LAW-30072 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

Child law is a vastly interesting and rewarding area of family law, which the teaching team hope you will be enthused to discover, research, discuss and evaluate. You will examine the law and socio-legal perspectives of the child, using conceptual and analytic frameworks to identify the 'legal child' and the construction of childhood by examining a range of changing social circumstances. (Please note the focus in this module is on children in the public sphere so while we will touch on child and family relations, there is no in-depth consideration of private law children disputes, as this a topic which is considered in the Family Law module.)
In identifying the child, your study moves on to placing the child within the family setting, where you will explore selected matters of parenthood, including approaches to conceiving children and constructing the family. This will comprise of investigating intentional and commissioned parenthood, looking at the use of assisted reproductive technologies, including the expansion of surrogacy, emergence of autonomous parenthood (legally fatherless children), and models of adoption.
The module also involves consideration of substantive law in respect of the welfare and care of children. You will study children¿s rights (the autonomous child verses the responsible adult), the care of children (by parents and the state), law that specifically relates to the shifting requirements of caring for, or controlling children at risk. You will explore factual situations and the effects judicial decisions and statutory provisions, explore theory and learn how to respond to particular problems which arise in an exciting field of law where change is a permanent feature.
The assessment is coursework based and takes the form of an essay (4000 words), which will enable you to critically analyse a particular question arising in the context of the law and children.

(a) to provide a structured study of the law relating to children, including a detailed understanding of the law of child protection
(b) to critically examine the social, historical and philosophical texts in which the law relating to children is located

Intended Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate a coherent understanding of the law relating to children, in particular the Children Act 1989: 1
Articulate and synthesise the dominant philosophical and social theories in the field to create their own legal model of childhood: 1
Theorise the role and status of children in law: 1

Study hours

10 x 2 hours lectures/tutorials = 20 hours
5 x 1 tutorials = 5
Tutorial preparation = 54 hours
Essay preparation and independent reading = 78 hours
Total = 150 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment