The course is designed to provide exemption in respect of the Law Society's "Foundations of Equity and the Law of Trusts''.  Because the course is based around the legal concept of the trust, coverage is not restricted to any particular enterprise or activity, but encompasses a wide and disparate range.

• With limited guidance, accurately describe and explain the main principles, values and legal rules relevant to an area of Equity and Trusts law, with appropriate reference to independently identified primary and secondary legal materials.
• Give an explanation of the meaning of complex legislation, identifying its doctrinal implications and the policy objectives underpinning the legislation.
• Provide a summary of a complex body of case law and identify the legal principles arising from it. Demonstrate awareness of the content and significance of obiter reasoning and dissenting judgments.
• In relation to some topics, demonstrate awareness of alternative models of legal regulation with reference to the laws of another jurisdiction.
• Explain the relationship between a body of law within Equity and Trusts and relevant political, economic, social and cultural issues for the purposes of contributing to a contemporary legal debate on that topic.

A mixture of lectures and tutorials 

Throughout the module, students will be expected to develop and practise the intellectual, practical and transferrable skills appropriate to Level 6 learning outcomes, such as:

Intellectual skills:

• Evaluate the doctrinal coherence and significance of a body of Equity and Trusts case law and/or statutes.
• Use a range of set primary and secondary legal materials to identify the legal rules relevant to a particular legal problem or contemporary legal debate and any law reform proposals which might inform a written essay or oral discussion of a Equity and Trusts law topic.
• Build on basic knowledge of a legal topic by independently identifying supplementary primary and secondary legal sources and applying them in a written essay or report, or in a written or oral response to a problem scenario.
• Use official publications, academic research and commentaries presented in a variety of formats in the construction of an argument relevant to a contemporary legal debate.
• Draw from a range of primary and secondary reading materials on a legal topic to identify areas of the law in need of clarification and/or development and issues meriting debate or discussion.
• Critically analyse law reform proposals in a way which demonstrates sound understanding of current legal problems and sensitivity to Equity and Trusts law’s social, cultural and political context.

Practical skills:

• Use appropriate legal research skills to independently identify relevant primary and secondary sources on a new legal topic for the purposes of writing an essay, report or presenting an informed oral opinion.
• Give a clear, confident and informed oral response to a question in tutorials.
• Present, orally and/or in writing, a persuasive argument in response to a doctrinal legal problem about Equity and Trusts law.

Transferable skills:

• Reflect on your own learning and conceive of ways to fill gaps in knowledge
• Take responsibility for your own learning.
• Express yourself fluently and lucidly orally or in writing in English and/or Welsh.
• Collect and manage large amounts of material, making sensible decisions about selection and organisation.
• Time-management and the meeting of deadlines.
• Use a range of electronic source materials and demonstrate a professional level of competency in IT skills when preparing and presenting written material.

Exam 100% 3 hours

Areas of study typically include:

• The distinction between common law and equity.
• Express, resulting and constructive trusts.
• Public (charitable) and private trusts.
• Charitable and non-charitable purpose trusts.
• Powers and duties of trustees.
• Liability and remedies for breach of trust.
• Third party liability.

Specific guidance on the purchase of a recommended textbook will be given at the start of the module.

In the meantime, the following list of textbooks may be helpful to students who wish to do some reading before the module begins.

• Hanbury & Martin, Modern Equity, 20^th ed., Sweet & Maxwell, 2015
• Hudson, Equity and Trusts, 9th ed., Routledge, 2016
• Moffat, Trusts Law: Text and Materials, 5^th ed., Cambridge University Press, 2015
• Pearce, Stevens & Barr, The Law of Trusts and Equitable Obligations, 6^th ed., Oxford University Press, 2015  
• Pettit, Equity and the Law of Trusts, 12^th ed., Oxford University Press, 2012
• Virgo, The Principles of Equity and Trusts, 2^nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2016
• Watt, Trusts and Equity, 7^th ed., Oxford University Press, 2016
• Webb & Akkouh, Trusts Law, 4^th ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2015
• Property Law Statutes, e.g. Blackstone’s Statutes: Property Law 2016-17

Students may also find a cases and materials book useful.  The following are given as examples but there are several on the market:

• Davies and Virgo, Equity and Trusts, Test, Cases and Materials, 2^nd ed., Oxford University Press,  2016
• Hayton & Mitchell on the Law of Trusts & Equitable Remedies, 14^th ed., Sweet & Maxwell, 2015

In addition, students may find it useful during the module to have recourse to some further reading on individual topics.  Direction will be given to a number of reference books and published academic articles.  Specialised texts include the following:

• Chambers, Resulting Trusts, Oxford University Press, 1997
• Smith, The Law of Tracing, Oxford University Press, 1997
• Foundations of Charity (Mitchell, C and Moody, S, eds.), Oxford: Hart, 2000 
• Constructive and Resulting Trusts, (Mitchell, ed.), Oxford: Hart, 2010

In preparation for each tutorial, in addition to specified readings from the recommended textbook, students will also be required to read specified cases, academic commentaries and/or articles and/or statutes and/or Law Commission reports.