Law and Order Course Outline
Week 1: History and the Constitution
- start with name games for the students to get to know instructor, TA and each other
- Read out a list of 10 bizarre laws (all true) dating from 1200s to recently. Ask the class as we go to jot down whether they think these are true or false. Use this to open a discussion on why we need to keep studying law, as distinct from following old statutes.
- Open discussion on anarchy -> why exactly do we need the law? What would we have if we didn’t have it?
- History of Irish Law. Dating from Brehon Law to 1922 and independence.
- Introduce the Constitution, ask the class why it is important based on what we just studied.
- Draw up a classroom constitution. Get the class to come up with class guidelines (funny or serious) and spend the last half an hour colouring it in.
Week 2: Where does it come from and how does it work?
- Introduce the different personalities involved in the legal system (Judges, Lawyers, Court Officials etc.) Discuss these with the class. Watch description of court video from courts.ie and hand out illustrated chart that the class can follow along as they watch the video.
- Discuss the Court System in Ireland, tracing the path of a decision from the district court up to the Supreme Court. Explain doctrine of precedent. Discuss how cases can go to Europe. Have the class draw a flow chart following a case. Have the class participate in a discussion about the value of precedence. Why is it important that we choose not to decide every particular case on its merits. Mention the case of Hill v. Metropolitan Police.
- Ask the class what they know about the government. Discuss the passage of a bill through parliament. Use this to introduce topic of separation of powers.
- Briefly discuss the sources of law – natural law (Case of the Speluncean Explorers), EU Law, statute, custom.
- focus on criminal law
- Introduce the actus reus and mens rea of a crime.
- Discuss murder/manslaughter.
- Focus on evidence law. Have the class engage in a debate on whether we should admit evidence from a) children b) the mentally impaired c) husband or wives of accused people.
- Talk about the Nally case – self-defence and the bias of juries.
- Criminology. Set up a scene (ie. Train station) where there are lots of possible opportunities to commit crimes. No windows in waiting rooms, broken video cameras, very poor lighting. Have the class come up with ways to improve crime prevention.
- Talk about sentencing. Hand out a statue (the class will know what a statute is from their discussion on sources of law from last week.) Introduce the concepts of proportionality and deterrence. Have the class read through a statute (Offences Against the State Act) and outline the different times of punishments available.
Week 4: Tort-urous
- Introduce the difference between criminal and civil law. Have the class act out different scenarios in order for the others to guess whether they are civil or criminal acts.
- Focus on Tort Law – defamation, libel and slander. Invite the class to comment on the concept of damages. Is money a good enough reward?
- Discussion on the ‘Compo Culture’ we have found ourselves in. Discuss cases of nervous shock-where if somebody sees a car accident, they can claim for personal damages.
Week 5: Focus on Family
- Family Law. Children and the Law.
- Focus on education. Sinnott v. Minister for Education. Are you an entirely different person at 18 than you were at 17 and 365 days. Class discussion on when childhood stops.
- UN Charter on Rights of the Child. Have the class draw up a list of human rights for children first, and then later show them the actual declaration. Incite discussion as to why we needed this charter in the first place.
- Role of children in the state. How are they protected? Work on the proposed Constitutional Amendement for Children.
Week 6: Human Rights and Wrongs
- Focus on European Charter of Human Rights. A lot of this will relate back to the work we did on the family and children the previous week. Talk about how Irish Law interacts with European Law.
- Introduce some elements of contract law – basic principles of offer and acceptance. Talk about Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball case, arguably most famous contract case.
- Have the class discuss a fictional scenario. Roleplay where one side sells the other a faulty product. What kind of contract exists between the two.
Week 7 & 8:
- There will be considerable overlap with these two weeks. We will spend them both preparing and undergoing the mock trial. Each student will have a different role to play.
- They will also have to make a small presentation at the end, based on what topic of law they found most interesting.
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