Law and Criminology
Founded in 1901, the Department of Law and Criminology at Aberystwyth bases itself on a long, reputable and increasingly varied experience of legal education and academic work. Over the years a large number of well-known legal academics have taught in the Department and Aberystwyth law graduates have made their mark in a range of subsequent careers. The Department is confident in its distinctive identity and reputation for teaching of a high quality, linked to a vigorous research activity and carried out in a stimulating and friendly environment. The Department’s activities benefit from a mature and well-stocked library and generous and up-to-date information technology provision.
The Department is committed to a policy of innovation and development in teaching and research and regularly reviews both the range and content of its degree schemes and its modes of teaching and assessment in order to respond effectively to the needs and expectations of its student body. Recently the Department has worked closely with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in testing new processes for teaching quality assessment. The Department aims to maximise choice in its provision of legal education while ensuring that teaching is informed by up-to-date scholarship at the highest level. All members of academic staff are active in research and publication and a number of staff participates in national and international debate and policy-making in the legal and related fields. Recently, for instance, staff have been involved in the work of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the Countryside Commission for Wales, the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee and the Welsh Assembly Standing Orders Commission.
The Department participates actively in international and European academic networks, for purposes of both student mobility and exchanges (for instance through the Socrates programme) and staff and postgraduate research. There is a strong international student profile in the Department and there are frequent visits academics and experts from other countries.