Legal Studies - 9220

The Master of Legal Studies program has been restructured for 2012. Please refer to the 2011 Handbook entry for the old program structure.

The Master of Legal Studies is a coursework program offered to professionals with a non-law background. The program is specifically designed to provide an understanding of the law within the area of expertise of the candidate. Courses offered in the MLS program combine a degree of sophistication or technical difficulty in terms of legal content with a substantial consideration of relevant interdisciplinary aspects of the subject matter and a focus on policy. Each course contains a significant research component. All courses are not necessarily available in any one year.

The MLS allows cross-disciplinary study in postgraduate courses from other UNSW faculties enabling students to advance their professional skills while acquiring knowledge of the law.

Completion of the MLS by formal coursework will not lead to a professional qualification of legal practice.

The program is specifically designed to provide an understanding of the law within the area of expertise of the candidate. In combining a general introduction to the legal system and basic legal doctrines, the program aims to give the candidate a rudimentary understanding of Australian law, while providing the opportunity of specialising in a particular area of the law, for instance, international law, particularly if this is most pertinent to the candidate's area of professional practice. At the conclusion of the program the learning outcomes will include an understanding of the nature of legal reasoning, a capacity to conduct independent research in law, to write research papers in the legal field, and to be able to analyse and interpret legal materials.

The following 4 courses are compulsory and provide the foundation in law concepts including legal research and writing, contract, property, criminal and public law. These courses should be completed prior to enrolment in postgraduate electives:

- LAWS8126 Principles of Public Law (6uoc)
- LAWS8138 Principles of Property and Contract Law (6uoc)
- LAWS8090 Conceptualising Criminal Laws (6uoc)

and one of the following courses:

- LAWS8072 Legal Concepts, Research & Writing for Business Law (6uoc) OR
- LAWS8101 Legal Concepts, Research & Writing for Criminal Justice & Criminology (6uoc) OR
- LAWS8110 Legal Concepts, Research & Writing for Human Rights (6uoc) OR
- LAWS8249 Legal Concepts, Research & Writing for IP and Media Law (6uoc)

Students can then complete 4 Electives from the list of approved Postgraduate courses for the Master of Legal Studies. Students wishing to enrol in postgraduate LAWS courses not approved for the Master of Legal Studies should contact the Program Convenor.

Electives for the Master of Legal Studies

The MLS may be taken full-time in two-three semesters or part-time in a maximum of six semesters. Students must undertake and satisfactorily complete eight single-semester courses or the equivalent. A total of 48 units of credit are required for the award of the degree. Postgraduate law courses are taught in a variety of formats both during the University's formal academic semesters and over the summer term. While many are taught for two hours per week over a teaching semester, in others the class hours are arranged more intensively to permit students to focus fully on a research project. Some courses of particular interest to students in employment are scheduled in a venue situated in the CBD.

A student may apply to the Coordinator of Postgraduate Education for permission to take, as appropriate to the student's overall program, up to 50 per cent of the program from courses offered at postgraduate level by another UNSW faculty, another University via cross-institutional study or from postgraduate taxation courses offered by the School of Taxation and Business Law, Australian School of Business. No student may be permitted to take more than 50 per cent of the program from courses of either type.

ENROLMENT
The Enrolment Guide for the Master of Legal Studies (MLS) can be found on the Enrolment UNSW Law website.

Award of the Degree

The degree of Master of Legal Studies may be awarded by the Council to a candidate who has satisfactorily completed a program of advanced study.

Qualifications

(1) A candidate for the degree shall have been awarded an appropriate degree of Bachelor from the University of New South Wales or a qualification considered equivalent from another university or tertiary institution at a level acceptable to the Faculty Education Committee of the Faculty of Law (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).

(2) In exceptional cases an applicant who submits evidence of such other academic and professional qualifications as may be approved by the Committee may be permitted to enrol for the degree.

(3) When the Committee is not satisfied with the qualifications submitted by an applicant the Committee may require the applicant, before being permitted to enrol, to undergo such examination or carry out such work as the Committee may prescribe.

Enrolment and Progression

(1) An application to enrol as a candidate for the degree shall be lodged with the Registrar by the advertised due date.

(2) A candidate for the degree shall be required to undertake such formal courses and pass such assessment as is prescribed.

(3) The progress of a candidate shall be subject to the approval of the Coordinator of Postgraduate Education and will be reviewed at least once annually by the Committee. As a result of its review the Committee may cancel enrolment or take such other action as it considers appropriate.

(4) No candidate shall be awarded the degree until the lapse of two academic semesters from the date of enrolment in the case of a full-time candidate or three semesters in the case of a part-time candidate. The maximum period of candidature shall be three academic semesters from the date of enrolment for a full-time candidate and six semesters for a part-time candidate. In special cases an extension of these times may be granted by the Committee.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html