Law Summer School (Criminal & Family Law) - Detailed Outline (Online)

This page provides a detailed outline of the onlineLaw Summer School – Part 1 (Criminal and Family Law), a five-day course for students aged 15-18 who are interested in law, curious about how legal systems work, or beginning to think about future study in the subject. The programme below shows how students move from the foundations of criminal liability through offences, defences, sentencing, advocacy, and family law.

The course is designed to give students a serious but accessible introduction to legal reasoning. Rather than focusing on exam technique, it emphasises discussion, analysis, argument, and application. Students work with real and hypothetical cases, explore difficult questions about justice and responsibility, and practise applying legal principles to complex factual scenarios.

Teaching takes place through live online seminars, structured discussion, problem-solving exercises, negotiation tasks, and advocacy work. Across the week, students develop skills in legal analysis, statutory interpretation, persuasive argument, teamwork, and clear communication.

Prefer to view and download the PDF version of the Law Summer School – Part 1 outline? You can do so here.

Jump to a particular section:

Day One – Criminal Law and the Foundations of Justice
Day Two – Criminal Offences and Legal Responsibility
Day Three – Unfinished Crimes, Sentencing, and Courtroom Skills
Day Four – Family Law and the Legal Complexities of Marriage and Divorce
Day Five – Children, Parenthood, and the Future of Family Law

Across the week, students explore criminal process, murder and manslaughter, non-fatal offences, theft, criminal defences, sentencing, inchoate offences, advocacy, divorce, financial redistribution, children law, and assisted reproduction. By the end of the course, they should have a clearer understanding of how lawyers analyse problems, build arguments, and connect legal rules to wider questions about society, morality, and justice.

Please note that for some groups, sessions may run in a different order.

10.00 – 12.30 Criminal Law, Process, and Proof

The course begins with some of the core questions at the heart of criminal law. What makes an act criminal? Why does the state punish wrongdoing? How is criminal law different from civil law? Through discussion and practical examples, students begin to explore the purpose of criminal law and the ideas that underpin the justice system.

Students are then introduced to some of the essential building blocks of criminal liability. They examine the concepts of actus reus and mens rea – the physical and mental elements of a crime – and consider why both usually need to be proved before someone can be convicted. They also look at strict liability offences, where the law may impose responsibility without requiring proof of a guilty mind.

The morning then turns to homicide, beginning with murder. Students explore the legal definition of murder, breaking down what must be proved and why intention can be more complex than it first appears. They consider the difference between intending to kill and intending to cause grievous bodily harm, and begin to see how legal definitions can produce difficult and sometimes surprising outcomes.

Throughout the session, students work with short factual scenarios and problem questions, applying legal principles to concrete cases. This gives them an early chance to practise the kind of reasoning lawyers use: identifying the relevant facts, working out what must be proved, and explaining why a particular charge may or may not fit.

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30 – 3.30 Causation, Murder, and Manslaughter

In the afternoon, students look more closely at one of the most important and contested issues in criminal law: causation. If one person’s actions contribute to another person’s death, when does the law say they have caused it? Students explore the difference between factual and legal causation, and consider ideas such as foreseeability, the thin skull rule, and whether a new intervening act can break the chain of responsibility.

The session then develops into a wider examination of murder and manslaughter. Students consider why not all unlawful killings are treated in the same way, and how the law distinguishes between murder, voluntary manslaughter, unlawful act manslaughter, and gross negligence manslaughter. This allows them to think about intention, responsibility, risk, carelessness, and moral blame in a more nuanced way.

These topics raise some of the hardest questions in criminal law. Should someone be guilty of murder if they intended serious harm but not death? When should a killing be treated as manslaughter rather than murder? Should the law make allowances for loss of control, diminished responsibility, or extreme circumstances? Students are encouraged to test the rules against difficult examples, challenge assumptions, and consider whether the current law strikes the right balance between justice, fairness, and public protection.

By the end of the day, students should have a clearer understanding of how criminal lawyers analyse liability, how legal definitions shape outcomes, and why apparently simple questions – such as “who caused this?” or “what did they intend?” – can become deeply complex in practice.

10.00 – 12.30 Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person – Drawing the Line Between Harm and Crime

Day Two begins by moving from homicide to the wider law of violence and personal harm. Students explore offences including assault, battery, actual bodily harm, and grievous bodily harm, looking at how the law distinguishes between different levels of threat, injury, intention, and recklessness.

These distinctions can be more difficult than they first appear. Students consider where the line should be drawn between an aggressive act, a minor injury, and a serious offence, and ask whether the law always reflects ordinary moral instincts about blame and harm.

The session also raises questions about consent and personal autonomy. Can someone legally consent to being harmed? Should the answer be different in sport, medical treatment, or private life? Through examples and short problem questions, students practise applying legal definitions to realistic factual scenarios.

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30 – 3.30 Defences, Theft, and Property Offences – When Should the Law Excuse or Punish?

In the afternoon, students turn to criminal defences. They examine why the law sometimes excuses, justifies, or reduces responsibility for criminal conduct, considering examples such as self-defence, duress, intoxication, automatism, loss of control, and diminished responsibility.

Particular attention is given to self-defence, where students ask when force is necessary and proportionate, and how courts should judge someone acting under pressure or fear.

The session then moves to theft and property offences. Students explore why theft is not always as simple as “taking something that belongs to someone else”, and consider issues such as dishonesty, borrowing, abandoned property, and intention to permanently deprive.

By the end of the day, students will have developed a clearer understanding of how offences and defences interact, and why criminal law often turns on precise distinctions between harm, intention, excuse, and responsibility.

10.00 – 12.30 Inchoate Offences and Sentencing – Can You Be Guilty of a Crime That Never Happened?

Day Three begins with inchoate offences: crimes of attempt, conspiracy, and encouraging or assisting crime. These are offences where the law may punish people even when the intended crime is never completed. Students consider where preparation ends and criminal liability begins, and whether it is fair to punish someone for an offence that did not fully happen.

Using examples and problem questions, students explore how lawyers interpret statutory language and apply it to uncertain factual scenarios. What counts as “more than merely preparatory”? Can someone be guilty of attempting the impossible? Should an agreement to commit a crime be punishable even if no harm follows?

The morning then turns to sentencing. Students examine how courts decide punishment once someone has been convicted, considering culpability, harm, aggravating and mitigating factors, and the wider purposes of sentencing. They discuss whether sentencing should focus more on punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, public protection, or repair.

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30 – 3.30 Criminal Procedure and Advocacy – How Do Lawyers Build and Challenge a Case?

The afternoon focuses on how criminal cases move through the courts, from arrest and charge through to trial, verdict, sentencing, and appeal. Students consider the roles of the prosecution, defence, judge, witnesses, and jury, and look at how evidence is presented and tested in court.

They are then introduced to core advocacy skills. Students explore the difference between examination-in-chief and cross-examination, and consider why lawyers ask different kinds of questions depending on whether they are supporting their own witness or challenging the other side’s account.

The session gives students a practical insight into courtroom strategy: how to structure an argument, how to question a witness clearly, and how to identify the weaknesses in a case. Even without a full mock trial, students have the chance to practise thinking like advocates – building a legal narrative, testing evidence, and presenting arguments with clarity and precision.

10.00 – 12.30 Family Law, Marriage, and Financial Fairness

Day Four moves from criminal law into family law, asking how the legal system recognises, regulates, and sometimes intervenes in personal relationships. Students begin by considering what family law is for, and why the law becomes involved in areas such as marriage, civil partnership, cohabitation, divorce, parenthood, and child welfare.

The session then looks at how the law defines and protects family life. Students consider how social change has affected legal ideas about marriage and family, and ask whether the law should follow changing social attitudes or provide a stable framework of its own. This introduces wider questions about individual rights, state intervention, and the role of law in private life.

Students then turn to matrimonial finance. When a marriage ends, how should money, property, and future financial needs be divided? The law has to consider not only income and assets, but also non-financial contributions such as caring for children, running a household, or giving up career opportunities. Through examples and case studies, students examine how courts approach fairness, need, compensation, and sharing.

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30 – 3.30 Divorce, Prenuptial Agreements, and Negotiation

The afternoon focuses on divorce and the financial consequences of relationship breakdown. Students explore how divorce law has changed, including the move towards no-fault divorce, and consider whether making divorce easier reduces conflict or weakens the legal significance of marriage.

They then examine prenuptial agreements. Should couples be able to decide in advance what will happen financially if their marriage ends? Should courts normally respect those agreements, or should they retain the power to override them where the outcome would be unfair?

To bring these issues together, students take on the role of solicitors advising clients in a divorce case. They consider what each party might argue, how a fair settlement might be reached, and how legal principles translate into practical negotiation. This gives students a chance to apply family law not just as a set of rules, but as a framework for resolving deeply personal and often difficult disputes.

10.00 – 12.30 Children Law and Parental Responsibility – Whose Rights Come First?

The final day turns to the law relating to children. Students consider how family law deals with disputes about where children live, who makes decisions for them, and when the state should intervene in family life.

The session introduces the welfare principle: the idea that the child’s best interests should be the court’s central concern. Students explore how this works in practice, especially where the wishes of parents, children, and public authorities may pull in different directions.

They consider questions around parental responsibility, child arrangements, medical treatment, and state intervention. What happens when parents disagree over a child’s upbringing? When should a court override a parent’s decision? How should the law balance respect for family privacy with the need to protect children from harm?

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30 – 3.30 Assisted Reproduction and Social Change – Who Counts as a Parent?

The afternoon looks at some of the most complex and fast-changing areas of family law. Advances in reproductive technology have challenged older assumptions about parenthood, biology, and family structure.

Students examine issues such as IVF, surrogacy, embryo selection, and the legal status of different people involved in a child’s birth and upbringing. They ask whether parenthood should depend on genetics, birth, intention, care, or some combination of these.

The session raises legal and ethical questions that do not have easy answers. Should surrogacy agreements be enforceable? Should children have a right to know their genetic origins? Is the law keeping pace with scientific and social change?

The course ends by drawing together themes from the week: responsibility, rights, fairness, justice, and the way law responds to changing social values. Students reflect on how their understanding of law has developed, from criminal liability and courtroom advocacy to family disputes and the future of legal reform.

This outline provides a detailed view of the themes, ideas, and legal problems explored during the online Law Summer School – Part 1. The programme is designed to introduce students to some of the key concepts, debates, and methods used in legal study, combining case analysis, discussion, debate, and applied exercises to show how lawyers interpret rules, construct arguments, and think through difficult questions of justice and fairness.

You can also return to the main online Law Summer School page for full details about the course and how to apply.