Please note: there may be some adjustments to the teaching arrangements published in the course catalogue for 2020-21. Given current circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic it is anticipated that some usual arrangements for teaching on campus will be modified to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff on campus; further adjustments may also be necessary, or beneficial, during the course of the academic year as national requirements relating to management of the pandemic are revised.

Human Reproduction and The Law (Semester 1) LAW4143

  • Academic Session: 2022-23
  • School: School of Law
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 1
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Available to Erasmus Students: Yes

Short Description

This course deals with the legal and ethical problems associated with human reproduction and the role which medicine has to play in that process. Issues considered include a range of relevant topics from the following: abortion and its legal regulation; assisted conception and access to reproductive technologies; surrogacy; the legal and ethical status of contraceptive techniques including sterilisation and possible situations of conflict between pregnant women and their medical advisors. The topics offered in a particular year may vary.

Timetable

The seminar programme will run on Tuesdays from1100-1300 for 9 weeks in semester one.

Requirements of Entry

Permitted visiting law students.

Excluded Courses

Human Reproduction and the Law LAW4024.

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

An essay on a set question (2,500 words) accounting for 50% of the final mark.

 

An unseen written examination (1 hour) accounting for 50% of the final mark. The examination will require students to answer 1 compulsory essay style question. The general topic will be announced in advance, but not the specific question. December exam diet.

Main Assessment In: December

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which 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. 

Course Aims

This course deals with the legal and ethical problems associated with human reproduction and the role which medicine has to play in that process. Relevant topics may vary each year but may include: the rights and wrongs of abortion and legal regulation thereof, assisted conception and access to reproductive technologies, surrogacy, the legal and ethical status of contraceptive techniques including sterilisation, and possible conflict between pregnant women and fetuses. Underlying these particular issues will be questions such as fitness to parent, whether there is or ought to be a right to reproduce, and ethical, social, economic and practical limitations on such a right.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

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

- to identify the current law which regulates human reproductive practices both in the UK and abroad;

- to evaluate and constructively criticise those laws;

- to formulate possible reforms of the law;

- to evaluate and constructively criticise those proposals.

in respect of topics covered on the course.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

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