Undergraduate course information

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, creative intelligence and innovation, 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 Application information.

Rules and procedures

Subjects

UTS: Law timetables undergraduate subjects over three teaching periods: Autumn session, Spring session 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 sessions. Core law subjects are offered as day and evening classes.

Option subjects

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

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
• human rights
• industrial and employment law
• intellectual property law practice
• international law
• jurisprudence
• media, technology and communications
• public law
• taxation law.

Credit recognition

Credit recognition procedure

Credit recognition based on previous studies may be granted subject to the UTS Credit Recognition Policy, Credit Recognition Procedures, section 6 of the Student and Related Rules, and guidelines of the Faculty Board in Law. The granting of exemptions is at the discretion of the associate dean (education).

Students may be able to obtain exemption from law subjects if they are able to satisfy the Faculty Board in Law that a comparable course of study has been successfully undertaken at another recognised university.

To verify this, if the subject upon which the student is basing their application for credit recognition 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.

All students seeking credit recognition based on previous studies must lodge an application to the Haymarket Student Centre prior to enrolment.

Credit recognition guidelines

General

1. Credit point limits:
   The maximum overall amount of credit granted for a UTS: Law undergraduate coursework course shall not exceed one half of the credit-point value of that course (96 credit points). The following limits apply to credit granted to undergraduate courses:
   • a maximum of 48 credit points may be credited for law subjects (core or options); and
   • a maximum of 48 credit points may be credited for subjects other than law.
   Students transferring from one undergraduate UTS course to any undergraduate UTS: Law course may be granted credit for all subjects completed at UTS which fit within the structure of the destination course, even if the total amount of credit will exceed the credit point limits listed above.
2. Time limits:
   As a general rule, a limit of 6 (six) years applies to law subjects used as the basis of credit, calculated from the date the subject was successfully completed to when credit is sought at UTS: Law.
   • 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;
   • Applications for credit recognition for practical legal training subjects have a time limit of 3 (three) years; and
   • 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.
3. Cross-disciplinary subjects:
   Exemptions are not granted on the basis of completion of cross-disciplinary subjects.

Law subjects

1. Exemptions from law subjects (core law, law option and practical legal training subjects), are granted only on the basis of equivalent subjects completed as part of a law degree leading to professional practice and offered by a law school at a recognised university.
2. Exemptions are not granted on the basis of studies completed through the Law Extension Committee and/or through Top Education institute.
3. A student who transfers from a law degree at a recognised tertiary institution into a Bachelor of Laws at UTS, and unsuccessfully applies for an exemption from 70102 Foundations of Law, because the completion of the introductory law subject(s) undertaken at the other university were insufficient to grant an exemption, can make a written request to the director (students) to have their application reconsidered.
   To support the request, it must be demonstrated that subjects covering contracts, criminal law, torts, and constitutional law, in addition to subject areas of legal method and legal research have been completed.

Non-law subjects

1. It is possible to obtain exemptions for non-law option subjects in the Bachelor of Laws on the basis of a completed bachelor's degree, advanced diploma or diploma course from a recognised university.
2. A maximum limit of 48 credit points applies to exemptions that can be granted on the basis of having completed a bachelor's degree (three years, full time).
3. Students with an incomplete degree, a completed advanced diploma or diploma are granted credit points on a pro rata basis:
   • for an incomplete degree, credit may be awarded as a proportion of the degree completed;
   • for an incomplete combined law degree, the non-law subjects are treated as forming part of a stand-alone degree, and the completed proportion is derived from the requirements of the respective stand-alone degree at source university;
   • for a completed advanced diploma, a maximum of 24 credit points of unspecified credit may be granted; and
   • for a completed diploma, a maximum of 12 credit points of unspecified credit may be granted.
4. No exemptions can be sought for a partially completed diploma or advanced diploma.
5. These exemptions are not permitted in UTS: Law combined degree courses.

Inquiries

telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
Ask UTS

Concurrent study at another university

Subject to approval by UTS: Law, students may apply to undertake elective subjects (options) 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 session.
• Students must complete a minimum of 50 per cent of the credit point value of their course at UTS.

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.

Students who meet the criteria for honours are eligible for transfer into the appropriate undergraduate honours exit course on completion of all coursework. This transfer into an honours exit course is managed by the Student Centre and occurs just prior to graduation.

An additional year of study is not required. To qualify for honours, a student must complete subjects 76090 Research Methodology and 76040 Research Thesis, as option subjects within the degree. These subjects form part of the credit points required for degree completion. 76090 Research Methodology and 76040 Research Thesis have requirements that students must comply with in addition to the following Honours Regulations:

1. Awards

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

1. degree (with first class honours), and
2. degree (with second class honours).

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 76090 Research Methodology and 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 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)
3. not fail any law subject after the first session 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 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
6. a student's honours mark shall include the mark obtained by the student in 76040 Research Thesis and 76090 Research Methodology 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.

Further details are available in the online subject descriptions.

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 CBK90390 Options, or
• four law subjects from CBK90922 Options (Law UG) (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.