LAW4547 Global health law
Faculty of Law
LAW4547 Global health law is a level 4, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Law, offered in 2025 in Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Semester 2
- Clayton
- Assessment
- Exam 60%
- and 2 other tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before LAW4547
Prohibitions
You can't enrol if you have passed any of these.
After LAW4547
No unit lists LAW4547 as a prerequisite in the 2025 handbook.
Enrolment rules
You must have completed at least 60 credit points of law study.
Equivalent units
The same content under another code. Only one of them counts.
Overview
The unit provides a basic introduction to the normative foundation and legal structure of key international global health organisations (particularly the World Health Organization) and the processes in international politics and policies directed at realising the fundamental human right of access to basic medical services and the right to science. Barriers (e.g. intellectual property claims of pharmaceutical companies) to equitable access to medical products will be introduced and different responses to these barriers will be considered. Students will study the role of international law and instruments touching on global health concerns, and how they differ from national law. Important international legal norms and initiatives that pertain to planetary health (particularly the impact of climate change on health) and medical humanitarianism will be briefly introduced.
Offerings in 2025
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Second semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Class PresentationPresentation20%
- Reflection PaperWritten20%
- Take Home ExamExamination60%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Demonstrate basic understanding of global health law, national and coordinated international responses to and the management of global health hazards, the socio-legal management of and legal responses to risky behaviours.
- 2
Communicate effectively when undertaking both collaborative and individual activities.
- 3
Analyse the role of international law and instruments touching on global health concerns, and how they differ from national law.
- 4
Synthesise information from a range of sources to construct arguments for basic medical services as a fundamental human right.
- 5
Critically reflect on a case scenario in order to formulate a response to an issue in global health law.
- 6
Identify and examine the constitution, function, role and effectiveness of the World Health Organization as the key global health organisation.
Workload and teaching
- Seminars36 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
Learning resources
Required resources
See the Moodle unit page for prescribed and recommended resources. Prescribed texts are usually available for purchase through the University Bookstore and are sometimes available for short-term loan or as eBooks through the library.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Calvin Ho
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for LAW4547?
LAW4547 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is LAW4547 offered?
In 2025, LAW4547 runs in Semester 2 at Clayton.
How much work is LAW4547?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does LAW4547 have an exam?
Yes. The exam is worth 60% of the final mark, alongside 2 other tasks.