Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - 2018

Deepening your understanding of how technology and the law interact, this double degree produces engineers skilled in the legal, corporate and commercial fields. The need for legally trained engineering graduates continues to grow, with opportunities arising in areas such as project management, research and development, consulting and construction law.

The study of law develops problem-solving skills and powers of analysis. It teaches precise and imaginative use of language. The study of engineering develops problem solving skills, systems thinking and technical savvy.

The requirements below detail what you must study in order to complete this double-degree course and receive the awards.

Units are 6 points unless otherwise specified. You must complete 300 points:

1. 156 points must be completed in Parts A, B, C and D as described below in L3001 Bachelor of Laws (Honours) component.

Refer to L3001 Bachelor of Laws (Honours) single degree entry for the details of important admission to practice information.

2. 144 points must be completed in Parts A, B, C, D and E (Level 1 only) as described below in E3001 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) component.

Refer to E3001 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) single degree entry for the details of mandatory professional recognition requirements.

Law component

Bachelor of Laws (Honours) is a specialist course that develops through themes: legal methodology and legal practice; public law; and private law. The specialised knowledge and advanced skills are imparted in later year elective units, including a final year project involving intensive research and writing.

Part A. Legal methodology and legal practice (24 points)

This theme includes the nature of law, and particularly statute law enacted by parliaments and common law developed by courts. It also includes the key concepts, principles and methods of research and reasoning that enable lawyers to identify and interpret law and apply it to relevant facts in order to provide legal advice. It covers the law of procedure and evidence that governs judicial proceedings, alternative methods of resolving legal disputes and the code of ethics that regulates the professional conduct of legal practitioners.

You must complete:

• LAW1111 Foundations of law
• LAW4303 Litigation and dispute resolution
• LAW4309 Lawyers' ethics in practice
• LAW4323 Evidence

Part B. Public law (30 points)

Public law includes constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law. It concerns the powers and procedures of the legislative, executive and judicial organs of government and how they are regulated and controlled by 'the rule of law'. It also concerns the legal relationship between government and individuals, including the protection of individual rights.

You must complete:

• LAW1112 Public law and statutory interpretation
• LAW1114 Criminal law 1
• LAW2111 Constitutional law
• LAW4331 Administrative law
• LAW4332 Criminal law and procedure 2

Part C. Private law (48 points)

Private law deals with legal relationships between legal persons, including corporations as well as individuals. It includes the study of property rights, contractual rights and obligations, wrongs (called 'torts') such as trespass and the negligent infliction of injury, and the law of equity and trusts.

You must complete:

• LAW1113 Torts
• LAW2101 Contract A
• LAW2102 Contract B
• LAW2112 Property A
• LAW3111 Equity
• LAW3112 Corporations law
• LAW3402 Property B
• LAW4170 Trusts

Part D. Extending expertise: specialist law electives (54 points)

In later years of the course, you will be able to choose from a broad range of elective law units. High achieving students may also include one or two master's units in their final year of study. Elective law units enable you to develop specialised knowledge and advanced skills in areas of law that suit your own interests, skills and career goals. In addition to public and private law, these include international law, commercial law and human rights law. You will have opportunities to study overseas, and to undertake work-based learning, for example, in our legal clinical program and in local and international internships.

You must complete undergraduate law electives (54 points) as follows:

a. at least one of the following commercial law units (6 points):

• LAW4701Not offered in 2018 Commercial transactions
• LAW4702 Competition and consumer law
• LAW4703Not offered in 2018 Introduction to intellectual property
• LAW4704 Taxation law
• LAW4198 Australian commercial law
• LAW4179 International commercial arbitration
• LAW4668Not offered in 2018 International investment law
• LAW4342 Patents, trade marks and unfair competition
• LAW4671 Private investment law

b. at least one of the following law research units (6 or 12 points):

• LAW4801 Research project
• LAW4802Not offered in 2018 Research practicum
• LAW4803 Clinical externship
• LAW4805 Mooting and advocacy competition
• LAW4806 Jessup moot competition
• LAW4807 Vis arbitration moot
• LAW4327 Honours thesis (12 points)
• LAW4328 Professional practice (12 points)
• LAW4330 Family law assistance program: Professional practice (12 points)
• any master's level elective (usually 12 points) which is approved for undergraduate enrolment, and has as part of its assessment regime a research assignment with a word limit of 3750 words or more

c. additional law electives to bring the total for Part D to 54 points:

• including other units from the lists of commercial law and law research units above
• high achieving students may be eligible to complete a maximum of two master's level electives in the final semester, which can be counted towards a Master of Laws degree if they wish to progress to graduate studies.

Law units begin with the prefix LAW and suitable units can be identified using the browse units tool in the current edition of the Handbook. The level of the unit is indicated by the first number in the unit code; undergraduate law units are those that commence with the numbers 1-4.

Engineering component

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) is a specialist course that develops through four themes that combine to underpin engineering practice: fundamentals and foundational skills, design, knowledge and applications, and professional practice.

Part A. Engineering fundamentals and foundational skills (12 points)

These will develop your understanding of natural and physical sciences, mathematics, numerical analysis, statistics, and computer and information sciences that underpin all engineering disciplines.

You must complete:

• ENG1060 Computing for engineers
• ENG1005 Engineering mathematics

If you have not done the equivalent of VCE Specialist mathematics and/or VCE Physics then you must also complete foundation unit/s below in mathematics and/or physics:

• ENG1090 Foundation mathematics
• PHS1001 Foundation physics

Note: If you have to do one foundation unit, you do not complete the Level 1 elective from Part E below. If you need to take both foundation units you also do not do the elective, but in addition you will need to overload in year 1 or 2 and increase the total credit points needed for this double degree by 6 points.

Part B. Engineering design (18 points)

This will develop the engineering techniques, tools and resources for the conduct, design and management of engineering design processes and projects, both in the industrial setting and in the development of research experiments.

You must complete:

• ENG1001 Engineering design: Lighter, faster, stronger
• ENG1002 Engineering design: Cleaner, safer smarter
• ENG1003 Engineering mobile apps

Part E. Level 1 elective study (6 points)

If you need to do one or both foundation units, you do not do this elective, otherwise you must complete one of the following:

• CHE2161 Mechanics of fluids
• CHM1011 Chemistry I or CHM1051 Chemistry I advanced
• ECE2041Not offered in 2018 Telecommunications
• ECE2072 Digital systems
• ENE1621 Environmental engineering
• ENG1021 Spatial communication in engineering
• ENG1051 Materials for energy and sustainability
• FIT2085 Introduction to computer science for engineers
• MAE2405 Aircraft performance
• MAT1830 Discrete mathematics for computer science
• MEC2404 Mechanics of fluids
• PHS1002 Physics for engineering
• RSE1010 Natural resources engineering
• TRC2001 Introduction to systems engineering

Part C. Engineering knowledge and application and Part D. Professional practice (108 points)

Part C will provide in-depth knowledge of the specific engineering methods of a branch of engineering and will integrate the specific engineering methods and discipline knowledge into practice. You will develop skills to identify and apply knowledge of contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline. Additionally, your studies will focus on your understanding and application of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of contemporary engineering practice in your discipline.

Part D will develop your skills in readiness for the engineering workplace. You will develop skills in effective team membership and team leadership, the use and management of commercially relevant data, and the legal responsibilities of engineers. This study will integrate the theme 'Engineering knowledge and application' with your specialist field of engineering.

You must complete Part C and Part D in one of the following specialisations:

• Aerospace engineering
• Chemical engineering
• Civil engineering
• Electrical and computer systems engineering
• Materials engineering
• Mechanical engineering

You may be eligible to exit this double degree course early and graduate with one of the single awards once you have successfully completed all of the requirements described above for the single degree component and have completed a total of:

• 204 points to exit with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
• 192 points to exit with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in your specialisation.