LW0UJ: Understanding Justice

Module code: LW0UJ

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

ECTS credits: 10

Level: F

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Abigail Rowe, email: a.e.rowe@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s): BEFORE OR WHILE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE LW0CAS (Compulsory)

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 26 March 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This is a cross-disciplinary module that aims to give students an overview of how lawyers and criminologists think about justice. 

Focusing primarily on England and Wales, it introduces students to key institutions and practices of criminal justice and encourages them to think critically about criminal justice aims, effects and practices and to examine key intersections of criminal justice and social (in)equality.

The module will build on the foundational skills taught in Semester 1, providing tailored opportunities for students on the Law and Criminology pathways to develop their discipline-specific academic skills in preparation for progression to their undergraduate degree programmes.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of legal and social scientific conceptions of justice.
2. Describe key institutions and functions of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
3. Identify key intersections of criminal justice and social (in)equality.
4. Search for and work effectively with a range of legal and/or social scientific evidence.
5. Formulate critical questions about criminal justice aims, effects and practices.
6. Develop clear, well-evidenced responses to questions about criminal justice.

Module content

The lecture programme will follow a three-part structure, covering the following areas:

1. Core concepts/foundations.
2. Systems and institutions.
3. Case studies on (in)equality and justice.
    

Lecture topics may vary between years, but an indicative programme is likely to include:

• Core concepts/foundations.
• Understanding justice: Concepts, frameworks, institutions.
• What is justice? Legal perspectives.
• Critical debates in justice and society.

Systems and institutions: 

• Policing and police powers.
• Inside the criminal trial: victims, witnesses and practitioners’ perspectives.
• Prisons and Punishment.
• Miscarriages of justice.

Case studies on (in)equality and justice:

• Access to justice.
• Gender and Justice.
• Race and Justice.

Workshops will:

• Consolidate concepts introduced in lectures.
• Provide opportunities for hands-on exploration of applied questions and evidence exploration.
• Teach and develop general and discipline-specific assessment skills. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures
Presentation-led overview of literature, concepts and key case studies 11 weekly two-hour long lectures (22 hours).

Workshops
Practical, applied tasks focusing on core academic skills, assessment preparation 06 fortnightly two-hour workshops (12 hours).

Blended-learning
Online blended-learning activities will primarily be used to review and consolidate learning from lectures and core readings.

Study hours

At least 34 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will have the opportunity to complete a formative online quiz-type assessment to check and consolidate their understanding of core concepts and foundational topics.

Reassessment

Additional costs