Introduction to Legal Systems and Methods

About this subject

• What you'll learn

  Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:

  1. interpret the principal sources of law, including statutory law and judge‐made law, customary law, how the doctrine of precedent operates and the principles of statutory interpretation;
  2. apply the basic methods of legal analysis; to analyse critically legal problems, including applying relevant case law and legislation to differing contexts and a particular sets of facts;
  3. demonstrate initiative and autonomy in legal research by locating primary and secondary legal resource material;
  4. plan, organise and communicate legal advice in writing; and
  5. demonstrate an informed understanding of the Australian constitutional framework and legal system.

• Topics covered

• Description

• Assessments

• Textbooks

• About University of New England

Entry requirements

Prior study

You must either have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject, or currently be enrolled in the following subject(s) in a prior study period; or enrol in the following subject(s) to study prior to this subject:

• UNE-LSU100-Introduction to Legal Studies

Please note that your enrolment in this subject is conditional on successful completion of these prerequisite subject(s). If you study the prerequisite subject(s) in the study period immediately prior to studying this subject, your result for the prerequisite subject(s) will not be finalised prior to the close of enrolment. In this situation, should you not complete your prerequisite subject(s) successfully you should not continue with your enrolment in this subject. If you are currently enrolled in the prerequisite subject(s) and believe you may not complete these all successfully, it is your responsibility to reschedule your study of this subject to give you time to re-attempt the prerequisite subject(s).

Additional requirements

• Travel requirements - Travel may be required to complete invigilated examination.
• Other requirements -

  While there are no formal eligibility requirements to study this unit, students should be aware of the following.

  Study Load

  • Most law units will require students to spend at least 15 hours of study per unit per week. That includes time spent online in the LMS, doing private study and working on assignments.  The amount of time needed will vary depending on your existing study skills.
  • Law units are particularly time-heavy because of the amount of reading that’s required and the type of reading. Reading cases and other types of legal texts will be unfamiliar at first.
  • Learning law involves learning new skills, and UNE’s law teachers will help with that, but it does take a commitment of time on your part.
  • You need to consider carefully your existing time commitments before enrolling in multiple units.

  Progression into the Degree.

  To be admitted to the Bachelor of Laws (4 Years) students need to complete the following four units of study and achieve a minimum GPA of 4.2.

  • LSU100 Introduction to Legal Studies
  • LAW100 Introduction to Legal Systems and Methods
  • LAW101 Law in Context
  • LAW161 Criminal Law*

  *LAW161 has LAW100 and LAW101 as pre‐requisite subjects.

  GPA Requirements

  • The 4.2 GPA requirement equates to three Passes and one Credit.
  • Be aware that if you fail a unit it is included in your GPA calculation and means you will need to achieve higher grades to obtain admission to the degree.
  • For this reason, we recommend students consider their study load and academic skills before attempting a subject.
  • For more information on GPA requirements, please refer to the UNE website.

  For students who have not studied before or have not studied recently

  • If you’ve not studied previously, or have been out of study for a while, in your first year we recommend you don’t attempt more than one UNE Law unit per trimester and consider completing an introductory study subject like  COM10 and APC100.
  • If you are successful in gaining admission to the Bachelor of Laws (4 years) either of these units could count towards the Elective component of the degree.

Study load

0.125 EFTSL

This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.

Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.

Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.