Undergraduate course information

UTS: Law offers a range of bachelor degrees, from the stand-alone Bachelor of Laws (C10124) to Bachelor of Laws degrees that can be combined with a degree in Business, Communication, Engineering, Information Technology, International Studies or Science. So whether students are focused on studying the law on its own, or are looking to expand their qualifications and career opportunities with a combined degree, UTS: Law offers practical, work-ready courses with the practical legal training program option to get students qualified sooner.

Applications

Offers to undergraduate UTS: Law courses 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

UTS: Law 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 are 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 interrelationships 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 UTS: Law. 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) may be granted within UTS: Law's undergraduate degrees subject to University Rules and UTS: Law guidelines. The granting of exemptions is at the discretion of the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning). All students seeking RPL must lodge an application to the Haymarket Student Centre prior to enrolment. Information in relation to applying for RPL, including the RPL precedent list, can be found at:

Inquiries

Law subjects

Students may be able to obtain exemption from law subjects (core law, law option and practical legal training subjects), up to a maximum of 48 credit points, if they are able to satisfy the Faculty Board in Law that a comparable course of study has been successfully undertaken as a Bachelor of Laws subject at another recognised university.

To verify this, if the subject upon which the student is basing their RPL application does not appear on the RPL precedent list, the student must provide a transcript of his or her academic record and a detailed subject outline, together with the subject reading guide that was current at the time of study, for assessment. Students who have undertaken a law subject at another university, either in the year before or after that which is published on the RPL precedent list, may seek an exemption without supplying the full subject outline as part of their RPL application.

Exemptions for law subjects are only granted to students on the basis of equivalent subjects completed as part of a law degree offered by a law school at a recognised tertiary institution. Students who have studied law through the Law Extension Committee of the Supreme Court (LPAB) are not granted exemptions.

As a general rule, exemptions for law subjects are not given if the subject upon which the student is basing their RPL application was studied more than six years ago. The period in the 'six-year rule' is calculated from the date the subject was successfully completed to when it is due to be undertaken at UTS: Law. However, the Faculty Board in Law 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. Currently, RPL for practical legal training subjects has a time limit of three years.

• A student who transfers from a law degree at a recognised tertiary institution into the Bachelor of Laws at UTS, and unsuccessfully applies for an exemption from 70115 Perspectives on Law and/or 70120 Legal Method and Research because the completion of the introductory law subject(s) undertaken at the other university were insufficient to grant an exemption, can request in writing to the director of students to have their application reconsidered.
• For 70115 Perspectives on Law, students must demonstrate that they have completed subjects covering contracts, criminal law, torts and constitutional law within the other university's law degree. Alternatively, the director of students may approve an exemption from 70115 Perspectives on Law if they believe that the student has acquired sufficient knowledge from the subjects completed at the other university to justify the exemption.
• For 70120 Legal Method and Research, students must demonstrate that they have completed subjects at the other university which collectively have a sufficient focus on legal method and research to justify an exemption.
• If a student is unable to obtain an exemption from a UTS: Law core subject on the basis of having completed a similar core subject at another university, because the content of the subject completed at the other university was insufficient to warrant an exemption from the corresponding UTS: Law core subject, the student cannot use the completion of that similar core subject undertaken at the other university as the basis for an exemption from an unspecified elective within a law course at UTS.
• Students enrolled into courses that require the completion of 70115 Perspectives on Law can apply for an exemption from this subject on the basis of completing a Master of Legal Studies (C04147) at UTS: Law or equivalent at another university.

Non-law subjects

It is possible to obtain exemptions for non-law optional subjects in the Bachelor of Laws if students have completed a bachelor's degree, advanced diploma or diploma course from a recognised tertiary institution. The maximum exemptions that can be granted on the basis of having completed a course are 48 credit points for a bachelor's degree (three years, full time). Students with an incomplete degree, a completed advanced diploma or diploma are granted credit points on a pro rata basis. No exemptions can be sought for a partially completed diploma or advanced diploma. These exemptions are not permitted in combined degree courses.

Students applying for RPL on the basis of a single, completed prior degree may be granted 48 credit points of exemptions for the general elective choiceblock of the straight Bachelor of Laws or, if the prior study was relevant, up to 48 credit points of exemptions from law subjects.

Concurrent study at another tertiary institution

Subject to approval by UTS: Law, students may apply to undertake elective subjects in undergraduate law courses at other universities for credit towards an unspecified option within 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 Haymarket Student Centre 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.

• Students cannot undertake core subjects on a concurrent basis.
• Students cannot undertake options on a concurrent study basis if UTS: Law offers the equivalent subject during the proposed semester.
• Students must complete a minimum of 50 per cent of the credit point value of their course at UTS.

The concurrent studies application form is available at:

Internal course transfers

UTS students who transfer into the Bachelor of Laws from an incomplete UTS 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.

Honours

It is possible for students to gain an award with honours in the law degree or the law component of combined 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. 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 UTS: 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.'

To be eligible for the University Medal an undergraduate student must have achieved the highest first class honours mark in the graduating cohort.

International exchange program

UTS: Law participates in the international student exchange program administered by UTS: 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 70517 Equity and Trusts before going overseas. The number of places is strictly limited.

Results achieved in study overseas are recorded as a Pass or Fail grade without a mark. It should be noted that the Pass/Fail results for Exchange subjects are excluded from the calculation of a GPA and in the calculation for honours.

Information and application packs are available from UTS: International Studies. Further information is available at: