Information for students
Faculty structure
Faculty policies and procedures
Student facilities
Centres within UTS: Law
Industrial training/professional practice
Cross-disciplinary subjects
Majors and sub-majors offered to students from other faculties
Law courses are administered by UTS: Law. The information provided in this section is an introduction to the full range of information that is available and is not intended to be complete. Students are advised to visit UTS: Law and other UTS websites for more comprehensive information.
Location, contacts and inquiries
UTS: Law is located at City campus, Haymarket. Most academic and administrative staff are located in Building 5, City campus, Haymarket, although some staff are located at 645 Harris St, City campus, and at Kuring-gai campus, Lindfield.
CB05B
Building 5, block B
City campus, Haymarket
cnr Quay St and Ultimo Rd
Haymarket NSW 2000
Detailed directions are available at:
www.uts.edu.au/about/maps-and-facilities
UTS: Law reception
CB05B.3.03
Building 5, block B, level 3
City campus, Haymarket
cnr Quay St and Ultimo Rd
Haymarket NSW 2000
telephone +61 2 9514 3495
fax +61 2 9514 3400
Staff contact details are available from:
http://staffsearch.itd.uts.edu.au/webapps/staffsearch
Postal address
UTS: Law
University of Technology, Sydney
PO Box 123
Broadway NSW 2007
Australia
Haymarket Student Centre (UTS Business School and Faculty of Law students)
The Student Centre provides general student administration information and advice and specific administration services for the students and staff. Services provided by the student centre include:
- subject and course information
- enrolment support
- study plan inquiries
- timetable inquiries
- credit recognition and subject substitution applications
- eRequests (for major and subject changes)
- leave of absence and concurrent study applications
- exam-related and academic progress applications
- progression and academic caution matters
- graduation-related matters.
Haymarket Student Centre
CB05C.1
Building 5, block C, level 1
City campus, Haymarket
cnr Quay St and Ultimo Rd
Haymarket NSW 2000
telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
Ask UTS www.ask.uts.edu.au
Faculty structure
The UTS: Law executive is led by the dean and is supported by two associate deans and the faculty manager.
UTS: Law is governed by the Faculty Board in Law which consists of ex officio members, elected staff members and elected student members. The Faculty Board in Law meets quarterly and is the formal decision-making body of UTS: Law. A number of faculty committees report to the Faculty Board in Law.
The UTS: Law Advisory Board comprises faculty management and representatives from the legal profession, government and the community. The UTS: Law Advisory Board suggests and scrutinises proposed initiatives as well as offering strategic advice and an external focus for UTS: Law.
Faculty policies and procedures
Progression and acceleration
Students may seek permission from the director (students) (by way of e-request) to enrol in subjects totalling more than 28 credit points a semester if:
- there is no timetable clash
- maximum class size is not exceeded
- the student's academic record indicates that he or she is capable of performing satisfactorily with an increased workload, and
- the student can demonstrate that his or her work and other non-study commitments permit him or her to increase their workload without detriment to their studies.
In Summer session, students may undertake a total of two subjects or less.
UTS: Law cannot guarantee avoidance of timetable and/or examination clashes where students do not follow the standard course progression.
Timetable
The current timetable is available at:
Class attendance
Law classes for full-time studies are generally timetabled during the day. Registrations in evening or other classes are subject to availability and UTS: Law does not provide any guarantees in securing preferences.
Study load and class attendance details are available in course duration and attendance in the general information section.
Guide to written communication
Essays and other written work should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines laid down in UTS: Law's Guide to Written Communication.
Further information and the required assignment coversheet are available at:
www.uts.edu.au/current-students/current-students-information-faculty-law/assessment/assignments
Unless advised otherwise by the lecturer, assignments must be typed and must also be properly written with due regard to spelling, punctuation, grammar and syntax.
A lecturer may require the written work to be submitted through Turnitin prior to formal submission and may also request that a copy of the Turnitin report be attached to the written work.
Unless otherwise instructed by the lecturer, all written work should include footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography in the manner set out in the Guide to Written Communication.
Any piece of written work which does not comply with these requirements may be:
- required to be rewritten in proper form
- penalised in marks, or
- rejected without assessment.
Assessment
Lodgement of assignments
All work submitted for assessment should bear a UTS: Law assignment coversheet. Students are required to retain a copy of all assignments submitted. Students who are handing in written work must submit it, with an assignment coversheet attached, in the assignment box located adjacent to the UTS: Law reception (Building 5, block B, level 3). The assignment box is cleared every business day at 6pm during faculty teaching weeks and at 5pm during faculty non-teaching weeks and Summer session. Assignments submitted by fax or email are not accepted by UTS: Law, unless otherwise arranged with the lecturer.
Assignments coversheets must include the completed and signed Academic Honesty Declaration.
Late work
Any assessment task submitted after 6pm during faculty teaching weeks, or 5pm during faculty non-teaching weeks and Summer session, on the due date of submission will either be rejected without assessment (where the subject outline states that this will be the consequence of an assessment task being submitted after the due time on the due date) or penalised by way of loss of marks unless an extension has been sought and approved by the subject coordinator (after due consideration of any submission made by the academic liaison officer on behalf of special needs students) through a request for extension or application for special consideration.
In the absence of compelling circumstances, no application for a request for extension will be accepted after the due date.
Insofar as there is to be a penalty by way of loss of marks, five per cent of marks for the assessment task will be deducted per day for assessment tasks submitted after the due date. Submission will not be accepted after assessment tasks have been returned to other students.
Plagiarism
Where individual work is required for the purposes of assessment, the copying, unacknowledged use of, or reliance on the work of other individuals without acknowledgment is considered to be cheating/misconduct. The penalties imposed for cheating/misconduct or allowing work to be plagiarised are severe under the University Rules and regulations.
Plagiarism is one of the most serious crimes in the academic community. It indicates an attempt by someone to pass off the words and/or ideas of another as their own. To take any but a few sequential words of another without acknowledgment is plagiarism and tantamount to cheating. It is so treated at UTS: Law.
Experience shows that one of the most common ways for plagiarism to occur is when students work together. It is acknowledged by the academic staff that study groups are an efficient and beneficial method of learning but problems arise when it is extended into the assessment process. UTS: Law expects, in fact demands, that all assignments submitted be the work of the person who is credited with the mark. It can be an extremely fine line between discussion of an essay topic with another, and collaboration, but where comparisons of various students' work indicate collaboration this is taken to be plagiarism.
Acts of plagiarism are penalised.
Student facilities
UTS: Law library
The library aims to support the teaching, learning and research needs of students and staff at UTS: Law. The law collection consists of print and electronic sources while training and research assistance can be provided. Further information is available at:
For information or assistance contact the UTS: Business and Law library team at:
www.lib.uts.edu.au/about-us/staff-profiles/information-services/business-law-team
Computer labs
ITD provides computer laboratories for UTS students on all campuses. Further information is available from:
www.itd.uts.edu.au/services_facilities/computer_facilities.html
Law Students' Society
The UTS Law Students' Society (LSS) is the largest student-run society on campus. It provides a variety of services to all law students ranging from organising social events, educational seminars and mentoring programs, health and wellbeing initiatives, running legal competitions, providing careers information, writing legal and non-legal publications and representing the educational concerns of law students. An important part of this role is being a key communication channel between UTS: Law and the student body including representing student concerns to the Dean where necessary.
The UTS LSS communicates its various events, services, publications and competitions, as well as relevant activities of UTS: Law, to students through its website; social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter; free fortnightly e-newsletter, The Buzz, which students and staff can subscribe to via the UTS LSS website; and its 'subject tab' on UTS Online.
A council of student members, elected by law students in or around October each year, governs the UTS LSS. The council meets on a monthly basis throughout the year, to review the activities of the UTS LSS and options for improvement and reform. Interest and input are encouraged from students, and many of the ideas acted upon originate from members of the UTS LSS.
Social functions are an important part of university life and the UTS LSS regularly organises functions for students. Popular events include the annual first-year law orientation camp, first-year law drinks, law cruise, law n'bowls, speaker series, intervarsity sports day, boot camp, numerous other intervarsity events, informal barbecues and welcome lunches, and the highlight of the social calendar, the Law Ball.
Services to members include:
- the Brennan Justice and Leadership Program, a joint social justice initiative with the Faculty of Law
- junior and senior legal competitions such as Mooting, Client Interviewing, Negotiation, Witness Examination, Advice Writing and Paper Presentation
- the Textbook Equity Scheme (a textbook loan program) for financially disadvantaged students
- a Peer Mentoring Program for first-year students, a joint initiative with the Faculty of Law
- the King & Wood Mallesons Professional Mentoring Program for students wishing to expand their professional network
- the Advocates Mentoring Program for students wishing to pursue a career in advocacy
- the Buddy Project, which pairs up first-year students with older students from the law school to ease the transition into university life
- a regularly updated database of subject tutors
- a regularly updated database of social justice opportunities
- affiliation with the Australian Law Students' Association (ALSA), including provision of all ALSA publications to students and sending a UTS delegation to the annual ALSA July Conference
- a quarterly academic publication, The Full Bench, containing student contributions
- an introductory guide to law school for new students, the Law School Manual
- a review of the electives offered in law through the Electives Guide
- careers publications for legal and non-legal graduate opportunities, including the Careers Guide, the Clerkship Guide and the publication Pro Bono, and
- a Clerkship Seminar Series, Clerkship Networking Evening, Skills Workshops and a Careers Networking Evening.
Location and contact details
A list of council members and their contact details is posted on the UTS LSS website. Alternatively, students can make initial contact with the UTS LSS by emailing the president.
UTS Law Students' Society
c/o Faculty of Law
PO Box 123
Broadway NSW 2007
CB05A.1.08
Building 5, block A, level 1, room 8
City campus, Haymarket
cnr Quay St and Ultimo Rd
Haymarket NSW 2000
telephone +61 2 9514 3448
fax +61 2 9514 3427
email president@utslss.com
www.utslss.com
Centres within UTS: Law
The Law Research Centre (LRC) aims to foster an environment that: promotes excellence in academic research, serving the community and the professions; contributes to law reform; and assists in the creation of a just and principled society.
Under the umbrella of the LRC, five research networks have been established:
- Health, family and communities
- Intellectual property, media and communications
- Corporate, commercial and tax
- Criminal justice and criminology
- International law, human rights and the environment.
The LRC is the home of the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) which provides a unique legal research infrastructure for the LRC. AustLII is committed to creating open access to legal knowledge through its research and related activities and has been in operation for 18 years.
Also affiliated with the LRC is the Communications Law Centre, an independent, non-profit, public interest centre specialising in communications, media and online law and policy. The centre was established in 1988 and it is now a UTS centre in the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Anti-Slavery Australia is an award winning centre of the Faculty of Law and the only University based legal, research and policy centre in Australia focused on slavery, trafficking, forced labour, forced marriage and extreme labour exploitation. Anti-Slavery Australia is involved in research, teaching, and working with law students on a range of social justice initiatives.
Industrial training/professional practice
Admission to legal practice in Australia
Admission to the Supreme Court of NSW to practise as a lawyer in New South Wales is based upon the successful completion of an accredited academic legal qualification and an accredited course of practical legal training (PLT).
The UTS Bachelor of Laws (C10124) (LLB) and Juris Doctor (C04236) (JD) are accredited academic legal qualifications.
Practical legal training
The Faculty of Law's PLT program is accredited by the Legal Profession Admission Board of the Supreme Court of NSW (LPAB). UTS: Law was the first to offer an accredited PLT program in Sydney at a university level. The program comprises subjects which satisfy the competencies required by the Legal Profession Admission Rules 2005 and a practical experience work placement.
Further details regarding the structure of the PLT program can be obtained from a UTS Student Centre.
Practical experience
A compulsory and integral part of the PLT program is completion of 75411 Practical Experience work placement. Students must undertake an approved 16 weeks of full-time, or equivalent part-time, work placement. Further information regarding completion requirements is available from the practical experience guidelines and rules at:
International law graduates
Students who have been admitted to practise as a lawyer in a country outside Australia should have their legal qualification assessed by the Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB) (www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lpab)
UTS: Law offers two courses to allow lawyers from a common law background to meet the LPAB requirements to practise law in Australia. Depending on the number of subjects required by the LPAB, candidates need to complete one of the following courses:
- Graduate Certificate in Australian Law (C11211) requires the completion of four set subjects (30 credit points) and subject substitution is available for one subject only where it is approved. This course particularly suits lawyers from Canada, USA and the UK.
- Graduate Diploma in Australian Law (C07073) is designed specifically to meet the requirements of the LPAB assessment. The course is designed for subject choices to be tailored to meet the needs of individual students in line with the LPAB requirements.
To qualify as a lawyer in New South Wales the above courses need to be followed by enrolment in a practical legal training (PLT) program, which may be completed at UTS by enrolment in the Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232).
Students from a non-common law background may be required to enrol in the Juris Doctor (C04236), depending on the number of subjects required by the LPAB.
International lawyers who have received LPAB assessment of their law qualification and would like to receive a study plan which best suits their needs from courses offered by UTS: Law are invited to send a scanned copy of the assessment to the Haymarket Student Centre at:
Ask UTS www.ask.uts.edu.au
Bar exams
Students who wish to pursue a career as a barrister can find information about education, training and professional development from the NSW Bar Association at:
Application and admission
International candidates who wish to enrol in one of the above courses can find information about the application process and due dates for application at:
www.uts.edu.au/future-students/international/essential-information/applying-study-uts
Information about fees for international students is available at:
www.sau.uts.edu.au/fees/international
Local students lodge applications via UAC.
Admission to postgraduate law courses is available twice a year in Autumn and Spring semesters. Juris Doctor, Master of Legal Studies and Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies students may also commence in Summer session.
Law postgraduate information sessions
UTS: Law holds a series of postgraduate information sessions that provides a good opportunity for prospective students to:
- receive further information about postgraduate courses
- seek advice from senior academic and administrative staff
- submit a direct application for postgraduate coursework study at UTS: Law.
Sessions are held throughout the year. Information and registration are available from UTS: Law at:
www.uts.edu.au/future-students/law
Graduate employment and summer clerkship programs
UTS: Law participates in graduate employment and summer clerkship programs in conjunction with major Sydney law firms and government departments.
The programs were devised in 1980 and are generally open to penultimate and final-year law students who are interested in working in one of the large law firms or government organisations. Students who participate develop a greater understanding of employment opportunities and legal experience while adding detail to their curriculum vitae.
UTS: Law, in conjunction with the UTS Careers Service and UTS Law Students' Society, organises a range of support services for interested students within application timelines each year.
Further information on support services, guidelines and key dates for graduate employment and summer clerkship are available at:
www.uts.edu.au/current-students/current-students-information-faculty-law/career
Cross-disciplinary subjects
UTS: Law offers a range of cross-disciplinary law subjects — studies in various strands of the law for students not undertaking a law qualification but who wish to become familiar with the law as it affects their chosen profession. Through its cross-disciplinary program, UTS: Law offers subjects for students in the UTS Business School; UTS: Design, Architecture and Building; UTS: Engineering and Information Technology; UTS: Health; and UTS: Science.
Cross-disciplinary students enrol in UTS: Law subjects through their home faculty and any inquiries should be made in the first instance to the UTS Student Centre.
Further information is available from:
telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
Ask UTS www.ask.uts.edu.au
Majors and sub-majors offered to students from other faculties
Majors
The following law majors are available within courses from other UTS faculties.
- Master of Business Administration (C04018)
- Business Law (MAJ09362)
- Bachelor of Business (C10020/C10021/C10026/C10027)
- Business Law (MAJ09401)
- Bachelor of Global Studies (C10264)
- Legal Studies (MAJ09399)
Sub-majors
The following law sub-majors are available within courses from other UTS faculties.
- Bachelor of Business (C10020/C10026)
- Master of Business Administration (C04018)
- Business Law (SMJ09037)
Some courses from other UTS faculties may also include law subjects not listed under any of the above majors and sub-majors; students should check the handbook entry for the course in which they are enrolled for further details or contact the appropriate UTS Student Centre.
