Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Science
Course code/s: LWLSC Melbourne
The Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Science is a five-year combined degree providing an accredited professional qualification in law, as well as a degree in science. The program offers an innovative, high quality legal education with a strong global and social justice perspective and a real emphasis on hands-on experiences. It includes all the compulsory law subjects required by the Council of Legal Education for admission to practice in Victoria and a wide range of law electives, including subject to availability subjects relevant to science such as Intellectual Property Law and Law and Medicine. For further information about core law subjects and electives, please refer to the entry for the Bachelor of Laws (Graduate Entry) in the Faculty of Law and Management section of this handbook. Students may choose science subjects from a wide range of disciplines including chemistry, computer science, electronics, genetics, psychology, and mathematics. The course is available at both Melbourne and Bendigo campuses, but students commencing their studies at Bendigo normally transfer to Melbourne after two full-time years of study where they complete the remainder of their course. Since science majors at Bendigo differ from those at Melbourne in some instances, Bendigo students are only permitted to undertake subjects leading to major studies in biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, physics, psychological science and statistics.
Admission requirements
Admission requirements are VCE units 3 and 4, and a study score of at least 35 in English (ESL) or 30 in any other English and a study score of at least 20 in mathematical methods or specialist mathematics.
Degree requirements
Students must:
- complete a total of at least five years full-time study or its equivalent
- complete in sequence the compulsory law subjects
- satisfy the requirements of the Bachelor of Science
- complete a total of 600 credit points (360 credit points in law and 240 credit points in science)
- complete a total of 24 subjects in law (18 compulsory subjects and 6 electives)
- complete 60 credit points at first year level, 90 credit points at second year level and 90 credit points at third year level in science subjects from the Faculty of Science and Technology
- complete one Science major comprising 30 credit points at 1st year, 30-45 credit points at 2nd year and 45-60 credit points at 3rd year depending on the chosen discipline
Course structure
First year
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Dispute Resolution | LAW1DR |
| TE-SEM-1 | Legal Institutions and Methods | LAW1LIM |
| TE-SEM-1 | First Year Science Elective | |
| TE-SEM-1 | First Year Science Elective from chosen Major | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Principles of Criminal Law | LAW1CRL |
| TE-SEM-2 | Principles of Public Law | LAW1PPL |
| TE-SEM-2 | First Year Science Elective | |
| TE-SEM-2 | First Year Science Elective from chosen Major |
Second year
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Contract Law A | LAW2CTA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Principles of Tort Law | LAW2TOT |
| TE-SEM-1 | Second Year Science Elective | |
| TE-SEM-1 | Second Year Science Elective from chosen major | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Contract Law B | LAW2CTB |
| TE-SEM-2 | Principles of Constitutional Law | LAW2CSL |
| TE-SEM-2 | Second Year Science Elective | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Second Year Science Elective from chosen major |
Third year
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Statutory Interpretation | LAW2STA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Foundations of Property Law | LAW2FPL |
| TE-SEM-1 | Evidence and Criminal Procedure | LAW2ECP |
| Either | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Second Year Science Elective* | |
| or | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Second Year Science Elective from chosen Major | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Civil Procedure | LAW2CIV |
| TE-SEM-2 | Real Property Law | LAW2RPT |
| TE-SEM-2 | One Third Year Law Elective | |
| TE-SEM-2 | One Law Elective |
Fourth year
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Company Law | LAW3CMP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Principles of Equity and Trusts | LAW3ETR |
| TE-SEM-1 | Two law electives | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Principles of Administrative Law | LAW3ADN |
| TE-SEM-2 | Remedies | LAW3REM |
| TE-SEM-2 | Legal Practice and Conduct | LAW3LPC |
| TE-SEM-2 | Two law electives [do one in summer or winter school] |
Fifth year
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| TE-SEM-1 | Second Year Science Elective* | |
| TE-SEM-1 | Three 3rd year science electives | |
| TE-SEM-2 | Two 3rd year science electives | |
| Either |
|
|
| TE-SEM-2 | Third Year Science Elective | |
| Or | ||
| TE-SEM-2 | Two Third Year Science Electives from chosen major |
Science disciplines
The selection and arrangement of the science subjects within the program is up to the student in consultation with an adviser from the Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering. Subjects may be chosen from any of the following areas:
• biology (agricultural science, biochemistry, botany, genetics, microbiology, zoology (this may require additional subjects))
• chemistry
• computer science (this may require additional subjects) and computer engineering
• electronics (this may require additional subjects)
• ecology
• environmental geoscience
• mathematics
• mathematics and statistics
• physics [this may require additional subjects]
• psychological science (subject to minimum entry requirements)
• statistics
*For further information about the science majors and subjects, please refer to the Melbourne chapter for the Bachelor of Science in this Handbook. Students who complete the necessary core subjects for a specialisation will be able to have their academic record and testamur annotated accordingly, e.g., Bachelor of Science with a specialisation in Statistics.
Refer to Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering section in this Handbook for full subject details and specialisation requirements.
Compulsory and Elective Law Subjects
For lists of compulsory and elective law subjects, refer to lists under Bachelor of Laws (Graduate Entry) (LVLGE).