Announcements
23 February 2022 - Assignment Submission Form has been made available in the Assignment section below.
1 May 2022 - Following a question made by one of you, we are pasting below the answer we received from Dr Marycien Vassallo in relation to question 4(b)(iii) of the Award in Legal Research and Interpretation Methodology assignment.
"Question 4(b)(iii) - there is a typo. The year should read 548/2018."
Excuse us for any inconvenience caused. The Assignment Submission form has been updated.
Online Sessions Link
To connect to the online sessions of this module, except for the first session, please click on this link . You will be asked to register your attendance if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.
Meeting ID: 946 0827 8585
Passcode: 358250
Session of the 3 February 2022 ONLY - Link
Meeting ID: 997 0184 5634
Passcode: 967269
Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes.
Lecture Schedule & Notes
Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.
Lecturer/s
Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading
Lecture 1 - What is Legal Research Part I
- What is research?
- Types of research methods and methodologies
- What is legal research?
- Historical background of legal research
- The scope, relevance and importance of legal research
Core Reading List
- Legal Research. Cengage Learning. Albright & Putman.
- Bouchoux, D., n.d. Legal Research And Writing For Paralegals
- Cahillane, L. and Schweppe, J., n.d. Legal Research Methods
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
- Albright J, Putman W.H. (2015) Legal Research (Third Edition), Phoenix College
Lecture 2 - Legal Research Sources
- Who carries out legal research?
- Types of Legal Research
- Sources of information, their uses and how to find them? (Legal databases, National Archives, Court Archives and Notarial Archives)
Core Reading List
- Sullivan, M. (2018) Statistics: Informed Decision using Data, Pearson/Prentice & Hall.
- Watkins, Dawn and Burton, M. (2018) Research Methods in Law, Routledge (2nd edition).
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
Lecture 3 - Models of Legal Research
- Stages and models of legal research
- Non-conventional sources to obtain legal research (hypothesis, analogy, findings of others, personal experience)
- Case study
Core Reading List
- Legal Research. Cengage Learning. Albright & Putman.
- Bouchoux, D., n.d. Legal Research And Writing For Paralegals
- Cahillane, L. and Schweppe, J., n.d. Legal Research Methods
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
Lecture 4 - Sampling, Data Collection and Interpretation Methodologies
- Research Plan
- How to collect data? (Interviews, Questionnaires, Observations etc)
- Key concepts of sampling techniques
- Analysis and interpretation of data
Core Reading List
- Legal Research. Cengage Learning. Albright & Putman.
- Bouchoux, D., n.d. Legal Research And Writing For Paralegals
- Cahillane, L. and Schweppe, J., n.d. Legal Research Methods
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
Lecture 5 - Research Design
- Meaning of research design
- Types of Research Designs
- Planning and designing
Core Reading List
- Legal Research. Cengage Learning. Albright & Putman.
- Bouchoux, D., n.d. Legal Research And Writing For Paralegals
- Cahillane, L. and Schweppe, J., n.d. Legal Research Methods
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
Lecture 6 - Legal Writing
- Legal Research Process
- References
- Plagiarism
- Research Ethics
Core Reading List
- Legal Research. Cengage Learning. Albright & Putman.
- Bouchoux, D., n.d. Legal Research And Writing For Paralegals
- Cahillane, L. and Schweppe, J., n.d. Legal Research Methods
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
Lecture 7 - Applied Legal Research
- Analysis of facts requiring academical interpretation by preparing brief on legal aspects
Core Reading List
- Albright J, Putman W.H. (2015) Legal Research (Third Edition), Phoenix College
Supplementary Reading List
- Camilleri-Cassar, F. (2018) Academic Research Methods for the Law Student: A Practical Guide, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (1st edition)
Methods of Assessment
2 Assignments 100% of final score
Assignment
You have to choose 2 out of the 4 questions made available in the Assignment Submission Form below. Assignment should be submitted by not later than Thursday 5 May 2022. The assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form.
If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.
We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded. For referencing purposes, as much as possible please use the Oscola Referencing Guide.
Assignment should be sent accompanied by the respective assignment submission form on info@advisory21.com.mt. Please send assignments in pdf format. Do not scan assignment but convert/save it directly to pdf.
Note that the submitted assignment will be scanned for plagiarism. It is advisable that before submitting your assignments, especially if submission is being done close to the deadline, that you yourself check your assignments before actually submitting them.
Referencing Style
Academy Documents
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