PRELIMINARY READING

We are delighted that you have accepted our offer of a place on one of our degree
programmes. Subject to you fulfilling any remaining conditions that may be attached to your
offer, we look forward to seeing you in September, when the 201!201" academic session
starts.
#efore then it is in your best interest to take steps to ac$uire background knowledge of the
subjects that you will be studying in your first year. %o assist you in this task, at the end of
&ugust we will provide all incoming students with access to a small amount of preliminary
reading and some related e'ercises to complete before the beginning of term. %hese
e'ercises are designed to provide an introduction to the subject and to the process of critical
analysis which will underpin your undergraduate law studies. We also hope that students will
find the reading and short e'ercises enjoyable, and it is certainly not something to worry
about. (our tutors will merely be interested in the ideas and issues that you raise from your
reading, there are no right or wrong answers at this stage. )lease note preliminary reading is
not available for all first year courses.
*uring the first year of your degree programme, you will be following four full courses+
,ontract )roperty -
)ublic .aw ,riminal .aw
-n addition, you will be studying a brief .egal /ethods course in the first two weeks of %erm -.
-f you are on degree programme /11, /12, /1, or /10 you will also be receiving
advanced tuition in the relevant 1uropean law, legal institutions and legal terminology.
Contract:
%here is no plan to provide accepted students with preliminary reading.
Criminal Law:
%here is no specific preliminary reading for criminal law. 2owever, we recommend that
when you ac$uire your te't on the 1nglish legal system 3see below under 4.egal /ethods45,
you should read about the differences between a criminal trial in the magistrates6 court and a
criminal trial in the ,rown ,ourt, and the different avenues of appeal. &lternatively, research
this online. 7or residents in 1ngland and Wales, this could be usefully followed up by visits to
your nearest ,rown ,ourt and8or magistrates9 court to observe criminal trials taking place.
&s a further test of your online research skills, try to work out the difference between a
caution and a conviction, and how it should be decided in any individual case which outcome
should be preferred.
Public Law:
%he re$uired preliminary reading te't book for )ublic .aw - is+ ). .eyland, The Constitution of
the United Kingdom: A Contextual Analysis (Constitutional Systems of the World), 2art
)ublishers, 2
nd
edn. 2012. &s a bare minimum, prior to the first lecture you must have read
and taken notes on chapters 1!:.
%he main teaching te't for )ublic .aw is+ ,. %urpin and &. %omkins, British overnment and
the Constitution, ,ambridge ;niversity )ress, <
th
edn. 2011. (ou should ac$uire this book by
the end of the first week of term at the very latest.
)%=
Property I:
>eading for the first )roperty - seminar will be made available to incoming students in
&ugust.
Legal Metho!:
%here is no re$uired reading, but students may find it helpful to look at a general te't on the
1nglish legal system. We recommend
Either:
/. )artington, -ntroduction to the 1nglish legal System ?th edition 3201, ='ford ;niv )ress5
"r:
). 2arris, An !ntroduction to "a#, <
th
1d 3200<, ,ambridge ;niversity )ress5
&ccepted students will also be sent further material in &ugust to read before the start of term.
A#AILA$ILI%Y "& $""'(
%he reading material should be available at a reasonable price on &ma@on+
www.ama@on.co.uk
&lternatively here are details of bookshops in the ;A that stock a wide selection of legal
reading material+
$ammic%s "egal Boo%sho&s 1?1!1?2 7leet Street, .ondon, 1,& 2&2
%el. 020 <0" "<11, 7a'. 020 <B:1 ?B?
%rinity ,ourt, 10 Cohn *alton Street, /anchester,
/2 02(
%el. 0101 B:2 """<, 7a'. 0102B :2"""<
Butter#orths 2alsbury 2ouse, :" ,hancery .ane, .ondon,
W,2& 11.
%el. 020 <00 2"00, 7a'. 020 <00 2B2
Blac%#ell's "0 #road Street, ='ford, =D1 :#E
%el. 01B0" <?2<?2, 7a'. 01B0" <?1:
3*irect line to .aw Section+ 01B0" :::00B5
100 ,haring ,ross >oad, .ondon, W,22 0CF
%el. 020 <2?2 "100, 7a'. 020 <20 ?00"
Waterstones B2 Fower Street, .ondon, W,11 01E
%el. 020 <0:0 1"<<, 7a'. 020 <"B0 <0B0
Wildy ( Sons .incoln9s -nn &rchway, ,arey Street, .ondon,
W,2& 2C*
%el. 020 <22 "<<B, 7a'. 020 <:0 0B?<
#oth Wildy ( Sons and Blac%#ells in ='ford have good second!hand departments where
you may find cheaper copies of some of the books you may need later but *= G=% buy old
editions, you must buy the current edition only.
&urther a)ice will be gi)en at the beginning o* the acaemic !e!!ion regaring the
boo+! u!e in the cour!e! which con!titute the *ir!t !tage o* the egree programme,
We look forward to seeing you in September.
=lga %homas
7aculty %utor
)%=