The Law of Business Organisations has as its primary focus the organisations (or 'media') through which business is transacted. In particular, it is an area of study concerned with the legal infrastructure of such organisations, and law and policy applicable at four key stages in the life cycle of such organisations, namely:

(1) Pre-formation, including the preliminary steps taken relating to such matters as choice of legal form, financing, negotiations with would-be stakeholders, pre-formation contracts, etc

(2) Formation, including regulatory systems governing the organisation's ability to start trading, make contracts, acquire land, acquire or merge with other business organisations, and so forth: this stage is also concerned with such matters as "constitutional" aspects of the organisation, and the division of power between different groups internally, and the determination of parameters governing the areas in which it is able to do business

(3) Operational and management aspects, including regulation of management power, and mechanisms for protecting the rights of members, stakeholders, and outsiders such as capital providers and creditors; corporate governance; and raising share and loan capital

(4) Business failure and insolvency, and the rights of members of the organisation, internal and external 'stakeholders'; and the 'public interest'/State interest in regulation (while the business is solvent and in the insolvency process

Each 30 CATS module will be assessed in the following manner:

Week 4: Assignment worth 20% of the total marks - 1500 words or equivalent (please see below); assesses learning outcomes 1 and 6

Week 8: Assignment worth 30% of the total marks - 2500 words or equivalent (please see below); assesses learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

These smaller assessments in weeks 4 & 8 could take a variety of forms e.g. book review, summarizing a series of articles, multiple-choice tests, compilation of a portfolio and short questions on specific sections within the module.

Week 15: main assignment which assesses the total knowledge of the module, worth 50% of the total marks for the module [4000 words] - assesses all learning outcomes

The rationale behind the multiple assessments is to encourage the students to keep pace with the course, especially as it is delivered from a distance.

Access to appropriate texts, cases and legislation, especially via specialist online legal databases e.g. Westlaw [utilising the Athens password system].

The focus of this award is on independent directed study. The online module is constructed in such a way as to provide guidance as to each section by providing:

- Learning Outcomes
- Module Outline
- Reading
- Tasks / Discussions

In every section there are topics for discussion which will be indicated in the Course Documents section and conducted via the Discussion Boards. The tutor will regularly monitor the discussions and contribute where appropriate.
Students will also be encouraged to communicate with the tutor via email if they feel it is a matter unsuitable for the Discussion Boards.
Discussion Boards will be `live' for limited periods only, to encourage students to participate regularly, rather than leave it all to the last-minute. At the end of the `live' period, all discussions will be archived, and the archives will still be accessible to the students on a `read-only' basis.

Slorach and Ellis: Business Law 2006-2007, OUP
Hannigan: Company Law, OUP, 2003
Morse: Partnership Law (6th ed.) OUP 2006