Corporate Criminal Liability: Assignment Purposes and Research Question Design

Purposes of the Assignment

1. Purposes of the assignment

The purposes of this assignment are for you to develop specialist knowledge in the development and application of an area of corporate criminal liability whilst simultaneously building a foundational comprehension of legal research and research methods.  This assignment is an opportunity for you to practice active learning, develop an understanding and appreciation for how legal knowledge and analysis evolves and produce an original contribution to that body of knowledge. 

 

Undergraduate legal research is inquiry-based learning that involves practicing our discipline, not just being told about it. You will discover first-hand how the steps of the research process are related to one another, experience the triumphs and pitfalls inherent to the creative process, see that research is an iterative process and that ambiguity is part of the real world, develop an understanding and appreciation of how knowledge evolves, and produce an original contribution to that body of knowledge. 

 

Active learning is a student centred approach in which the responsibility for learning is placed upon the student. In active learning lecturers are facilitators rather than one way providers of information (Taken from Starting Point SERC Carlton EDU) 

 

2. Intended learning outcomes 

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate that you meet Intended Learning Outcomes 2-4, 6-10 for the module:
Module Specific Skills and Knowledge: demonstrate and apply knowledge of criminal law, with a specialism in corporate criminal liability, 

 

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:
demonstrate knowledge of legal rules and concepts, in their social, moral, corporate and political context integrate and assess relevant information from primary and secondary legal sources using appropriate interpretative techniques
4        integrate and assess relevant information from primary and secondary legal sources using appropriate interpretative techniques
6        create and research a legal question and produce a research report on it Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge:
7        Take notes on primary and secondary legal sources and collate them so that they may be used effectively for a particular learning activity or in an assessment in the module
8        Demonstrate active and self-directed learning in individual assessments.
9        identify, retrieve and use a range of library-based and electronic resources with minimum guidance effectively
10        work independently, within a limited time frame, and/or word limit, to complete a specified task

The mark you achieve in the Criminal Research Project assignment contributes 45% to the total mark for the Criminal Law module.

 

3. Core assignment task

To prepare for this assignment you should refer to:

    Task requirements and instructions Lecture 20 and the following notes explaining the structure of your project, the process to follow and word counts
    Assessment criteria on ELE to understand how your assignment will be marked

 

3.1 Additional Guidance on Designing Your Research Question 

BROAD TOPIC AREA - start with a broad Topic. 
Please choose one of the subjects listed below as your broad research area. 
    Corporations, Criminal Liability and Environmental Harm.
    Corporations, Criminal Liability and Financial Misconduct.
    Corporations, Criminal Liability and Product Safety.
    Corporations, Criminal Liability and Safety at Work.
    Corporations, Criminal Liability and Death and Serious injury.

 

A good research question puts limits the research, sets the boundaries, keeps the researcher focused and directs the researcher to the resources that they will need and it must also be complex, but manageable. 

 

There are different forms of research questions:
Description: what does it look like (what, when, where, who)?
Explanation: why did it happen?
Prediction: what is to be expected?
Understanding: how is it understood?
Interpretation: what does it mean?
Prescription: how ought it be?
Change and emancipation: how can it be transformed for the better?
Critique and disruption: what are the limitations and assumptions? How can these assumptions be challenged/ interrupted?

 

In your choice of the topic consider the following areas 
•    What would be the aims of purposes of the criminal law in your chosen context ? 
•    How would you define the harm caused ? Who /what do you identify as the victim/s ?
•    How useful current definitions of corporations are in the context of the topic.
•    Identify the difficulties and any opportunities of applying the criminal law in relation to corporations, rather than individuals in your chosen context.
•    How could wrong-doing by a corporation be punished ? what are suitable and unsuitable punishments?