Whoever used the computer to organise my timetable must have set it to 'kill'.
It being the second week (Fresher's week not counting as a proper week) this week is my first proper week (as you can't have seminars without having had a lecture to have a topic to discuss). I had thought that it was fairly easy-going, I get both Mondays and Wednesdays off, it breaks the week up nicely. The smile fell off my face somewhat when I realised this meant that I would be fitting in the week's worth of seminars (save one) in one day. So from 9 o'clock this morning until 2 o'clock this afternoon I have been constantly lost, having only had my lectures in rather large areas that are easy to find, working out where the seminar rooms (which are much smaller and therefore much more easily hidden from view) were located was a minor problem. My mood was not improved when I returned to the apartment and one of my flatmates said "I don't get how lectures and seminar things work'. Apparently if you're doing a Tech/Design course it's all rather easy going.
I attended the first meeting of the internal moot competition and was not a little surprised to see that only around 15 people had bothered to turn up. After all I was only there to make myself look good later on my CV, I'm not a fan of public speaking, but know that there are some things that you might not want to do that have to be done. I had a look around at the faces of those who were in the room and noted internally to myself how very old some of them appeared. After accidently over-hearing a piece of their conversations it transpired that they are in fact law graduates at the University studying for an LLM. There are therefore to be a handfull of first years to be competing against students who have had at least 3 years of Law study, and the moot takes place in less than a month.
I've started to learn some basics of Law, mostly contract so far. I could, for instance, bore you all with my understanding of Partridge v Crittendon and why the judgement in Grainger and Son v Gough is so relevant to it, but I wont. If however (as I assume many of those that read this blog are) you are aware of the facts of Partridge v Crittendon, I wonder if you are as bemused as I am as to why the counsel for prosecution chose to prosecute for that particular section of The Protection of Birds Act 1957 and not one of the other two, both of which Partridge would most definitely have been found guilty of. The case of Barry v Heathcote Ball & Co did cause me some amusement when I read the outcome.
Today we had a rather brief introduction into the general aspects of law. One part that stuck with me in particular was that of the U.K's membership in the European Union. I have never studied law before and have never given as much attention to politics as perhaps I should have (I can name the leaders of all the main parties and those that they replaced, something that the majority of my seminar peers where unable to manage). It was news to me therefore, to be informed that articles produced by the european union have precedence over legislation produced by parliament. I cannot recall the cases or relevant statutes, but we were told of Spanish fishing vessels fishing U.K waters and flying the Union Flag. Parliament introduced an act so that 75% of all profits made had to be given to the U.K if you were fishing under false colours. An EU article, however, existed (or was brought into existence shortly thereafter) which said that citizens of the EU have the right to work in any other country of the EU and therefore overruled the act of parliament and would allow Spanish finishing vessels to sail under U.K colours. The fact that this also means that as a U.K citizen I could take my retirement pension in Spain, using the same acts, was of little comfort and did very little to hold back the blood that I thought I might throw up out of shear rage that our parliamentary system could be so undermined.
Anyway, that's enough Law, there is more to the life of a Law Student than studying law. On Tuesday night, my flatmate, a friend from across the hall and I went to the local TA centre. We reasoned that the TA would be a lovely part-time job, bringing in some extra money and keeping you fit. It didn't quite go to plan when we were told to come back around December when they are to start their next and last recruitment cycle. I have it on good authority that most TA units do not run like this and I am to harrass them over the phone until they concede, or try to join another unit. To that end I have been taking rather charming runs by the canal to get into the shape that a reasonable person would expect a 19 year old male to be. I'm yet to slip in to the canal, though I haven't been today and it is raining, so it is only a matter of time...
P.s I have the terrible feeling that the armed forces careers advisor is holding a meeting at the campus today that I have missed
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The Diary of a young man setting foot into the world of Law.
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6 comments:
... The case of the Spanish Fisihng vessel was Factortame; perhaps you should be a little more open minded about Parliamentary Sovreignty and the Role of the European Union in general before you get your dander up! You cant learn law with a closed mind
My mind is not closed. The idea of some very out of touch individuals in Westminster Parliament does not sit well with me as it is. The idea of people in Europe having power of me, that I (through my own fault no doubt) was quite unaware of shocked me somewhat.
Being offended by what I was hearing did nothing to affect my learning. Regardless of how I feel about a topic I will still give all my effort to understand it.
I can vomit blood and learn at the same time.
somehow, I don't think so; if you are already " vomiting blood" you will only ever be able to approach EU law from a UKIP point of view....
I've recently begun a unit on the EU. We will have to see which way my opinion shifts over the course of the next few months.
Clearly you are a fuck wit. Try to grow up you nationalist little turd.
I would not want what I am about to say as to be taken in an overly argumentative context. Try to a imagine a very calm person saying these words, and not some "turd".
Despite the way I may have come across in my post, should I be given a reasonable set of arguments as to why there should be a European Parliament that undermines the sovereignty of our own I will of course approach them with an open mind.
Currently however I am yet to hear a particuarly convincing argument. When the majority of my contempories don't know the name of the opposition leader, or care, I find it hard to believe that any of them know a single European Parliament member. Yet these members have the power to create legislation that overrides our own.
Perhaps more education on the subject is needed with people being told exactly what the benefits are and a move towards a better understanding of the subject.
I'm not one for arguments as such, however I would like to point out that calling me a fuckwit purely because I don't subscribe to your line of thinking whilst at the same time not giving any coherent reason why your ideas should be followed is very poor form indeed.
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