Advise Bo on the charge he may face in relation to the death of Marcus.

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW

aCADEMIC YEAR 2021/22

Coursework Assessment Brief

Module Code:

Module Title: Criminal Law

Submission Deadline:

Assessment Component: Component B, Element 1

Assessment Weighting: 32 per cent of total module mark

Assessment Instructions: Portfolio B1

This piece of work is an individual submission and should therefore represent one student’s work. There are four parts to the portfolio and each part has its own formatting requirements, instructions, layout and content. Details pertaining to the plan, annotated bibliography and reflective writing can be found within subsidiary documentation that can be found on Blackboard, within the Assignments section:

1. Plan:

Refer to Plan: Portfolio B1
No word limit; 1 A4 sheet

2. Problem Question:

For Problem Question Scenario, see below
Word limit: 1200 words

3. Annotated Bibliography:

Refer to Annotated Bibliography: Portfolio B1
Word limit: 200 words

4. Reflective Writing:

Refer to Reflective Writing: Portfolio B1
Word limit: 400 words

The above pieces of work should be submitted as one document, with each piece of work beginning on a new page and in the order that they are listed above.

Problem Question Scenario: Portfolio B1

Dina and Amy are friends from Uni and have planned to go out for a night on the town. Whilst they are getting ready, Marcus calls by their accommodation and tells them that a group from the next block are also going out and suggest that they all go together. Dina and Amy think that sharing the cost of the taxi is a good idea and so agree. Due to the fact that there are eight of them, they have to have two cabs and, unfortunately, Dina and Amy end up sharing their taxi with Bo and Jonah. They have not met the pair before, but quickly realise that they are both quite difficult personalities and that, especially Bo, is quite aggressive and rude.

They all agree to meet at a pub called the ‘Slug & Lettice’ but the other taxi has gone a different route and their cab arrives first. They buy drinks and wait for the rest of the group, but then receive messages from Marcus and the others saying that they have changed their minds and gone to a different pub. Both Dina and Amy are really angry that they have been ‘dumped’ with the pair and vow to give Marcus a verbal ‘blasting’ when they see him next. They spend an hour trying to get rid of Bo and Jonah, but they simply will not take the hint that they are not welcome and so Dina and Amy decide to move on to another venue. They sneak out of the Slug & Lettice, but Bo and Jonah see them and follow. When the girls get to the next place, they walk in and find the rest of the group!

Dina is furious and the moment she sees Marcus she starts telling him in very direct language what she thinks of him! Marcus seems to find the whole situation hysterically funny and all of the other group seem to think that it has been a great joke to set the girls up with the annoying pair. When Bo and Jonah walk into the pub a moment later, the situation quickly deteriorates when they realise that their house mates tried to ‘ditch’ them and they are the ‘butt of the joke.’ The hilarity takes an unpleasant turn when people start hurling insults at each other and some nasty remarks are made. Before the doormen can reach the group to break up the argument, Bo finally explodes with temper and hits Marcus.

The punch is not very hard, and in most instances would only cause a bruise, however, Marcus has a rare medical condition that means that his body reacts to trauma in an extreme way and, as a precaution, he is taken to hospital to make sure everything is ok. Once in hospital, Marcus’s condition worsens but the doctor on duty fails to pick up on the warning signs and Marcus dies.

Advise Bo on the charge he may face in relation to the death of Marcus.

Recorded guidance on this assessment can be found in the relevant folder on Blackboard, within the Assignments section.

Learning Outcomes:

Understand the major concepts, values and principles of the English criminal legal system.
Understand the importance of primary and secondary sources of law and develop an understanding of their use, including contextual materials, to support the making of legal arguments.
Communicate effectively in a written format, using appropriate legal terminology for the audience and making use of relevant data derived from primary sources when necessary.
Identify and critically engage with relevant materials and information, evaluating legal arguments and material drawn from a range of appropriate sources.
Conduct searches efficiently and effectively and access and reference appropriate legal and contextual materials.
Work independently to accomplish a defined outcome and reflect upon their own experience in order to formulate appropriate strategies for future progress.

Assessment Criteria

The coursework will be marked as a whole in line with the General Assessment Criteria; you can find a copy on the module Blackboard in the Assignments section. Note that it is the overall level of engagement and knowledge displayed that will be marked, in a holistic manner, rather than awarding points for individual sections. Each part/section counts “the same” insofar as to say: there is no percentage attached to each part/section. Rather, we are looking for consistency in application and the ability to cross-reference knowledge between the individual parts, where applicable.

As students of the criminal law module, guidance and tuition will have provided you with relevant information and background knowledge to complete this assignment.

Formative feedback and support during the module

Formative feedback provides opportunities to reflect on your ongoing work and preparation for your assignment.

Within the final week of workshops (w/c: 13^th December 2021) you will be given an opportunity to obtain feedback on a one page plan, relating to the assessment scenario above.

Further information about this assessment is available on the Blackboard site for this module.

Formatting

Please use the following file format(s): Word as .doc or .docx. We cannot ensure that other formats are compatible with markers’ software and cannot guarantee to mark incorrect formats.

All work should be word processed in 12-point font Times New Roman or Arial and double line spaced.

The first page of your coursework must include:

Your student number
The module name and number
Your word count

Word Limit

The maximum word limit for this coursework is 1,800 words, as outlined above.

There is no +/- 10% on word count and anything after the maximum word count will not be marked, in line with UWE Bristol’s Word Count Policy.
In line with UWE policy, this word count includes everything in the main body of the text (including headings, tables, citations, quotes, lists, etc.).
The references, bibliography and footnotes (provided footnotes only include references) are NOT included in this word count.

Referencing and Assessment Offences

Please ensure you reference all sources used when developing your assessment, using the OSCOLA system.

If you are a Joint Awards student, you have the option of using Harvard. If you do so, please make this clear on the cover page of your submission (Referencing style used: Harvard). Students should also be aware that as Harvard is an ‘in-text’ system, their references form part of the overall word count for the piece.

Failure to properly reference your work to original source material can be grounds for the assessment offence of plagiarism and may result in failure of the assessment or more serious implications. Further guidance on correct referencing is available on UWE’s Study Skills referencing pages.

UWE’s Assessment Offences Policy outlines potential offences and it is your responsibility to understand this policy and avoid potential offences. Details of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it can be found on UWE’s Study Skills pages about avoiding plagiarism.

Text-matching software (e.g. SafeAssign) is used to check every submission against other submissions made at the same time, previous submissions to UWE and other universities, and internet sources. We may also manually search for matches. When submitting your work, you will be required to confirm that the work is your own.

It is an assessment offence to:

copy work from any source, including your own previous assessments, and present it as your own work for this assessment, or to provide your own work to others
to work with others on the assessment in any way, or for anyone to make amends on your work (including proofreaders, who may highlight issues but not edit the work)
change individual words but keep, essentially, the same sentences and/or structures from other sources: this will be detected by text-matching software. Please write in your own words and style to convey your own learning.

Instructions for submission

You must submit your assignment by the stated deadline by electronic submission through Blackboard. Notification that the electronic submission portal is open for your assignment is displayed (usually two weeks before the submission date) in the Coursework tab in myUWE, the Coursework tab in Blackboard and via an announcement in the Blackboard course.

Please allow sufficient time to upload your assignment, as the system becomes busier and slower as the deadline approaches. Only your final upload will be counted. Ensure all your information is submitted at one attempt to avoid overwriting your intended submission. Always check and retain your receipts.

Submissions of coursework by any other method (including a paper copy, on disk or by email) are NOT permissible for this module unless specifically agreed in advance of the submission date.

Before submitting your work, please ensure that:

You have proof read your work thoroughly to ensure your work is presented appropriately
You have addressed all the required elements of the assessment
You have referenced in accordance with the guidance provided
You have addressed each of the marking criteria
The submission is in the correct format
This assessment has a three day grace period in which students can submit their work without penalty. While students are expected to plan their work so that they are not impacted by minor illness or delay, if you experience difficulties which affect your ability to submit your work at the published deadline the University allows a three day grace period in which you can submit your work without penalty for this type of assessment. Please note that the submission deadline at the conclusion of the three day grace period is absolute and based on UWE server time, therefore you are strongly advised to submit work well ahead of the deadline dates to avoid your work not being accepted for marking.

Feedback on this module is not limited to the written comments you will receive on individual written assessment submissions.

Feedback and marks for this module will be available by the date specified at the top of this document. For further guidance on feedback, please refer to the module handbook.

Further guidance and support

There are a number of sources of support to improve your study skills, including:

The UWE Library Study Skills pages – for online support and bookable workshops
The Faculty of Business and Law’s Learning Hub
Guidance on using UWE’s Library.

Specific study skills pages relating to this module include: