In an increasingly globalised environment, it has become difficult for national systems to isolate themselves and reject the influence of other legal systems and sources of law. European Union law provides an especially stark example of a legal system exercising profound effects on the law of its Member States and even of third countries entertaining close relationships with the European Union.The module has several aims: at a more immediate level, it seeks to provide a solid working knowledge of the principles of Union law, which remains a major source of law in the United Kingdom.
At a broader level, the module introduces students to issues of interactions between legal systems and encourages them to reflect on the various ways in which norms enacted and developed outside a national legal systems can affect the contents and functioning of that system.