Advances in biomedical science can have a major impact on the wellbeing of society, but the transition from laboratory to the people it will benefit is a complex journey; this double degree course gives you the tools to do this.
You will gain a solid foundation in the concepts, procedures and reasoning underpinning the Australian legal system and the research, analytical and communication skills of the legal profession. Combine this with an understanding of anatomy, epidemiology and preventative medicine, genetics, immunology, microbiology and pharmacology and you will have the grounding to use your law skills to help solve challenging medical problems.
NOTE: For learning outcomes and other relevant information of this double degree, refer to the single degree entries:
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 252 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. 96 points must be completed in Parts A, B, C, D and E as described below in M2003 Bachelor of Biomedical Science component.
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:
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:
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:
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.
Biomedical science component
The biomedical science component of this double degree course develops through five central themes covering: Part A. Molecular and cellular biology, Part B. Body systems, Part C. Infection and immunity, Part D. Disease and society, and Part E. Diagnostic and research tools. These themes are interwoven in units throughout the course.
You must complete the following units (96 points):
- BMS1011 Biomedical chemistry
- BMS1021 Cells, tissues and organisms
- BMS1031 Medical biophysics
- BMS1042 Public health and preventive medicine
- BMS1052 Human neurobiology
- BMS1062 Molecular biology
- BMS2011 Structure of the human body: An evolutionary and functional perspective
- BMS2021 Human molecular cell biology
- BMS2031 Body systems
- BMS2042 Human genetics
- BMS2052 Microbes in health and disease
- BMS2062 Introduction to bioinformatics
- BMS3031 Molecular mechanisms of disease (12 points)
- BMS3052 Biomedical basis and epidemiology of human disease (12 points)
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)
- 144 points to exit with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science.
Honours
You may be eligible to apply for a one-year honours course once you have successfully completed this double degree, or have completed all of the requirements for one of the single degrees including a total of 144 points. The following honours course applies:
- M3702 Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours)
You are usually eligible to apply for honours if you achieve a distinction grade average (70 percent) or above in 24 points of studies in relevant discipline units at level 3. This sometimes also means you need to have completed specific units.
