LLB with Honours

Please note: The deadline for returning "LLB Honours Nomination of Substantial Piece of Legal Writing" forms to the Melbourne Law School Student Centre is 23 October 2009.

Index:

• 2008 Final Ranked Honours List
• Bachelor of Laws with Honours
• Calculation of honours points
• Supplementary Examinations and Honours Points
• Eligibility for award of the Honours Degree
• The Final Honours Board 
• Further Information
• Substantial Piece of Legal Writing
• LLB Honours - Nomination of a Substantial Piece of Legal Writing Form

Bachelor of Laws with Honours

The Degree of LLB (Hons) is awarded on the basis of a review of a candidate's course for the Degree of Bachelor of Laws at the discretion of the Final Honours Board of the Faculty. Students undertaking combined degrees and wishing to graduate with Honours in their other discipline should consult the other faculty for further information.

Throughout the course of a Law degree, students may earn 'honours points' by achieving certain results in the Law subjects they undertake at the University of Melbourne. To understand the calculation of a student's honours points some explanation of the grading system at the University of Melbourne is required. The grading system is listed below with the grade in the column on the left, and the marks required for the achievement of the various grades in the column on the right:

Calculation of Honours Points

All Law subjects offered by the University of Melbourne are worth either 12.5, or 25 points. On the basis of grades awarded for these subjects, Honours points can be earned as follows:

Candidates who receive N for any 12.5 point subject lose 2 honours points for each failure. Candidates who receive N for any 25 point subject lose 4 honours points for each failure.

Subjects studied at institutions other than the University of Melbourne are not included in the calculation of a student's honours points. This includes the subject 730470 Centre for Transnational Legal Studies, subjects studied on a complementary course basis at another institution, subjects studied whilst on exchange, and/or subjects for which credit transfer has been awarded.

A formula has been developed to ensure that the calculation of honours points is not inequitable on this basis. The formula is:

Supplementary Examinations and Honours Points

Students sitting supplementary examinations may be awarded honours points for those subjects on the same basis as outlined above.

Where candidates have earned an equal number of honours points based on the calculation above, those candidates who have not been awarded honours points on the results of supplementary examinations shall be given preference in the final honours class list.

Eligibility for the award of the Honours Degree

In order to be eligible for the award of an Honours degree students must:

1. After obtaining 100 Law points, obtain an honours grade for a Substantial Piece of Legal Writing in an approved subject;
2. Complete all the remaining requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Laws and;
3. Submit an "LLB Honours Nomination of a Substantial Piece of Legal Writing" form to the Melbourne Law School Student Centre on the Mezzanine Level of the Law School.

The Final Honours Board

The Final Honours Board of the Law School is made up of senior academic staff members nominated by the Faculty. It is the responsibility of the Final Honours Board to determine the number of Honours degrees to be awarded , the points requirement for specific categories of the Honours degree (H1 - H3), and the position of each candidate on the ranked list of Honours graduates.

The final Honours Board has discretionary powers, which may be exercised in the following cases:

1. Where two or more candidates obtain honours points which, in the opinion of the Board, do not reflect significant differences between the merits of the candidates the Board may take into account a failure in any non-scoring (i.e. non-Law) subjects when deciding whether to rank the candidates equally or not in the order of merit.
2. In cases where a candidate would not otherwise obtain an honours degree the Board is empowered to take into account any special circumstances such as illness of which the Board has notice and which appears likely to have significantly affected the candidate's academic performance during his or her degree course.
3. Where, the Board deems appropriate by reason of special circumstances, it may determine that a candidate has qualified for the award of the degree with honours and grade the candidate in a particular division without placing the candidate in the ranked list of honours graduates.

Further Information

Further information about the Bachelor of Law with Honours may be obtained by emailing law-studentcentre@unimelb.edu.au, or by contacting the Melbourne Law School Student Centre on +61 3 8344 4475.

Substantial Piece of Legal Writing

The subjects listed below all satisfy the 'substantial piece of legal writing' requirement.

Substantial Piece of Legal Writing 2010

Previous years:

Substantial Piece of Legal Writing 2009

Substantial Piece of Legal Writing 2008

Substantial Piece of Legal Writing 2007

Substantial Piece of Legal Writing 2006

Substantial Pieces of Legal Writing 2005

Substantial Pieces of Legal Writing prior to 2003