MODULE DESCRIPTION - Cardiff Law School

MODULE DESCRIPTION
Module Code:
CL3414
Available electronically on:
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/schoolsanddivisions/divisions/regis/ifs/programmes/changes.html
Guidance notes for completing this proforma are available on:
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/schoolsanddivisions/divisions/regis/ifs/programmes/changes.html
Module Title: Trusts [20]
Number of Credits:
(only applicable for modules that will be
available on modular programmes of
study).
20
Number of Semesters: 2 Semester*:
Both
Level*: 3
School Responsible:
Module Tutor:
CLAWS
Peter Luxton
External Subject Code:
M223
Please note: incomplete information (above) will mean that the module will not be put onto the Student Information System.
Prerequisite Modules: Code: Title:
Precursor Modules: Code: Title:
Co-Requisite Modules: Code: Title:
Other Prerequisites:

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Programmes of Study For Which
This Module Is Compulsory:
Programmes of Study For Which
This Module Is Optional:
Title of Programme: Years: Title of Programme: Years:
LLB Law (single honours) (all routes)
F
LLB Law and Criminology (Integrated honours) F
LLB Law and Politics (Integrated honours)
F
LLB Law and Sociology (Integrated honours) F
LLB Law and French (Integrated honours)
F
LLB Law and German (Integrated honours)
F
LLB Law and Welsh (Integrated honours)
F
Certificate in Legal Studies (Exchange)
F
Exchange Programme
F
Module to be offered on a Free-Standing basis
Please identify any additional restrictions to Free-Standing status:
No
* Circle the most appropriate
AIMS OF THE MODULE:
(Aims define the broad purpose of the module)
1 to enable students to state and apply the rules of the English law of trusts dealt with in the course accurately and
relevantly;
2 to enable students to make critical assessments of that law and the scholarship pertaining thereto;
3 to enable students to compare and contrast that law accurately and relevantly with the equivalent areas of any other
legal system with which the student is familiar;
4 to enable students to relate that law to the particular circumstances - political, social, cultural - in which it developed.
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE MODULE
(Learning outcomes are statements of what a typical student is expected to know, understand and be able to do.)
On completion of the module a student should be able to:
1 Describe, explain, analyse and evaluate the principal characteristics and concepts of the English law of trusts,
relating them to their political, social, economic, and cultural context. These will include:
1.1 the distinction between common law and equity;
1.2 the equitable remedies of specific performance and injunction, including the freezing injunction and the search
order;
1.3 express trusts;
1.4 implied and resulting trusts;
1.5 constructive trusts;
1.6 completely constituted and incompletely constituted trusts;
1.7 trusts of perfect and imperfect obligation;
1.8 Quistclose trusts;
1.9 discretionary and fixed-interest trusts;
1.10 public (i.e. charitable) and private trusts;
1.11 the powers and duties of trustees;
1.12 personal remedies for breach of trust;
1.13 proprietary remedies for breach of trust, including the rules of legal and equitable tracing.
Knowledge and Understanding:
1 At the conclusion of these modules, students will be able to:
1.1 demonstrate a range of the subject-specific skills and perform all of the general transferable skills accurately
and succinctly in lucid, reasoned prose written in English and/or Welsh.
Intellectual Skills:
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1 When presented with a set of facts, a student will be able to do the following:
1.1 state correctly the legal issues which arise from those facts;
1.2 state correctly the relevant rules of the English law of trusts for resolving those issues;
1.3 cite accurately the relevant legal authorities to support the statement;
1.4 state any legal distinctions between the rules stated and the facts given;
1.5 apply the law to resolve those issues correctly and relevantly;
2 When presented with a question or statement containing a value judgement on an area of the English law of trusts,
a
student will be able to:
2.1 state correctly the rules of the English law of trusts which are pertinent to evaluating the proposition contained
in the question or statement;
2.2 state relevant arguments for and against the proposition in an unbiased manner;
2.3 cite correctly the legal authorities and scholarly opinions which support or refute those arguments;
2.4 assess accurately the strengths and weaknesses of those arguments;
2.5 state a reasoned conclusion on those arguments.
Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:
1 The ability to analyse a set of facts to determine the legal issues raised by those facts, and to provide a reasoned
analysis of the possible resolution of those legal issues.
2 The ability to discuss the arguments both for and against a contentious proposition of law, and to formulate a
conclusion.
Transferable Skills:
1 the presentation of a complex analysis in lucid English or Welsh.
2 the ability to appreciate different arguments on an issue and to present a reasoned conclusion.
METHODS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING:
26 x 1 hour lectures
7 x 1 hour tutorials
ASSESSMENT:
(Description of how the assessment (both formative and summative) will enable a student to demonstrate achievement
of learning outcomes)
The modules will be summatively assessed by means of one two–hour written examination at the end of the course. The
examination will comprise six questions, including both essays and problems. Students will be required to answer three
questions, ensuring that a range of subject-specific skills, every general transferable skill, and the key skills are
assessed.
The formative assessments will consist of one piece of written work (either an essay or a problem) and one multiple
choice test, neither of which will contribute directly to the summative assessment. The first assessment is submitted
before the Christmas recess and the second, the multiple choice test, must be submitted after the Easter recess.
Written feedback is provided after both. The first formative assessment may comprise a question from a previous year’s
formative assessment or from a previous examination paper. Both formative assessments are intended to enable
students to enhance the subject-specific, general transferable and key skills required of them in the summative
assessment.
Together, the assessments require students to demonstrate their abilities to describe, explain, analyse and evaluate
certain of the principal institutions and areas of the English law of trusts.
Formative assessments require students to conduct a limited amount of their own research. The written and oral
feedback addresses their individual attainment in the areas of performance identified in the law benchmarks.
Students are expected to write clear, comprehensible, grammatical and syntactically correct prose in English and/or
Welsh. The first formative assessment should preferably be word-processed; the second needs to be completed and
submitted electronically.
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METHOD(S) OF SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT:
The methods of assessment of a module should be completed in the following table. Notes of guidance for completion of
the table are provided below.
Type % contribution Title Duration (if app)
EXSP 100% Trusts [20] examination 2 hours
Notes of Guidance:
1. All assessments which contribute to the module mark must be separately identified in the above table. Continue
on a separate piece of paper (if necessary) and attach it to the completed module description.
2. Type EXAU Examination Autumn Semester
EXSP Examination Spring Semester
EXSU Examination Summer Period
EXPG Examination held outside Autumn, Spring and Summer periods
PCEX Practical Examination held within the school and organised by the school
CT
Class Test
CW
Coursework
LW
Laboratory work
PW
Project work
FW
Fieldwork
A module may have more than one assessment component of the same type e.g. if a module is assessed by two
essays, both essays would need to be listed with the type CW.
3. Percentage contribution: The contribution of the assessment component towards the calculation of the
overall module mark.
4. Title: A descriptor of the assessment component e.g. examination paper title.
5. Duration: The duration of an examination or class test.
SYLLABUS CONTENT:
All areas of the Law Society's ``Foundations of Equity and the Law of Trusts'' are covered.
Detailed coverage will include:
− the types of trust
− express trusts, and the requirements for their validity (including constitution, certainty and formalities)
− charitable trusts
− implied and resulting trusts
− constructive trusts
− the powers and duties of trustees
− the remedies for breach of trust (including tracing).
This is mostly a case-based course, although there are important statutory provisions.
INDICATIVE READING LIST:
For 2010-11 the principal recommended textbook is one of the following:
− Hanbury & Martin, Modern Equity (18th ed., Sweet and Maxwell, 2009)
− Parker & Mellows, The Modern Law of Trusts (9th ed., Sweet & Maxwell, 2008) £30.00-
− Hayton & Marshall, Commentary & Cases on the Law of Trusts and Equitable Remedies (12 th ed., Sweet &
Maxwell, 2005)
CATALOGUE ENTRY:
The course is designed to provide exemption in respect of the Law Society's ‘Foundations of Equity and the Law of
Trusts’. Because the course is based around the legal concept of the trust, coverage is not restricted to any particular
enterprise or activity, but encompasses a wide and disparate range.
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