Juris Doctor (MC-JURISD) // Course structure

Course structure

The Juris Doctor requires the successful completion of 300 credit points.

To obtain the degree students must complete:

• 200 credit points of compulsory subjects
• Juris Doctor (JD) students are not allowed to select a fourth subject in Semester 1, Year 1. Elective subjects can only be taken in Year 2 and 3 respectively.
• 100 credit points of JD (quota and enrichment) and Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) elective subjects including
  • A maximum of 100 credit points of JD quota elective subjects
  • A maximum of 100 credit points of JD enrichment elective subjects
  • A maximum of 25 credit points of MLM elective subjects
• Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) electives: JD students can apply to take up to 25 credit points of their electives (typically two) from the list of MLM electives. Students cannot self-enrol into MLM electives. Enrolments will be confirmed after a selection process has been run.

Compulsory Subjects

Sixteen subjects are compulsory, enabling the School to provide its students with cumulative learning, by integrating both subject matter and skills across and between semesters. These subjects are organised so as to ensure a balanced range in each semester, between which linkages can be made. In addition, subjects in both private and public law build progressively over the semesters, contributing to the effectiveness of the learning experience.

In the first semester of the JD students are grouped into cohorts for compulsory subjects. This enhances the collegial experience of, and learning communities forged between, students during their time in the School and establishes bonds that will continue long after graduation.

Elective Subjects

The remaining eight subjects are chosen by students from a wide range of optional subjects offered by the School. These vary from year to year, enabling the School to respond to changes in the law and legal thinking and giving students access to the latest developments in research by some of the leading scholars in the School.

Standard course structure - 3 years

In its standard form, the degree is taken full time over three years. This format enables students to take advantage of other educational, professional and social opportunities during the summer and winter breaks, including seasonal clerkships, international exchanges, internships, mooting and Law Review editorial work.

Flexible course structures - 2.5, 3.5, 4-6 years

The Melbourne JD can also be accelerated by students with outstanding results with approval from the Law School, by utilizing the summer and winter break periods to complete additional JD subjects. The Melbourne JD can also be extended and there are several different course structures available for both full time and part time students. This flexibility enables students to take advantage of other educational, professional and social opportunities during the summer and winter breaks, including seasonal clerkships, international exchanges, internships, mooting and Law Review editorial work. These opportunities are necessarily more limited for accelerating students.

Subject Options

Melbourne JD compulsory and elective subjects

The below subjects are structured based on the three year full-time JD course structure. Alternative course structures can be found on the Melbourne Law School website via:

https://law.unimelb.edu.au/students/jd/studies/course-plans

Year 1 - Foundation Subject

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS50023	Legal Method and Reasoning	Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Year 1 - Compulsory Subjects

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS50024	Principles of Public Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50026	Obligations	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90140	Disputes and Ethics	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50028	Constitutional Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50029	Contracts	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50025	Torts	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50031	Legal Theory	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Year 2 - Compulsory Subjects

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS50032	Administrative Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50033	Equity and Trusts	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50030	Property	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50034	Criminal Law and Procedure	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50035	Corporations Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50037	Evidence and Proof	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Year 3 - Compulsory Subjects

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS50039	Legal Research	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50036	Remedies	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Elective subjects

During the JD, students must complete 100 credit points of elective study. Students following the Full Time 3 Year Course Structure would generally complete:

• Two electives in Year 2
• Six electives in Year 3

Electives in the JD fall under three broad categories:

1. JD quota electives

2. JD enrichment electives

3. Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) electives available to JD students

The timeline and process for enrolment in electives in each category are outlined in full on the Melbourne Law School website, respectively:

https://law.unimelb.edu.au/students/jd/studies/enrolment

https://law.unimelb.edu.au/students/jd/studies/enrolment/jd-electives

JD quota elective subjects

All timely JD quota elective enrolments are subject to a selection process which the Academic Support Office will perform after the timely re-enrolment period closes. Late self-enrolment is on a first-in basis up to quota.

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS50130	Advanced Torts	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50055	Advocacy	February (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90213	Commercial Data Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90059	Commercial Law in Practice	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50063	Competition Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50084	Construction Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90197	Consumer Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90074	Copyright and Designs	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90136	Criminal Institutions	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50050	Cross-Border Litigation	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90187	Economic Analysis of Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50064	Employment Law	February (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50078	Environmental Law	January (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50047	Family Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90243	Future Lawyer	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50049	Human Rights Law and Practice	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50093	Insolvency Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50128	Intellectual Property & Popular Culture	Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50094	International Commercial Law & Disputes	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90212	Law and Civil Society in Asia	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90245	Law and Human Nature	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90008	Law and Indigenous Peoples	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90033	Law Apps	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90036	Legal Drafting	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50096	Media Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90039	Mediation	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50108	Mergers, Acquisitions & Capital Markets	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50131	Negotiations	Summer Term (Online) Summer Term (Online) July (Online)	12.5
LAWS90075	Patents and Trade Secrets	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50127	Philosophical Foundations of Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50041	Public International Law	July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50101	Refugee Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90108	Start-Up Law	Winter Term (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50046	Taxation Law and Policy	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50075	Trade Mark Law	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90191	Treaty: Indigenous-settler Agreements	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50109	World Trade Organisation Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90258	Executive Branch Research Lab	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90262	Law and Global Health	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90261	Making Sense of Statutes	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90260	Personal Injury Litigation	November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90256	Race and the Legal Profession	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50119	Sports Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

JD enrichment elective subjects

JD enrichment electives have an application and selection process. Students cannot self-enrol into these electives. Enrolments will be confirmed after a selection process has been run.

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS90214	Indigenous Law in Aotearoa and Australia	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90209	Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50042	Jessup Moot	August (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90006	Law and Legal Practice in Asia	October (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50059	Legal Internship	January (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) June (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50060	Melbourne Journal of International Law	Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50058	Melbourne University Law Review	Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90164	MLS Tax Clinic	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90189	NDIS and Disability Benefits Clinic	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50114	New Ideas in Legal Scholarship	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90107	New Technology Law	July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90241	Projects and the Environment Practicum	December (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50116	Public Interest Law Clinic	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50102	Street Law	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS50126	Sustainability Business Clinic	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90257	Access to Justice on Country	April (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90201	Listed Company M&A in Practice	September (Off Campus)	12.5
LAWS90259	Stateless Legal Clinic	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90198	COVID-19 Assistance Project	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90004	Disability Human Rights Clinic	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90060	International Criminal Justice Clinic	Not available in 2023	12.5

Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) elective subjects

JD students can apply to take up to 25 credit points of their electives (typically two) from the list of MLM electives below. Students cannot self-enrol into MLM electives. Enrolments will be confirmed after a selection process has been run.

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS90145	Artificial Intelligence and the Law	March (On Campus - Parkville) August (On Campus - Parkville) November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90147	Biodiversity Law	October (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70011	Commercial Applications of Equity	July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70230	Commercial Law in Asia	September (Dual-Delivery - Parkville) November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70009	Comparative Corporate Tax	September (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90157	Esports and the Law	February (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70151	Global Health Law	July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70234	International Humanitarian Law	March (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90017	International Tax: Anti-avoidance	November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70225	Medical Litigation	May (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70080	Online Streaming, Film and TV Law	May (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70021	Patent Law	March (Dual-Delivery - Parkville) November (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70239	Payment Matters in Construction Projects	October (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70112	Remedies in the Construction Context	July (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70046	Trade Marks and Unfair Competition	August (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS70322	WTO Law and Dispute Settlement	July (Online) August (On Campus - Parkville) October (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
LAWS90227	Human Rights and the Digital State	March (Online)	12.5

Elective subjects not offered this year

The following subjects have been offered as electives in the JD Quota list previously, however are not available for enrolment this year:

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
LAWS90161	Advanced Constitutional Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50110	Advanced Topics in Taxation	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90186	Advanced Trusts Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90061	American Constitutional History & Rights	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50122	Animals and the Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50056	Climate Change Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50088	Commercial Law In Asia	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50115	Commercial Restitution	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50085	Consumer Protection Law And Policy	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50057	Copyright and Patents	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90078	Corporate Governance	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90005	Corporate Tax	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90198	COVID-19 Assistance Project	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50125	Criminal Justice: Drugs in Asia	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50066	Cyberlaw	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50051	Deals	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50080	Deals In Asia Pacific	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50118	Democracy, Law and Civil Liberties	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90004	Disability Human Rights Clinic	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90037	Economic and Business Law in Asia	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50070	Encounters: Meeting of Laws in Australia	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90079	Entertainment Deals	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50068	Equality and Discrimination Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50067	European Civil Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50071	Global Lawyer	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90133	Health Law and Ethics	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90109	Histories of International Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50069	Human Rights Lawyering	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50045	Institutions in International Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90228	International Capital Markets	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90060	International Criminal Justice Clinic	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50052	International Criminal Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50133	International Environmental Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50091	International Investment Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90240	Law and Automation	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50121	Law and Literature	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90076	Law and the Holocaust	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90188	Law of Commercial Arbitration	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90162	Law of Commercial Cyberspace	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90038	Law of Elections	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50098	Law Reform	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50117	Law, Justice & Human Rights in China	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50095	Legal Histories	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90007	Media Regulation and Freedom of Speech	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50132	Multiculturalism Religion and the Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50106	Murder	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90077	Not for Profits and the Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50124	Private Law: Theoretical Perspectives	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90134	Property Law and the City	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90135	Rights and Freedoms in Malaysia	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90190	Sexualities, Gender, Activism and Law	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS50120	The Rule of Law in Theory & in Practice	Not available in 2023	12.5
LAWS90163	Why Tax Systems Differ Between Countries	Not available in 2023	12.5

Last updated: 10 November 2023