Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Computer Science - 2018

A Monash Law degree will enable you to join the next generation of high achieving lawyers, with the ability to solve complex, demanding and interesting problems.

The Law degree provides students with 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.

The Computer Science degree is designed for students wishing to study computing in depth, and particularly the theory and practice of applying computers and software to problem-solving.

This double degree will present opportunities for students in the evolving fields of legislative responses to computer science innovation and the computerisation of legal decision-making and procedures.

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, of which:

• no more than 36 points of level 1 units can be completed
• at least 36 points must be completed at level 3

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 C2001 Bachelor of Computer Science component, of which:

• no more than 36 points of level 1 units can be completed
• at least 36 points must be completed at level 3

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.

Computer science component

Bachelor of Computer Science course is a specialist course that develops through the themes of computer science foundation study, professional skills study, specialist discipline knowledge, problem solving and analytic skills study, and professional skills study which come together in applied practice.

Part A. Foundational computer science study (42 points)

This study will develop your understanding of the role and theoretical basis of computer science and computational methods.

You must complete:

• FIT1045 Algorithms and programming fundamentals in python
• FIT1047 Introduction to computer systems, networks and security
• FIT1008 Introduction to computer science
• FIT2004 Algorithms and data structures
• FIT2014 Theory of computation
• MAT1830 Discrete mathematics for computer science
• MAT1841 Continuous mathematics for computer science or MTH1030 Techniques for modelling

Part B. Professional skills study (6 points)

You must complete

• FIT1049 IT professional practice

Part C. Specialist discipline knowledge and Part D. Problem solving and analytical skills (36 points)

You must complete one of the following specialisations:

• Advanced computer science
• Data science

Part E. Applied practice (12 points)

You complete a full-year project (12 points) relevant to your specialisation, or the industry-based learning units (18 points):

• FIT3161 Computer science project 1 and FIT3162 Computer science project 2
• FIT3163 Data science project 1 and FIT3164 Data science project 2
• FIT3045 Industry-based learning* (18 points)

* This option is available only if you are selected to participate in the Industry-based learning (IBL) program. If you intend to apply for the IBL program, please discuss your course progression with faculty staff. If you are selected for the IBL program you must complete one unit over summer semester or overload in one semester by one unit in order to complete the degree within three years.

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 Computer 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:

• C3702 Bachelor of Computer 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.