Undergraduate course information

The Faculty of Law offers a range of Bachelor degrees, from the stand-alone Bachelor of Laws to Bachelor of Laws degrees that can be combined with a degree from the Faculties of Business, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, Information Technology, Science or the Institute for International Studies. So whether you are focused on studying the law on its own, or are looking to expand your qualifications and career opportunities with a combined degree, the UTS Faculty of Law offers practical, work-ready courses with the Practical Legal Training program option to get you qualified sooner.

Applications

All offers to undergraduate courses offered by the Faculty of Law are based on academic merit.

Recommended reading prior to entry

Patrick Keyzer's Legal Problem Solving: A Guide for Law Students, (published by Butterworths), or A Career in Law edited by Jim Corkery (published by Federation Press), may be purchased from the Co-op Bookshop, the Sydney Law Cooperative Bookshop, Butterworths or the Law Book Company.

Rules and procedures

Subjects

The Faculty timetables undergraduate subjects over three teaching periods: Autumn semester, Spring semester and Summer session. The full range of core and optional subjects that may be timetabled can be found under each of the course entries.

Core law subjects

All core law subjects are taught in both Autumn and Spring semesters. Core law subjects are timetabled in the day and repeated in the evening.

Optional subjects

A range of optional subjects is taught in both Autumn and Spring semesters and during Summer session. However, not all optional subjects are timetabled every semester and some optional subjects are only offered once every two years. Timetabled optional subjects are offered subject to sufficient student interest.

Subject descriptions

Descriptions of the law subjects available are provided in Subject lists and descriptions.

In order to assist students with understanding the inter-relationships of the various optional subjects, their general orientation and to make informed choices, optional subjects can be classified into the groups listed below. Students who are unsure which subjects fall under each group are advised to contact the Faculty. The groups are:

• Criminal Law
• Commercial Law
• Environmental Law
• Technology
• International Law
• Intellectual Property
• Research
• Labour and Industrial Relations
• Land Law
• Legal Theory and Perspective.

Recognition of prior learning

Recognition of prior learning (RPL), previously known as advanced standing, may be granted within the Faculty's undergraduate law awards on the basis of equivalent subjects completed as part of a law degree offered by a Law school at a recognised tertiary institution, subject to University Rules and Faculty of Law guidelines. It is required that all students seeking recognised prior learning make an application prior to enrolment. The Faculty must be satisfied that the student has successfully completed a comparable subject elsewhere. To verify this the student must produce a transcript of his or her academic record and a detailed subject description, together with the reading guide that was current at the time of study. The granting of exemptions will be at the discretion of the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning).

Current information regarding RPL can be found at:

Inquiries can be made to:

Law subjects

Students may be able to obtain exemption from law subjects, up to a maximum of 48 credit points, if they are able to satisfy the Faculty Board that a comparable course of study has been successfully undertaken as a Bachelor of Laws subject within the Faculty of Law of another recognised university. As a general rule exemptions will not be given if the subject was studied more than six years ago. The period in the 'six-year rule' is calculated from the date the subject (the exemption is being based upon) was successfully completed, to when it is due to be undertaken in the Faculty of Law. However, the Faculty Board shall always retain discretion to waive the application of the rule in cases where there is additional evidence of work or study experience. Indeed, in subjects where there have been significant recent changes in the law, an exemption may not be granted even though the subject was successfully completed less than six years ago.

The Faculty Board must be satisfied the student has successfully completed a comparable subject elsewhere. To verify this, the student must produce a transcript of his or her academic record and a detailed subject description, together with the reading guide that was current at the time of study.

Exemption for law subjects is only granted to students who have studied law in a recognised law school. Students who have studied law through the Law Extension Committee of the Supreme Court (LPAB) will not be granted exemptions.

Non-law subjects

It is possible to obtain exemptions for non-law optional subjects in the Bachelor of Laws if students have completed a degree, diploma or associate diploma course from a recognised tertiary institution.

The maximum exemptions that can be granted on the basis of having completed a course are as follows:

• a degree course (three years, full-time): 48 credit points
• a diploma course (three years, full-time): 36 credit points
• an associate diploma course (two years, full-time): 24 credit points.

Formal application for exemption must be made through submission of a Recognition of Prior Learning application to the Faculty of Law. These exemptions are not permitted in combined degree courses.

Partially completed courses

No exemptions can be sought for a partially completed diploma or associate diploma course.

Students entering the Bachelor of Laws with a partially completed degree, either as students from another faculty of the University or from another university, may be granted up to a maximum of 24 credit points.

Concurrent study at another tertiary institution

Subject to approval by the Faculty, candidates may apply to undertake elective subjects in undergraduate law courses at other universities for credit towards their course at UTS. A concurrent studies application, detailing the academic content, attendance, assessment requirements and reading guide of the subject(s) proposed to be completed, should be submitted to the Law Information Office before applying to the other institution. Subjects completed concurrently at another institution without prior approval risk not being credited to the student's course at UTS.

The concurrent studies application form is available from:

Internal course transfers

UTS students who internally transfer into the Bachelor of Laws from a combined Law degree, may receive up to 48 credit points of exemptions from non-law subject options for subjects which have been completed as part of their previous UTS studies.

Admission to legal practice

Admission to the Supreme Court of NSW to practise as a lawyer in NSW is based upon the successful completion of an accredited legal qualification (e.g. Bachelor of Laws) and an accredited course of practical legal training (PLT).

The UTS PLT program is accredited by the Legal Profession Admission Board of the Supreme Court of NSW. From 2008, students enrolled in the Bachelor of Laws or combined Bachelor of Laws degrees have the option of completing the PLT subjects within their undergraduate Law degree. Students who began before 2008 have the option of completing five of the eight PLT subjects within their undergraduate Law degree, and the other three PLT subjects must be completed concurrently within the Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice (C11128).

Students who take either of these options must be in their final semesters of study in their law degree, and students in combined degrees must have completed a minimum of 48 credit points of their studies in the other degree prior to enrolling in the PLT program.

Alternatively, students who wish to practise as lawyers in NSW can complete their Bachelor of Laws by including further Law electives and then undertake a postgraduate course in practical legal training, such as the UTS Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (C07075).

Further details about the UTS PLT program can be found online at:

Honours

It is possible for students to gain an award with Honours in the Law degrees or the Law component of combined or double degrees.

The Bachelor of Laws degree is awarded with Honours, and does not require an additional Honours year. To this end, 76040 Research Thesis, which is a necessary requirement, must be undertaken as an optional subject of 6 credit points within the degree. This subject forms part of the credit points required for degree completion: 192 for the full-time or part-time degree, 144 for combined degrees. 76040 Research Thesis has requirements that students must comply with in addition to the Honours Regulations (below). Further details are available in the online subject description.

The Honours Regulations are:

1. Awards

1.1 Awards of the Law degree or the Law component of a combined degree shall be classified as follows:

1. degree (with First Class Honours)
2. degree (with Second Class Honours), and
3. degree.

1.2 Award of the degree with Second Class Honours shall not be graded.

2. Requirements of Honours

2.1 To qualify for an award of the degree with Honours a student shall:

1. successfully complete the subject 76040 Research Thesis
2. subject to requirements below, obtain an Honours mark, calculated in accordance with the formula 'Sum of All' (UTS law subject credit points x mark) divisible by the 'sum of all law subject credit points' such that:
1. for First Class Honours: no less than 75.00
2. for Second Class Honours: in the range of 70.00 and 74.99
   

   (note that in calculating the Honours mark, rounding occurs to two decimal places)

3. not fail any subject after the first semester of study
4. successfully complete not less than 96 credit points of law subjects within the Faculty of Law
5. for the purpose of the calculation in (b), students may discount up to three of their worst subjects provided that at least 12 UTS Bachelor of Laws subjects are included in the calculation, and
6. a student's Honours mark shall include the mark obtained by the student in the subject Research Thesis notwithstanding that such a mark might be one of their worst subjects.

2.2 In exceptional circumstances the Director (Students) may modify or dispense with the requirements of Regulation 2.1, subject to appeal to the Faculty Board in Law.

International Exchange program

The Faculty of Law participates in the international student exchange program administered by the UTS Institute for International Studies. Through the program it is possible to undertake three or four law subject options at overseas universities. To be eligible for the program students should have a Credit average or better and have completed the subject 70516 Equity and Trusts before going overseas. The number of places is strictly limited and applications must be lodged no later than six months prior to intended departure.

Marks achieved in study overseas may be adjusted and will appear on the student's UTS transcript. Exchange subject marks will be included in the calculation for Honours.

Information and application packs are available from the UTS Institute for International Studies. Further details are available online at: