The University of London (UOL) is recognised as one of the world’s leading academic institutions.  Under the External System UOL has since 1858 offered students across the world the opportunity to study for a degree without leaving their home country.

The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) is seen as the clasic law degree and has long been recognised as an international ‘Gold Standard’ for Law degrees.  The LLB is managed by the External Laws Committee which includes representatives from Birkbeck, Kimg’s College London; London School of Economics and Political Science; Queen Mary; School of Oriental and African Studies and University College London, which between them represent many of the top Law Schools in the UK.

Students study the LLB for many reasons, with a sizable number of students already possessing a degree. 

The degree consists of a total of 12 modules (9 under the Graduate Scheme) which includes:

• Common Law Reasoning and Institutions
  (a) The nature of the common law tradition
  (b) Sources of law and principles of legal research
  (c) Conduct of legal research and retrieval of legal information, with particular reference to the use of the London online library and web-based resources
  (d) The role and operation of courts
  (e) Judicial reasoning in relation to (i) cases, and (ii) statutes (f) The judiciary and magistracy
  (g) The criminal justice process (in outline) and the role of rights in the process with particular attention to the jury and the impact of the Human Rights Act.
  (h) The civil justice process (in outline) with particular attention to reform
  (i) Legal services and access to justice with particular attention to the legal profession and legal aid.
  
• Criminal Law
  To develop a sound understanding of the general principles of criminal liability and an ability to critically analyse the rules of substantive criminal law.
  
  On completion of this course, students should have an awareness of the principles of criminal law, a sound working knowledge of the main criminal offences and defences and the factors affecting criminal liability. Students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and an ability to apply the rules which make up the criminal law to problem situations of some legal complexity. In addition, they will be expected to show that they are able to express their considered views on whether the aims and objectives of the criminal law are appropriate in a modern legal system.
  
• Elements of the Law of Contract
  (a) The formation of contracts. Offer and acceptance. Consideration. Certainty of agreement. Intention to create legal relations. [Note: Questions will not be set on requirements as to the form of contracts].
  (b) The content of the contract. Conditions, warranties and intermediate terms. Exemption clauses. Implied terms at common law. Collateral contracts. Statutory implied terms with regard to the quality of goods sold and goods or services supplied.
  (c) Vitiating factors. Mistake. Misrepresentation. Duress and undue influence.
  (d) Illegality and public policy (excluding gaming and wagering). Contracts illegal at common law. Consequences of illegality. Contracts in restraint of trade.
  (e) Capacity to contract, with particular reference to the capacity of minors.
  (f) Privity of contract (excluding agency and assignment).
  (g) Performance and breach. Substantial performance. Repudiation and anticipatory breach. Discharge by breach. Discharge under the doctrine of frustration.
  (h) Remedies for breach of contract. General principles governing the assessment of damages. Remoteness of damage. Damages for non-financial loss. Mitigation. Restitutionary remedies. Liquidated damages and penalties. Specific performance. [Note: The subject will also take account of relevant European Union legislation and how this is applied in the UK].
  
• Public Law
  (a) Introduction. Characteristics of the constitution. Sovereignty of Parliament. Separation of powers. Rule of Law. Sources of the constitution. The structure of the United Kingdom. Central government, devolution and local government.
  (b) Parliament. House of Commons: Composition and functions: Electoral law and reform. Composition and procedure. Functions (i) Legislative (ii) Financial (iii) Control of the Executive (iv) Role of the MP as an individual (v) Parliamentary privilege. House of Lords: Composition and functions.
  (c) The Executive and Administration. Crown and the Privy Council. Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Civil Service. Sources of executive power including the Royal prerogative. Delegated legislation. Ministerial responsbility. Control of Executive power: (i) Parliamentary: Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. (ii) Judicial: Judicial review. Remedies.
  (d) The European Union. Institutions of the European Union: (i) The Council (ii) The Commission (iii) The Parliament (iv) The Court of Justice. Sources of Community law. Community law and national law. Community primacy and Parliamentary sovereignty.
  (e) The citizen and the state. Statutory protection of human rights in the United Kingdom. European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. Public Order Law. State Security.
  
• Land Law
  (a) General principles. Definition of land. Doctrine of tenures and estates. Fee simple estates. Legal and equitable rights. Principles of the 1925 legislation.
  (b) Unregistered & registered conveyancing. Land Charges Act 1972. Doctrine of notice. Land Registration Acts. Concept of overreaching.
  (c) Settlements and trusts. Trusts of land under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996. Co-ownership of land.
  (d) Landlord and tenant. The term of years absolute. Its nature, creation, assignment and forfeiture. Enforceability of leasehold covenants. The lease/license distinction.
  (e) Licences. Bare licences. Contractual licences, their revocability and enforceability against third parties. Proprietary estoppel, the nature of the doctrine, remedies and enforceability against third parties.
  (f) Easements. Characteristics, creation extinguishment and extent.
  (g) Covenants running with freehold land. The common law and equitable rules relating to the running of the burden and benefit of covenants.
  (h) Mortgages. Nature and creation. Position and rights of the mortgagor. Rights and remedies of the mortgagee. (i) Adverse possession.
  
• Law of Tort
  The scope and function of the law of tort; the bases of liability; the interests protected by the law of tort; sources of development of law including the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights. Negligence: the concepts of duty, breach, causation and remoteness of damage. Negligent infliction of personal injuries; the assessment of damages. Occupiers' liability; liability of employers; product liability. Negligent infliction of other physical damage and of economic loss. Negligent misstatements. Assault, battery, false imprisonment and other intentional physical harm. Interference with economic interests: deceit, inducing breach of contract, intimidation, conspiracy. Nuisance; the principle in Rylands v Fletcher; liability for animals. Liability under statutory duties and powers. Defamation. Vicarious liability. The effect of death on liability. Defences.
  
• Law of Trusts
  (a) Definition and distinction from other legal concepts. Classification of trusts. Equitable rights and remedies.
  (b) Express private trusts. Statutory requirements for creation. Secret trusts. Incompletely constituted trusts. Certainties of a trust. Protective trusts. Discretionary trusts. Purpose trusts.
  (c) Charitable trusts. Definition. Distinctions from private trusts. Classification of charitable trusts. Doctrine of cy près.
  (d) Implied and resulting trusts. Purchase in the name of another. Joint purchase and joint accounts. Contributions to purchase price. Adding value to another’s property. Mutual wills – both types. Beneficial interest not completely disposed of.
  (e) Constructive trusts. General nature. Comparison with proprietary estoppel. The contractual vendor as a constructive trustee. The express trustee as a constructive trustee. Trustee profiting from trust. Remuneration of trustees.
  (f) The appointment, retirement and removal of trustees. Delegation of trustees’ powers and discretion's.
  (g) Trustees’ powers and duties. Investment of trust funds. Maintenance and advancement. Accumulation of income.
  (h) Variation of trusts. (i) Remedies for breach of trust. Personal and proprietary remedies. Tracing.
  (j) Trustees’ liability for breach of trust Trustees’ right of indemnity or contribution.
  
• Jurisprudence and Legal Theory
  The nature of jurisprudence: methodology, analysis, theory and the idea of definition, the relevance of language and ideology. Legal positivism and its critics: the command theory, Hart-Fuller debate, Dworkin's criticism of positivism, Kelsen (including the use of Kelsenian principles in revolution cases), Raz's theory of law. Moral theory and the law: the history of natural law, Finnis's natural law theory, liberalism and the Hart-Devlin debate, moral rights, utilitarianism and its critics, utilitarianism and the economic analysis of law. Legal reasoning: Dworkin's theory of law as integrity, Dworkin's methodology, practical reasoning, Hohfeld's analysis of legal rights. Social theory and critical accounts of law, including the American Critical Legal Studies movement, Marxist theories of law and state, feminist jurisprudence. A study in depth of a text prescribed by the examiners on which there will be one compulsory question in the examination. For 2005 and 2006 the prescribed text is Hart, HLA, The Concept of Law (second edition).

Optional modules include: 

• Commercial Law
  (a) Agency • define the term ‘agent’ • explain how an agency is created • discuss the scope of the agent’s authority • explain the rights and obligations owed by the principal and by the agent to the third party • explain the rights and obligations owed by the third party to the principal and to the agent
  (b) Sale of goods • discuss the approach taken to interpretation of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 • analyse the components of the definition of a contract of sale • explain the circumstances in which property in goods is passed • identify how risk is passed • understand the nemo dat rule • discuss & illustrate the exceptions to nemo dat rule • explain the duties of the seller to deliver and the buyer to accept goods • discuss the implied terms in ss.12–15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 • discuss the relationship between the different implied terms • outline the limits imposed on attempts by the seller to exclude or restrict liability for breach of the implied terms • understand and discuss the rules on acceptance • explain the remedies available to the buyer and the seller where there is a breach of the sale contract • explain the use of retention of title clauses and the limits of such clauses.
  (c) International sale contracts • identify the key characteristics of cif and fob contracts • analyse the distinctions between cif and fob contracts • discuss the duties of the seller and buyer under cif and fob contracts • explain the remedies available to the seller and buyer under cif and fob contracts • understand the general issues involved in the use of electronic documentation and the effect of international agreements on the terms of international sale contracts.
  (d) Payment • define and identify the characteristic features of a documentary credit • explain the significance of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP) • identify the different types of documentary credit • explain the steps involved in the opening of a credit • analyse the various contractual relationships • discuss the strict compliance and autonomy of the credit rules • explain the rights and obligations of the parties.
  
• Company Law
  (a) The nature of legal personality and lifting the veil of incorporation. Incidents of corporate personality; differences between incorporated and unincorporated associations. The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co. Ltd and its development.
  (b) The formation of the company. The memorandum and articles of association. Pre-incorporation contracts. The duties and liabilities of promoters. The requirements for prospectuses and listing particulars and liabilities for defective prospectuses and listing particulars. Different types of companies.
  (c) The relations between the company and outsiders. The growth and decline of the doctrines of ultra vires and constructive notice; the Turquand rule and the application of principles of agency. The commission of crimes and torts by the company. Vicarious liability and the Alter Ego doctrine.
  (d) The relations between the company and its members and among the members inter se. The nature of and principles governing the contract between the company and its members. Different capacities of members and the relations between one member and another. Alteration of the contract and remedies for breach.
  (e) Management of the company. Directors and other officers. Appointment, retirement, dismissal, disqualification. Meetings, voting, resolutions. Division of functions among officers and organs of the company.
  (f) Directors duties and the protection of Minority Shareholders. Statutory duties of directors - including criminalisation of insider trading - and their enforcement. Common law duties of directors (fiduciary duties and duty of care and skill) and their enforcement. The rule in Foss v Harbottle. Statutory remedies for the protection of minority shareholders. Company disclosure and investigations by the Department of Trade and Industry.
  (g) Corporate Governance. Corporate accountability (stakeholder v shareholder issues), The corporate governance committees (Cadbury, Greenbury, Hampel, Turnbull). The Government responses (Higgs and the Company Law Review Steering Group).
  (h) Shares and Debentures. Differences between shares and debentures. Registration. Different classes of shares. Rights of different classes and the 7 June, 2007 Raising, maintaining and reducing the capital of the company. Discounts, premiums, payment of dividends and purchase by the company of its shares. Financial assistance for the purchase of its shares.
  (j) Winding-up. Types of winding-up; the powers and duties of the liquidator.
  
• EU Law
  In England and Wales, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board require students who registered in or after September 2001 to pass EU law in order to obtain a Qualifying Law Degree.
  (a) EU Institutions (i) The Framework Treaties (ii) Basic institutions
  (b) Constitutional and Administrative Law (i) Legislative acts and processes (ii) Judicial remedies and judicial review (iii) EU law and national law
  (c) Impact on business enterprises (i) Free movement of goods (ii) Competition policy
  (d) Effect on individuals (i) Free movement of workers (ii) Freedom of establishment and services (iii) Freedom from discrimination
  (e) Completion of the internal market
  
• Intellectual Property
  (a) Categories of intellectual property rights: the subject matter of intellectual property; the justification for each type of right; absolute and relative monopolies; absence of common law protection against unfair competition.
  (b) Sources of intellectual property law international conventions, EU Directives, statute, EU and UK case law, decisions of the EPO and UK Patent Offices, decisions of OHIM and the UK Trade Marks Registry.
  (c) Remedies: for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
  (d) Confidential information: the theoretical basis of the action for breach of confidence; the requirements for liability; the position of employees, ex-employees and involuntary recipients; defences and remedies.
  (e) Copyright: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988: the definition of copyright and the idea/expression dichotomy; nature and types of protected works; originality; creation and ownership of works; qualification for protection under the Act; duration of rights; infringement; defences to infringement; the author’s moral rights.
  (f) Industrial designs: historical context; the exclusion of certain artistic works from copyright protection; creation and content of the unregistered design right; relationship with Registered Designs Act 1949.
  (g) Common law protection for trade marks: the tort of passing off; requirements for liability; forms of passing off; character, personality and image merchandising; the position of the foreign claimant.
  (h) Registered trade marks: the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the First Trade Marks Directive 1989; definition, nature and functions of a trade mark; obtaining registration; absolute and relative grounds for refusal of registration; revocation and invalidity; licensing of trade marks; infringement and defences, including comparative advertising and exhaustion of rights.
  (i) Patents: impact of the European Patent Convention on the interpretation of the Patents Act 1977; applying for a patent; the role of the specification and claims; the skilled addressee; types of patent (process & product patents); requirements of patentability, including novelty, inventive step, industrial application; exceptions to and exclusions from patentability; ownership of patents and employee inventions; revocation; infringement, including categories of infringing act, defences and claim interpretation.

With the exception of Research Project/Dissertation all modules are assessed by means of a 3 hour written examination.