Law (Jurisprudence)

Academic Staff

Fellows

Mr Peter Mirfield, a Fellow and Tutor in Law, teaches mainly in the areas of Criminal and Contract Law. His research interests lie in the Law of Evidence.

Professor Paul Davies is the Allan and Overy Professor of Corporate Law, and is involved in teaching at graduate level on the MSc in Law and Finance.

About the Course

Jesus College welcomes applicants for the course for the Final Honour School of Jurisprudence. The course is for three years, and consists of papers in Law only. Law as taught in Oxford is much more than the mere learning and retention of detailed rules and their operation; it is a rigorous study of an academic discipline. The object is to understand the law, to see how it has developed and how it will develop, to criticise the law where criticism is just, to attempt to relate the law to the society in which and for the benefit of which it operates, and to investigate theories of what the law is and why the law should be obeyed - or, indeed, exist.

The College welcomes applications both for the three-year course (as explained above) and for the four-year courses (codes M190-194) known collectively as ‘Law with Law Studies in Europe’ (LSE). Details of both courses can be found on the Law Faculty website.

As will be seen from the University Prospectus, entry to both the three-year course and the four-year course is highly competitive. At Jesus College, normally eight candidates are admitted each year, spread between Law and LSE. It should be emphasised that the decision as to who is admitted for the ‘Law with Law Studies in Europe’ course is not made by the College; the College puts forward candidates which it believes to be suitable for the course, but the decision to admit to the course is made by a group of academics looking at applications from all the colleges in the University. Normally, one or two candidates a year in Jesus read the Law with LSE course: though there is no prescription. If a candidate for Law with LSE wishes to be considered for the three-year Law course, the College is very happy to accept that choice: and some candidates who have been unsuccessful in the competition for the four-year course have done very well in the three-year course. If, however, the candidate wishes to choose to apply only for the four-year course, that is a decision, of course, which the College will respect.

The Curriculum

In the first two terms, everyone is required to study three subjects; Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and a Roman Introduction to Private Law are all compulsory. The three subjects are examined in Law Moderations just after the end of the second term.

The work for the Final Examination is divided into two phases. In the last term of the first year, and the whole of the second year, students study the following six papers:

Tort
Contract
Land Law
Trusts
Administrative Law
Jurisprudence

In the second phase, the final year, students must study European Union Law. In addition they must study two optional subjects from the following list, though the Law Faculty does not guarantee that every subject will be available in every year, and, it is to be noted, the list may change from time to time.

Commercial Leases
Company Law
Comparative Law of Contract
Competition Law and Policy
Criminal Justice and Penology
Environmental Law
European Human Rights Law
Family Law
History of English Law
International Trade
Labour Law
Medical Law and Ethics
Patents, Trade Marks and Allied Rights
Personal Property
Principles of Commercial Law
Public International Law
Roman Law (Delict) [knowledge of Latin required]
Taxation Law

Teaching Methods and Workload

Law is a time-consuming subject. Virtually every first year undergraduate knows nothing of the law when he or she starts; he or she must therefore build up a body of knowledge which can be analyzed and criticised. Undergraduates are normally tutored in pairs - sometimes singly or in trios - and, on average, receive three tutorials a fortnight; there are, of course, lectures (up to eight or ten a week) which it may be highly advisable to attend. Seminars and classes may from time to time be given either as an alternative or in addition to lectures and tutorials. Most of an undergraduate's time is spent preparing for tutorials; a considerable amount of material has to be digested on each tutorial topic. A reading list is provided for each tutorial: and there is a considerable emphasis on the writing of essays and the answering of hypothetical problems. Much of the work is likely to be done in the College's own well-stocked Law Library or in the Bodleian Law Library, which has a collection of reference material second, in this country, to none. Undergraduates are also allowed, subject to their Tutor's agreement, to use the All Souls' College library, which is within two minutes' walk of College, and has a much wider collection of materials than does the College. Much material is available on the internet.

The College presently has a Tutorial Fellow in Law, two Lecturers in Law and Junior Research Fellow in Law, who are involved in the teaching of undergraduates. It also has the Allen and Overy Professor of Corporate Law, Professor Paul Davies. Their interests cover a wide spectrum of subjects. For many subjects, undergraduates receive their tuition within the College, but for certain specialist papers tutorials will be given by tutors from other Colleges. The College also has a Law Society, at which visiting speakers address the society on topics of legal interest; its members participate in moots; it also holds social functions.

Joint Schools

There are no Joint Schools for Law, other than the Law with LSE courses described above.

Admissions

There are no particular subjects which are most appropriate for the study of Law; the majority of applicants have ‘Arts’ backgrounds, but the College has regularly admitted those who have studied Mathematics or the Sciences. Mixed combinations of Arts and Sciences are perfectly acceptable. The University suggests that GCSE Mathematics at Grade C or better should be obtained; any candidate who feels that he/she may have difficulty with this requirement should contact the College’s Admissions Officer.

The College is concerned to attract the best candidates. We are looking for candidates who are keen to study the subject and who, in our judgement, display an aptitude for it. Our undergraduates come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Candidates are selected on the basis of academic record (e.g. GCSEs) and potential, as shown by their UCAS reference, submitted written work, performance in the written test, and in interviews if shortlisted. All candidates will be required to take a written test (LNAT) to discover their legal aptitude; it should be emphasised that NO legal knowledge is necessary for this. Your performance in this test will be used as a factor in deciding whether to interview you and whether to admit you to Oxford. Full details are available on the LNAT website.

Candidates for Law with LSE who are applying for the French, German, Italian or Spanish Law options may be given an oral test in the relevant European language at the time of interview. Since the year abroad in Leiden is taught and examined in the English language, there is no foreign language requirement for admission to Law with European Law (M190).

In a total College entry of about 100 undergraduates, 8 are offered places in a typical year to read Law and Law with LSE. Offers made to pre-A2 level candidates will be AAA.

Deferred Entry: Applications for deferred entry to Jesus College are welcomed. You must apply for deferred entry at the time of application to Oxford: you cannot change your mind after an offer has been made. Please refer to departmental web sites for subject-specific advice. You should be aware that applicants who are offered places for deferred entry will generally be among the strongest of the cohort for their subject. The College would not usually offer more than one or two deferred places per subject, in order not to disadvantage the following year's candidates. In some cases, an applicant for deferred entry may be offered a place for non-deferred entry instead. If you require any further advice, please contact the Admissions Officer.

Postgraduate Studies and Careers

The Faculty of Law covers the full range of research in law but also has within it five specialised centres: the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies; the Centre for Criminology; the Institute of European and Comparative Law; the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre, the Centre for Competition Law and Policy and the Oxford Business Taxation Centre. The following degrees are available at postgraduate level:

MLitt or DPhil in Law
MPhil or MSt in Legal Research
BCL (Bachelor of Civil Law)
MJur (Magister Juris)
MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice Justice [the College does not normally accept students for this course]

Many undergraduates still choose to enter the legal profession, either as Barristers or Solicitors. The profession has considerably increased its numbers in recent years, but is still growing. The future of the legal profession is still a matter of debate; it is unclear what changes (if any) there will be to legal education in the future, or how career prospects in the law will be affected. There is optimism that there will still be a wide range of prospective employment.

However, many undergraduates who have read Law choose not to enter the legal profession, and those who opt for other careers have as wide a choice of career opportunities as any other ‘Humanities’ graduates, and, on the evidence available, have no great difficulty in obtaining satisfactory posts over a wide spectrum of careers.

Further Information

There is a first-year law prize, and the Welson Prize is awarded each year to the best lawyer, normally, but not invariably, in his or her second year. College Prizes may also be given for meritorious work or excellent progress. The Nikolas Tarling Scholarship is awarded to assist a LSE student in his/her year abroad. The College received a bequest from Viscount Sankey (Lord Chancellor 1929-1935); these moneys are used to aid members of the College who wish to be called to the Bar, and grants of up to £5,000 have been made. The Peter North Fund may make grants to those intending to practise Law, whether at the Bar or as solicitors.

Further information about Law at Oxford can be found on the Law Faculty website and the University's Undergraduate Courses pages.