How to Teach EU Law in Scottish Law Schools After Brexit

How to Teach EU Law in Scottish Law Schools After Brexit

Tuesday, 2 May 2017, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Dr Rebecca Zahn and Professor Nicole Busby, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

This one-day workshop brought together 35 representatives from all Scottish Law Schools, the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates and from the three biggest Scottish law firms to discuss the impact of Brexit on the Scots Law curriculum and, in particular, on the future of EU law teaching in Scottish Law Schools. The workshop was very well attended and received. The workshop was organised by Professor Nicole Busby and Dr Rebecca Zahn in collaboration with the Scottish Universities Legal Network on Europe (SULNE). SULNE was formed following the UK’s EU referendum to provide a one-stop shop for legal advice, opinion and education for all stakeholders who are engaged in difficult policy choices concerning Brexit. SULNE is led by a team from the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Edinburgh consisting of: Prof. Jo Shaw, Prof. Noreen Burrows, Prof. Nicole Busby, Ms Maria Fletcher, Dr Rebecca Zahn and Dr Tobias Lock. Representatives from Scotland’s law schools are represented on a steering committee.

EU law is currently taught in all seven Scottish Law Schools as a core LL.B class and forms a key part of the Scots Law LL.B curriculum. Brexit raises important questions for Scottish Law Schools on: the future content of EU law classes and the wider Scots Law curriculum; and, appropriate methods of teaching EU law in a fast-changing political and legal environment. This one-day workshop sought to provide answers to these questions.

The workshop’s morning session took the shape of two roundtables which give academics involved in the teaching of EU law across Scotland the opportunity to discuss the future content of EU law teaching with each other, with those involved in shaping the curriculum (the Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates) and with students’ future employers (representatives from the largest Scottish law firms). Two students currently studying the Scots Law LLB were also invited to speak about their experience of being taught EU Law. Both spoke about the value of learning EU law and the importance of contextualising the subject in order to understand its scope and content. Representatives from Scottish law firms made it clear that EU law was a key requirement for trainees and was likely to continue to remain so for the foreseeable future (in addition to other areas such as Private International Law or Trade Law growing in relevance). Both the Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland confirmed that EU law would remain a requirement for entry to the profession especially in light of the anticipated lengthy transition process. Academics from Scottish Law Schools agreed that EU law should continue to be taught as a core subject but that consideration would have to be given as to its content in light of the UK’s changing membership of the EU (and any transitional arrangements). It was generally agreed that there should be more and better dialogue between the profession, the regulating bodies and academics especially in light of the complexities that Brexit will bring.

Representatives from Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press also attended and were given the opportunity at lunchtime to present their approach to textbooks and EU law teaching post-Brexit to attendees.

The afternoon session was practice-focussed and encouraged academics to think about the use of multimedia resources in the future teaching of EU law. The session was led by Anthony Salamone (University of Edinburgh) and covered the use of blogs, podcasts and social media as tools for teaching. In a final session, attendees discussed putting together an open access e-book targeted at students which would summarise the potential impact of Brexit on various areas of law and compile supplementary reading lists which would allow students to navigate this complex and fast-changing legal environment. The e-book will also contain a section on research skills for students. The editorial process will be managed by Nicole Busby and Rebecca Zahn, and representatives from all Scottish Law Schools will volunteer to write individual chapters. The e-book will be published by Autumn 2017.