Criminal Law

Criminal law is a specialised degree that focuses on one of the most foundational and contested areas of the legal system: the rules that define which acts constitute crimes, how criminal responsibility is established, and how the state uses the law to punish, deter, and rehabilitate offenders. Criminal law intersects with profound questions of justice, morality, rights, and social order, making it a subject that demands both technical legal understanding and the capacity for critical ethical reflection. Understanding criminal law means understanding how societies define the boundaries of acceptable conduct and what they do when those boundaries are crossed.

At Bangor University, this three-year programme develops your knowledge of criminal law within the context of a broader legal education. You will study the core principles of criminal liability, including the elements of offences, defences, and the rules governing participation in crime, alongside the procedural framework of the criminal justice system and the philosophical debates about punishment and justice that give criminal law its wider significance. You will develop skills in legal research, argument, and written and oral communication that are valuable both within the law and across many other professions.

The programme includes a foundation year, providing additional preparation for degree-level study, and runs over three years in total. It also includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, giving you substantial professional and international experience and the opportunity to encounter different approaches to criminal law and justice in other jurisdictions.

Graduates who wish to qualify as lawyers proceed to the relevant vocational training routes. Others pursue careers in probation, police service, criminal justice research, policy, the Crown Prosecution Service, youth justice, legal aid organisations, and the voluntary sector. The combination of legal knowledge and critical thinking that criminal law develops is valued across many professional contexts.

Postgraduate study in law, criminology, or a related field is also a natural route.