The Melbourne LLB Curriculum

To view the subjects offered in 2008, please click here.

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The Melbourne LLB curriculum is a forward-looking program that responds to contemporary needs, taking account of changes in legal practice and new thinking in legal scholarship. The central features of the curriculum are as follows:

• The curriculum comprises semester-length subjects that are designed to build a sophisticated understanding of legal principles, theory, methods and processes and to enable students to understand the connections between different areas of law.
• The teaching of core legal skills is developed in a co-ordinated way throughout the curriculum. The teaching of skills is co-ordinated horizontally (across subjects taken at a particular stage) and vertically (across subjects taken at different stages). The core skills acquired in the early subjects, are then reinforced in the middle years and developed in the later year subjects.
• Significant perspectives on law (known as ‘cross-cutting influences’) are developed in a co-ordinated way throughout the curriculum. The cross-cutting influences particularly pertinent to the Melbourne LLB include: theory, ethics, comparative approaches, regulation, history of various kinds, indigenous culture, law and policy, intercultural perspectives, cross-jurisdictional law and practice, law reform and policy and interdisciplinary influences on law.
• The program of optional subjects enables students to acquire knowledge in a range of different areas of law or to deepen their understanding of particular areas of law. Optional subjects will be grouped into the following broad areas: Asian Law; Corporate & Commercial Law; Criminal Law & Justice; Dispute Resolution; Family Law; Indigenous Issues in the Law; Intellectual Property, Media & Information Technology Law; Interdisciplinary; International & Comparative Law; Labour Law; Legal Theory; Practical; Property, Land & Resources Law; Public Law; Taxation.

Students undertaking the LLB develop and acquire the following generic skills:

• attitudes towards knowledge that include valuing truth, openness to new ideas and ethics associated with knowledge creation and usage.
• the capacity for close reading and analysis of a range of sources.
• the capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection.
• the capacity to solve problems, including through the collection and evaluation of information.
• the capacity to communicate, both orally and in writing.
• the capacity to plan and manage time.
• the capacity to participate as a member of a team.
• intercultural sensitivity and understanding.

Course plans have been devised for each year-level cohort of students in each of the LLB programs. These course plans clearly indicate the subjects each cohort of students must take in order to complete the LLB degree.