Course Catalogue

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An elderly housing association tenant has mould creeping up her walls and her boiler hasn't been repaired for three months. A young person with additional support needs is excluded from class for being disruptive and does not have access to a classroom assistant. An unemployed man has been sanctioned for missing a job-seeking appointment and is referred to a foodbank. How do people go about dealing with such everyday justice problems? What mechanisms are available to help them and how do they work? What can be done to enhance the realisation of justice within the state and avoid these issues arising in the first place? These are the questions addressed in this course.

In doing so, the course takes a "bottom up" approach: it starts with the problems people face, the government systems that cause those problems, and the remedies available to people to deal with them. The course explores issues such as: ensuring the quality of decision-making within government, the operation of internal appeal and complaint mechanisms, the work of tribunals and ombuds, and the role of regulators within government. The course examines these issues in the context of a state that is continually changing and where the administrative justice system is adapting to: digitalisation and algorithmic decision-making; involvement of private and third sector actors; devolution and multi-level-governance; austerity and constrained public finances; and the emphasis on finding "proportionate" means for citizens to challenge state action.

The focus of the course is on the United Kingdom, but draws on international literature and comparators from the common law world. The course is taught via weekly seminars, and is enhanced by regular online contributions and Q&As with practitioners (e.g. advocates, ombuds, tribunal judges, regulators). The course aims to combine theoretical and practical perspectives and is assessed by students producing a reflective statement following a tribunal visit and the production of a Law Commission-style review on an aspect of the administrative justice system.

10 x two hour seminars spread across the semester.

5 x 1 hour online seminars and Q&As with administrative justice practitioners.

1 x visit to tribunal.

This course is only available to LLB students.

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Students must produce a reflective statement of 1000 words worth 20% of the marks for the course. Students must critically reflect on their experience of visiting a tribunal in light of academic literature.

OR: if a tribunal visit cannot be arranged (e.g. due to Covid or other unforeseen event) students must produce a 1000 word essay critically evaluating the operation of a tribunal jurisdiction of their choice.

Students must produce a Law Commission-style law reform report of 4000 words worth 80% of the marks for the course. Students will be given a choice of administrative justice topics to address at the start of the course.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The course aims to help students understand and critically evaluate the design and operation of the administrative justice system in the United Kingdom. The course combines theoretical and empirical perspectives on justice in the modern state, grounded in a "law-in-action" perspective which focuses on the empirical reality of the administrative justice system. The course aims to help students' ability to critically develop law reform proposals, engage in cutting-edge contemporary debates with practitioners, and develop critical reflection through experiential learning.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Describe key theories, processes, and mechanisms of administrative justice and critically discuss how these are developing in the context of the modern UK state.

2. Critically evaluate the design and operation of the administrative justice system in the UK, including first instance decision-making, internal and external remedies, and mechanisms of regulation and oversight.

3. Develop law reform proposals to address shortfalls in the current law, policy, and practice of administrative justice, drawing on a range of theoretical and empirical sources.

4. Critically reflect on the contemporary administrative justice system, by engaging in a tribunal visit and Q&As with leading practitioners.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.