The Master of Laws by Coursework offers law graduates an opportunity to develop an advanced, integrated and contemporary understanding of one or more areas of legal study, some of which call for interdisciplinary perspectives, depending entirely on the students areas of interests. Courses offered in the LLM by Coursework program combine a degree of sophistication or technical difficulty in terms of legal content with a substantial consideration of relevant international, professional and interdisciplinary aspects of the subject matter. By undertaking eight of the many , varied courses on offer, all students will have the opportunity to apply their legal knowledge and skills by undertaking at least one substantial, research-based project.

Please contact the Faculty of Law for information regarding the Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes.

The LLM by Coursework may be taken full-time in 2 semesters or part-time in a minimum of 3 semesters. Students must undertake and satisfactorily complete 8 semester-long courses or the equivalent. A total of 48 units of credit (uoc) is required for the award of the degree.

Students may, but are not required to, elect to complete a major sequence of courses, known as a specialisation (see below). Successful completion of the requirements of both the LLM by Coursework and the specialisation entitled the student to receive the name of the specialisation in parentheses after Master of Laws on the students testamur.

Postgraduate courses are taught in a variety of formats both during the University's formal academic semesters and over the Summer Term. While some 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.

Course Requirements
The requirements for the Master of Laws by Coursework are as follows:

A student may apply to the Postgraduate Education Co-ordinator for permission to take up to 2 courses (12 uoc) of the program from courses offered at postgraduate level by another university via cross institutional study.

A student may apply to complete a semester of study (24uoc) with the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. The University of Lausanne offers instruction in English in the LLM in International and European Economic Law or International and European Commercial Law. The courses undertaken at the University of Lausanne will be credited to your UNSW LLM degree. Refer to the UNSW Law Exchange website for further information.

Specialisations (Plans)

Candidates for the LLM by Coursework may undertake study incorporating a major sequence in any one of the following specialist areas:

In order to incorporate a specialisation a student will be required to obtain at least 24 of the 48 uoc required for the award of the degree from the courses allocated to that major sequence.

The following specialisations have particular requirements:

- 18 uoc from courses offered in the Corporate and Commercial Law major sequence;
- 18 uoc from postgraduate taxation courses offered by the School of Taxation and Business Law, UNSW Business School
- 12 uoc may be selected from any postgraduate law or taxation courses on offer.

From time to time the allocation of courses to specialisations may be altered.

The Postgraduate Education Co-ordinator may, if considering it appropriate:

Where a special case is made, or where an individual students' assessment program for a course outside a specialisation is tailored specifically to issues relevant to a specialisation, the Postgraduate Education Co-ordinator may approve a course not otherwise allocated to a major sequence as part of that student's specialisation.

Research Thesis courses may be counted towards the units of credit required for a specialisation where, in the opinion of the Postgraduate Education Co-ordinator, the subject matter of the thesis topic is substantially related to the specialist area of the major sequence.

When a student completes the LLM by Coursework incorporating a specialisation as above, upon request by the student, the students' academic transcript will identify the specialisation and the courses which constitute it and the student's Testamur will contain the words 'Master of Laws in (the specialisation completed)' or words to that effect.

1. Award of the Degree

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

2. Entry requirements

A candidate for the Master of Laws by Coursework shall have been previously awarded any of the following:
(1) a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from an Australian university;
(2) a Juris Doctor degree, with a Credit average, from an Australian university;
(3) a Bachelor of Laws degree with a Credit average, undertaken as part of a dual award program at an Australian university; or
(4) a domestic or foreign equivalent of any of the above.

3. Enrolment and Progression

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

(2) 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 two academic semesters from the date of enrolment for a full-time candidate and eight semesters for a part-time candidate. In special cases an extension of these times may be granted by the Committee.

4. Requirements

The requirements for the Master of Laws by Coursework are as follows:

(1) For local students: 8 courses from the list of LAWS (and, depending on the specialisation, TABL) courses set out in the Handbook on a yearly basis, to the total value of 48 units of credit (uoc), subject to rules 4(4) and (5).
(2) For international students from a non-common law background: LAWS8271 Australian Legal System, and 7 courses from the list of LAWS (and, depending on the specialisation, TABL) courses set out in the Handbook on a yearly basis, to the value of 48 uoc, subject to rules 4(4) and (5).
(3) All students must complete the following requirement: A minimum of 2 of the 8 courses must be taken from an approved list of courses that contain a substantial research-based assessment component (the Research-Based Course List). This requirement can, in the alternative, be satisfied if the student takes the single course LAWS8423 Research Thesis: 6 uoc.
(4) A student may apply to the Postgraduate Education Co-ordinator for permission to take up to 2 courses (12 uoc) of the program from courses offered at postgraduate level by another university via cross institutional study.
(5) A student may apply to complete a semester of study (24uoc) with the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. The University of Lausanne offers instruction in English in the LLM in International and European Economic Law or International and European Commercial Law. The courses undertaken at the University of Lausanne will be credited to your UNSW LLM degree.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  UNSW Fee Website.

Postgraduate Elective Courses

The following LAWS electives are available for credit towards the Master of Laws by Coursework. For the list of courses available in each Specialisation, please consult the links above under the 'Specialisation' heading.

Please also note that not all courses are offered on an annual basis. You should check with the Faculty as which courses are to be offered in the year in which you intend to study.

Research-Based Course List

All students must take a minimum of 2 courses from this list of courses set out below, which forms a subset of the longer list of Elective courses set out immediately above. All of these courses contain a substantial research-based assessment component, consisting of a research-based assessment task (such as a research essay), or a combination of related tasks (such as a research plan and research essay), of a minimum of 6,000 words. New courses can be added to the Research-Based Course List at the election of the Faculty of Law Standing Committee, provided that the course contains a research-based assessment task or tasks of a minimum of 6,000 words.

The requirement to take two courses from the Research-Based Course List can, in the alternative, be satisfied if the student takes the single course LAWS8423 Research Thesis: 6 uoc.