You have almost certainly entered into a contract today. Contract law pervades all aspects of life - from buying a newspaper to ensuring the Olympic Village is completed on time.

Contract law is concerned with agreements that can be legally enforced and is central to many areas of practice including corporate and commercial law, conveyancing, employment law and consumer law.

During the contract law module you will learn about the legal rules that determine the following:

• when a contract has come into existence
• content of a contract
• policing of contracts by the courts
• remedies available where a contract has been breached

There is arguably no area of more fundamental importance to us all than constitutional and administrative law. Every time the Government exceeds its powers; or a minister of state resigns; or a citizen's rights are abused, it is the law covered in this module which governs their fate.

This has recently moved to the forefront of public debate, with the passing of the Human Rights Act of 1998 and the resultant flow of litigation.

During the study of this module you will become acquainted with the following notable areas:

• nature of the UK Constitution
• rule of law
• separation of powers
• institutions and mechanics of the state
• human rights
• judicial review

Many people's first introduction to the legal system is criminal law, whether through reading the true crime stories which frequently domininate the newspaper headlines, or the fictionalised courtroom dramas ever present on our television screens.

Studying criminal law, you will now have the opportunity to uncover the reality behind the headlines and dramas. In particular, your criminal studies will include:

• elements of some of the most prolific offences in our Criminal Justice System e.g. theft
• what happens when criminals fail and the principles behind attempted offences
• what defences may be available to those accused of committing criminal offences

Despite some common misconceptions, the law of equity and trusts is one of the most dynamic areas of law. According to Professor Hudson: "This subject has everything: birth, life, greed, sex, lies, truth, conscience, bitterness, vengeance and death."

Whilst traditionally associated with the private client practitioner, it is in commercial practice that the dynamic nature of this topic can best be seen. On the GDL, you will study the following key commercial areas:

• fiduciary duties
• injunctive relief
• tracing misappropriated funds

But the beauty of this module is its application to every day life. In particular, you will study the following:

• pensions
• charities
• investments and tax

Equity and trusts law is therefore a highly relevant, but also hugely intellectually stimulating subject and one whose study you should find very rewarding.

Many students find Land Law one of the most interesting and helpful modules on the GDL. This is for several reasons. Firstly, whether buying a property, renting or living with parents, it helps to know your legal rights. Secondly, it is arguably the most lucrative field of practice, particularly given the national obsession with the property market! Finally, study areas such as leases, mortgages, freehold cases involving anything from unscrupulous landlords to family infighting undoubtedly give rise to some genuinely interesting cases. Land Law is your chance to find out who really owns what.

In particular, your land law studies will take in the following areas:

• difference between a lease and a licence
• differences between registered and unregistered land
• mortgages
• easements
• freehold covenants

Perhaps few subjects are as dogged by the discrepancy between myth and reality than the law of the European Union. Your study of this subject will examine the origins and nature of laws created by the institutions of the European Union, an organisation that now has 27 members since the beginning of this year. It will also explore practical concepts which run through European law and affect the way every one of us lives our lives.

In particular, you will study:

• free movement of people, enabling citizens of the Union to move around Europe unimpeded - to study, work or just reside in any member state
• free movement of goods
• EU competition law
• sex discrimination

The law of tort has a profound effect upon society, for good and ill. Anybody familiar with the phrase 'ambulance chasing' will have made the acquaintance of tort law in its unpopular guise, where unscrupulous lawyers seem to be making ill-gotten gains out of the misfortune of others. On the other hand, the term 'Old boy network' as applied to professionals like doctors, shows tort law in a better public light in bringing accountability to professions who have traditionally been seen as almost above the law.

The study of tort law will fairly and impartially examine this growing and controversial area of litigation.

In particular, you will study the following:

• elements of the tort of negligence
• clinical negligence
• employers' liability
• defamation

On the GDL you will learn all about the riles of law and how to apply them to the facts, but in practice, courts spend most of their time studying the evidence in order to decide what the facts actually are. This option is for those intending to go to the Bar, work in litigation, or for any student simply interested in how we prove things in court.

Highlights of 2006/07

• visits to Wandsworth prison and the Nottingham Galleries of Justice
• speakers included a practicing barrister from the CPS ; a leading scientist on acoustic phonetics; a case worker from Forensic Science Service on DNA evidence; an ex-Metropolitan policeman on the use of canines in the detection of weapons, drugs and cadavers; and a Coroner and Pathologist on their respective roles

The City of London is the most successful financial centre in the world and is the single biggest sector in our economy. This option is for those who plan to work as solicitors in the City or in commercial law anywhere, or for students who simply want to understand how the City of London works and the roles of lawyers within it.

Highlights of the 2006/07 programme

• half day seminar at the London Stock Exchange
• visit to the Bank of England
• walking tour of the City of London
• lectures from a Financial Times journalist, the London Chamber of Commerce, and a Competition Law expert from a leading City firm; a mini lecture programme providing an introduction to Company Law

On the GDL you will be concentrating on the English legal system. This option gives you a chance to explore international law - that is the law that governs the relationships between countries. This is a highly controversial and rapidly developing area. Is a war in Iraq lawful? By what right can we criticise the human rights record of another country? And what right have others to criticise our environmental policy?

Highlights of the 2006/07 programme

• guided tour of the Foreign and Commonwealth office
• lectures from leading academics at the forefront of theory and practice in their fields - professors from the Universities of Birmingham, Durham, Nottingham and Sheffield

 

Whether you are set for practice in a city firm or work as a human rights lawyer you will inevitably find yourself dealing with companies. This is such a crucial area of the law that many practitioners believe it should be a compulsory area of study on the GDL.

At BPP, we have sought to plug this gap by providing an optional programme of study in company law. This comprises a series of lectures which may be attended over the GDL year, covering the basics of company law. This provides a useful grounding for further vocational studies and later on, for practice itself. It also enables students to talk knowledgeably about companies in training contract or pupillage interviews, and helps furnish that all-important commercial awareness so vital for securing legal employment.

Typical areas you might study include the following:

• financing a company
• dissolution of a company
• new legislation in the field

As befits a programme with obvious vocational significance, the syllabus is extremely flexible, allowing us to react to changes in the commercial market place so that students' knowledge is as up to date and relevant to the real world as possible.