L3001 Bachelor of Laws (Honours)

The course is designed to equip you with basic legal knowledge and skills that are required for admission to legal practice, with the advanced skills required for an honours degree and an opportunity to develop specialised knowledge in areas of law of your choice. The basic knowledge is imparted through three broad themes: legal methodology and legal practice, public law and private law. The specialised knowledge and advanced skills are imparted in later year elective units, including a final year project involving intensive research and writing.

Part A. Core studies

Core studies covers three interrelated themes: Legal methodology and legal practice, Public law and Private law. 

Legal methodology and legal practice includes the nature of law, and particularly statute law enacted by parliaments and common law developed by courts. It also includes the key concepts, principles and methods of research and reasoning that enable lawyers to identify and interpret law and apply it to relevant facts in order to provide legal advice. It covers the law of procedure and evidence that governs judicial proceedings, alternative methods of resolving legal disputes and the code of ethics that regulates the professional conduct of legal practitioners.

Public law includes constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law. It concerns the powers and procedures of the legislative, executive and judicial organs of government and how they are regulated and controlled by 'the rule of law'. It also concerns the legal relationship between government and individuals, including the protection of individual rights.

Private law deals with legal relationships between legal persons, including corporations as well as individuals. It includes the study of property rights, contractual rights and obligations, wrongs (called 'torts') such as trespass and the negligent infliction of injury, and the law of equity and trusts.

Part B. Specified electives

In later years of the course, you will be able to choose from a broad range of elective law units. High achieving students may also include one or two master's units in their final year of study. Elective law units enable you to develop specialised knowledge and advanced skills in areas of law that suit your own interests, skills and career goals. In addition to public and private law, these include international law, commercial law and human rights law. You will have opportunities to study overseas, and to undertake work-based learning, for example, in our legal clinical program and in local and international clinical placements. 

Part C. Free electives 

These elective units will enable you to broaden and deepen your knowledge through units from across the University in which you are eligible to enrol.

If you are in a double degree course, some units required for the partner degree are credited as electives towards this Law degree.

Course progression map

The course progression map provides guidance on unit enrolment for each semester of study.

You must complete 204 points comprising: 84 credit points of core studies, 84 credit points of specified electives and 36 credit points of free electives which must include 24 points of non-law units outside the Faculty of Law. 

Knowledge is developed through four broad themes: A. Legal methodology and legal practice, B. Public law, C. Private law and D. Extending specialised knowledge and advanced skills. Units are clustered to reflect the main theme but most units also address the first theme, legal practice to some extent.

Units are 6 points unless otherwise stated.

Part A. Core studies (84 credit points)

You must complete the following units:

Note. You must complete 54 credit points of units from Part A before undertaking law elective units.

• LAW1111 Foundations of law
• LAW1112 Public law and statutory interpretation
• LAW1113 Torts
• LAW1115 Private law and legal reasoning
• LAW1116 Criminal law and procedure
• LAW2103 Contract 
• LAW2111 Constitutional law
• LAW2113 Property 
• LAW3112 Corporations law
• LAW3113 Equity and trusts
• LAW4303 Litigation and dispute resolution
• LAW4309 Lawyers' ethics in practice
• LAW4323 Evidence
• LAW4331 Administrative law

Part B. Specified electives (84 credit points)

You must complete 84 credit points of law electives which must include at least one law research elective:

• Law research electives may be selected from either the Academic Research or Applied Research elective lists.
• The research elective requirement can also be met by completing a research-integrated postgraduate elective approved for undergraduate enrolment.

Note: High achieving students have the opportunity of undertaking a maximum of two postgraduate electives in their final semester, which can be counted towards a Master of Laws (LLM) degree if they wish to progress to LLM studies.

Law research electives:

You must complete at least 6 credit points of law research electives. You may choose from either the academic research electives or the applied research electives.

Academic research electives:

• LAW4173 Research unit
• LAW4327 Honours thesis (12 points)*
• LAW4801 Research project

Applied research electives*:

• LAW4328 Professional practice (12 points)
• LAW4330 Family law assistance program: Professional practice (12 points)
• LAW4803 Clinical placement
• LAW4805 Mooting and advocacy
• LAW4806 Jessup moot competition
• LAW4807 Vis arbitration moot (12 points)
• LAW4811 In-house clinical placement: Law reform and systemic change
• LAW4812 Extension mooting and advocacy competition
• LAW4813 In-house clinical placement: Client legal assistance
• LAW4814 Extended clinical placement
• LAW4815 International clinical placement
• LAW4816 Clinical placement: Community engagement 

*These units are available via application to eligible students. Please refer to the Handbook for units for further information.

C. Free electives (36 credit points)

You must complete 36 credit points of Free electives comprising:
- 24 credit points of non-law units
- 12 credit points of either law or non-law units

Note: Four non-law units is sufficient to complete a minor in a discipline outside law which would be listed on your transcript. When selecting units to comprise a minor you should refer to the lists of minors in the arts, science, commerce, business and information technology comprehensive courses. It is recommended that you seek advice from the student services staff of the faculty offering those units and minors.

Electives from other faculties can also be identified using the browse units tool and indexes in the Handbook. You may need permission from the owning faculty to enrol in some units taught by other faculties.

You may be eligible to undertake Flagship Rich Educational Experiences which will be credited towards non-law electives. In eligible double degrees, it may be possible to utilise credit from one or both of the degrees to do a 6 or 12 credit point Flagship Rich Educational Experience unit. Note: the 12 credit point Global Immersion Guarantee may not be available in some double degrees.

If you are completing a double degree course, eight units (48 points) required for the partner degree are credited as electives towards the law degree.