| CODE | LAW5005 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Advocacy Skills | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Faculty of Laws | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The aim of this study-unit is to train students in the skills and methods required to prepare and present a legal case in the framework of a legal clinic. It will include lectures on client interviewing, case planning, fact investigation, case theory development and oral advocacy. Apart from the academic component of the study-unit, each student will be expected to complete a practical placement, consisting of supervised work with lawyers offering pro bono legal assistance for a minimum of fifty hours. Lectures will be complemented by moot court sessions in which students’ litigation skills will be trained and by a series of case rounds, in which students discuss the challenges they are facing in their cases. At the same time, students will be encouraged to reflect on the broader ethical and social issues raised by particular models of legal representation, with particular reference to the Maltese context. Attendance at lectures is obligatory. Students are to note that they are allowed to answer the examination questions in either Maltese or English since this study-unit prepares students for practice before the Courts of Justice. Learning Outcomes: On completing the study-unit students should: a) Have acquired a basic understanding of key advocacy skills they would use in professional practice, including client interviewing, fact investigation, affidavit writing, witness examination, preparing a legal brief and oral advocacy; b) Have given pro bono legal representation to a client as part of a team; c) Have participated in various in-class role playing exercises, including a moot court, designed to replicate professional practice; d) Be able to work in a team of lawyers, to co-operate intensively with colleagues, to interpret a brief received from others and to write a hand-over memo; e) Be able to reflect on various aspects of professional advocacy from the perspective of ethics and “best practice”. Reading List: Maughan, C and Webb, J 2005 Lawyering Skills and the Legal Process, Cambridge University Press. Commission for the Administration of Justice, The Code of Ethics and Conduct for Advocates, published in Valletta by the Malta Government Printing Press. Miller, B. 1994, “Give Them Back Their Lives: Recognising Client Narrative in Case Theory,” Michigan Law Review, Vol. 93, pp. 485 – 576. Plowden, P. & K. Kerrigan 2002, Advocacy and Human Rights, London: Cavendish Publishing Ltd. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite: This study-unit is only offered to students taking Year 1 and Year 2 of the LLD course who have obtained or registered for Refugee Law and Policy Issues or Social Law or Consumer Law or Gender and the Law, unless exempted by the lecturer. | |||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lectures, Seminars and Placement | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Francesco Depasquale Jotham Scerri Diacono Ruth Farrugia Peter Matson Paul Micallef Grimaud Mireille Mifsud Lorraine Poole Marilyn Primiano Chris Soler David E. Zammit (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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