Description
This innovative module explores the crucial role judges and courts play in the modern state, and it provides students with a unique opportunity to understand what it is like to be a judge, how judges make decisions, what skills they require and what pressures and controversies they face.Ìý
The foundation of the course is Judicial Studies: the empirical study of judicial decision-making, which incorporates law-related scholarship from other disciplines such as political science, psychology, economics and neuroscience. ÌýThe module looks at the foundations of the empirical understanding of how and why judges make decisions. Ìý
It covers the judicial role; how judges are selected; what skills are required to be a good judge; how representative the judiciary is; how judges are trained and develop their careers; and the future of judging. It is an active participatory module, where students gain first-hand experience of judicial decision-making through a series of Hands-On Judicial Decision-Making Seminars including the opportunity to act as judges in different types of cases. ÌýLeading judges share their knowledge with students through the course's Special Judicial Guest Seminars.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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