C02027v4 Doctor of Juridical Science
Award(s): Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)CRICOS code: 001126M
Load credit points: 48
Course EFTSL: 4
Location: City campus
Overview
Career options
Admission requirements
Course duration and attendance
Course structure
Course completion requirements
Course program
Other information
Overview
This course combines coursework subjects and original research culminating in a doctoral dissertation. Candidates develop their doctoral topic through the coursework component. The dissertation must have a legal focus and analysis representing an original investigation, criticism or review of a field of legal research of a standard suitable for publication.
This program was the first professional doctorate of its kind in Australia. It counters the isolation experienced by many PhD candidates by providing a combination of postgraduate coursework subjects and a dissertation, and allows candidates to benefit from contact with coursework students and UTS: Law academic staff.
Career options
Career options include positions in universities, undertaking research, or other academic work including teaching and legal publishing.
Admission requirements
Applicants require a Master of Laws degree or a Bachelor of Laws degree with first or second class honours (division 1).
Eligibility for admission is not a guarantee that an application will be accepted. Support for the project, availability of supervision, availability of places and the applicant's overall abilities and experience are all taken into account.
Applicants must submit a research proposal at the point of application. Once final approval is obtained for a research proposal, the topic cannot be changed except with the approval of the University. Topics principally involving non-legal techniques (such as sample surveys) or the application of non-legal categories (such as principles of explanation of other disciplines such as psychology or sociology) will not qualify. In such cases, students are counselled to pursue the PhD.
Detailed information about the application process can be found at:
Course duration and attendance
The course duration is four years of full-time, or six years of part-time study.
There are no attendance requirements once the coursework component is completed. The dissertation component may be carried out either on University premises, at a site external to the University, or some combination of both. However, candidates are required to make contact with their supervisor(s) at least once a month to discuss the progress of their dissertation. UTS: Law recommends that candidates spend no longer than one-third of the maximum course duration on the coursework subject component and no less than two-thirds of the maximum course duration on the dissertation component.
Course structure
From Spring 2008, this course requires completion of six 8-credit-point postgraduate coursework subjects and a dissertation of approximately 50,000–70,000 words (Refer to the course entry in the UTS:Handbook 2007 for the previous course structure. For a current listing of subjects in each course refer to the study package directory. In particular, refer to the correct structure of the SJD major options in CBK90248).
While the SJD thesis may be shorter than a PhD thesis, taking account of the coursework component, it is expected to exhibit the same level of originality, criticism and intellectual rigour normally associated with a PhD thesis.
Both the candidate and the candidate's principal supervisor are required to submit progress reports at the end of each semester following commencement of the dissertation. Within the first year of commencement for full-time students, or one-and-a-half years for part-time students, candidates must complete a formal Doctoral Assessment to ensure they are gaining the prerequisite knowledge and skills to allow successful and timely completion of the proposed research program; that their progress is consistent with completion of the research program in the prescribed time; and that they demonstrate the potential to complete the work to standard. Doctoral candidates are also required to make an oral presentation of their dissertation six months prior to submission of their dissertation for examination.
Course completion requirements
| 77688 Doctoral Dissertation (SJD) | 0cp | |
| Select 48 credit points from the following options: | 48cp | |
| MAJ09390 Corporate and Commercial Law | 24cp | |
| MAJ09391 Family Law and Dispute Resolution | 24cp | |
| MAJ09392 International Law | 24cp | |
| MAJ09393 Health Law and Policy | 24cp | |
| MAJ09394 Law and Regulation | 24cp | |
| CBK90411 Options A | 24cp | |
| CBK90412 Options B | 24cp | |
| Total | 48cp |
Course program
Candidates may choose to complete one or two majors, undertaking three postgraduate subjects (24 credit points) within each major area. Alternatively, students can choose not to major in a particular area and instead choose six subjects (48 credit points) from across the major areas of study.
The coursework subjects must be completed before the dissertation is commenced as the subjects provide the basis of the research for the dissertation.
As part of this course, students must complete the subject 78100 Postgraduate Legal Research. This subject can be included in any of the majors or choiceblocks.
| List of majors | ||
| MAJ09390 Corporate and Commercial Law | 24cp | |
| MAJ09391 Family Law and Dispute Resolution | 24cp | |
| MAJ09392 International Law | 24cp | |
| MAJ09393 Health Law and Policy | 24cp | |
| MAJ09394 Law and Regulation | 24cp | |
Other information
Further information is available from:
telephone +61 2 9514 3753
fax +61 2 9514 3400
email law.research@uts.edu.au
www.law.uts.edu.au
Applicants are encouraged to visit the University Graduate School website at:
