Bachelor of Laws
2023 Deakin University Handbook
Note:
You are seeing the 2023 view of this course information. These details may
no longer be current.
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| Year | 2023 course information |
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| Award granted | Bachelor of Laws |
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| Course Map | This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2023. This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2023. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
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| Campus | |
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| Online | Yes |
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| Duration | 4 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
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| CRICOS course code | 026686F Burwood (Melbourne), Waterfront (Geelong) |
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| Deakin course code | M312 |
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| Approval status | This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework. |
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| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 7. |
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Course sub-headings
Course overview
Designed and taught by practising lawyers and academics, Deakin’s accredited Bachelor of Laws combines sound legal training with real-world experience. You’ll develop key skills in communication, problem solving and analytical thinking, and gain the experience employers are seeking through our substantial work-integrated learning opportunities.
You can tailor your studies to a field of interest by choosing from a wide range of commercial and public law electives, and work on real cases and interview clients under the supervision of qualified solicitors at Deakin’s Law Clinic, our community legal service that offers free legal advice. There’s even the opportunity to study abroad with our global study itinerary, including the US Criminal Justice study tour. Our international programs and placements mean you can take your study overseas for a few weeks, a trimester or even a year.
Are you looking for a degree that prepares you for a leading legal or professional career?
When you study at Deakin Law School, you’ll join the ranks of our high-performing students to attend one of Australia's top law schools*. For 30 years we’ve attracted some of the best and brightest students in Australia who have gone on to enjoy high employment rates in dynamic roles across law, business, journalism, public administration, private enterprise and politics.
Choose Deakin’s Bachelor of Laws and develop a solid foundation of practical legal skills, including:
- negotiation
- mediation
- preparing for court appearances
- legal drafting
- statutory interpretation.
You'll also learn transferable skills that can launch you on a variety of career paths that could see you entering the business sector, government, law reform, politics or public administration.
The legal profession is undergoing rapid change and lawyers are increasingly required to provide clients with practical, commercial advice. A distinctive feature of our programs is our focus on experiential learning, which helps you develop critical skills and obtain disciplinary knowledge, giving you an edge upon graduation.
At the Deakin Law Clinic, you’ll get the opportunity to hone the legal skills acquired in your academic training, including the capacity to analyse complex legal problems and other critical skills necessary for pursuing a career in law.
*Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2021
Indicative student workload
A full-time law degree has approximately the same workload as a full-time job. Full time students should expect to commit around 40 hours per week to their studies, including attendance at class, extensive reading, writing, and critical analysis for completion of all assessments and preparation for exams. Part-time students should expect a pro-rata commitment depending on how many units they undertake.
The minimum expected workload for a Law unit will normally be around 150 hours, which includes attendance at class, reading, completion of any assessment, and preparation for the exam.
Professional recognition
Deakin’s Bachelor of Laws is designed to satisfy the university component of the requirements to become an Australian lawyer set by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (VLAB).
In addition to completing an approved law degree, if you are seeking entry to legal practice you are required to work for one year as a supervised legal trainee or undertake a practical legal training (PLT) course.
Career opportunities
Obtaining a law degree is your first step to entering the legal profession. Upon completion of your degree and the additional practical legal training, you’ll be qualified to work as a solicitor or barrister in all legal fields, including:
- commercial law
- criminal law
- family law
- public international and human rights law
- refugee law
- personal injury law.
In addition, your degree opens up many other career opportunities. As an alternative to practising as a barrister or solicitor, you may choose to enter:
- business as a corporate lawyer, consultant, company administrator or business manager
- government as a lawyer or policy adviser with departments or authorities as diverse as the Attorney General's Department, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Office of Public Prosecutions, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
- industrial relations
- public administration
- education
- media
- politics
- law reform.
Participation requirements
Units in this course may have participation requirements that include compulsory placements, work-based training, community-based learning or collaborative research training arrangements.
Mandatory student checks
Units which contain work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, working with children check or other check. These requirements will be detailed in unit guides upon enrolment.
Pathways
M412 Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
This course is only available to Deakin students currently enrolled in M312 Bachelor of Laws or combined Law degrees and who meet the entry requirements for M412.
Further information can be found here.
Features of the Program
A range of commercial and public law electives
A distinctive feature of the Deakin law degree is the large number of commercial law and public law elective units offered in the course. You can choose to add a commercial focus to your degree by selecting from a wide range of electives. Deakin Law School also offers a number of public law electives, drawing upon the significant expertise of staff in the areas of international law, criminal law, constitutional law, human rights law and health law.
Clinical legal education
Legal Internship
In conjunction with community legal centres and other legal organisations, Deakin Law School offers a clinical skills unit. This involves students working in private law firms, companies employing in-house legal counsel, public legal centres or statutory bodies under the supervision of legal practitioners. You’ll assist the practitioners to take instructions from, advise and represent clients. Clinical training of this nature is designed to teach you skills such as interviewing, counselling, negotiation, communication and advocacy. Deakin's Legal Internship enables you to gain an appreciation of legal practice and extend your critical thinking skills by working in a legal environment. Quotas apply and enrolment is via application.
Please visit the Legal Internship website, for more information.
Deakin Law Clinic
Deakin Law School offers teaching law firms which provide legal placements for students. The clinics operate under the supervision of qualified legal practitioners and offer opportunities for students to develop legal skills in the following areas:
civil and commercial law
criminal law
employment law
venture law
family law
Policy law
A Deakin Law Clinic can be taken as a law elective in year 3 or year 4 of your law degree.
Study abroad opportunities
Our global study itinerary includes the Chinese Commercial Law study tour, the International Alternative Dispute Resolution study tour to the United States, the prestigious Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Hong Kong and Vienna and options to study one or more elective units at an overseas institution
Admission to legal practice
At present, to qualify for admission as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria, university graduates are required to complete either a supervised legal traineeship (previously known as articles of clerkship) for one year or an approved practical legal training (PLT) course. Institutes that offer Practical Legal Training in Victoria include:
- The College of Law Victoria: Victorian Professional Program
- Leo Cussen Centre for Law
- Australia National University School of Legal Practice
Course of study
The Deakin law degree is designed to satisfy the university component of the requirements to become a barrister and solicitor in Victoria set by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board. Study may be undertaken on either a full-time or part-time basis.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year, the units you choose and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. Further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods is available on our Current students fees website.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
| Discipline specific knowledge and capabilities | Demonstrate an understanding of the Australian legal system and the fundamental areas of knowledge required for legal practice as situated within international contexts and the broader contexts within which legal issues arise |
| Communication | Communicate legal knowledge effectively to legal and non-legal audiences, both verbally and in writing |
| Digital literacy | Use a range of digitally-based technologies to locate, evaluate and disseminate information |
| Critical thinking | Exercise critical thinking, judgment and intellectual independence to evaluate, consolidate and synthesise knowledge relevant to legal doctrine and legal practice |
| Problem solving | Apply legal reasoning and critical analysis to generate and articulate accurate and relevant responses to legal issues |
| Self-management | Exercise responsibility and accountability for own learning, and possess abilities to reflect on own capabilities, performance and feedback to support personal and professional development |
| Teamwork | Collaborate effectively in a team environment demonstrating constructive engagement and contribution to the team and the ability to draw on strengths of others |
| Global citizenship | Reflect on the ethical and professional behaviours and responsibilities of legal professionals and demonstrate an understanding of the impact that different social, ethical, global or environmental perspectives have on exercising legal practice in the community |
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Course rules
To complete the Bachelor of Laws, students must attain a total of 32 credit points, plus completion of the compulsory 0-credit point module, MAI010 Academic Integrity Module. Most units (think of units as 'subjects') are equal to 1 credit point. Most students choose to study 4 units per trimester, and usually undertake 2 trimesters each year.
To complete the course you must include:-
- 18 credit points of core units
- completion of MAI010 Academic Integrity Module (0-credit-point compulsory module)
- 14 credit points of elective units (no more than 5 elective units at Level 1)
The 14 credit points of elective units must include:-
- a minimum of 6 credit points of law electives, including 1 credit point of WIL/practical/experiential unit from a list.
- a minimum of 4 credit points of non-law electives (these may be selected from any undergraduate units offered by the University, subject to eligibility) (i.e. a maximum of ten credit points of Law Electives can be chosen)
- and 4 credit points of electives that may be Law
Course structure
Compulsory 0-credit point module
To be completed in the first trimester of study:-
| MAI010 | Academic Integrity Module (0 credit points) |
Core units
| MLL110 | Legal Research and Statutory Interpretation |
| MLL113 | Legal Communication and Ethical Decision Making |
| MLL117 | Misleading Conduct and Economic Torts |
| MLL235 | Legal Practice and Ethics |
| MLL391 | Civil Procedure and Dispute Resolution |
| MLL427 | Advanced Legal Problem Solving and Persuasion (Capstone) |
Commercial Law electives
Note: It is not compulsory to choose electives from only one list; students may choose electives from across the Commercial Law and Public Law elective list)
Commercial Law elective units:
| MLL225 | Personal Injuries Compensation Schemes |
| MLL228 | Alternative Dispute Resolution: Principles and Practice |
| MLL318 | Corporate Insolvency Law |
| MLL329 | Financial Services Regulation |
| MLL332 | International Arbitration |
| MLL336 | International Commercial Law |
| MLL351 | Community Legal Internship |
| MLL409 | Competition Law and Policy |
| MLL418 | Contemporary Legal Issues |
| MLL419 | Contemporary International Legal Challenges (Intensive) |
| MLL444 | Data Law, Privacy and Cybercrime |
| MLT324 | Transnational Study Tour |
* Previously coded MLL210
Note:
- Not all units will be offered every year.
- The Law School might from time to time develop new units to strengthen these lists, and develop other lists.
Public Law electives
Note: It is not compulsory to choose electives from only one list; students may choose electives from across the Commercial Law and Public Law elective list)
Public Law electives:
| MLL228 | Alternative Dispute Resolution: Principles and Practice |
| MLL319 | Sentencing Law and Practice |
| MLL332 | International Arbitration |
| MLL336 | International Commercial Law |
| MLL351 | Community Legal Internship |
| MLL394 | Migration and Refugee Law and Policy |
| MLL418 | Contemporary Legal Issues |
| MLL419 | Contemporary International Legal Challenges (Intensive) |
| MLL425 | Environmental and Climate Law |
| MLT324 | Transnational Study Tour |
* Previously coded MLL210
# Previously coded MLL417
Note:
- Not all units will be offered every year.
- The Law School might from time to time develop new units to strengthen these lists, and develop other lists.
WIL| Practical Elective units
Students must complete one of the following experiential/practice units as one of their Law Elective units:
| MLL338 | Legal Professional Practice |
| MLL351 | Community Legal Internship |
Work experience
This course provides students the opportunity to complete one or more work integrated learning units.
More Information: WIL Programs
International Students:
This course includes Work Integrated Learning (WIL) formally registered as part of the course on the CRICOS register. The total work integrated learning hours will differ depending on the WIL unit you choose. For more information about WIL hours, please check the unit information in the handbook or the unit guide.
For information about how WIL units may impact student visa holder work rights, please visit https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. See Schedule 8 (8102)Visa Conditions.
Other course information
Course duration - additional information
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Further information
Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.
