This program provides an opportunity to obtain two professional degrees. It allows students to add the professionally recognised Law program to the professionally accredited Architecture program offered by the Faculty of the Built Environment.

In terms of career prospects, employers could include law firms specialising in construction law, related government departments and regulatory bodies and architectural practices.

Duration/Award

The program is a seven year full-time combined program leading to the award of the two degrees of Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Laws (BArch LLB). Students may complete the program in 6.5 years or 13 sessions of study if they carry out Work Experience over the summer breaks. This would mean that the enrolment for one session would be 48 units of credit which includes the 24 units of credit for work experience.

Because the Architecture program contains a percentage of open electives which can be replaced by law courses, the combined program requires only three additional sessions of study to gain both qualifications. In general, this study is taken concurrently with the BArch program and both can be completed in thirteen sessions. It is considered to have a significant workload throughout these thirteen sessions.

Entry Requirements

The combined program is open to students who satisfy both the Architecture and Law entry conditions. Students may enter directly in Year 1 or may apply to transfer from the Architecture Program after the completion of one year if they have achieved a distinction or higher average. All applications for transfer must be registered with the University Admissions Centre. Transfer after the second year may result in the student taking more than the minimum time to complete the combined degree.

Organisation

The BArch LLB program is administered by the Faculty of Law. The Faculty requires the student to obtain approval of the Faculty of Built Environment, Architecture Program for the Architecture courses. The final program and timetable must be approved by the Head of the Architecture Program in the Faculty of the Built Environment.

At the completion of this program, students will have obtained a sound knowledge base in the fields of both Architecture and Law.

Approved Sequence of Study

Students must complete Year 1 (48 units of credit) of the Architecture program before attempting any courses from the Law program. In subsequent years students must study architecture courses in a sequence approved by the Faculty of the Built Environment and law courses in a sequence approved by the School of Law. An approved sequence can be found here:

Plan for Architecture/Law 4705

Other sequences may be approved under special circumstances.

Honours in Architecture

The degree of Bachelor of Architecture is awarded at either pass or honours level after successful completion of a minimum of 192 units of credit from the Architecture Program and 72 units of credit from the Law Program. These core law courses are considered in the same manner as Faculty electives for the purposes of the honours calculation. The combined total units of credit is taken from student performance over 264 units of credit for the purpose of calculating honours in Architecture.

The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) will be awarded with the following levels of Honours:

Honours Class 1
Honours Class 2, Division 1
Honours Class 2, Division 2

The award of Honours in the LLB program is based on two requirements:

1) the Weighted Average Mark (WAM); and
2) satisfactory performance in written research.

1) Weighted average mark

In general terms, students who score a Law WAM in the top 10% of the graduating cohort in each semester will be eligible for the award of Honours Class 1; students with a WAM in the next 10% will be eligible for the award of Honours Class 2, Division 1; and students with a WAM in the next 10% will be eligible for the award of Honours Class 2, Division 2.
All courses taken towards the Law degree will be taken into account for written research requirements, but only those taken at UNSW Law School will count towards the WAM.

2) Satisfactory performance in written research

To demonstrate “satisfactory performance in written research” a student must complete one long substantial piece or three shorter substantial pieces of research writing in their program. In particular, a student must attain at least a credit grade either in LAWS2423 Research Thesis (8 uoc) or (16 uoc); or LAWS3423 Research Thesis (6 uoc) or (12 uoc); or in each of three (3) research papers of at least 3000 words each, taken in any three (3) courses in the LLB program.
At the time of enrolment in courses in their final semester, students who have demonstrated satisfactory performance in written research must submit an approved Honours Nomination Form to the Honours Committee detailing the basis upon which the research requirement has been met, and the course or courses in which the requisite grades were attained. If a student has not met the Honours research requirement before the end of their penultimate semester, he or she must notify the Honours committee of the LLB courses in which they propose to meet the requirement before the census date in their last semester.

Failures and Academic Misconduct

In no circumstances will a student be eligible for the award of Honours if he or she has

(a) failed more than one course in the LLB program;
(b) been found guilty of plagiarism or serious misconduct on more than one occasion.

For Academic Rules relating to the Bachelor of Laws component of this combined degree program, please refer to progam 4790. Although 4790 program is no longer on offer, all combined law students enrolled in the LLB will need to comply with the rules stated here. A direct link is given below:

Bachelor of Laws 4790

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