Personal/Study Support

2

Contents

How to use this Guide ...................................................... 3

New for 2015/16 .............................................................. 6

Important Dates ............................................................ 11

Preparing for the start of the teaching term .................... 20

Teaching begins ............................................................. 32

Teaching locations ......................................................... 40

Timetables 2015/16 ....................................................... 49

Progressing through the years of study ........................... 67

End of teaching terms and reading weeks ....................... 71

Personal/Study Support ................................................. 75

Penalties ........................................................................ 86

Have Your Say ................................................................ 97

Assessments ................................................................ 103

Social Diary .................................................................. 117

Extra-curricular Activities ............................................. 123

Fees, Scholarships and Bursaries .................................. 129

Self-test Exercises ........................................................ 132

3

How to use this

Guide

4

How to use this Guide

CONCORDO is the brand name for a series of reference

guides to all key events and personnel associated with

taught programmes of study in the School of Law at

Birkbeck, University of London. Unlike other guides which

tend to contain different information depending on the

constituency toward which they are directed, Concordo is to

be used by students, academic staff, administrative staff

and teaching and scholarship staff. Concordo aims to ensure

that all groups within the School of Law are given a common

core of knowledge about principles, policies and protocols

governing taught programmes of study, including standards

of academic performance, standards of conduct and extra-

curricular and social activities. Concordo guides are

structured according to the student journey – from the

point of acceptance of a place on the programme, through

teaching, assessment and eventual graduation. This

structure will allow readers to easily reference information

relating to any particular point in the academic cycle. All

Concordo guides contain self-test exercises intended to help

readers assess how well they understand the principles,

rules and protocols contained in the guide.

5

Concordo (Legum Baccalaureus) is a guide exclusively for

students and staff on the School’s qualifying law degree.

Students and staff following/involved in the LLM version of

the QLD must refer to Concordo (Legum Baccalaureus).

Concordo aims to provide a quick reference to information

contained in other sources, such as the LLB and LLM Student

Handbooks 2015/16.

6

New for 2015/16

7

New for 2015/16

Leave of absence

The following members of Academic staff are on research or

other approved leave and will not be contactable during the

term indicated:

Patrick Hanafin (autumn term)

Michelle Everson (autumn term)

Stewart Motha (autumn term)

Adam Gearey (autumn and spring term)

Daniel Monk (spring term)

Maria Aristodemou (spring term)

Zeina Ghandour (autumn term)

Maximum pass rate for modules re-assessed after a failed

attempt or non-submission

Following a decision of College Academic Board, all

Academic Schools and Departments must adapt their

marking and assessment schemes so as to ensure that any

element of assessment that is submitted as a reassessment

(second attempt after a failed attempt or non-submission)

and for which no application for consideration of mitigating

8

circumstances has been accepted will be awarded a mark of

no more than 40% (LLB modules) or no more than 50% (LLM

QLD modules), which is the minimum percentage pass rate

for respectively undergraduate modules and postgraduate

taught modules. This new marking and assessment rules

applies to all students taking any assessment for the first

time in the current academic year (2015/16) and applies to

all LLB and LLM QLD modules. The rules does not apply in

cases where a student has failed an undergraduate or

postgraduate module and is directed to re-take the module

by attending, for a second time, the classes relating to the

failed module.

New Equalities officer Sarah Keenan (Email: [email protected]; Telephone: 020

3073 8137) has taken on this new academic role. Sarah will

be responsible for ensuring that the School’s teaching and

learning strategies for all programmes are consistent with

equalities principles and legislation. Academic support for

students with disabilities is a particular focus of Sarah’s role.

Sarah will Chair a newly established Equalities Working

Group, which will meet once a term to decide policy and

make decisions around individual student needs.

mailto:[email protected]

9

Learning Development Tutor - Academic Skills: Christina

Delistathi: ([email protected] / 020 7631 6513 / Office

Location: 2.02, 18 Gower Street) Christina provides

individual support and general workshops on a range of

subjects, including essay writing/exam preparation/dyslexia

support, best management of time, oral presentations and

preparing for exams. She helps develop the higher order

academic skills needed for Law study, including analysis,

synthesis and evaluative critical thinking.

Professional Skills Learning Development Tutor

Jonathan Thorpe ([email protected]) has taken on the

role of Professional Skills Learning Development Tutor and

will be responsible for working with colleagues in the School

of Law to provide students with a range of opportunities in

which to develop professional skills relevant to the fields of

law and criminology, including Moots and Mock Trials.

Friends House Liaison

Luis Belmonte will take on a new role during the teaching

period for the QLD. Luis will be on-site at Friends House

during the Induction period (29 September 2015 to 15

October 2015) and thereafter an average of one day per

week (autumn/spring) rotating between Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursday. With this role, which will have



10

significant interface with students on-site, it is expected that

administrative queries classically dealt with in the office will

be reduced. Luis is also charged with responsibility for

alerting the Equalities Officer (Sarah Keenan) of any

disability access issues or technological problems that may

impact negatively on the student experience of students

with disability needs, or needs relative to other protective

characteristics.

11

Important Dates

12

Important Dates

Teaching Term Dates

Autumn Term

Monday 28 September to Friday 11 December 2015

Spring Term

Monday 4 January 2016 to Friday 18 March 2016

Summer Term

Monday 18 April 2016 to Friday 1 July 2016

School Administration/College Closure Dates

Christmas Closing

Thursday 24 December 2015 to Friday 1 January 2016.

College will close at 6pm on Wednesday 23 December 2015,

and normal services will resume from 9am on Monday 4

January 2016.

13

Easter Closing

Thursday 24 March 2016 to Tuesday 29 March 2016. College

will close at 6pm on Wednesday 23 March 2016, and normal

services will resume from 9am on Wednesday 30 March

2016.

Reading weeks

Autumn Reading Week

Monday 2 November 2015 to Friday 6 November 2015

Spring Reading Week

Monday 8 February 2016 to Friday 12 February 2016

Induction Staff Induction Dates Academic Staff 30 September 2015 Teaching & Scholarship Staff 16 September 2015

14

Student Induction Dates New Students Tuesday 29 September to Thursday 8 October 2015, 6pm –

9pm, Friends House, Large Theatre (173 Euston Road,

London NW1 2BJ)

Continuing students Wednesday 30 September 2015, 6pm – 9pm, Friends House,

Small Theatre (173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ)

Coursework submission deadlines Autumn Term Submission

Wednesday 06 January 2016 at 04.30pm

Spring Term Submission

Monday 18 April 2016 at 04.30pm

September Submission

Wednesday 24 August 2016 at 11.30am

15

Legal Systems and Methods assessment submission dates

LLB students Assessment 1: 30 October 2015 at 4.30pm Assessment 2: 18 March 2016 at 4.30pm LLM QLD students Assessment 1: 30 October 2015 at 4.30pm Assessment 2: Dissertation Skills Exercise. The first exercise is due on 26 February 2016 at 4.30pm. The second exercise is due no later than 3 June 2016 at 4.30pm.

Examination Periods

Examinations take place annually in May/June (standard sit) and September (re-sit). Specific dates are published by College in March and August, respectively. As approximate timings, in 2015 the exams were running from 12 May 2015 to 28 May 2015 and from 1 September 2015 to 11 September 2015.

16

Staff and student liaison committees (Student representatives only) Autumn Term: Friday 13 November 2015, 6.30pm – 8.30pm Spring Term: Friday 19 February 2016, 6.30 – 8.30pm School Board meetings (Full-Time Staff, Teaching & Scholarship Staff Representatives, and Student representatives) Wednesday 25 November 2015, 10.00am – 1.30pm Wednesday 03 March 2015, 10.00am – 1.30pm

Mock and Moot Training, Trial and Competition Dates

Autumn term

Moot training, 17 October 2015

Moot competition, 31 October 2015

Mock trial training, 21 November 2015

Mock trial competition, 28 November 2015

Spring term

Moot competition, 30 January 2016

Mock trial competition, 6 February 2016

Summer term

Moot competition, 4 June 2016

Mock trial competition, 11 June 2016

17

Events and meetings protocol The School recognises that its student body is comprised of

individuals combining full or part time study with paid work

and/or family and other commitments. It recognises also

that academic and administrative staffs in the School are

required to manage School-based activities with College

level and/or external activities, including research and

outreach engagement activities. With these considerations

in mind, the School will make every reasonable endeavour

to follow the protocol (below) in connection with School

events and meetings.

Protocol

1. The School diary will be published no later than 1

September in any academic year

2. Notice of formal School Committees at which

students are represented will be published on the

School website by the first day of the autumn term.

3. Once the diary is published meetings and events will

not be scheduled other than as detailed in the diary-

except in exceptional circumstances

4. Regularly occurring events, such as staff/student

liaison meetings/ School Board, will be diarised as

far as possible each year in the same date/time slot.

18

5. In addition to diary notification, notification of core

events relating to the teaching and learning agenda

of the School will be notified to relevant persons

within 14 days of the occurrence of the event

6. Where a diary event is to be rescheduled,

immediate notification should be given that the

existing diary slot is cancelled or postponed.

Notification to relevant parties should not await an

alternative slot unless the alternative will be found

within a short period – i.e. within 7 days.

7. When notifying of a rescheduled event, care should

be taken to advise relevant parties that the date

notified constitutes a change to the published

schedule.

8. Regularly occurring events should not be cancelled

except in exceptional circumstances. Alternatives

will be found, such as finding a substitute Chair.

Modes of communication

Whenever possible, multiple modes of communication will

be used, especially where communication involves

cancellation/postponement. The School uses a range of

modes of communication, including direct E-mail,

notification in the My BBK profile system, moodle notices

19

and announcements in seminars. Announcements in

lectures/seminars will only be made to supplement other

modes of communication and are not considered sufficient

modes in themselves.

20

Preparing for the

start of the teaching

term

21

Preparing for the start of the

teaching term

Between the time of accepting a place to begin study at the

School of Law (or progressing from one year of study to

another) and the start of the autumn term of teaching,

there is much that prospective students, academic staff and

administrative staff can/will do. Much of the work that

leads to a successful start to the teaching term is

concentrated between the periods July to September.

Taster events are 2 - 3 hour events staffed by a rota of

academic and administrative staff during which new

students can meet with others and begin to familiarise

themselves with the School of Law; our Twitter and

Facebook accounts are used to provide regular updates

about these events;

The Online Legal Systems and Methods (LSM) module is a

component of a compulsory module that all first year QLD

students (LLB and LLM QLD) must complete. New students

can begin the online module from the moment at which

they accept a place on the LLB/LLM QLD. The LSM Module

Convenor for both terms of the LLB and Term 1 of the LLM

QLD (Robert James, email: [email protected]) will be

available from August to assist with academic queries. New


22

students will have received login details for these exercises:

https://moodle.bbk.ac.uk/. Module Convenor for the

second term of LSM for the LLM QLD (Eddie Bruce-Jones,

[email protected], telephone: 020 7631 6500) will

be available from the beginning of autumn for academic

queries. If technical difficulties of a purely administrative

nature are encountered, please contact our administrators

Colin Mitchell (email: [email protected], telephone: 020

7631 6516) or Sophia Khalid (email: [email protected],

telephone: 020 7631 6236).

Pre-Reading and exercises: if a module recommends that

students read material or complete an exercise before

teaching on that module commences, instructions as to

reading/exercise material will be found in the module guide.

Cumberland Lodge Weekend, annually held in the third

weekend of September, is a weekend of talks organised by

a rota of academic and administrative staff (with guest

speakers) and is an ideal event for new and continuing

students wishing to meet new students and staff and renew

old acquaintances.

Module Guide update: 15 July to 15 September is the

period during which academic staff updates existing module

guides and develops new ones, and during which

administrative staff organises online and prints distribution

of module guides. Electronic versions of the Guides will be

https://moodle.bbk.ac.uk/




23

available to all users from 15 September. Printed versions

will be available from 1 October. Guides from the preceding

academic year are available before publication of new

module guides but students must be prepared for the fact

that these guides may not contain up to date information

about reading sources, structure of teaching or (in some

cases) mode of assessment.

Information Portals operate throughout the calendar year

and contain useful updates. By mid-August at the latest,

staff and students should be continually checking emails

from the School and Birkbeck, MyBirkbeck profile, Moodle

and the website of the School of Law for course updates.

September Assessment Period operates for the minority of

students who do not submit assessments or who do not sit

examinations during the standard January/April

coursework and/or May/June (examinations) assessment

periods, or who are required to re-sit one or more module.

The September assessment period is usually for a two week

period between 1 and 12 September. Students should check

Birkbeck emails, MyBirkbeck Profile, and Information Portals

for updates on September assessments from 15 July of any

given year.

The QLD is the single largest set of programmes in the

College and one of the few to offer opportunities for first

sit/re-assessment in September. It is not possible to

24

support the September assessment period with more than

the minimum of academic and administrative staff.

Students sitting in September must also be prepared for

some delay in their allocation to seminar classes and

modules, since this can only be done after results of

September assessments have been approved and recorded.

Academic staff occupying the following roles will be

contactable (by email/telephone or in person) during the

September assessment period:

Chief Examinations Officer:

Victoria Ridler

[email protected] / 0203 073 8120

Office location: Room 203, 4 Gower Street

Deputy Examinations Officer:

Nathan Moore


Office location: Room B03, 4 Gower Street

Learning Development Tutor - Academic Skills:

Christina Delistathi

[email protected] / 020 7631 6513,

Office Location: Room 2.02, 18 Gower Street

mailto:[email protected]%20/



25

Co-directors of the QLD

Director of the LLB

Nadine El-Enany



Director of the LLM QLD

Eddie Bruce-Jones



Enrolment: Students can normally enrol onto the QLD

programme at any time from late August in any academic

year. Before enrolment, new and continuing students are

entitled only to an electronic version of core module guides,

and new students are given access to the online LMS

module. Access to all other learning resources is dependent

on formal enrolment. These learning resources include, but

are not limited to:

Lectures

Seminars

Printed copies of core module guides

Electronic and printed copies of optional module

guides

Moodle information portal



26

Other study facilities: in addition to the above, enrolment

gives students access to the following study facilities:

Within Birkbeck

Library access and loan facilities;

Student Union membership;

Optional modules offered by other Birkbeck

Schools/Departments - subject to availability, timetabling

and conditions imposed by other Schools/Departments. If

you are an LLB student and would like to take an option

from another Birkbeck School/Department, please contact

the Co-directors of the QLD, Nadine El-Enany (n.el-

[email protected]; telephone: 020 3073 8121; office

location: 14 Gower Street, Room 202) or Eddie Bruce-Jones

[email protected] ; 020 7631 6500; office location:

12 Gower Street, Room 102).

Academic Development workshops, Study Skills

workshops, and a large variety of workshops and

training courses on all the tools required for a

successful completion of your studies. These can be

booked through the MyBirkbeck portal of the

Birkbeck website.




27

Within other Law Schools of the University of London

Optional modules. These are subject to availability,

timetabling and conditions imposed by those

institutions. The module must not be one that is

available for study in the Birkbeck School of Law or

in other Birkbeck School/Department. If you are an

LLB student and would like to take an option from

another Law School of the University of London,

please contact the Director of the LLB, Nadine El-

Enany (Email: [email protected]; telephone:

020 3073 8121; office location: 14 Gower Street,

Room 202);

Access to other Libraries. As a Birkbeck student or

member of staff you are entitled to use many other

libraries, both in London and throughout the UK.

Birkbeck is member of various access schemes,

some of which are detailed in the Birkbeck Library

website.

Within University Square Stratford (USS)

USS is an educational facility jointly owned by Birkbeck and

the University of East London. It offers a range of facilities

and student support services on campus, including a student

helpdesk, a specialist education advice and guidance team,

IT helpdesk, café and the Weston Learning Centre — a space

for independent and group study and learning. You can

learn more by visiting the USS website.


28

Choosing Optional subjects: From the second year of study,

students can choose two 15 credit or one 30 credit option to

study alongside their compulsory subjects. The Options Fair,

which takes place annually in the evening of the second

Friday of June (Friday 10 June 2016), begins the process of

student’s selection of options, and this continues into the

summer until all continuing students are allocated to

modules around 20 September. The Options Fair is staffed

by a rota of academic and administrative staff. Continuing

students must select options according to requirements of

the course. Modules attracting fewer than 10 students may

not run. Oversubscribed modules will be allocated to

students on a first-come, first-served basis. Students wishing

to follow options in other Law Schools of the University of

London must select their desired option(s), follow the

procedures of the relevant Law School, and inform our

administrator Sophia Khalid at the Birkbeck School of Law

before the start of the academic year ([email protected] /

020 7361 6626);

Staff Induction: students are not the only group to need

induction into School processes. All staff (new and

established) will receive a copy of Concordo Legum

Baccalaureus and are expected to be thoroughly conversant

with its content. All new full-time academic staff and all

Teaching and Scholarship staff must attend an induction

event. This event takes place in the week before the


29

academic year starts, and is organised by the academic and

administrative staff holding the following roles:

Professor Patricia Tuitt Professor of Law and Executive Dean Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6505 Office location: 16 Gower Street, room 202 Stewart Motha Deputy Dean Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 3073 8130 Office location: 12 Gower Street, room 202

Sarah Lamble Assistant Dean for Criminology Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6017 Office location: 4 Gower Street, room G01 Natasha Trivedi Team Leader Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6508 Office location: 14 Gower Street, room G02 Admissions: needless to say, all students arrive at the School

of Law after a formal, rigorous admissions process.

Admissions queries are received throughout the year, with

the UCAS timetable structuring the most intense period of




30

admissions. Students may have admissions queries right up

to the start of term. The following administrators can assist:

LLB Full-Time – Sam Tewkesbury

Office location: 14 Gower Street, room G02 Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6626 LLB Part-Time – Leila Johnson (please note that Leila is in the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays only) Office location: 14 Gower Street, room G02 email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6515

LLM QLD – Leila Johnson (please note that Leila is in the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays only) Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6515 Office location: 14 Gower Street, room G02

Accredited Prior Learning (APL)

Accredited Prior Learning (APL) is where the School allows a

student to be exempted from the requirement to complete a

module (or modules) on the programme in which he/she is

enrolled. Exemption will usually be granted on the basis that

a student has previously passed a module with similar

content on a programme of study taken elsewhere, but it can

also be given for work experience of a level equivalent to




31

study. The maximum number of APL credits for

undergraduate programmes is normally 180 credits

(minimum of 120 credits at level 6) must have been studied

at the College). Whether exemption is granted is matter

judgment for the programme director and/or Board of

Examiners.

If a student transfers from another Institution, we are

required to show where the student started their degree

studies. APL enquiries should be directed to the following

admissions tutors:

Admissions Tutor, Full-Time LLB - Craig Reeves

Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6662 Admissions Tutor, Part-Time LLB - Craig Reeves

Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6662

Admissions Tutor, LLM QLD - Eddie Bruce-Jones Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6500




32

Teaching begins

33

Teaching begins

The design of the qualifying law degree: The teaching and

learning structure of the qualifying law degree is kept under

constant review. Significant changes to teaching and

learning are initiated/approved by the School Executive,

which is chaired by the Executive Dean (Patricia Tuitt) and

which meets once a month. The School Board

approves/ratifies Executive proposals/decisions. The School

Board is also chaired by the Executive Dean (Patricia Tuitt),

meets once in the autumn term and once in the spring OR

summer term, consists of all permanent academics and

administrators and has representatives from the teaching

and scholarship staff and from students on each programme

taught within the School of Law, including the qualifying law

degree programme. Incremental changes/developments

that affect teaching on the qualifying law degree are

approved by another formal Committee of the School,

namely the School Teaching and Quality Enhancement

Committee (STQEC). This Committee is chaired by the

Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning (Oscar Guardiola-

Rivera), meets three times per year (once per term) and

includes membership of the Co-directors of the Qualifying

Law Degree programmes (Nadine El-Enany and Eddie

Bruce-Jones), the Chair/Deputy Chair of Exams (Victoria

Ridler and Nathan Moore, respectively) and ONE year tutor

– to be determined on an annual rota (for 2015/16, Fred

34

Cowell). There is no student representation on STQEC but a

student representative can request the Chair of STQEC to

consider an item. Such a request would be made through

the Staff / Student Liaison Committee. The Staff / Student

Liaison Committee meets once in the autumn term and

once in the spring term, is chaired by the Co-directors of the

QLD (Nadine El-Enany or Eddie Bruce-Jones) and is

attended by all year tutors and a Team Leader of the School

administration.

What is expected in terms of study? Teaching on the

qualifying law degree generally takes place weekly, Monday

to Thursday between 6pm and 9pm. Seminars and lectures

for compulsory subjects are taught in one hour slots.

Option seminars are taught in one and a half hour slots.

Compulsory lectures are scheduled between Tuesday and

Thursday (inclusive). The majority of seminars for

compulsory subjects also take place between Tuesday and

Thursday (inclusive) but a small number take place on

Mondays - usually for students following the full time LLM

or LLB pathway. Additionally, LLM QLD students have

mandatory LSM and dissertation-related seminars on three

Fridays in the first year and two Fridays in the second year.

For LLBs, the majority of option subjects are scheduled on

Mondays but a few are offered on Fridays and/or Saturdays.

Attendance is usually over three or four nights a week,

depending on the individual timetable of each cohort.

35

All module guides contain a section which details the

minimum study expectations required for the module.

Essentially, students are expected to attend lectures and

seminars, cover the minimum level of preparatory reading

for seminars and (where required) lectures, to participate in

seminars, and to complete all elements of the assessment.

Whilst we take account of the fact that the majority of our students are in full-time employment or otherwise committed during the day time, we do monitor attendance.

Electronic Attendance System: The School of Law will be

operating an electronic attendance system in Friends House

and most of other teaching locations where optional

modules take place; students will need to bring their

Birkbeck ID to every teaching event (lectures and seminars)

that they attend. The teaching rooms will have electronic

card readers inside the room clearly marked E-Registers and

with the Birkbeck logo. Convenors and seminar tutors are

asked to remind students to use their cards to touch-in to

the E-Register system. Until the system embeds, tutors will

be required to take a paper register at seminars. Seminar

tutors and students should ensure that, until otherwise

notified, double registration will operate for seminars –

touch-in with electronic card readers and signature on the

paper registers. During the period of operation of paper

registers, seminar tutors are required to return paper

registers within one week to Sophia Khalid

36

([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6236) or Colin

Mitchell ([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6516)

who will ensure that these are passed to the relevant

attendance monitoring staff so that non-attendance can be

followed up.

For further details about the E-Register system visit the

College website.



37

Paper Registers: Paper registers will be taken throughout the year irrespective of whether the teaching location has been equipped with E-Registers. Option convenors and seminar tutors are required to take paper registers for all classes and to return these within one week to Sophia Khalid ([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6236) or Colin Mitchell ([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6516) who will ensure that these are passed to the relevant attendance monitoring staff so that non-attendance can be followed up.

The minimum attendance will vary depending on whether

you are:

An international student, subject to Tier 4

requirements (For Tier 4 visa students,

attendance monitoring is required by the UK

Visas and Immigration. If you require further

information on this, please contact the Birkbeck

International Student Administration - see

College website - or alternatively the Co-

directors of the QLD Nadine El-Enany, n.el-

[email protected], 0203 073 8121 and Eddie

Bruce-Jones, [email protected], 020

7631 6500 or acting Assistant School Manager,

Shabna Begum [email protected], 020

3073 8172).






38

A student on a Full-Time programme (minimum

of 60% attendance) ;

A student on a Part-Time programme

(minimum of 60 % attendance).

Teaching staff are asked to draw to the attention of

classroom participants (not individual students) the

attendance requirement but do not have the power to

exclude any student from class or (whether through direct

or indirect means) to exclude a student from taking an

assessment on the basis of threatened or actual non-

compliance with attendance rules.

Failure to meet minimum attendance requirements may

result in:

Exclusion from the course, if in breach of Tier 4;

Compulsory re-take of the year if an assessment

is failed;

Poor reference, if a record of attendance is

required in a reference.

Timetables/MyBirkbeck profile: Students and teaching staff

do not receive final confirmation of teaching timetable until

published in their MyBirkbeck profile – for students, this

occurs after enrolment. However, lectures on the QLD all

take place in Friends House according to a fixed schedule

each year, as detailed in the yearly timetables (see next

section of this Guide). Students can also identify the slots in

39

which seminars for core and optional modules take place

but must await allocation to specific seminars by the School

administration.

40

Teaching locations

41

Teaching locations

Teaching takes place in a range of locations. Staff and

Students must consult their individual MyBirkbeck Profile

for specific locations, but the full postal address of the main

teaching locations used by the School of Law are:

Anglo Educational

45 Russell Square, London WC1B 4JP

Birkbeck, University of London

Malet Street (MAL): main Birkbeck building (entrance via Torrington Square), London WC1E 7HX

Dept of Geography, Environment and Development Studies (GEDS), 32 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9EZ

Clore Management Building, Torrington Square, London WC1E 7JL

School of Arts, 43 Gordon Square (GOR), London WC1H 0PD

School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy, 26 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DQ

42

British Medical Association (BMA)

Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP

Brunei Gallery (BRU)

10 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1B 0XG

Friends House (FRH)

173-177 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS)

17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)

Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT

G2/G3/G4: 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

101/102: 49 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

15-17 Tavistock Place, London London, WC1H 9SH

School of Pharmacy (SOP)

29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX

43

Senate House (SEN)

Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

Stewart House (STB)

32 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DN

Student Central

Malet Street, WC1E 7HY

University College London (UCL)

Anatomy and Medical Science Building: Gower Street, Main UCL Campus, London WC1E 6BT

Bedford Way: 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0DS Chadwick Building: Gower Street, Main UCL

Campus, London WC1E 6BT Christopher Ingold Building: 20 Gower Street,

London WC1 0AJ Cruciform Building: Gower Street, Main UCL

Campus, London WC1E 6BT Darwin Building: Gower Street, Main UCL Campus,

London WC1E 6BT Drayton House: 30 Gordon Street, London WC1H

0AX Foster Court: Gower Street, Main UCL Campus,

London WC1E 6BT Ingold: 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ Malet Place Engineering Building: Gower Street,

Main UCL Campus, London WC1E 6BT

44

Medical Science Building: accessed from the Malet Place entrance to UCL campus, off Torrington Place

Pearson Building: Gower Street, Main UCL Campus, London WC1E 6BT

Remax House: 31/32 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP

Roberts Engineering Building: Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE

Rockefeller Building: 21 University Street, London WC1E 6DE

Taviton: UCL SSEES Building, 16 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW

188 Tottenham Court Road: 188 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7PH

UCL School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (SSEES): 16 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW

Windeyer Building: 46 Cleveland Street, London W1P 6DB

USS (Stratford)

1 Salway Road, London E15 1NF

The Wesley

81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ

Westminster Kingsway College (WKC)

211 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8RA

45

Woburn House

20 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HQ

Main academic contacts: The following academics are

convenors for core modules and will be the main point of

contact in terms of the taught programme of study:

Year one

Victoria Ridler, [email protected], 0203 073 8120 /

Craig Reeves, [email protected], 0207 631 6662

(Contract Law);

Marinos Diamantides, [email protected],

0207 631 6503/ Stewart Motha (on sabbatical in

autumn term), [email protected], 0203 073 8130

(Constitutional and Administrative Law);

Robert James, [email protected], 0207 631 6377

(Legal Systems and Methods);

Patricia Tuitt, [email protected], 02076316505 /

Fred Cowell, [email protected], 0207 631 6507

(Law of Obligations II - Tort, full-time students only).

Year two

Elena Loizidou, [email protected], 0203 073

8115 / Daniel Monk, [email protected], 0203 073

8127 (Criminal Law);










46

Patricia Tuitt, [email protected], 02076316505 /

Fred Cowell, [email protected], 0207 631 6507

(Law of Obligations II - Tort, part-time students

only);

Nathan Moore, [email protected], 020

3073 8111 / Sarah Keenan [email protected] /

020 3073 8137 (Land, full-time students only)

Piyel Haldar, [email protected], 0207 631 6514

(Equity, full-time students only).

Year three

Nathan Moore, [email protected], 020

3073 8111 / Sarah Keenan [email protected] /

020 3073 8137 (Land, part-time students only);

Piyel Haldar, [email protected], 0207 631 6514;

Michelle Everson, [email protected], 0203 073

8119 / Eddie Bruce-Jones, [email protected]

/ Nadine El-Enany, [email protected], 0203 073

8121 (EU Law, Full-Time students only);

Anton Schütz, [email protected], 02076316509 /

Maria Aristodemou (on sabbatical in autumn term)

[email protected], 0203 073 8110 (Legal

Theory, full-time students only).














47

Year four

Michelle Everson, [email protected], 0203 073

8119 / Eddie Bruce-Jones, [email protected]

/ Nadine El-Enany, [email protected], 0203 073

8121 (EU Law part-time students only);

Anton Schütz, [email protected], 02076316509 /

Maria Aristodemou (on sabbatical in autumn term)

[email protected], 0203 073 8110 (Legal

Theory, part-time students only)

Main administrative contacts: two full time administrators

are dedicated to the QLD. For 2014/15 they are Sophia

Khalid ([email protected] / 020 7361 6626) and Colin

Mitchell ([email protected] / 020 7361 6516). Sophia

deals with Years 3 and 4 of the LLB and Colin with Years 1

and 2 of the LLB and all Years of the LLM QLD.

Induction Programme: New students will begin on the

Tuesday of the last week in September/first week in

October. Induction consists of a two-week course,

combining an introduction to the School of Law with a short

course on the Elements of the English Legal System.

Academic/administrative contacts for Induction co-

ordination:

New students: Robert James

Email: [email protected] Office Location: 16 Gower Street, room G03









48

All Students:

Co-Directors of the QLD: Nadine El-Enany (Director

of the LLB)

[email protected] / 0203 073 8121 or Eddie

Bruce-Jones (Director of the LLM QLD); e.bruce-





49

Timetables 2015/16

50

Timetables 2015/16

Induction and Elements of the English Legal System

52

Below are timetables for each year/study mode on the QLD programme.

Year 1 LLB Full-Time

MON TUES WED THURS

18.00 – 19.00

SEMINAR Tort

(Obligations 2)*

SEMINAR

Constitutional and

Administrative Law **

SEMINAR

Contract Law (Obligations 1)

***

CORE

LECTURE Contract Law

(Obligations 1)

19.00 – 20.00

SEMINAR

Tort (Obligations

2)*

SEMINAR Constitutional

and Administrative

Law **

CORE

LECTURE Constitutional

and Administrative

Law

CORE LECTURE Contract Law

(Obligations 1)

CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

20.00 – 21.00

CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

SEMINAR

Contract Law (Obligations

1)***

CORE LECTURE

Constitutional and

Administrative Law

* The asterisk means that some students attend seminars at 6.00pm on Monday and other students attend seminars at 7.00pm on Monday ** The double asterisk means that some students attend seminars at 6.00pm on Monday and other students attend seminars at 7.00pm on Monday *** The triple asterisk means that some students attend seminars at 6.00pm on Tuesday and other students attend seminars at 8.00pm on Wednesday

53


MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

18.00 – 19.00

DA

Y F

OR

OP

TIO

NS

(A li

mit

ed

nu

mb

er

of

op

tio

ns

will

ru

n o

n

Frid

ays

and

we

eke

nd

s)

C O R E L E C T U R E E q u i t y

CORE LECTURE

Equity

CORE LECTURE Criminal Law

19.00 – 20.00

SEMINAR

Equity

CORE LECTURE Criminal Law

SEMINAR

Criminal Law

20.00 – 21.00

SEMINAR Land Law

CORE LECTURE

Land Law

CORE LECTURE

Land Law

54



18.00 – 19.00

DA

Y F

OR

OP

TIO

NS

(A li

mit

ed

nu

mb

er

of

op

tio

ns

will

ru

n o

n F

rid

ays

and

wee

ken

ds)

19.00 – 20.00

CORE

LECTURE Legal

Theory (1 & 2)

SEMINAR

Legal Theory (1 & 2)

CORE

LECTURE European Union Law

20.00 – 21.00

CORE


CORE

LECTURE Legal Theory

(1 & 2)

SEMINAR European Union Law

55

Year 1 LLB Part-Time


18.00 – 19.00

SEMINAR

Constitutional and

Administrative Law


(Obligations 1)

19.00 – 20.00

CORE LECTURE Constitutional

and Administrative

Law


(Obligations 1)

SEMINAR


20.00 – 21.00

CORE LECTURE Constitutional

and Administrative

Law

56



18.00 – 19.00

DA

Y F

OR

OP

TIO

NS

(A li

mit

ed

nu

mb

er

of

op

tio

ns

will

ru

n o

n F

rid

ays

and

wee

ken

ds)

CORE

LECTURE Criminal Law

19.00 – 20.00

SEMINAR

Tort (Obligations

2)

CORE


CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

20.00 – 21.00

CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

SEMINAR

Criminal Law

57



18.00 – 19.00

DA

Y F

OR

OP

TIO

NS

(A li

mit

ed

nu

mb

er

of

op

tio

ns

will

ru

n o

n

Frid

ays

and

we

eke

nd

s)

CORE

LECTURE Equity

CORE

LECTURE Equity

SEMINAR Land Law

19.00 – 20.00

20.00 – 21.00

SEMINAR

Equity

CORE

LECTURE Land Law

CORE

LECTURE Land Law

58



18.00 – 19.00

DA

Y F

OR

OP

TIO

NS

(A li

mit

ed

nu

mb

er

of

op

tio

ns

will

ru

n o

n F

rid

ays

and

wee

ken

ds)

SEMINAR European

Union Law*

SEMINAR

Legal Theory (1 & 2)**

19.00 – 20.00

CORE

LECTURE Legal

Theory (1 & 2)

SEMINAR European

Union Law*

CORE


20.00 – 21.00

CORE


CORE

LECTURE Legal Theory

(1 & 2)

SEMINAR

Legal Theory (1 & 2)**

* The asterisk means that some students attend seminars at 6.00pm on Wednesday and other students attend seminars at 7.00pm on Wednesday ** The double asterisk means that some students attend seminars at 6.00pm on Thursday and other students attend seminars at 8.00pm on Thursday

59

Year 1 LLM Full-Time


18.00 – 19.00

SEMINAR

Tort (Obligations 2)

SEMINAR


CORE


(Obligations 1)

19.00 – 20.00

CORE


and Administrative

Law

CORE


(Obligations 1)

CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

20.00 – 21.00

CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

SEMINAR

Constitutional and

Administrative Law

CORE


and Administrative

Law

LLM QLD students in the first year must attend three seminars on

dissertation skills in Term 2, as part of the Legal Systems and

Methods course. These will be held from 6pm – 9pm on the

following dates: Friday 29th January, Friday 26th February, and

Friday 18th March.

60

Year 2 LLM Full-Time


18.00 – 19.00

SEMINAR Criminal

Law

CORE

LECTURE Equity

CORE

LECTURE Equity

CORE


19.00 – 20.00

SEMINAR Land Law

SEMINAR

Equity

CORE


CORE


20.00 – 21.00


CORE


CORE

LECTURE Land Law

CORE

LECTURE Land Law

61

Year 1 LLM Part-Time


18.00 – 19.00

SEMINAR


CORE


19.00 – 20.00

CORE


and Administrative

Law

CORE


20.00 – 21.00

SEMINAR

Constitutional and

Administrative Law

CORE


and Administrative

Law

LLM QLD students in the first year must attend three seminars on

dissertation skills in Term 2, as part of the Legal Systems and

Methods course. These will be held from 6pm – 9pm on the

following dates: Friday 29th January, Friday 26th February, and

Friday 18th March.

62



18.00 – 19.00

SEMINAR

Criminal Law

SEMINAR Land Law

CORE


19.00 – 20.00

SEMINAR

Tort (Obligations

2)

CORE


CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

20.00 – 21.00

CORE

LECTURE Tort

(Obligations 2)

CORE

LECTURE Land Law

CORE

LECTURE Land Law

63



18.00 – 19.00

CORE

LECTURE Equity

CORE

LECTURE Equity

19.00 – 20.00

SEMINAR

Equity

CORE


20.00 – 21.00

CORE



64

Opt-out route for part time students only

Year 2 Part-time LLB students who wish to confine their

classroom studies to 3 days maximum per week may take

Tort Law and TWO 30 credit or FOUR 15 credit options, one

at level 5 and one at level 6. The study of Criminal Law will

be deferred to the third year. Any student wishing to opt

out of the standard part time second year diet (now

delivered over four days of the week), must do so by email

to Colin Mitchell before the course starts. For planning

purposes, a decision to opt out cannot be revoked.

Year 3 Part-Time LLB students who wish to confine their

classroom studies to 3 days should take Land Law and TWO

30 credit or FOUR 15 credit level 6 options. The study of

Equity and Trusts will be deferred to the fourth (final) year.

Any student wishing to opt out of the standard part time

third year diet (now delivered over four days of the week),

must do so by email to Sophia Khalid before the start of the

course. For planning purposes, a decision to opt out cannot

be revoked.

Recording of lectures: The College has installed equipment

in the two Lecture Theatres in Friends House and in the

majority of all other teaching locations for optional

modules, which enables audio and/or video recording of

lectures. Whilst all core QLD lectures (including application

lectures) will be recorded in audio format, it is a matter for

the person delivering any one particular lecture to decide

65

whether the audio format recording should be augmented

with a video format recording. Whilst lecturers are expected

to use the equipment to record lectures, it is a matter for

the tutor delivering any one particular seminar to decide

whether to record a seminar. In general, the School does

not encourage recording of parts of teaching events that

consist of significant contribution from students, such as

seminars. Students with disabilities in possession of ISSAs

may be permitted to record in circumstances where the

School or an individual tutor would not permit a recording

of a teaching event. To activate the recording device, the

lecturer is required to turn on the button on the recording

device at the beginning of the lecture and turn off the same

button at the end of the lecture.

Rescheduling of lectures and/or seminars: Except in case of

illness or other unavoidable event affecting the course

convenor and/or seminar tutor, there will be no alteration

in the schedule of lectures and seminars. In the event that

rescheduling becomes necessary, tutors are required to

contact a dedicated line/email inbox, as soon as feasible.

Sophia Khalid, email: [email protected], Telephone: +44

(0) 20 7631 6626, and Colin Mitchell, email:

[email protected], Telephone: 020 7631 6516 will notify

students of the rescheduled teaching events through direct

email, Moodle announcements and MyBirkbeck Profile.



66

If you have any queries about the timetable, please contact

the year tutor/QLD Director:

Year One: Victoria Ridler


Year Two: Fred Cowell


Years three and four: Craig Reeves


Co-Directors of the QLD:

Nadine El-Enany (Director of the LLB)


or

Eddie Bruce-Jones (Director of the LLM QLD);







67

Progressing through

the years of study

68

Progressing through the

years of study

Provided you have completed all administrative

requirements for enrolment, you will be enrolled on a

minimum of two 30 credit modules or a maximum of four 30

credit modules, depending on your chosen pathway. In order

to move from one academic year to another (for example, to

move from year one to year two of the full time LLB) you will

need to pass assessments for all of the modules on which

you are enrolled. Pass marks are 40 per cent (LLB) and 50 per

cent (LLM QLD).

Compensated Fail: At the discretion of the Board of

Examiners, a compensated fail may be awarded where a

student has attained a mark between 35% and 39% (LLB),

and between 45% and 49% (LLM QLD). Such a pass will be

noted on the degree transcript. Only one subject can be

compensated in the course of the entire degree. A subject

would not normally be compensated until the final year of

the studies, except when a failure to compensate will result

in a student’s exclusion from the degree.

Elements of an assessment: If a module has more than one element of assessment you will be required: a) to pass each

69

element, or b) attain an average pass mark across all elements, or c) attain an average pass mark across all elements with each element over a minimum threshold mark of 30. The module guide will contain details of pass requirements for particular modules. If you do not pass all modules, you remain in the year to which the module relates until you pass all modules. For example, a student who has enrolled on 3 modules, may score a pass of 70 in two modules and fail one module at 38 (LLB) or 48 (LLM QLD) and will normally have to take the year out to re-sit the failed module. Students in such situations will be referred automatically to a Year Tutor, QLD Director, or the Chair/Deputy Chair of Exams. Exceptionally, a student may be permitted to carry forward one 30 credit module (or equivalent in 15 credit modules. Such an exception is unlikely to apply in cases where the module in question was failed with a mark below that required for a compensated fail (35 for LLB and 45 for LLM QLD). Except for students with a valid mitigating circumstances claim, modules must normally be passed during the May/June assessments. Queries over progression should be directed to one of the following:

Chief Exams Officer: Victoria Ridler


Deputy Exams Officer: Nathan Moore


70


Year One Tutor: Victoria Ridler


Year Two Tutor: Fred Cowell


Years Three and Four Tutor: Craig Reeves


Director of the LLB: Nadine El-Enany


Director of the LLM QLD: Eddie Bruce-Jones;








71

End of teaching

terms and reading

weeks

72

End of teaching terms and

reading weeks

There are 3 weeks between the end of the Autumn Term

and the beginning of the Spring Term. There are 4 weeks

between the end of the Spring Term and the beginning of

the Summer Term (Revision classes only). In addition, there

is a reading week commencing 2 November 2015 and a

reading week commencing 8 February 2016. During these

periods there are no lectures or seminars, and other routine

meetings and arrangements will also cease, such as office

hours. During these periods students write assessments

and catch up on reading. During these weeks, course

convenors and seminar/personal tutors are engaged in

research and teaching preparation. All course convenors

are required to be contactable by email or provide

information of when and how they can be contacted.

Convenors and seminar tutors are asked not to arrange

teaching during these weeks but exceptionally - for

example, where a convenor or seminar tutor has had to

reschedule a seminar or lecture due to illness or other

unavoidable absence - classes may be scheduled during

these periods.

73

The administrative office will continue to operate according

to the standard schedule and will close only during formal

College closure dates. The Main Admin Office opening

times are:

Phone queries:

Monday to Friday: 11.00am – 2.00pm and 3pm – 6pm

Visits in person:

Monday to Friday: 12 noon – 2pm and 4pm – 6pm

You can email the Programme Administrators at any time.

Responses to email enquiries will be from 11.00am –

2.00pm and 3pm – 6pm.

74

Staff Name

Programme

Contact Details

Sophia

Khalid

LLB Years 3

and 4

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 020 7631 6236

Colin

Mitchell

LLB Years 1

and 2

LLM QLD

Email:

[email protected]

Telephone: 020 7631 6516



75

Personal/Study

Support

76

Personal/Study Support

Personal tutor system: The personal tutor system links full

time academic staff with students. Students will be able to

identify their personal tutor from the My Birkbeck profile.

The personal tutor system helps to provide students with

support and assistance in relation to the following:

Writing references;

Personal issue that affect your study;

Representation in the unlikely event that a student

is accused of unfair academic practices and/or a

breach of discipline;

Academic Office Hours: All full time members of academic

staff hold a drop-in/call-in office hour each week. These

range from 9am to 9pm. Full details of individual staff office

hours can be found through the School of Law web site.

Because these are not by appointment, students must be

prepared to wait or re-arrange. Academic office hours have

two main functions:

Personal tutor enquiries (in which case you must go

to the hour set aside by your personal tutor);

Subject specific enquiries (you must check that you

attend the hour set aside by the appropriate subject

specialist for your enquiry).

77

Tuition Line: In 2011, with the support of a City Educational

Trust grant, the School created the infrastructure to provide

one to one tuition for a compulsory qualifying law degree

subjects by telephone with a subject specialist - a specialist

who is also a seminar tutor. This has proved particularly

popular during assessment periods. The Tuition Line

number is 020 7580 2436: dial 1 for Contract, Tort and

Equity; dial 2 for Criminal, EU and Constitutional Law; dial 3

for Legal Systems and Methods and Land Law. Students will

receive notification by email and on Moodle when tuition

line is due to run and reminders when the line is actually

running.

Learning Development Tutor - Academic Skills: Christina

Delistathi: ([email protected] / 020 7631 6513 / Office

Location: 2.02, 18 Gower Street) Christina provides

individual support and general workshops on a range of

subjects, including essay writing/exam preparation/dyslexia

support, best management of time, oral presentations and

preparing for exams. She helps develop the higher order

academic skills needed for Law study, including analysis,

synthesis and evaluative critical thinking.

Meetings with Christina are strictly by appointment, which

must be arranged by email at [email protected].

Learning Development Tutor: Professional Extra-curricular:

Jonathan Thorpe (Email address: [email protected] /

Office Location: Room B03, 16 Gower Street)




78

The Learning Development Tutor (professional extra-

curricular) is responsible for working with colleagues in the

School of Law to provide students with a range of

opportunities in which to develop professional skills

relevant to the fields of law and criminology, including

Moots, Mock Trials and visits to Courts and Prisons.

Equalities Officer The Equalities Officer is Sarah Keenan (Email:

[email protected] / Telephone: 020 3073 8137 / Office

location: 14 Gower Street, Room 201)

Her role is to ensure that the School’s teaching and learning

strategies for all programmes are consistent with equalities

principles and legislation, with a special emphasis on

disability related issues. Sarah’s remit covers design of

alternative assessment, accessibility of learning materials

and classroom protocols to aid students with disabilities. To

facilitate progress on equality issues, Sarah will chair the

Equalities Working Group, which will meet once a term. The

Working Group will receive administrative support from the

School’s Disability Support Officer, Sue Baines.


79

Disability Support Officer The School’s Disability Support Officer is Sue Baines (Email:

[email protected] / Telephone: 0203 073 8149/ Office

location: Room G02, 12 Gower Street)

Sue will assist students with disabilities to access suitable

learning and teaching support, including facilitating special

seating arrangements in lecture theatres and seminars and

converting module guides and reading material into

accessible formats. Sue is responsible for all logging of

decisions relating to particular students with disabilities, and

communication of the same to students.

Students with disabilities For students with disabilities, the Equalities Officer (Sarah

Keenan) and the Disability Support Officer (Sue Baines) are

the first point of contact for academic and administrative

related disability enquiries, respectively. Disability related

issues that may negatively impact on a student’s academic

progress are decided by the Equalities Committee. Students

whose progress is interrupted by non-disability related

issues will be decided by the mitigating circumstances panel.

Below are examples of the kinds of support these officers

can offer:


80

Academic

Liaise with programme directors/seminar tutors over alternative assessment for students with disabilities

Be responsible for updating generic handbooks and other materials on teaching and learning matters to ensure they are consistent with disability equality principles

In consultation with programme directors, year and the Chair of Assessments, take decisions relating to adjustments to the learning environment of students with disabilities

Liaise with library to agree access adjustments for students with disabilities

Contribute to Induction of academic and teaching and scholarship staff on disability related issues.

Administrative

Liaise with College Estates and staff in main teaching

locations to ensure disability access at seminars and

in lectures – especially in Friend’s House.

Disseminate ISSAs to appropriate persons

Liaise between College Disability Office and students

in the School of Law over assessments for Individual

Support Agreements (ISSA);

81

Disability Support: Depending on the nature of the

disability, the following support is available:

Assessments: additional time on standard

assessments/special assessments (non-standard

forms, such as oral assessment/take-home exam

paper);

Learning materials: specially produced (e.g. Larger

font; adjustment to standard electronic production);

Lectures: specially allocated places in the lecture

theatre;

Seminars: specially allocated rooms/places within

the seminar room;

Students wishing to record seminars will require an

ISSA specifying that requirement;

Disabled access rooms and facilities at the annual

Law School visit to Cumberland Lodge, which takes

place during the second weekend of September.

Year Tutors: Each student cohort has a year tutor assigned

who will convene at least one module on the core qualifying

law degree. The Year tutor deals with issues that are

generic to the particular year of study (not specific to

individual students), such as:

Requests for adjustments of coursework deadlines

affecting all students in a module;

82

Complaints about teaching and other resources

affecting all students in a year or a particular group

of students (e.g students with disabilities);

Supporting year representatives - especially in

making representations at the term student and

staff liaison committees, which is the main place at

which concerns generic to the student body or

particular years or groups are discussed.







Mitigating Circumstances Panel: The mitigating

circumstances panel will consider whether you are entitled

to special consideration as a result of unexpected and

compelling factors that may adversely affect your

performance. The mitigating circumstances panel operates




83

during assessment periods and consists of the following

members of academic staff:

Chief Exams Officer: Victoria Ridler


Deputy Exams Officer: Nathan Moore [email protected] / 020 3073 8111







Co-directors of the QLD: Nadine El-Enany


Eddie Bruce-Jones [email protected] / 020

7631 6500








84

Compelling personal circumstances may:

Give you an extension of time on an assessment

Allow you to take a special assessment (different in

kind from the standard assessment)

Allow you to defer your May/June assessment to

the September examination period

Exempt you from the College policy relating to

maximum marks of 40 for any reassessed module.

There are two stages to the decision of whether a student

can rely upon mitigating circumstances:

1. Does the situation fall within a category of

mitigating circumstance – has the student

confronted an unexpected and compelling

situation?

2. Did the mitigating circumstances adversely affect

the student's performance?

For example, a student who suffers a sudden, serious illness

during an examination period and scores 50% in the

examination will not be granted any concession if they

scored 50% in all or some of the assessments for which they

did not claim mitigating circumstances. In such a case, the

Panel is likely to decide that whilst the student can establish

the first stage of the mitigating circumstances test, he/she

85

has failed to establish the second - viz that the situation

adversely affected his/her performance.

Friends House Liaison

Luis Belmonte will take on a new role during the teaching

period for the QLD. Luis will be on-site at Friends House

during the Induction period (29 September 2015 to 15

October 2015) and thereafter an average of one day per

week (autumn/spring) rotating between Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursday. With this role, which will have

significant interface with students on-site, it is expected that

administrative queries classically dealt with in the office will

be reduced. Luis is also charged with responsibility for

alerting the Equalities Officer (Sarah Keenan) of any

disability access issues or technological problems that may

impact negatively on the student experience of students

with disability needs, or needs relative to other protective

characteristics.

College Counselling Services: The Counselling Service

provides assistance to those experiencing emotional

difficulties which may be impacting upon their studies or

overall experience at Birkbeck. More information can be

found in the MyBirkbeck online portal.

86

Penalties

87

Penalties

Failure to meet the requirements of the Solicitors

Regulation Authority / Bar Standards Board: To obtain a

Qualifying Law Degree, students must have passed the

examinations and assessments in the Foundations of Legal

Knowledge, as set by the School of Law at Birkbeck. Over

the period of studies, a student will have acquired the

foundations through attendance in lectures and seminars

for the following subjects:

Legal Systems and Methods

Law of Obligations 1

Constitutional & Administrative Law

Criminal Law

Law of Obligations II (Tort)

Property Law I

Property II (Equity)

European Union Law

88

The School is required to inform the Solicitors Regulation

Authority and BVC providers of those law graduates who

have:

(a) failed one or more of the foundation

subjects (pass mark 40 LLB and 50 LLM QLD)

(b) received compensated fail in only one

foundation subject [35 to 39 (LLB), 45 to 59

(LLM QLD)]. Students with only one

compensated fail in a foundation subject

may be able to proceed to the vocational

stage of legal training with a letter of support

from the Executive Dean (Patricia Tuitt

[email protected] / 02076316505; or Deputy

Dean, Stewart Motha [email protected] /

020 3073 8130).

The Six Year Rule: Students will not normally obtain a QLD if

they take more than six years to complete their studies. This

applies to all programmes and pathways. Students who

complete their degree after the six year period may be able

to proceed to the vocational stage of legal training with a

letter of support from the Executive Dean (Patricia Tuitt

[email protected] / 02076316505; or Deputy Dean Stewart

Motha [email protected] / 020 3073 8130).





89

Class of Degree: please note that the Bar Standards Board

requires students wishing to study for the Bar Professional

Training Course (BPTC) and qualify as a barrister to gain a

minimum of a lower second class degree.

Attendance: A minimal level of attendance at lectures and

seminars is normally required before a student is permitted

to enter an assessment for a core or optional module. To

facilitate attendance and attendance monitoring, academic

and teaching and scholarship staff are expected to attend

regularly and punctually and take attendance registers or

ensure that other means of monitoring attendance are

facilitated. Periods of sickness or other valid reason for

absence will not result in any penalty.

Electronic Attendance System: The School of Law will be

operating an electronic attendance system in Friends House

and most of other teaching locations where optional

modules take place; students will need to bring their

Birkbeck ID to every teaching event (lectures and seminars)

that they attend. The teaching rooms will have electronic

card readers inside the room clearly marked E-Registers and

with the Birkbeck logo. Convenors and seminar tutors are

asked to remind students to use their cards to touch-in to

the E-Register system. Until the system embeds, tutors will

be required to take a paper register at seminars. Seminar

tutors and students should ensure that, until otherwise

90

notified, double registration will operate for seminars –

touch-in with electronic card readers and signature on the

paper registers. During the period of operation of paper

registers, seminar tutors are required to return paper

registers within one week to Sophia Khalid

([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6236) or Colin

Mitchell ([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6516)

who will ensure that these are passed to the relevant

attendance monitoring staff so that non-attendance can be

followed up.



91

For further details about the E-Register system visit the

College website.

Paper Registers: Paper registers will be taken throughout the year irrespective of whether the teaching location has been equipped with E-Registers. Option convenors and seminar tutors are required to take paper registers for all classes and to return these within one week to Sophia Khalid ([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6236) or Colin Mitchell ([email protected] / telephone: 020 7631 6516) who will ensure that these are passed to the relevant attendance monitoring staff so that non-attendance can be followed up.

The minimum attendance will vary depending on whether

you are:

An international student, subject to Tier 4

requirements (For Tier 4 visa students,

attendance monitoring is required by the UK

Visas and Immigration. If you require further

information on this, please contact the Birkbeck

International Student Administration - see

College website - or alternatively the Co-

directors of the QLD Nadine El-Enany, n.el-

[email protected], 0203 073 8121 and Eddie

Bruce-Jones, [email protected], 020





92

7631 6500 or Shabna Begum

[email protected] / Telephone: 020

3073 8172);

A student on a Full-Time programme (minimum

of 60% attendance) ;

A student on a Part-Time programme

(minimum of 60 % attendance).

Teaching staff are asked to draw to the attention of

classroom participants (not individual students) the

attendance requirement but do not have the power to

exclude any student from class or (whether through direct

or indirect means) to exclude a student from taking an

assessment on the basis of threatened or actual non-

compliance with attendance rules.

Failure to meet minimum attendance requirements may

result in:

Exclusion from the course, if in breach of Tier 4;

Non-entry to assessment or a compulsory re-

take of the year if an assessment is failed;

Poor reference, if a record of attendance is

required in a reference.


93

Late Submission of course work assessment: Coursework

submission dates are Wednesday 6 January 2016 at

4.30pm, and Monday 18 April 2016 at 4.30pm.

Exceptionally, a student may submit coursework on

Wednesday 24 August 2016 at 11.30am. For students

without valid mitigating circumstances, a submission

outside of these dates but within three weeks of the

January/April dates and within one week of the September

date will result in a maximum pass mark of 40% (LLB) or 50%

(LLM QLD). Submission outside of this period will result in a

failed mark.

Multiple fail of a core or optional module: For students

without valid mitigating circumstances, a failure in any one

module (core or optional/30 or 15 credits) on 3 occasions

(LLB) or 2 occasions (LLM QLD) will result in the

recommendation that the student is excluded from the

degree.

Non-submission/non exam sitting (without mitigation): For

students without valid mitigating circumstances, a failure to

submit coursework will count as a fail in the subject and the

student will lose one of his/her three (LLB) or two (LLM QLD)

attempts at the module. Similarly, a failure to attend an

examination (without valid mitigating circumstances) will

result in a fail in the subject and the loss of one attempt at a

module.

94

Unfair Practices: The most common of these is plagiarism –

failure to attribute expression of ideas to their source – and

cheating in examinations – copying another’s

work/introducing unauthorised material into an

examination. The general rule in relation to proven

allegations of unfair practices is that the penalty must be

greater than would be applied if a student had merely failed

an assessment. In practice this means that an individual

found to have committed an unfair practice during the

assessment of an optional module is likely to lose a sitting

and be debarred from the particular module on which an

unfair practice occurs. If the unfair practice occurs during

the assessment of a core module, the offending student will

lose a sitting and be held back a year. In extreme cases the

offending student may be excluded from the course, but

this cannot happen without the School reporting the

student to College.

Maximum pass rate for modules re-assessed after a failed

attempt or non-submission

Following a decision of College Academic Board, all

Academic Schools and Departments must adapt their

marking and assessment schemes so as to ensure that any

element of assessment that is submitted as a reassessment

(second attempt after a failed attempt or non-submission)

and for which no application for consideration of mitigating

95

circumstances has been accepted will be awarded a mark of

no more than 40% (LLB modules) or no more than 50% (LLM

QLD modules), which is the minimum percentage pass rate

for respectively undergraduate modules and postgraduate

taught modules. This new marking and assessment rules

applies to all students taking any assessment for the first

time in the current academic year (2015/16) and applies to

all LLB and LLM QLD modules. The rules does not apply in

cases where a student has failed an undergraduate or

postgraduate module and is directed to re-take the module

by attending, for a second time, the classes relating to the

failed module.

Breach of Academic Conventions: includes unintentional

copying of material without attribution and/or using large

sections of quoted materials – leaving little to the student’s

own words. In such cases, students will fail with a mark

between 30 and zero, depending on how extreme is the

breach of academic conventions. However, the student will

be able to repeat an assessment during the next available

assessment period. If the breach of conventions occurs in

the May/June assessment period the student may

submit/sit the assessment during the September

examination period. If the breach of conventions occurs

during the September examination period, the student

would normally be put back a year.

96

Breach of Code of Discipline/Conduct: This applies to

conduct unrelated to academic performance – such as

discriminatory acts/statements/aggressive behaviour or

statements. The School takes a very serious view of

breaches of the code of discipline and will invariably report

such instances (after ascertaining whether the breach is

denied or admitted) to the College where a range of

penalties can be imposed, including exclusion from the

course.

Payment of fees: It is the responsibility of each student to

ensure that their tuition fees are paid to the College by the

appropriate deadlines. Students who do not adhere to

College payment policies may have their access to academic

support (including library, Moodle, release of results and IT)

removed during the year and they may be unable to

graduate or return to study until the debt is cleared in full.

Students should contact the Fees Office to discuss any

payment queries or difficulties as early as possible by e-mail.

Further details are available on the College website at

www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/finance.

Bursaries and hardship payments: are not available from

the School of Law. The College has a range of support

available to assist students who are in financial difficulty.

Further information can be found on-line in the MyBirkbeck

portal.

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/finance

97

Have Your Say

98

Have your say

Student/Staff Surveys: Year-long modules are evaluated by

students twice a year by means of course survey and termly

courses are evaluated once a year. The course survey can

be completed in paper copies that will be distributed during

lectures and optional seminars and students are encouraged

to complete the anonymous survey in the lecture/seminar

to ensure that the School benefits from the widest

participation in the survey.

The following academics are involved in the course survey

process:

Module convenors are responsible for evaluating

the feedback and reporting results to students on

their module

Year tutors are responsible for reviewing the results

of modules for the year and reporting back to the

School Teaching and Learning Committee and the

Student/Staff Liaison Committee

The QLD Co-directors and Deputy Dean will jointly

agree any actions that result from the course survey

outcome - reporting to STQEC and/or the School

Executive.

99

Student Representatives: Representatives are entitled to

attend two major School Committees: School Board and

Staff/Student Liaison Committee. Their role is to report

back concerns/commendations from the student body over

any aspect of the student experience. New representatives

are elected each year. Representatives are elected in some

of the core QLD lectures during October. Students will

receive an email to announce when the election will take

place. Representatives are inducted by the QLD Team

Leader in their roles soon after being elected.

Student/Staff Liaison Committee: This Committee meets

once a term on a Friday evening and provides an

opportunity for staff and students to exchange views and

(where possible) agree actions relating to all aspects of the

student experience. Notice of the meeting will be given to

student representatives by direct email from the Assistant

School Manager.

The Committee consists of the following:

All QLD student representatives;

Learning Development Tutor: Christina Delistathi


Disability Liaison officer: Sue Baines


Assistant School Manager: Shabna Begum [email protected] / 020 3073 8172




100







Director of the LLB: Nadine El-Enany

[email protected] / 0203 073 8121 (Chair)

Director of the LLM QLD: Eddie Bruce-Jones;

[email protected] / 020 7631 6500 (Chair)

School Board Representation: Twice a year, the full team of

academic and administrative staff meet to discuss and agree

policy relating to all aspects of the QLD and other taught

programmes in the School. The meeting is chaired by the

Executive Dean (Patricia Tuitt [email protected] / 0207 631

6505). All QLD year representatives are entitled to attend

the Open Agenda of the School Board meeting. Their roles

are to report on concerns/commendations in relation to all

aspects of the student experience. Dates for School Board

are published to student representatives no later than 30

September each year. Representatives will also be given







101

three weeks’ reminder notice of the meeting and will

receive the agenda and papers for the open meeting.

National Students Survey: is for final-year undergraduate

students, and runs annually. Birkbeck performs very well in

the league table and the contribution of Birkbeck Law

students went a long way to securing success. A prize draw

is open to Birkbeck students who are eligible to take part in,

and who have completed, the Birkbeck Student Survey or

the Postgraduate Student Survey. Once completed, students

will be automatically entered into the prize draw.

Complaints: The School aims to resolve any concerns as

swiftly and informally as possible. However, in the event of

an issue that requires more formal intervention, the

following process should be followed:

Module related matters: initially to course

convenor unless the convenor is the subject of the

complaint in which case the year tutor and then

QLD Co-directors;

Generic teaching and learning matters: to the year

tutor, the QLD Co-directors/Deputy

Director/Executive Dean;

Personal matters: personal tutor in the first

instance, or other tutor who may volunteer to act

102

(Deputy Dean Stewart Motha [email protected] /

020 3073 8130 / Patricia Tuitt [email protected] /

02076316505).

Complaints can also be made through representatives who

will raise before the School Board and/or the Student/Staff

Liaison Committee.

If an issue is not resolved at School level, a student is

entitled to pursue a complaint at College level. College

complaints are governed by College policies – the details of

which are beyond the scope of this guide. The relevant

information is available in the My Birkbeck website, under

Student Services / Rules and Regulations.



103

Assessments

104

Assessments

Formative assessments are practice tests, intended to help

students to improve their performance in the final exam.

Details of any formative assessment will be found in module

guides. Formative assessment can be voluntary but is

usually a non-assessed requirement - meaning that a

student must complete the formative assessment to be able

to pass the module but that the mark for the formative

assessment does not count toward the student's final grade

for the module.

Summative assessments are the final, compulsory

assessments, the mark for which determines whether the

assessment is passed or failed.

Scheme of Assessment for core QLD assessment

Legal Systems and Methods For LLB

Assessment 1 Online Exercise - short

answer questions

Assessment 2 Essay questions

105

Legal Systems and Methods For LLM QLD

Assessment 1 Online Exercise - short

answer questions

Assessment 2 Dissertation Skills Exercises

Law of Obligations 1

Assessment 1 50% essay

Assessment 2 50% essay

Constitutional &

Administrative Law

Assessment 100% seen/unseen

examination

Criminal Law

Assessment 100% written or open book

examination

106

Law of Obligations II (Tort)

Assessment 100% seen / unseen

examination

Property Law I

Assessment 1 Written problem assessment

50%

Assessment 2 Written essay assessment

50%

Property II (Equity)

Assessment 100% seen / unseen written

examination

107

European Union Law

Assessment 1 Project 50% (LLB)/ Take

home question 60% (LLM

QLD)

Assessment 2 Exam 50% (LLB) / Seen

Exam 40% (LLM QLD)

Legal Theory 1 & 2 FOR LLB ONLY

Assessment 1 (Legal Theory

1)

100% unseen examination

Assessment 2 (Legal Theory

2)

100% unseen examination

Compulsory Dissertation FOR LLM QLD ONLY

Assessment 100%

108

Mitigating circumstances: A student confronted, during a

period of assessment, with a sudden and compelling

situation which adversely impacts on his/her performance in

the assessment may ask for:

An assessment attempt to be discounted;

A failure to attempt an assessment discounted; An assessment attempt discounted and a further

attempt at an assessment which the student has

passed.

Exemption from the College policy relating to

maximum marks of 40 for any reassessed modules.

Claims for mitigating circumstances must be submitted to

[email protected] within three weeks of the date of the

assessment, which means within three weeks of the

coursework submission dates (Autumn Term Submission:

Wednesday 6 January 2016 at 4.30pm; Spring Term

Submission: Monday 18 April 2016 at 4.30pm) and within

three weeks of the date of the May/June exam to which the

mitigating claim relates. For the September re-sits, claims

for mitigating circumstances must be submitted to

[email protected] within one week of the date of the

assessment, which means within one week of the

coursework submission date [September Submission (for

exceptional cases): Wednesday 24 August 2016 at 11.30am]

and within one week of the date of the September exam to

which the mitigating claim relates. A claim that is not


109

supported by independent evidence will not be considered,

except where no independent evidence is reasonably

accessible. Where a student argues that independent

evidence is not reasonably accessible, the mitigating

circumstances claim must be accompanied by a detailed

statement as to why the evidence is not accessible and,

whenever possible, should be accompanied by independent

evidence of the fact that the evidence supporting the

mitigating circumstances claim is not accessible.

Mitigating circumstances claims will be considered at a

mitigating circumstances panel at which the academic and

administrative staff holding the following roles will be

present:

Chief Examinations Officer:

Victoria Ridler

E-mail: [email protected]

Telephone: 0203 073 8120

Office location: 14 Gower Street, Room 303

Deputy Examinations Officer:

Nathan Moore


Telephone: 020 3073 8111

Office location: 4 Gower Street, Room B03

Learning Development Tutor:



110

Christina Delistath

Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6513 Office location: 18 Gower Street, Room 2.02

Director of LLB:

Nadine El-Enany


Telephone: 020 3073 8121


Director of LLM QLD:

Eddie Bruce-Jones


Telephone: 020 7631 6500


In exceptional circumstances, a Chair/Deputy Chair of the

Law Sub-Board/Co-Directors of the QLD can make a decision

on mitigating circumstances outside of the Panel. Two

weeks after the panel has met, students will be notified by

the Chair of the Panel of the decision on their mitigating

circumstances claim. Appeals against a decision on

mitigating circumstances are considered appeals against the

Sub-Board of Examiners and therefore they are subject to




111

the College Appeals process, details of which can be found

in the College website.

Coursework Submission: a proportion of core qualifying law

degree modules and the majority of optional subjects are

assessed by way of coursework essay. Module guides will

indicate how many essays are required for each module, the

word count and any other special characteristics of the

assessment. Autumn Term Submission is Wednesday 6

January 2016 at 4.30pm, Spring Term Submission is

Monday 18 April 2016 at 4.30pm, and September

Submission (for exceptional cases) is Wednesday 24 August

September 2016 at 11.30am. The penalty for late

submission (without mitigation), for a student who achieves

a pass, is a mark of no more than 40% (LLB) or 50% (LLM

QLD).

Students must submit through Moodle no later than 4.30pm

(in the case of January and April submissions) and no later

than 11.30am (in the case of September submission) on the

relevant submission date. Students will receive their

coursework with marks and comments after five weeks of

the January and April submission dates and within three

weeks of the September submission date.

Academic management of coursework: for coursework

submitted in January-April, course convenors are

responsible for ensuring that coursework is returned to the

administration within three weeks of submission. In case of

112

alleged unfair practices or breach of academic conventions

this period might be prolonged. Every item of coursework is

marked by two subject specialists. Course convenors must

ensure that all coursework is second marked before it is

returned to administrators. External examiners (academics

employed in other, comparable Law Schools) will assess a

sample of coursework from all grade categories (including

failed marks) from the entire submission. Course convenors

are responsible for ensuring that coursework is returned to

administrators, who distribute marked coursework to

students, within two weeks of the return date.

Administrative management of coursework: submission of

essays is through Moodle. The process is as follows:

1. Visit the Birkbeck Moodle page

2. Enter your login details

3. Click on the relevant module page

4. Scroll down until you find the link for submission

5. Upload your electronic file from your computer or

any other electronic device

Students must be fully familiar with the use of Moodle.

Submission through email is not allowed, as this causes

administrative confusion to the detriment of the student.

Essays must be submitted with the number of the student

inserted in the cover. Essays must NOT include the name of

the student, as the marking requires anonymising. Essays

113

are returned to the students through the student pigeon

holes, located in the basement of the School. Students will

receive an email to notify them that they can collect their

essays. Essays will be returned to students within two weeks

after administrators receive the marked coursework from

module convenors.

Exam Attendance: a proportion of core qualifying law

degree subjects and a small proportion of optional subjects

are assessed wholly or partly by way of examination. As

approximate timings, in 2015 the exams were running from

12 May 2015 to 28 May 2015, and from 1 September 2015

to 11 September 2015. There are a variety of examination

modes (unseen written/seen written/open-book written)

and the module guide will identify the mode of assessment

applicable to the module in question. Unless supported by

mitigating circumstances, a failure to attend an examination

will lead to the student receiving a mark of zero.

Academic management of examinations: every individual

item of an examination is marked by two subject specialists

and a sample taken from the entire cohort of assessments is

reviewed by external examiners. Students are not entitled

to receive back the original or a copy of their examination

script.

Administrative management of examinations: results from

the May/June examination period will be released on or

114

after 31st July 2016. Results from the September

examination period will be released on or after the 1st

October 2016.

Academic and administrative staff are not permitted to

allow students to take completed examination scripts away

from the Law Offices. Official results will be made available

via the MyBirkbeck profile page and are not available

through any other means, such as via telephone.

Assessment feedback is provided by written summary to all

students in the case of coursework assessments. Where the

assessment is by coursework, students receive back a copy

of their essay containing (at a minimum) a short summary of

the student’s performance and a completed grid that

assesses the student’s performance against specific criteria,

such as research and structure of argument. Where the

assessment is by end of year examination, generic feedback

is provided, which is accessible to all students on a given

module. Because examination papers are not duplicated,

the School cannot return examination scripts to students.

Individual feedback to all students is not possible because of

the size of the cohort of students taking examinations.

Course Convenors will decide on whether feedback is

required – prioritising students who have failed modules,

students with disabilities and student who express a desire

to appeal against their result. For the May exams, students

can request feedback only during August, and for the

115

September exams, students can request feedback only

during October.

Law Sub Board of Examiners: It is a necessary part of the

process of feedback for students to receive marks for

assessments throughout the academic year. However, all

marks are subject to change until the Law Sub Board of

Examiners makes decisions or recommendations in respect

of the marks and the decisions and recommendations are

approved by the College Board of Examiners - which has

delegated authority to make decisions/recommendations to

Sub Boards (like the Law Sub Board of Examiners - which is

made up of all members of academic staff and law

specialists from other comparable Law Schools). The Law

Sub Board sits twice annually in the last week of June or first

week of July and in the third or fourth week of September.

Results are announced by College Registry. To facilitate

early release of results, the examinations officers in the

School undertake to report results to College Board of

Examiners within two weeks of the Law Sub Board

meetings.

The following academics lead on examination board

arrangements:

116

Chair of Law Sub Board (June/July) Chief Exams

Officer: Victoria Ridler, [email protected] / 0203

073 8120

Deputy Chair of Law Sub Board: Nathan Moore,


The following administrator leads on examination board

arrangements:

Team Leader: Natasha Trivedi Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6508 Appeals/challenges Against Assessment Grading: the

judgment on the merits of an exam paper or coursework

assessment is not amenable to scientific certainty. Every

effort is taken (by way of marking / moderation / external

examination process) to ensure that judgments are a fair

representation of a student's performance. No appeal

against academic judgment is allowed. Appeals on the

grounds of administrative error or procedural irregularity

are allowed. Any appeal must be made to the College

within 6 weeks of notification of results.




117

Social Diary

118

Social Diary


weekend of September, is a weekend of talks organised by

a rota of academic and administrative staff (with guest

speakers) and is an ideal event for new and continuing

students wishing to meet new students and staff and renew

old acquaintances;

Induction and Returning Students’ Socials: a social event

with drinks and light snacks is provided for NEW students on

the evening of the first day of Induction – this is usually the

last Tuesday in September or the first Tuesday in October.

The event is held in the main teaching location for the

Qualifying Law Degree – Friends House – and alcohol is not

permitted on the premises.

School Prize Giving: the following are examples of the range

of prizes available to students on the qualifying law degree:

Best performing student of each year, separate

prizes for LLB and LLM QLD

Pizza Paradiso Prize for significant contribution of

the social life of the School

Helena Kennedy Prize for Best Critical Essay

Tim Hutchings Prize for Perseverance

119

Every effort is made to announce prize winners at the

College Graduation event in November (LLB) and April

(LLM). A School prize giving event will take place in the

evening of Friday 08 January 2016 for all students in the

School of Law.

College Graduation: the ceremony for graduates takes place

in Logan Hall, Institute of Education (20 Bedford Way,

London WC1H 0AL) on 2 November 2015 at 11.00am for

LLB, and April 2016 for LLM QLD.

Annual Law Lecture Reception: an event with drinks and

light refreshments is held after the lecture given by a

distinguished academic. The Lecture takes place on 6

November 2015. The lecture and reception are hosted by

the Executive Dean of the School of Law.

February Law and Film Screening: join us for our annual

screening of a film addressing contemporary legal themes.

The event takes place annually on the first Friday in

February and is scheduled for 5 February 2016.

Law on Trial opening and closing reception: a reception

with drinks and light refreshments is offered during the

opening Monday (13 June 2016) and closing Friday (17 June

2016) nights of Law on Trial. The event takes place annually

during the second or third week of June and sees

academics, practitioners and activists debate an important

120

and topical area of law. The first night is often devoted to a

Professorial inaugural lecture.

End of year party: the annual summer party, which takes

place usually on the first Friday of June, this year 3 June

2016 – is a special feature of the School’s diary of social

events. Weather permitting the summer party is held in the

Gower Street Gardens – immediately behind the School

academic and administrative offices at 14 Gower Street.

Options Fair: an event with drinks and light refreshments is

organised in the second Friday of June (10 June 2016) which

staff offering optional modules present their specialist

modules. A booklet with titles and a short summary of each

option will be available to students 5 working days before

the date of the options fair. Students have the opportunity

to discuss options with staff but are not able to select

option modules until the options portal is opened and

announced by email and/or via moodle – this would

normally occur within 7 working days of the date of the

options fair.

The following academic and administrative staffs are

responsible for co-ordinating the options event:

121

Co-directors of the QLD

Director of LLB: Nadine El-Enany


Telephone: 020 3073 8121

Office location: 14 Gower Street, Room 202 or;

Director of LLM QLD: Eddie Bruce-Jones



Years 2-4 Tutors

Fred Cowell

Email:[email protected]

Telephone: 0207 631 6507 Office location: 18 Gower Street, Room 2.01

Craig Reeves


Telephone: 0207 631 6662

Office location: 18 Gower Street. Room 2.04

QLD administrators

Colin Mitchell


Telephone: 020 7631 6516

Office location: 14 Gower Street. Room G02






122

Sophia Khalid


Telephone: 020 7631 6236 Office location: 14 Gower Street. Room G02

Student Law Society events held jointly with the School

Some events may be subject to change:

Christmas Party, held on Friday 11 December 2015.

Law Ball, held in the second half of July 2015.


123

Extra-curricular

Activities

124

Extra-Curricular Activities

Booker Prize initiative run by the School of Arts: this takes

place in Friend’s House. All new students are to the event

invited and given the booker prize nominated novel. The

event takes place annually in November/December/January.

Full details are to be found in the website of the School of

Arts.

Annual Law Lecture: This event occurs 6 November 2015

and sees the School host a talk given by a distinguished

academic on a law-related theme. The event attracts large

numbers of undergraduate students.

Mooting & Mock Trials: Mooting and Mock Trials are one of

the best ways of learning law. The School takes part in a

number of competition and organises regular internal

events. If you are interested in taking part in moots or mock

trials, email Jonathan Thorpe: [email protected]

Law Clinics: the School of Law is in collaboration with the

University of London and two other partners: HCL Hanne &

Co, a London based solicitors firm, and the River House

Trust, an organisation providing services to people living

with HIV and AIDS. To express interest in this project please

contact Eddie Bruce-Jones, [email protected] / 020

7631 6500 / Office location: Room 102, 12 Gower Street.



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For students interested in discussing the School’s range of

clinical options, please contact Eddie Bruce Jones, e.bruce-

[email protected] / 020 7631 6500 / Office location: Room

102, 12 Gower Street, and/or Bill Bowring,

[email protected] / 0207 631 6022 / Office location:

Room B03, 14 Gower Street. Dr Bruce Jones and Professor

Bowring support and harmonise academic and extra-

curricular offerings that include legal practice components.

Judicial conversations: occasionally, the School of Law puts

on a series of events that brings together leading judicial

figures, scholars and students. To see any updates on the

Judicial Conversations, visit the School of Law Regular

Events page.

Legal practice conversations: these events take place once

a term, this allows students to meet solicitors and barristers

and learn more about how law works. They generate

conversation between legal academics and legal

practitioners. To see any updates on the Legal Practice

Conversations, visit the School of Law Regular Events page.

Alumni network: Eddie Bruce-Jones, Email: e.bruce-

[email protected] Telephone: 020 7631 6500. Office

location: Room 102, 12 Gower Street, is the liaison to the

External Relations and the Birkbeck Careers Office, working

particularly to deepening relationships with School of Law






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alumni and developing external partnerships that will foster

career-development opportunities for students.

For more information on how you benefit as an alumni of

Birkbeck visit the College web site.

Careers events: the School organises a number of events

that will help students develop their careers, including talks

from practitioners and CV writing workshops. The School’s

careers contacts are: Eddie Bruce-Jones, e.bruce-

[email protected] / 020 7631 6500 / Office location: Room

102, 12 Gower Street, and Sue Baines, [email protected] /

020 3073 8149 / Office location: Room G02, 12 Gower

Street.

Conferences and workshops: Law on Trial is a week-long

series of lectures and workshops in which academics,

practitioners and activists debate an important and topical

area of the law. The event takes place annually during the

second or third week of June (13-17 June 2016). The event

attracts significant numbers of enrolled and prospective

QLD students.

Birkbeck Research and Public Engagement Institutes are

internationally renowned research institutes, committed to

offering most of its events free and open to the public. It is,

however, on occasion necessary to charge for some events

to keep all the others free.




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The Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities (BIH) is co-

directed by Professor of Law, Costas Douzinas. Please visit

the College website for details of conferences, workshops

and masterclasses.

Postgraduate Research Students’ Conference: QLD

students who are thinking of continuing their academic

studies may be interested in attended the annual

conference organised by scholars who are pursuing their

doctoral studies – many of whom teach seminars on the

qualifying law degree. The two day (Friday/Saturday) event

takes place during the first week of June (3 and 4 June

2016).


weekend of September (16-18 September 2016), is a

weekend of talks organised by a rota of academic and

administrative staff (with guest speakers) and is an ideal

event for new and continuing students wishing to meet new

students and staff and renew old acquaintances.

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Mock and Moot Training, Trial and Competition Dates

Autumn term

Moot training, 17 October 2015

Moot competition, 31 October 2015

Mock trial training, 21 November 2015

Mock trial competition, 28 November 2015

Spring term

Moot competition, 30 January 2016

Mock trial competition, 6 February 2016

Summer term

Moot competition, 4 June 2016

Mock trial competition, 11 June 2016

Student Law Society events held jointly with the School

Some events may be subject to change:

Careers Events, scheduled for 15 January 2016, 22 April

2016 and 23 April 2016,

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Fees, Scholarships

and Bursaries

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Fees, Scholarships and

Bursaries

Payment of fees: It is the responsibility of each student to

ensure that their tuition fees are paid to the College by the

appropriate deadlines. Students who do not adhere to

College payment policies may have their access to academic

support (including library, Moodle, release of results and IT)

removed during the year and they may be unable to

graduate or return to study until the debt is cleared in full.

Students should contact the Fees Office to discuss any

payment queries or difficulties as early as possible by e-

mail. Further details are available on the College website at

www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/finance.

Bursaries and hardship payments: are not available from

the School of Law. The College has a range of support

available to assist students who are in financial difficulty.

Further information can be found on-line in the MyBirkbeck

portal.

Scholarships: the School has two Scholarships of £10,000

each as payment toward fees for the Legal Practice Course

or Bar Vocational Training Course. Scholarship awards are

made by lottery. To be eligible for the scholarship lottery, a

student must be in their final year of study, must apply, in

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/finance

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writing to be included in the lottery, and must have an

average academic score of 67%. In addition, entry to the

lottery will usually be limited to students who have achieved

no less than 60% for all modules assessed at the time of

entry to the lottery. A student who secures a scholarship

through the lottery process will not be able to receive the

award unless he/she maintains, at graduation, the standard

of performance that determined his/her eligibility for the

lottery. The payment is made directly to the institution at

which the student is enrolled to study for the LPC or BPTC.

Please send your enquires to Luis Belmonte

([email protected]).


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Self-test Exercises

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Self-test Exercises

Assessment Instructions

These exercises are designed to help readers to self-assess

how well they understand the principles and protocols

relevant to the QLD.

1. A member of your study group has become very

withdrawn and uncommunicative. After several

attempts to encourage her to confide in you, she

reveals to you that she is daily expecting to be

excluded from the programme on the grounds that

she has plagiarised a coursework assessment. She

tells you that she struggled with the coursework

question, ran out of time and produced a

submission that consisted mainly of quoted

material. She tells you that she is angry with herself

for including full references to all the material she

quoted because if the references/citations had not

been included in the coursework assessments, the

course convenors/markers may have assumed the

work to have all been produced in her own words.

Your study group friend is desperate for advice but

has never met with her personal tutor and does not

feel able to confide in him.

What advice would you offer?

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2. You have come to the end of your second year of

studies on the part time LLB programme. You

thoroughly enjoyed your study of Criminal Law and

Tort Law and received marks of 75% and 77%,

respectively – scoring the highest marks for those

modules among the whole student cohort. You are

eager to begin your third year of study but are

prevented from enrolling.

Why do you think you cannot enrol into year

three? Outline any alternative options and

identify from whom you would seek advice as to

your study options.

3. You are a part-time LLB student. On the morning of

your Legal Theory One examination, you woke up

feeling dizzy and cold. You planned a holiday in

September and could not face the thought of

deferring your examination to September. You

attended the Legal Theory One exam but half way

through the three hour paper you fainted and had

to be carried out of the examination room. You

scored 40% per cent in the examination and 62% in

European Union Law. You submitted a claim for

mitigating circumstances exactly three weeks after

the date of the Legal Theory One examination. You

wish to take the Legal Theory One paper in

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September - discounting the attempt. Your

mitigating circumstances claim was rejected on the

following grounds:

You had achieved a pass mark for Legal

Theory One

You scored more than 50% for Legal Theory

One as you did for European Union Law.

Having achieved such a score in half the

time as you had for European Union Law,

your performance in the Legal Theory One

examination was clearly not impaired by

reason of your illness and faint.

You are very unhappy and want to challenge Adam

Gearey’s decision. Outline the grounds on which

you will challenge the decision to reject your

mitigating circumstances claim. Identify any

additional information that might be relevant to

your challenge. To whom (or to which body) would

you address your challenge?

4. Identify (by providing the link or other reference) where

within Birkbeck you would find further information in

respect of ONE of the following:

Tier 4 attendance requirements

The classification of degrees

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The process for obtaining an ISSA (individual student support assessment)

In no more than 150 words, outline what you think is the most salient information relating to the topic of your choice.

5. Which of the following statements is correct? Give brief

reasons for your choice.

A mitigating circumstance is when a student

performs badly in an assessment because of the

occurrence of a sudden and unexpected serious

event

A mitigating circumstance is where a student fails an

assessment because of the occurrence of a sudden

and unexpected serious event

A mitigating circumstance is where a student's

performance in an assessment is impaired because

of the occurrence of a sudden and unexpected

serious event

6. Your ambition is eventually to become a legal academic.

Identify two extra-curricular activities which you think

would support your ambitions and (in no more than 150

words) justify your choice of extra-curricular activity.

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7. For what primary purpose would you approach the

following individuals? If you feel you will have no reason to

approach him or her, place an X against the name.

Marinos Diamantides

Craig Reeves

Pat Costall

Colin Mitchell

Slavoj Zizek

8. In no more than 150 words, explain how you would use ONE of the following to support your studies:

The office hour system

The tuition line

Audio/video lectures

Seminars

9. How might you respond to the following? Include details

of who you might need to contact. If you think that you

should not respond in any particular way, place an X across

the option:

You submit your coursework late and are informed

that, although the quality of the essay is first class,

the mark will be capped at 40%

You receive a mark of 80 per cent for your course

work but receive no comments in relation to the

marked assessment.

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You are a class representative and you have been

asked to convince the management of the School of

Law to put on more career related events.

You asked for (and were granted) desk facilities at

the Friends House lecture theatre but the desk you

have been allocated is always used by other

students.

Your first choice of option module is

oversubscribed, so you were offered your second

choice.

10. Answer yes, no or maybe to the following questions,

giving reasons for your answer:

I will study European Union law

Victoria Ridler will play a decisive role in whether or

not I progress to the next level of my studies

Tort law is a first year subject

Anton Aristodemou teaches Legal Theory

I can decide to take my assessments in September

instead of May/June

The pass mark for all QLD assessments is 40%

Luis Belmonte is a character in a novel

I can take options in non-law subjects

I am not required to take option subjects

I can go on to study for the Bar Vocational Training

Course provided that I receive no more than one

compensated fail

Personal/Study Support

Documents

Transcript of Personal/Study Support