Course Catalogue

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This course allows students to develop a critical understanding of practical aspects of the law by acquiring in-depth knowledge of relevant historical institutions and comparative law elements. It builds upon foundational knowledge of property law to explore some practical aspects of the law through comparison with historical and foreign legal techniques.

There will be 10 x 2-hour seminars

This course is only available to LLB students.

Visiting students are required to have taken an equivalent to Property Law or Land Law.

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Summative essay, 5000 words (80% of final assessment)

Detailed 500-word outline for the essay (20% of final assessment)

1. The paper will discuss a question at the crossroads between the history of property law, comparative law and contemporary issues in Scots law. Students are not required to follow the course materials in doing so, if they adhere to the methodology and general spirit of the course. Example topics will be given at the start of the semester. Students can either pick one of those topics or confer with the course convenor if they would rather work on a different question.

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 aims of this course are:

1. to introduce students to advanced concepts in property law,

2. to acquaint them with property law questions that have historically influenced the law, and

to expose them to important differences with other legal systems, so they may better reflect on their own national law.

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

1. critically analyse and explain specific areas in property law,

2. explain how blackletter law was influenced by historical legal mechanisms - and how it has evolved since

demonstrate a nuanced understanding of property law and appreciate the main practical and conceptual differences that exist between different jurisdictions.

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