Policy on Advanced Standing where you have studied two units in an area where we have only one
All Australian law schools are required to teach subjects that are compulsory for students who want to be admitted as a legal practitioner. The compulsory subject areas are set out in the Legal Profession Admission Rules 2005 (NSW), rule 95. The compulsory subjects include Criminal Law and Procedure and Equity.
At UNE we teach these subjects in a single, one semester unit (LS160 Criminal Law and Procedure and LS240 Equity and Trusts). UNE, like all universities, also has a compulsory introductory unit (LS100 Legal Systems and Method). All of these units are compulsory. Some universities teach these subjects (and others) as two single semester units.
If you have completed both units at your original institution
Although UNE tries to give unit for unit credit for any study undertaken at another Australian law school that is not always possible. Whilst we recognize that any unit taught by an Australian law school is of comparable quality to UNE and will give advanced standing for our unit, the extra work cannot be credited as an unspecified elective as it is not ‘at an appropriate level in terms of the specific course’ (University Advanced Standing Policy cl 10). In our degree students do 8 elective units at 300 level. Elective units either introduce students to new specific areas of law or extend their study in areas already covered. We cannot give advanced standing for 300 level units on the basis of extra study in the introductory/compulsory units. We could give advanced standing for unspecified 100 level electives, but there is no such thing in our degree rules. It follows that
If you have completed both units at your original institution you will be granted advanced standing for UNE’s single unit only.
If you have completed only one of the units at your original institution
If you have completed only one of the units at your original institution (for example if you have completed Equity, but not Trusts; Criminal Law but not Criminal Procedure; Legal Systems and Methods but not Legal Research) then we are unable to give you any advanced standing.
If you have completed only one out of two units, you have not covered the material that matches the subject areas of our units and may not have covered the material required by the Legal Profession Admission Rules 2005 (NSW).
Michael Eburn
Law Course Co-ordinator
5 October 2006