Monash University Handbook 2011

Bachelor of Laws - basic course structure - Faculty of Law

The Bachelor of Laws course consists of 12 compulsory units which must be completed by all students enrolled in an LLB program plus a further six 'quasi-compulsory' units which must be completed by students who wish to be qualified for admission to practice as a barrister or solicitor in Victoria. The remainder of the program consists of elective units chosen by the student.

The purpose of the core undergraduate curriculum (the 12 compulsory units and those elective units fulfilling the requirements of the Council of Legal Education for admission to practice, ie the quasi-compulsory units) is to:

(a) enable students to acquire an understanding of:

• the fundamental concepts and institutions of public law
• the fundamental concepts of criminal law
• legal rights and obligations (including proprietary, contractual, tortious and equitable obligations) and their interrelationship
• the nature of legal personality, fundamental legal institutions and the relationship between different types of legal institutions
• the trial process and litigation
• the obligations of practitioners

(b) introduce students to a variety of theoretical and other perspectives on the nature of law

(c) enable students to acquire competence in the skills of legal research, analysis and oral and written communication, and introduce them to a range of other legal skills including interviewing, drafting, advocacy, negotiation and other forms of dispute resolution.

Compulsory units

All compulsory units are worth 6 points:

• LAW1101 Introduction to legal reasoning
• LAW1104 Research and writing
• LAW2101 Contract A
• LAW2102 Contract B
• LAW2201 Torts A
• LAW2202 Torts B
• LAW3101 Administrative law
• LAW3201 Constitutional law
• LAW3301 Criminal law and procedure A
• LAW3302 Criminal law B
• LAW3401 Property law A
• LAW3402 Property law B

Quasi-compulsory units

The following units are not required in order for a student to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws, however they are required by the Council of Legal Education for admission to practice as a solicitor in Victoria. If students wish to be eligible for admission to practice as a solicitor, they must complete these units:

• LAW4169 Equity
• LAW4170 Trusts
• LAW4171 Corporations law
• LAW5104 Civil procedure
• LAW5125 Lawyers, ethics and society
• LAW5159 Evidence

The elective program

The remainder of the degree is made up of elective law units selected by the student. The full range of elective units available is listed in the 'Unit information' section of this handbook and on the faculty's website at http://www.law.monash.edu.au/current-students/t-tables/ug-electives-current-year.doc. Students should be aware that many electives are offered on a rotational basis and they should check the timetable each year for the availability of elective units. The number of elective units required varies according to the actual course in which the student is enrolled. Students must check their course structures to determine the number of electives they are required to complete.

The purpose of the elective program is to:

1. enable students to broaden and deepen the legal knowledge and skills they have acquired through studying compulsory units
2. enable students to explore new and significant developments in the law, legal theory and the legal system and to acquire knowledge and skills in areas of law which particularly interest them
3. introduce students to areas of legal knowledge that are not included in the compulsory curriculum
4. enable students to further develop the skills relevant to legal practice
5. enable students to acquire interdisciplinary perspectives that will extend and enhance their understanding of legal principles, theory or skill.

Bachelor of Laws with honours

The Bachelor of Laws is a pass degree that may be awarded with honours. Since 2002, honours classes 1, 2A, 2B or 3 have been awarded to graduating students based on the average of their results in all law units passed at Monash University.

Any student may apply for enrolment in the full-year honours research unit LAW5207 at the end of their penultimate year of LLB studies (with a semester one and semester two intake each year). However, a quota is applied to this unit, and students will be admitted on the basis of their average for all undergraduate law units attempted at Monash to the end of their penultimate year of LLB studies.

Students wishing to apply for research unit LAW5207 should do so by mid-July or mid-November of their penultimate year.

For further information refer to http://www.law.monash.edu.au/current-students/honours/index.html.