Course details

Summary

If you're interested in how society is governed by law and how laws are made, and you love communicating ideas and solving problems, then the Bachelor of Laws is the right degree for you.

To practise law in New Zealand you need to have a law degree. Designed to hone your skills in communication, problem-solving, research and independent thinking, your degree will be prized by employers in many different fields.

You'll learn to apply the techniques of legal analysis and gain a solid grounding in different aspects of law, including public law, commercial law, international law, common law and statute law.

Gain the skills and vocabulary to both uphold and challenge the legal principles that govern our daily lives. You'll get the opportunity to put what you learn into practice straight away by entering debates and legal competitions, clerking and contributing to justice projects and community law organisations.

You'll need to complete 90 non-Law points by the end of your Bachelor of Laws, so you might want to combine your LLB with another degree. This will take a minimum of five years’ study. Law can be combined with any subject offered at Victoria through a conjoint or double degree.

First year

In your first year, you'll study three core 100-level courses and make up the rest of your required degree points with non-Law courses.

The core courses give you a basic introduction to the New Zealand legal system and its relationship to government, Parliament and the courts. You'll look at the Treaty of Waitangi and our constitutional framework, and explore critical, theoretical and cultural perspectives on the legal system, including race and gender issues.

Gain an understanding of legislation and the processes involved in drafting and interpretation. Learn about case law, how precedent works and gain case law reasoning skills. You'll study the social context of why judges make the decisions they do, and the interaction between case law and legislation.

Second year

If you're selected for second-year Law, you'll need to take five 200-level full-year courses the Law of Contract, the Law of Torts, Public Law, Criminal Law and Legal Research, Writing and Mooting.

You'll learn how to use the Law Library and computer databases, how to refer to and cite legal sources and how to prepare legal opinions. You also get to argue a case before a judge in a mock New Zealand courtroom.

Third and fourth years

The third and fourth years of the LLB will give you a deeper insight into law. You'll be able to choose from a variety of courses, so use your choices wisely and limit your Law electives to no more than four a semester to keep your workload under control.

Bachelor of Laws with Honours

If you do very well in three 200-level Law courses, you'll be invited to join the Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LLB(Hons)) programme in your third or fourth year. This is a separate undergraduate degree that expands your research, writing and analytical skills in a range of specialist areas.

Get a postgraduate qualification

If you're interested in continuing your Law studies you can study a Master of Laws (LLM) over one year full time. Or, if you want to get out to the workforce, you might be interested to take some of our short courses as professional development for practitioners.

Entry criteria

To be accepted into this degree you need:

• Achievement of the International Baccalaureate Diploma
• Successful completion of the All-India Senior School Certificate (AISSC) with an average of 75 per cent or higher overall
• Successful completion of the India School Certificate (ISC) with an average of 75 per cent or higher overall

Other English Language requirements:

• IELTS: minimum overall score of 6.0 with no sub-score below 5.5
• TOEFL: minimum overall score of 80 (internet-based test)
• Pearson Test of English: minimum score of 58 (with a 'Communicative score' of not less than 50)
• EPP: minimum final scores of 4,4,4,3
• A grade of 65% or higher in English in the AISSC or ISC