Over the last 50 years a body of law has emerged in Europe which has gradually and increasingly both modified and to some extent supplanted the operation of national systems of law in a number of countries, including the UK. To a large extent this has happened through the European Community, of which the UK has been a member for over 25 years. European Community law now comprises a very large body of rules which govern a wide spectrum of commercial and social activities at member state level. In addition, in recent years the Community has become part of the broader framework of co-operation embodied in the European Union, which in its second and third 'pillars' has extended common political and legal action to the fields of foreign and security policy and police and judicial co-operation. At the same time, since the beginning of the 1950s, the Council of Europe has promoted wider European legal development through the adoption of a number of European Conventions, most notably the Convention on Human Rights. The resulting legal landscape at the beginning of the 21st Century is therefore a complex and sophisticated interlocking set of European legal regimes which together impact significantly on the everyday working of the national legal orders of all the EU member states. It is impossible now to gain a reasonable understanding of the law and legal system of the UK without a knowledge of the Community and other European legal orders. This module is designed to provide a knowledge and understanding of the main elements of these European legal orders and to introduce students to the materials and methodologies used in those systems. The legal materials used in the Community and other European legal orders differ in important respects from those used in England and Wales and instruction in the use of these sources and in the European legal method is therefore an important part of the course. This module is a pre-requisite for further study of European law [Module LA 32410]. The module will trace the development and explain the principal features of the legal regimes based on the European Community and European Union and arising within the framework of the Council of Europe's Conventions and will consider the inter-relationship of these regimes. There will be a particular focus on the difference between the more integrated 'supranational' legal order of the Community system and the 'intergovernmental' methodology employed within the second and third pillars of the Union and by the Council of Europe. Necessarily a substantial part of the course will deal with the processes of law-making, implementation and enforcement of Community law and policy and the legal accountability of the Community institutions. An important issue is the relationship between Community and national systems since the greater part of Community law has to be applied and given effect by Member State courts and agencies. A study of the problems which arise from this major division of functions within the Community system (law-making and interpretation of law at the Community level and enforcement at the national level) supplies an important theme for this part of the course.