Royal Holloway and the UK Supreme Court launch free online course to learn about the UK’s highest court

Royal Holloway, University of London has partnered with the UK Supreme Court to launch a free, two-week, online learning course via FutureLearn.

Inside the UK Supreme Court: Its role, its work and cases that affect us all, has been designed to increase knowledge and understanding of the Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) and their role within society.

The FutureLearn course will be taught by academics from Royal Holloway’s department of Law and Criminology, as well as featuring a wide range of people who work at the Supreme Court, from Justices to Judicial Assistants, to members of the Executive team.

The course will be accessible to all learners of any age, free of charge, lasting two weeks, with a commitment of four hours per week to complete it.

During the course, learners will have the opportunity to:

• Explore the role, inner workings, and history of the Supreme Court
• Compare the UK Supreme Court with the United States Supreme Court
• Debate and evaluate recent cases heard by the Supreme Court
• Identify the Court role in relation to the Commonwealth and Europe
• Investigate the various roles that make up the Supreme Court

The course is interactive, including articles, case studies, video interviews, quizzes and mini lectures. It includes interviews from former Supreme Court Justices’ including Lady Hale and former President Lord Phillips, as well as current Justices including Lady Arden and Lord Sales.

Dr David Yuratich, Lecturer in the Department of Law and Criminology at Royal Holloway, said:

“Inside the UK Supreme Court marks another exciting stage in Royal Holloway’s relationship with the UK Supreme Court, building on collaborations dating back to 2014 and, more recently, our work to help the court celebrate its ten year anniversary with our Legal Landmarks series of educational videos.

“With this new course we look forward to helping learners of all ages and backgrounds discover more about the UK’s highest court, the people who work there, and how its decisions affect us all.”

Participants in the course will hear directly from Justices about the Supreme Court’s work, find out about the court’s role in the legal system, consider how it compares to similar courts around the world, and will be guided through the arguments in important cases and invited to think about what they would have decided if they were sitting on the court

President of the Supreme Court, The Right Hon The Lord Reed of Allermuir, said:

“We are delighted to partner up with Royal Holloway to deliver our first ever free online course to provide individuals with the opportunity to learn more about the role and position of the Supreme Court within the UK and across the commonwealth.

“The course is split over two weeks, with the first focusing on the role of the Supreme Court within the UK and the second highlighting the international position of the Court and how it differs across the globe. It’s a great way of sharing behind the scenes insight into how we deliver cases, and to take a deep dive into some recent judgments.

“We hope that people from across the UK and internationally will sign-up to the course, and that they find it interesting, engaging and enjoyable to complete.”

Registration for Inside the UK Supreme Court: Its role, its work and cases that affect us all, opens on Tuesday 11 January and the course will begin on Monday 21 February. Learners can complete the course in their own time, within the two-week window.

For those who want to understand more about the topic, Royal Holloway’s Department of Law and Criminology offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice and MSc Psychology Law by distance learning.