Overview

Please note: This Program is not available for enrolment. The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) cannot be studied as a single stand alone degree. The LLB must be studied with another degree. The information on this page outlines the academic requirements for completion of the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) when taken … For more content click the Read More button below. The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) is an undergraduate law degree that is recognised as satisfying the academic requirements for admission as a legal practitioner in NSW. The degree is only offered in combination with another approved undergraduate degree (double degree award mode). The discipline-specific (depth) component of the LLB consists of 144 Units of Credit (UOC) of Law courses comprising compulsory core courses, a prescribed theory elective and Law electives as set out below. The breath component of the program is achieved by satisfactory completion of the second program undertaken in the double degree award mode. Undergraduate double degree LLB students are not required to do General Education courses. Students cannot transfer from a double degree enrolment to single degree enrolment in the LLB. Transfer from concurrent double degree enrolment to the single enrolment in the non-Law program may be available, subject to the rules of that program.

Learning Outcomes

1.
Interpret and analyse statutes, for example: Navigating and applying statutory enactments in accordance with contemporary modes of statutory interpretation; Applying knowledge of the difference between interpretation of statutes and constitutions; Applying knowledge and ability to use extrinsic materials in the interpretation of statutes; Developing a coherent body of knowledge and skills about the rules of statutory interpretation; The application of statutory interpretation techniques in the context of problem-solving to generate appropriate analytical responses to statutory issues; Analysing the relationship between statutory interpretation and human rights instruments in different jurisdictions.
  • Scholars
  • Global citizens
2.
Demonstrate and adopt professional and ethical dispositions and values, for example: Professional disposition and values; Developing ability to exercise professional judgment; Ability to reflect on professional responsibilities of lawyers in promoting justice; Understanding the law's role in serving society; Understanding the value of community engagement; Ethical practice; Understanding of ethical approaches to decision-making; Developing ability to respond to ethical issues arising in legal practice; Working sensitively with clients from diverse backgrounds and with a range of needs; Understanding prosecutors' and advocates' obligations both to the court and to the client, and judicial obligations to ensure a fair trial.
  • Professionals
  • Global citizens
3.
Conduct legal research and writing, for example: Professional research skills; Academic research skills; Concise writing; Extended writing (research assessment tasks with a word length of 3,000 words or more); Professional writing.
  • Professionals
  • Scholars
4.
Demonstrate professional interpersonal skills, for example: Collaboration skills; Ability to work as a member of a team; Respect for diversity; Dispute resolution; Understanding of formal legal rules; Appreciation of alternative and non-adversarial philosophies and practices; Understanding of lawyers' roles in disputes; Understanding of power dynamics.
  • Professionals
  • Scholars
  • Leaders
5.
Engage in legal reasoning, for example: Case analysis; Problem-solving skills; Identifying and articulating legal issues; Applying legal reasoning and research to generate appropriate responses to legal issues; Engaging in critical analysis and making a reasoned choice amongst alternatives; Thinking creatively in approaching legal issues and generating appropriate responses.
  • Global citizens
  • Scholars
6.
Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of principles of justice and the rule of law, for example: Tensions between law and justice/morality; Distributive justice, including social justice; Corrective justice; Justice as desert and retributive justice; Restorative justice and ADR; Legal protection of rights, including by the Constitution; Legal practitioners' duties to clients, the court and society; Due process and natural justice; The maintenance and operation of the rule of law; Constraints upon government power and the review and correction of government decisions; The rule of law in context.
  • Scholars
  • Professionals
  • Global citizens
7.
Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of indigenous legal issues, for example: Colonial dispossession; Historical and continuing impact of the law on Indigenous Australians; Indigenous rights, sovereignty and recognition in the Constitution; Native title; Interactions with legal professionals and enforcement officers; Indigenous laws and justice mechanisms; Cross-cultural communication issues.
  • Global citizens
  • Scholars
8.
Apply interdisciplinary perspectives to legal issues, in particular, the ability to bring perspectives from other disciplines to bear on legal issues.
  • Global citizens
  • Scholars
9.
Engage in reform-oriented analysis of law and policy, this includes: Ability to critique existing law in light of broader perspectives, current legal impact and future needs; Ability to contribute to reform processes.
  • Professionals
  • Scholars
  • Leaders
  • Global citizens
10.
Demonstrate professional communication skills, for example: Oral communication in adversarial and non-adversarial contexts; Written communication in various formats and styles; General presentation capacities; Legal presentation capacities; Empathetic listening skills; Cross-cultural communication, including with Indigenous people.
  • Scholars
11.
Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of legal knowledge in its broader contexts, for example: Fundamental areas of legal knowledge for practice in NSW; Understanding of the Australian legal system; Contextual disciplinary understanding; Theoretical perspectives underlying principles and concepts; Major theories; International and comparative approaches to law; Awareness of other jurisdictions and legal systems and understanding of their impact on local jurisdictions; Awareness of global legal practice; Broader contexts of law and legal practice; Environmental issues; Race and diversity based issues; Poverty and social inequity/class based issues; Commercial issues; Employer/employee power imbalances; Gender and sexuality based issues; Disability awareness; Ethical and professional responsibilities and rules; Relationship between law and ethics, and theories of ethics applicable to legal practice.
  • Global citizens
  • Scholars
12.
Demonstrate professional capacity for self-management, for example: Ability to engage in independent learning; Time management skills; Personal and professional development; Reflective practice; Ability to reflect on and assess own capabilities and performance, including through self-assessment; Ability to use feedback; Reflection on personal values in the professional role.
  • Professionals
  • Leaders

Program Structure

Students must complete 144 UOC when taken as a standalone program.

  1. Core Courses (96 UOC)
  2. Prescribed Theory Elective (6 UOC)
  3. Law Elective Courses (42 UOC)

Not every elective available within the program is offered each year. For course offerings refer to the timetable

Disciplinary Component144 Units of Credit:

Enrolment Disclaimer

Please note that this Handbook is a comprehensive catalogue of our offerings and includes courses that can be taken to satisfy program requirements irrespective as to their availability for a particular year. Availability of courses is best checked using filters on this site or on the class timetable site.

You are responsible for ensuring that you enrol in courses according to your program requirements and by following the advice of your Program Authority. myUNSW enrolment checks that you have met enrolment requirements such as pre-requisites for individual courses but not that you are enrolling in courses that will count towards your program requirements.

Admission Requirements

Special Admission Requirements

External test

Program Requirements

Progression Requirements

Students must complete the LLB within 10 years of first enrolment in the program. UNSW LLB students are eligible to transfer to the LLB (Honours) program if, at the time of making their application, they: a) have successfully completed a minimum of 96 UOC of LLB courses; b) have successfully completed at least 84 UOC of core LLB courses (which can include the prescribed theory elective); c) have a minimum of 6 UOC of LLB courses still to complete at UNSW; and d) have a WAM in their core LLB courses (including the prescribed theory elective, if applicable) of 75 or above.

For more information on university policy on progression requirements please visit Academic Progression

Associated Programs

Related Double Degree

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - BE (Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
3765 - Engineering (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of Science - BSc
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
3786 - Computer Science / Law
Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) - BAdvSci(Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
3997 - Advanced Science (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) - BSc(AdvMath)(Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
3998 - Advanced Mathematics (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of City Planning (Honours) - BCP (Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4706 - City Planning (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) - BPsych(Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4721 - Psychology (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of Psychological Science - BPsychSc
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4722 - Psychological Science / Law
Bachelor of Commerce - BCom
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4733 - Commerce / Law
Bachelor of Actuarial Studies - BActSt
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4737 - Actuarial Studies / Law
Bachelor of Economics - BEc
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4744 - Economics / Law
Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry (Honours) - BMedChem(Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4755 - Medicinal Chemistry (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice - BCCJ
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4763 - Criminology & Criminal Justice / Law
Bachelor of Science - BSc
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4770 - Science / Law
Bachelor of Arts - BA
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4782 - Arts / Law
Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) - BSW (Hons)
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4787 - Social Work (Honours) / Law
Bachelor of Data Science and Decisions - BDataSci
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4795 - Data Science and Decisions / Law
Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics - BPPE
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4797 - Politics, Philosophy and Economics / Law
Bachelor of Social Sciences - BSocSci
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4873 - Social Sciences / Law
Bachelor of Media - BMedia
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4875 - Media / Law
Bachelor of Fine Arts - BFA
Bachelor of Laws - LLB
4877 - Fine Arts / Law

Postgraduate Pathway

Graduate Diploma in Legal Professional Practice - GDLPP5213 - Legal Professional Practice
Master of Laws - LLM9201 - Law

Honours Pathway

Bachelor of Laws (Honours) - LLB(Hons)4702 - Law (Honours)

Professional Outcomes

Accreditations

Legal Profession Admission Board

Recognition of Achievement

University Medal

Award of Pass with Distinction

Additional Information

Medallist Requirements

Note: From S1, 2018 (when the LLB (Honours) commences) the University Medal will not be awarded to students graduating only with the LLB. It will only be awarded to an LLB (Honours) student (as explained in 4702 Law (Honours)).

The recommended student for the University Medal is expected to have maintained Good Standing throughout their UG career (ie, while undertaking their LLB) and usually rank the highest amongst their graduating LLB cohort. In addition to that, the recommended Medallist will be compared in different categories with other students attaining the LLB (Honours) (Class 1) to identify the best/top student based on each category.

These categories of comparison include:

  • Honours WAM
  • WAM for all LAWS courses
  • WAM for LAWS core courses and LAWS prescribed elective
  • WAM for LAWS elective courses
  • WAM for best 4 LAWS elective courses
  • WAM for best 19 LAWS courses
  • WAM for all LAWS courses minus two lowest mark  

LLB with Distinction

Note: the LLB with Distinction will only be awarded to students who commenced their LLB in or after 2015.

An LLB student whose WAM in all their graded Law courses is 75 or above at the completion of their 144 uoc of LLB courses will be eligible to graduate with ‘LLB with Distinction’.

Legal Research and Writing Program

This is compulsory  training in essential and advanced legal research and in developing writing skills for legal and non-legal audiences. It is assessed in a formative manner and through summative assessment. LAWS1055 Legal Research and Writing is a 0 UOC course completed at the same time as LAWS1052 Introducing Law and Justice and students will additionally undergo a series of tutorials on researching and writing about law in a global context in LAWS2270 Law in the Global Context.

Program Fees

At UNSW fees are generally charged at course level and therefore dependent upon individual enrolment and other factors such as student's residency status. For generic information on fees and additional expenses of UNSW programs, click on one of the following:

Pre-2019 Handbook Editions

Access past handbook editions (2018 and prior)