LLM Specialisms 2011/12

Criminology and Criminal Justice

[please note: links below are to the 2010/11 course guides; they will be updated when new guides are made available during the summer vacation]

The LSE provides one of the intellectually richest environments for the postgraduate study of criminology and criminal justice in Europe. The Law Department includes experts in all aspects of these subjects, including criminal law theory, evidence, procedure and sentencing; theory of criminal law; mental health law; policing and enforcement; and theories of justice. The Department is regularly consulted by government and law enforcement agencies, and has been influential in policy formation. The teaching approach is interdisciplinary, collaborating closely with the Departments of Sociology and Social Policy, under the auspices of the prestigious Mannheim Centre for Criminology. The Mannheim Centre's seminars attract world class academic and public sector speakers, and provide a stimulating programme enabling LLM students to encounter a diversity of theoretical and policy perspectives enriched by a wide range of practical experience.

Corporate and Financial Crime (LL4B9): an analysis of crimes committed within the commercial and business environment, with particular emphasis on the legal response to the challenges presented by financial crime and unacceptable corporate practices; current perspectives on the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of corporate and financial crime in both civil and criminal jurisdictions

Criminal Justice Policy (SA403): a study of the full range of criminal justice policy issues, including law-making processes and definitions of crime and social control, crime prevention, victim policies, policing, prosecution, pre-trial and trial processes, sentencing, non-custodial and institutional penalties and their consequences, probation and policy-making.

Crime and Society: Concepts and Methods (SO409): a systematic introduction to concepts and problems in the sociology of deviance and sociological criminology; review of major theories; analysis of empirical examples.  [not offered 2011/12]

International Criminal Law (LL445): the protection of individuals and the punishment of States and individuals by international criminal law, including the standards of protection and procedures for their enforcement.

Law of International Economic and Financial Sanctions (H) (LL4K2): covers economic and financial sanctions against States and non-State actors. The course addresses multilateral programmes established by the UN and EU and unilateral measures instituted by individual States, implementation of sanctions within domestic legal systems, issues arising in international law and human rights, and effects on third parties.

Mental Health Law (LL458): the practical and theoretical issues involved in a proper appreciation of the broader conceptual concerns in mental health law, both at general level and in particular contexts such as compulsory treatment.  (this course is also available as two half units LL4G7 and LL4K7)

Mental Health Law: The Civil Context (H) (LL4G7): the course will introduce students to the principles underpinning the law relating to people with mental disorder and will consider the rationale and possible justification for this special legal provision. It will concentrate on the law relating to non-offender patients and will examine the relationship between mental health law and the law relating to those who lack capacity.

Mental Health Law: The Criminal Context (H) (LL4K7): the course will introduce students to the principles underpinning the law relating to people with mental disorder who become involved with the criminal justice system as offenders or alleged offenders. It will consider the rationale and possible justifications for special legal provisions for those with mentally disorder in these circumstances.

Policing and Police Powers (LL478): a review and evaluation of the different research strategies into and policy debates about policing and the legal powers and accountability of the police.

Theories of Criminal Law and  Criminal Justice (H) (LL4Z8): theories of criminal wrong, criminal responsibility and punishment. The problem of how the criminal law’s threats of punishment, and the actual punishment of those who fail to obey those threats, can be justified.