Constitutional law

19 May Constitutional law

Hertfordshire Law School

LLB Coursework Assessments

Level 4

2017-18

Contents

Assignment Question 3

How to Submit. 5

1.1. Presentation 5

1.2. Word Limit 5

1.3. Late Submission 5

1.4. Referencing 6

1.5. Extensions 6

1.6. Serious Adverse Circumstances 7

Results and Feedback 7

Academic Offences. Cheating, Plagiarism & Collusion 9

Grading Criteria 10

OSCOLA Quick Reference Guide 13

Extension Request Form…………………………………………………………………………….15

Information about the assignment:

Coursework	Question Posted on StudyNet	Submission Date	Coursework Return Date (4 weeks)
	23th October 2017	19th February 2018	19th March 2018

Please read carefully the important information relating to your assignment:

Some questions require longer answers than others.

Question	Word limit
Question a (on the separation of powers)–	300
Question b (on prerogative powers)	600
Question c (on the sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament)	300
Question d (on the Human Rights Act 1998)	800

The overall word limit for the assignment is 2000 words excluding footnotes and bibliography. Do not exceed this word limit of 2000, not even by one word, as strict penalties may apply.

Submission Deadline 19 February 2018

 

Assignment Question – Answer a) b) c) and d)

The UK has been engaged in a long and protracted war in Easteros in which many people have died. TV images from the conflict are dire. As the conflict drags on, and with no end in sight, public opinion is now turning against the war. Spontaneous protests have erupted in many British cities. Universities, in particular, have become a hub of anti-war agitation.

The Government is concerned that the conflict is politically damaging but their military generals are telling them that victory is near. The Government is very keen to redouble its war effort so as to bring an end to the conflict in Easteros as promptly as possible.

Your legal advice is sought on the following:

a-     The Government asks whether the separation of powers makes it necessary for the Prime Minister to continue to answer embarrassing questions in Parliament. The fear is that the bad publicity generated is undermining the morale of the troops.

Advise the Government in no more than 300 words. AND

b-      The Government uses its prerogative powers to ban all family relatives of nationals from Easteros from serving in the armed forces. The reasons for the ban is that it should guarantee the loyalty of the armed forces. The Government does not intend to consult Parliament on this.

Advise the Government on whether this use of prerogative powers will be amenable to judicial review or controlled through other constitutional means. Answer in no more than 600 words

AND

The Prime Minister also feels that excessive student protests are “talking the Country down and undermining the morale of the troops”. The Government introduces a Bill which is enacted by Parliament as the (fictitious) ‘Support Our Boys’ Act 2017 (‘the SOB Act’).

c-      Section 10 of the SOB Act provides that any European national arrested in an anti-war demonstration must be immediately deported. This is in clear conflict with European Union Law.

Advise with respect to the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty in more than 300 words

AND

d-     Section 20 the SOB Act provides that “all overt forms of anti-war political activism and advertising within University campuses is prohibited”. Nadia has been putting up posters advocating the end of the war. The posters depict various images of civilians suffering. Nadia is arrested by the police as she is putting up a series of posters in front of a large lecture theatre. Nadia is soon charged under the SOB Act.

“Advise Nadia on whether there has been a breach of any of her human rights, and whether she has any remedy under the Human Rights Act 1998” in no more than 800 words

 

Overall word limit: 2000 excluding footnotes and bibliography.

Do not exceed this word count.

How to submit:

Written Coursework:

Ensure that you consult your individual module guides for details on individual assessments.

Presentation

The assignment itself should be in Arial font size 11 and in double line spacing to allow for the markers’ comments.

Your name must not appear on your assignment. All assessed coursework is marked anonymously using your student registration number on your ID card. Your student registration number and module name should appear on every page of your essay and each page should be numbered. This is best achieved by use of the header and footer tool. You are also required to put your student registration number and module title in the file name of your assignment when submitting on StudyNet (e.g. Crime and Deviance 14043489.doc).

Word Length[footnoteRef:1] [1: Students should note that in Microsoft Word, if the reference mark (footnote number) is inside the punctuation mark, then the punctuation gets counted as a new work. If the reference mark is outside the punctuation mark, then it will not be counted. E.g. He said 1. = 3 words; He said 1, = 3 words; He said. 1 = 2 words; He said, 1 = 2 words.]

Your word count must appear at the end of your work.

Word limits will be strictly applied as you are being assessed on your ability to produce an answer within a proscribed format. Do notexceed the word limit in relation to your answer. Students who exceed the word count by one word will be capped at 40%.

The word count for coursework will NOT include footnotes or the bibliography. However, footnotes must not include material that should be in the body of the answer or be used as a means to circumvent the word count.

Late Submission of Coursework

Submission deadlines are not flexible. Students should submit their work well in advance of the deadline (ideally several hours) to be sure of a reliable internet connection and sufficient upload time. Work submitted at any point (including seconds) after the deadline is recorded as a late submission and will be capped.

All students must note that failure to submit coursework by the dates and time specified has SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. The penalties for late submission of coursework are:

a. Coursework (including deferred coursework, but with the exception of referred coursework) relating to modules at Levels 0, 4, 5 and 6, submitted up to one (1) week after the published deadline will receive a maximum numeric grade of 40.

b. Coursework (including deferred coursework, but with the exception of referred coursework) relating to modules at Level 7 submitted up to one (1) week after the published deadline will receive a maximum numeric grade of 50.

c. Referred coursework submitted after the published deadline will be awarded a grade of zero (0). (Unless there is an agreed extension to the deadline or there are Serious Adverse Circumstances)

d. Coursework (including deferred coursework) submitted later than one (1) week after the published deadline will be awarded a grade of zero (0). (Unless there is an agreed extension to the deadline or there are Serious Adverse Circumstances)

Referencing

All quotations from, or use of other writers’ work must be properly referenced- that is, you must give the author, title, and date of publication of the work concerned, and the page or section number of the passage quoted or cited. Reference style should remain consistent throughout each submitted essay.

Your coursework answer should be properly referenced using the Oxford Referencing System (OSCOLA) see www.law.ox.ac.uk

You should include a full bibliography at the end of your work.

Turnitin

All modules within the School will offer students the opportunity to use Turnitin formatively. Formative submission will be limited to one attempt per assignment in line with the University policy which seeks to support the development of students’ academic writing skills and to promote good academic practice. Students will be able to make use of of Turnitin for the larger assessments worth 50% or more. These are mainly positioned within Semester B. All final year dissertations/individual projects should be run through Turnitin. These are all submitted in Semester B/C.

Students will use Turnitin from the options below according to the level of study and specific module requirements:

· Summative essays worth at least 50% of the module mark;

· Specific pieces of coursework which require submission of a Turnitin report as designated by the Programme Leader;

· Turnitin may be used on individual pieces of work in which plagiarism is suspected, taking account of the level of study, the level of writing maturity expected of the student and the nature of the assignment task.

Extensions

Extensions are only available in exceptional circumstances and requests MUST BE MADE AT LEAST 3 WORKING DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THE HAND-IN DATE and sent using the official form at the back of this handbook to the following email address:

Level4lawextensions@herts.ac.uk

You will receive a decision within 48 HOURS. All requests must use the Level4lawextensions@herts.ac.uk email address as extension requests sent to individual members of staff will not be considered. Please do not send multiple requests for the same extension. Only authorised extensions will not receive a late penalty. Where illness is put forward as being the extenuating circumstance this must be supported by independent evidence from a doctor or other appropriate professional. Financial difficulties will not be regarded as adverse circumstances to justify extension of a deadline, neither will computer crashes or disk errors. Coursework received after the granted extension date will have the appropriate penalties applied to them.

Serious Adverse Circumstances

Serious Adverse Circumstances are significant circumstances beyond a student’s control that would have affected your ability to perform to your full potential if you were to sit or submit an assessment at the appointed time. As a general rule, if a student has a valid claim for serious adverse circumstances then they should not sit the affected examination(s) or submit the affected coursework(s). If the Board of Examiners accepts your claim, you will be offered a deferred assessment. Students will no longer be able to sit/submit any type of assessment and then later claim that their work/performance has been affected by Serious Adverse Circumstances.

If you sit/submit an assessment, by doing so you are stating that you are fit and well to do so. Therefore, you will not be able to claim later that Serious Adverse Circumstances have affected your work/performance. Students who believe they have Serious Adverse Circumstances which could affect their performance, are responsible for notifying the Chairperson of the Board in writing of their circumstances. This should be done at the earliest time possible, before the Board of Examiner’s meeting. (For more information see: http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/secreg/upr/AS14.htm – the Serious Adverse Circumstances Form is located on the programme pages on StudyNet).

What happens when I submit an assessment?

· All work is marked anonymously.

· All work is marked against grading criteria, which is detailed in this document.

· Each element of assessment has a marking scheme attached to it to ensure that teams which have more than one marker are marking against objectively determined principles.

· Once marked, a sample of the assignments will be moderated by at least one other tutor to ensure that there is consistency in both the mark and the feedback given.

· You will receive interim feedback 3 weeks after the submission deadline.

· In some cases (such as a dissertation), work is double-blind marked meaning that assignments are marked independently by two markers and a final mark is agreed.

· Your marked assignment and mark will be returned within four calendar weeks. If there is a delay to this (for example due to marker illness), you will be notified in advance by the Associate Dean (Academic Quality Assurance).

· All marks are provisional and await confirmation by the relevant Board of Examiners.

If you have any queries about your marked work following its return, please arrange an appointment to speak with the marker in the first instance.

Students’ coursework will be returned to them together with feedback through StudyNet in a timely manner, no later than four (4) calendar weeks after the submission deadline. Any exceptions to this must be agreed by the Associate Dean of School (Academic Quality Assurance) and notified to students in advance of the expiration of the four (4) week period. For work of an on-going nature, such as a major project or dissertation, supervising staff will ensure that students are provided with feedback at interim stages.

1. Academic Offences

Specific detail relating to academic offences is located in UPR AS13 & AS14. Assessment (by examination or coursework) can be stressful, but is part of everyday life for students and most people manage it well. There are a small number who seek to gain an unfair advantage over their fellow students by acts of academic misconduct. Academic misconduct comes in various forms but the most common are plagiarism (i.e. presenting another person’s work as your own), falsification of data, collusion and cheating. The University takes a very dim view of such activity and the penalties can be severe. The best advice is not to do it in the first place. If you are finding a module difficult then speak to one of the teaching staff.

a. Cheating

To attempt to gain an unfair, improper or dishonest advantage in the assessment process; to gain an unfair, improper or dishonest advantage in the assessment process; where on the balance of probability it could reasonably be construed that a candidate intended to gain an unfair, improper or dishonest advantage in the assessment process. Cheating includes:

a) Impersonation – either where a student allows any other person to take an assessment on their behalf or to present themselves as being that student or where a current University of Hertfordshire student takes an assessment on behalf of another University of Hertfordshire student;

b) Obtaining or attempting to obtain unauthorised access to examination papers;

c) The copying of, or attempting to copy, the work of another candidate in the examination or other in class assessment, whether by overlooking what he or she has written or is writing or by asking him or her for information in whatever form;

d) The introduction into an examination room (or any other room in which a formal assessment is taking place) of aids including books, notes, personal notes or revision notes in any form, papers, stationery, computer disks or other devices of any kind other than those permitted in the rubric of the examination paper. This includes, for example, unauthorised information stored in the memory of a pocket calculator, in a mobile telephone, personal organiser or any other device;

e) Requesting a temporary absence from an examination room (or any other room in which a formal assessment is taking place) with the intention of gaining, or attempting to gain, access to information that may be relevant to a formal assessment;

f) False statements made in order to receive special considerations by the Board of Examiners or to obtain extensions to deadlines or exemption from work;

g) Assisting or attempting to assist another University of Hertfordshire student to gain or attempt to gain an unfair, improper, or dishonest advantage in the assessment process;

h) The purchase or theft of material submitted for assessment;

i) Academic misconduct offences as defined by section 2.1.4, a – f, where on a balance of probability, it could reasonably be construed that a candidate attempted or intended to gain an unfair, improper or dishonest advantage in the assessment process.

b. Plagiarism:

The misappropriation or use of others’ ideas, intellectual property or work (written or otherwise), without acknowledgement or permission. This may include, but is not limited to:

a) The importing of phrases from or all or part of another person’s work without using quotation marks and identifying the source;

b) Without acknowledgement of the source, making extensive use of another person’s work, either by summarising or paraphrasing the work merely by changing a few words or by altering the order in which the material is presented;

c) The use of the ideas of another person without acknowledgement of the source or the presentation of work which substantially comprises the ideas of another person and which represents these as being the ideas of the candidate. (For the avoidance of doubt, plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional)

c. Collusion:

Evidence of the representation by an individual of work which he or she has undertaken jointly with another person as having been undertaken independently of that person.