School of Law and Politics

Undergraduate Assessment

22211/22218 Systems of Justice

Submission Date – Tuesday 9th January 2018

Submission Deadline – 4.00pm

Submission Method – Online, via Canvas

This essay is worth 75% of the final module mark.

Essay word limit –3,000 words.

Before preparing and submitting your essay, read carefully the instructions in the Student Handbook on presentation and submission of assessed work as well as the information about penalties for late-submission, exceeding the word-limit, and unfair means. (The handbook may be viewed on Canvas)

Please note that the University’s policy on late submission is:

1. a) Up to and including 24 hours after the deadline = a penalty of 10 marks.
2. b) More than 24 hours and up to 7 days after the deadline = a penalty of 10 marks or the mark is reduced to 40, whichever is the lower.
3. c) More than 7 days after the deadline = a mark of zero is awarded.

Please note that the University’s policy on word count is:

1. a) 10%-20% over the specified word limit, a penalty of 10 marks;
2. b) More than 20% over the published word limit, the work will be awarded a mark of zero.

According to this policy, no penalty will be applied for essays that exceed the published word limit by less than 10% (e.g. 5,499 words do not incur a penalty on a published word limit of 5,000 words or 2,749 words do not incur a penalty on a published word limit of 2,500 words).

The School will impose this policy strictly so, if you exceed the word limit by just one word (e.g. 5,500 words in respect of a published word limit of 5,000 words or 2,750 words in respect of a published word limit of 2,500 words) then a penalty of 10 marks will be imposed.

How to submit your essay:

Essays are to be submitted via the assignments tool on the Canvas site for this module.

Further information and more detailed instructions on how to do this will be given to you during the semester.

Read this case, and then answer all parts of the question:

Great Ormond Street Hospital v Constance Yates, Chris Gard, Charles Gard (A Child, By his Guardian Ad Litem), 11 April 2017 [2017] EWHC 972 (Fam)

Part 1: (1500 words)

1. Summarise the case briefly. Identify the interpretive issues in the case, indicating the reason for interpretation.

1. How has the judge/judges interpreted these issues? Explain.

1. How should the judge/s have interpreted the issues?

In your answer, remember to support your discussion/evaluation/analysis with reference to the material you have learned in the first section of the course, on the Concept of Law.

Part 2: (1500 words)

1. Identify the moral issue(s) in the case. Explain why you believe these are moral issues rather than any other kind of issue (the issue can be e.g. a legal issue in addition to being a moral issue).

1. Which moral theory/ies seem to you most likely to underpin the way the court has made its decision(s)?

1. Which moral theory ought the court to have used, and why?

In your answer, remember to support your discussion/evaluation/analysis with reference to the material you have learned in the second section of the course, on Moral and Legal Theory.