Module LAW2291: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN BIOLAW

Department: Law

LAW2291: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN BIOLAW

Prerequisites

• Introduction to English Law and Legal Method (LAW 1121) and Law of Torts (LAW1051)

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide a critical introduction to the relationship between law and bioscience/healthcare.
• To provide a critical introduction to major contemporary issues in healthcare and the life sciences.
• To develop critical awareness of regulatory options in relation to contemporary issues in biolaw.
• To develop research skills and contextual awareness of how law might be most effectively used in bioscience and healthcare.

Content

• This module explores the ability of the law and regulatory process to adequately respond to the ethical, social and policy challenges presented by contemporary biomedicine, bioscience and healthcare.
• Knowledge will be developed and applied through engagement with four topics (two in Michaelmas term and two in Epiphany term). Topics will change annually and could address any four contemporary issues in bioscience and healthcare. Examples of the topics that could be covered include human cloning and mitochondrial replacement therapy, conscientious objection to medical activities, dignity and biolaw, medical devices, gene editing and health, surrogacy, access to medicines and patent law, free movement and access to medical services, stem cell research, NHS redress and various environmental issues.
• Each topic will be introduced by four lectures and further explored in a two hour seminar led by student presentations, prepared in small groups.
• Two further topics in biolaw will be explored, usually in the Epiphany term. Each topic will be introduced through two lectures and further explored in a two hour seminar led by student presentations, prepared in small groups.
• The module will provide a unique opportunity for students to become engaged with Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences), as well as to develop public advocacy and legal research skills to enhance student knowledge of legal sources and develop their ability to research the law.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of bioscience/healthcare, legal processes and legal research.
• Demonstrate a familiarity with the relevant literature and the leading debates surrounding key issues across the four selected topics.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of selected areas of substantive law.

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the relationships between bioscience/healthcare and legal processes.
• Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the significance of law in its wider social context.

• Students should be able to demonstrate developed research and writing skills, including the ability to work independently and to take responsibility for their own learning.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Students will be given the opportunity to consolidate, develop, present and apply the knowledge acquired through independent study. Students will be encouraged to utilise the wide range of learning resources, including electronic sources, available within the university in order to make a contribution to their learning and assessment as well as enable them to acquire key and subject-specific skills.
• Lectures will be used to impart a framework of knowledge and to suggest approaches to evaluation and critical analysis.
• Two hour seminars will provide students with the opportunity to develop and assess knowledge and understanding relating to the lectures and expanded by their own research. They will also provide students with opportunities to present and discuss the outcome of their individual and group-based research. The seminars will require students to display substantive knowledge, apply concepts learned, debate and develop a critical understanding of the subject.
• Students must submit summative essays that will assess knowledge and understanding relating to the teaching and their research.
• The formative assessment will be an essay relating to the first topic.
• Students will be assessed by two summative essays. The first summative essay will provide students with a choice of questions focusing on topics one and two. The second summative essay will provide students with a choice of questions focusing on topics three and four. This may include questions requiring students to write a proposal for law reform or an appeal court judgment.
• The assessments will test the ability to focus on the relevant legal issues and organise knowledge and argument appropriate to the topics raised.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two optional essays of 1,000 words each, one in Michaelmas Term and one In Epiphany Term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University