Course details

Summary

A masters degree for professionals who do not have an undergraduate law degree but whose work involves, or who have a personal interest in, legal issues and dealing with legislation.

Programme overview

Suited to professionals from non-legal backgrounds who require some knowledge of legal matters. Professionals who will particularly benefit include accountants and auditors, architects and town planners, business development managers, compliance managers, engineers, IT professionals, police and public sector staff.

This programme has a similar structure to the Master of Laws and offers six specialisations: Corporate and Commercial Law, Environmental Law, Human Rights Law, International Law, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, and Public Law.

The MLS allows cross-disciplinary study of postgraduate courses from other University of Auckland faculties, enabling you to advance your professional skills while acquiring knowledge of the law.

Human Rights Law

Human Rights Law is a developing subject internationally, and the University of Auckland is a national leader in the field. Specialisations include Comparative Bills of Rights, Human Rights and the Criminal Law, Mental Health Law, International Human Rights, and Counterterrorism Law, and Third to First World Relations. To the Faculty of Law’s own group of teachers and researchers is added annually a number of invited teachers with a menu of subjects that changes annually. Recent such courses have included Human Rights in Education Law and Policy: US and NZ Perspectives, Comparative Human Rights Law, Terrorism and the Rule of Law, Tort Law and Human Rights, and Comparative Indigenous Peoples and the Law.

Requirements for Specialisation

LAWGENRL 702,712 LAWPUBL 708, 711, 713, 723-725, 731-738, 744
• Such other 700 level Special Topic courses in Law as the Dean of the Faculty of Law approves from year to year as relevant for inclusion in this specialisation.
LAW 790 Dissertation
LAW 796 Thesis 1
LAW 797 Thesis 2
LAW 794 Research Portfolio 1
LAW 798 Research Portfolio 2

Programme structure

The 120-point research masters pathway needs to be completed in two full-time semesters (1 year) or 4 part-time (2 years). For a taught masters it needs to be completed in two full-time semesters (1 year) or eight part-time (4 years).

The 180-point research masters pathway needs to be completed in three full-time semesters (1.5 years) or six semesters part-time (3 years). For a taught masters it needs to be completed in three semesters full-time (1.5 years) or 12 part-time (6 years).

Where could this programme take you?

As the MLS is tailored to professionals from non-legal backgrounds who require some knowledge of legal matters, but who do not necessarily want to practise law, there is a wide range of professionals who will benefit. Please note that completion of this degree will not satisfy the entry requirements for admission as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand and is not a substitute for an LLB degree.

Jobs related to this programme

• Accountants and auditors
• Architects and town planners
• Business development managers and compliance managers
• Engineers
• IT professionals
• Police
• Public sector staff

Further study options

• Doctor of Philosophy

Entry criteria

You must have completed a four-year undergraduate degree or an undergraduate degree followed by an additional year of postgraduate study. Your study must have been at a recognised university (or similar institution) and you will need a GPE of 5.0 from your most recent full-time year of study.

English language requirements:
IELTS 6.5; TOEFL (iBT) 90; TOEFL (paper-based) 575; CAE or CPE 176; PTE 58; MELAB 85