Overview

Understanding how law operates in the real world means looking beyond legal rules to the crime, justice systems and social forces that shape them. The LLB (Hons) Law with Criminology at the University of Essex combines a qualifying law curriculum with criminology, placing criminal law and justice within a wider social, political and economic context. Students learn from lecturers who work directly with the UN, UK government and foreign governments, with the chance to gain real-world legal experience at the Essex Law Clinic and insight from the department's own best-selling criminology textbook. The course suits students drawn to both law and criminology, wanting a genuinely dual perspective on crime, justice and society's responses to offending.

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What You'll Learn

• Core areas of qualifying law alongside criminology's social, political and economic context

• Criminal law and criminal justice, examined through both legal and sociological lenses

• Society's responses to crime, offending and criminal justice policy

• Human rights, advocacy and the work of non-governmental organisations

• The philosophy of law, policy issues and law reform

• Practical legal skills through volunteering at the Essex Law Clinic

• Commercial awareness through the Business and Legal Advice Clinic

• Career management skills, developed alongside core legal and criminological study

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Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to apply core legal principles alongside criminological theory to analyse how law operates in response to crime and social justice issues. They will be equipped to critically evaluate criminal justice policy and the wider social, political and economic forces shaping it. Through practical experience at the Essex Law Clinic and engagement with cutting-edge criminology research, students will develop real-world legal and analytical skills alongside academic rigour. Graduates will leave with a unique dual perspective in law and criminology, well prepared for careers in human rights, advocacy, criminal justice, further legal qualification, or postgraduate study in law, criminology or social policy.