Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws

• Most people who do a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree take five years to complete it, full-time.
• In the first three years of candidature, you study both Arts components and Law components and, in this way, meet the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree. This leaves you the final two years to complete the remaining Law components, and to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree.
• Please note that the requirements given below refer in detail only to Years 1, 2 and 3 of the degree program. You can consult the Faculty of Law Handbook, in print or online, to find out more about the requirements for Years 4 and 5.

There’s considerable freedom of choice in what to study in the first three years of a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree, but there are a few requirements that you will have to follow. These requirements are listed here and explained in detail below.

Let's go through what each of these requirements involves in turn.

What are credit points?

• Students doing an Arts / Laws degree are able to choose to study in a wide range of subject areas – for example, History, English, Japanese, Philosophy, Music, Linguistics and, of course, Law.
• A semester-length component in a particular subject area is called a ‘unit of study’.
• Each unit of study is worth a certain number of ‘credit points’, depending on the level at which it is taught and the amount of work required. From 2006 all units of study are worth 6 credit points each.

How do I get 144 credit points?

• Most people studying full time take three years to complete the Bachelor of Arts component of the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree.
• Full-time students usually earn their 144 credit points by taking units of study worth a total of at least 48 credit points per year (about 24 credit points per semester) over these three years of their degree, that is:
• 48 credit points x 3 years = 144 credit points!

What is Part A in the Table of Units of Study?

• ‘Part A’ refers to the units of study that are listed in the Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Handbook, ‘Table of Units of Study: Part A’.
• All Part A units come from subject areas taught within the Faculty of Arts.

What is Part B in the Arts Table of Units of Study?

• ‘Part B’ refers to the units of study that are listed in the Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Handbook, Section 5 ‘Table of Units of Study: Part B’.
• Part B units come subject areas taught in the Faculties of Science, Economics & Business, and Education & Social Work.
• Detailed information on Part B units of study can be found in the relevant faculty handbook, or in the online handbooks.

How do these 96 credit points fit into the requirements for 144 credit points?

• The 96 credit points you earn from the Arts table of units of study (Parts A and B) will go together with 48 credit points from Law units of study (see Requirement 6 below for details), to make the total of 144 credit points in the first three years of your degree program.
• 96 credit points from Arts + 48 credit points from Law = 144 credit points in total!

What are junior credit points?

• You start your degree by taking ‘junior’ units of study. They form a foundation for more advanced ‘senior’ units. Junior units of study are worth 3 or 6 junior credit points each.
• Junior units are sometimes called 1000 level units because their unit of study codes all have the form 1XXX, e.g. CHNS1101, LNGS1005, SCLG1001, etc.

How many junior credit points should I do in my first year?

• Most full-time students take units of study worth a total of 48 junior credit points in their first year (generally a total of 24 credit points in each semester). It is important to remember that 48 credit points is also the maximum number allowed in first year.
• To make up 48 credit points in your first year, most students take four 6 credit point junior units in each semester. You will need to make sure to include:
• any junior prerequisites you may need for your Arts (Part A) senior requirements (see below).
• Check the Faculty of Arts Handbook, the online Table of Units of Study or the Unit of Study Database to find out if there are any prerequisites for senior units in the subjects you plan to study.
• the CORE junior Law units of study.
• There are two core Law units (both worth 6 credit points) that contribute to the first year 48 credit point load. These are:
  'Foundations of Law' (LAWS 1006) and
  'Torts (LAWS 1012).
  A third Law subject called 'Legal Research' (LAWS 1013) is also compulsory for first year, but is unusual in that it has NO credit point value.
• If you’re studying part-time, it is usually recommended that you do a minimum of 18 junior credit points in your first year of enrolment, so that you are eligible to meet progression requirements to be able to continue on to second year.

Here is an example of how you might put together 48 junior credit points in your first year, if you're studying full time:

• You may not necessarily choose the combinations given in the example above. Just remember, if you’re aiming to complete the Bachelor of Arts part of your degree in three years, to make sure your units add up to 48 credit points over the first year.

But that's only 36 junior credit points from the Arts Table!

• *
• That’s right! You can’t do all of the possible 48 junior credit points from the Arts table of units of study in your first year, because you also have to fit in the core junior Law units, and you’re not allowed to do more than 48 credit points in total in your first year.
• You can take the remaining 12 junior credit points in Arts in later years if you want to. But, it is okay if you choose to stay with just the 36 junior credit points in Arts that you’ve already got, and add some extra ‘senior’ credit points later instead. Requirement 3 simply states that you can do no more than 48 junior credit point from the Arts table.

Why can I do no more than 48 junior credit points from the Arts Table?

• While junior units give you an excellent introduction to a subject, and function as a foundation for further study, they aren’t, in themselves, sufficient to provide you with substantial expertise in a subject area. Junior units of study are necessary, but not sufficient, for a Bachelor’s degree!

What are senior credit points?

• ‘Senior’ units of study build on the foundation of learning established by junior units in a particular subject area.
• Senior units in Arts are sometimes called 2000 and 3000 level units because their unit of study codes all have the form 2XXX or 3XXX, e.g. SPAN2601, JCTC2606, ARBC3601, etc.

How would I get my senior credit points?

• You can’t start taking senior units of study until you have the appropriate foundation of junior units in place. In many (but not all) cases this means that you have to take junior units in the same subject area as prerequisites for your senior units. You’ll need to check the Faculty of Arts Handbook, in print or online, the online Table of Units of Study or the Unit of Study Database to find out if there are any prerequisites for senior units in the subject areas that interest you.
• Most full time students in the BA/BLaws program will start to take senior units of study in their second year, and continue in the third year. At this stage many students narrow down the range of subject areas in which they are studying, perhaps taking units of study from just two or three subject areas, rather than three or four as in the first year.
• From 2006, senior units of study from the Arts Table (Part A) will be worth 6 credit points each.
• See the diagram under Requirement 6 for an example of how you might put Arts senior units together with core senior units in Law in Years 2 and 3 of your degree program.

What's a major in the Faculty of Arts?

• To earn a major in a subject area (from Part A) in the Faculty of Arts, students will normally complete 36 senior credit points in THAT subject area. (The minimum number of senior credit points you can have to qualify for your major is 32.) Remember that senior units of study in Arts have 2XXX or 3XXX codes. Of course you need to have the appropriate junior (1XXX) prerequisites in place before you can do these senior units of study.

Can I do more than one major from the Arts Table?

• Unfortunately, you can’t fit in two majors from the Arts table of units of study in your Bachelor of Arts / Laws degree. However, note that:
• in addition to your Arts (Part A) major, you can do up to four senior units of study in one other subject area from the Arts table (Part A or B) if you choose to;
• you do not have to decide on the subject area of your major in first year; you can make that decision in second year, after you’ve tried out a range of different subject areas in Arts.

What are the core units of Law and when do I do them?

• We’ve already discussed the junior core Law units (see above under Requirement 3).
• In second year, you should do the following core units:
  ‘Criminal Law’ (LAWS 1016) and
  ‘Contracts’ (LAWS 1015) and
  'Processes of Justice' (LAWS1014)
• In third year, you should do the following core units:
  'International Law' (LAWS1018) and
  'Public Law' (LAWS1021) and
  'Torts and Contracts II' (LAWS1017) and
  'Legal Research II' (LAWS1019)
• It is possible that the number of compulsory Law units will change.

• Most full-time students will get the required senior credit points over their second and third years by choosing subjects that add up to 24 credit points in each semester. (24 credit points x 4 semesters = 96 credit points).
• Here is an example of how you might put together your senior credit points over your second and third years:

• 48 senior credit points in Year 2 and 48 in Year 3 adds up to 96 senior credit points, which is equal to the required 48 Arts +48 Law = 96 senior credit points. Any appropriate combination of senior units of study is allowed, as long as you get a total of at least 96 credit points, and as long as you do the core Law units and the units required for your Arts (Part A) major.
• When you sum the credit points earned in Years 1, 2 and 3, you can see they add up to 144 credit points … you’ve satisfied the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts component of your Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree!!!

What's the maximum number of credit points I can take per semester?

• You might want to take more than the usual number of credit points in one semester – perhaps to make up for a unit of study that you have failed or to try to get through your degree more quickly.
• You are permitted to do up to (but no more than) 30 credit points per semester in your second and third years. However, be aware that 30 credit points in a single semester is a very heavy load. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to do your best in each unit you take (and very unlikely that you’ll have a life while you do it!)

• By the time you get to Years 4 and 5 of your degree you will have completed the Bachelor of Arts component, and will focus only on the remaining Law components of your degree. You’ll take Law units of study worth 48 credit points per year.
• At this time, the supervision of your candidature will be transferred from the Faculty of Arts to the Faculty of Law.

Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws - Degree Overview