Undergraduate course information

Applications
Recommended reading prior to entry
Rules and procedures

UTS: Law offers a range of bachelor's 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. 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 (PLT) program option to get students qualified sooner.

Applications

Offers to undergraduate UTS: Law courses are based on academic merit. Further information is available at:

www.uts.edu.au/study/undergrad.html

Rules and procedures

Subjects
Credit recognition
Concurrent study at another university
Internal course transfers
Honours
International exchange program

Subjects

UTS: Law timetables undergraduate subjects over three teaching periods: Autumn semester, Spring semester and Summer session. The full range of core and option 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.

Option subjects

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

Subject descriptions

Descriptions of the law subjects available are provided in subjects.

In order to assist students with understanding the interrelationships of the various option subjects, their general orientation and to make informed choices, option 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:

corporate and commercial law
comparative law
criminal law
environmental law
family and health law
industrial and employment law
intellectual property law practice
international law
jurisprudence
media and communications
public law
taxation law

Credit recognition

Credit based on previous studies 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 credit for previous studies must lodge an application to the Haymarket Student Centre prior to enrolment. Information in relation to applying for credit, including the precedent list, can be found at:

www.law.uts.edu.au/cr

Inquiries

telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
or +61 2 9514 1222
Ask UTS www.ask.uts.edu.au

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 credit recognition application does not appear on the 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 precedent list, may seek an exemption without supplying the full subject outline as part of their credit recognition 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 university.

Exemptions are not granted on the basis of studies completed through the Law Extension Committee of the Supreme Court (LPAB).

As a general rule, exemptions for law subjects are not given if the subject upon which the student is basing their application for credit recognition was studied more than six years ago. The time period indicated by the 'six-year rule' is calculated from the date the subject was successfully completed to the date 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, credit recognition for practical legal training (PLT) subjects has a time limit of three years.

A student who transfers from a law degree at a recognised university 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 (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 (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 option 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 option subjects in the Bachelor of Laws if students have completed a bachelor's degree, advanced diploma or diploma course from a recognised university. 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 credit recognition on the basis of a single, completed prior degree may be granted 48 credit points of exemptions for the general elective choice block 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 university

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 consists of a cover sheet, subject outline(s) for the proposed subject(s), and a personal statement explaining the student's motivation for undertaking concurrent study. Subject outlines must detail the academic content, attendance and assessment requirements, and the reading guide of the subject(s) proposed to be completed. A complete application 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:

www.sau.uts.edu.au/forms

Internal course transfers

UTS students who transfer into the Bachelor of Laws from an incomplete UTS combined law degree may receive exemptions on a pro-rata basis, to a maximum of 48 credit points, 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 Bachelor of Laws degree or the law component of combined degrees.

An additional year of study is not required. To qualify for honours, a student must complete 76040 Research Thesis, as an option 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:

degree (with first class honours)
degree (with second class honours), and
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:

successfully complete 76040 Research Thesis
subject to requirements below, obtain an honours mark, calculated in accordance with the formula 'sum of all' (UTS law subject credit points multiplied by 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)
not fail any subject after the first semester of study
successfully complete not less than 96 credit points of law subjects within UTS: Law
for the purpose of the calculation in 2.1(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
a student's honours mark shall include the mark obtained by the student in 76040 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 a 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. Through the program, it is possible to undertake the following study options at overseas exchange partner universities:

three or four law or non-law subject options from CBK90300 Electives (Law), or
three law subjects from CBK90592 Options, or
four law subjects from CBK90507 Options (Law) (if not using PLT as part of their degree).

To be eligible for the program, students should have a credit average or better and have completed 68 credit points of core subjects including 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. Further information is available at:

www.uts.edu.au/international/exchange

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