet connection that will support a 30-minute audio and video conferencing call via MS Teams.