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Access to Justice on Country (LAWS90257)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | April |
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Fees | Look up fees |
“The British settlers took our land. No treaties were signed with the tribes. Today we are refugees. Refugees in the country of our ancestors.”
Larrakia Petition to the Queen, 1972
This subject is an experiential and ‘On-Country’ learning experience, delivered on site on a chosen First Nations Country, as well as in classes taught on Wurundjeri Country at MLS. Through on Country experience and engagement with a range of organisations and practitioners, students will consider key and emerging issues of access-to-justice that lawyers must critically engage with in their work, with particular attention to First Nations justice.
Students in this subject will consider community understandings and aspirations of justice in the settler-colony, key barriers and debates in relation to enhancing public access-to-justice, emerging justice models and the ethical duties and interpersonal conduct of lawyers responding to these dynamics. As a group, we will seek to understand how to navigate barriers to access to justice together, including by questioning what justice really means and who gets to define it.
The subject will engage students in comparative analysis and critique of access to justice issues in the chosen jurisdiction and Country and in MLS’ ‘home’ context on Wurundjeri Country in Victoria. A series of seminars at MLS will introduce key themes of the subject and prepare students for the on-country component.
Students will then travel to the chosen jurisdiction/Country for approximately 10 days for the place-based-learning component of the subject. While therestudents will visit and hear from a range of justice and human rights organisations, including community, government and civil society organisations, as well as visiting sites of significance.
Students will be encouraged to consider their own positionality in relation to and complicity in barriers to access-to-justice within legal institutions. Students will be able to develop place-based connections and will be encouraged to learn through a variety of modalities, including reflective writing, place-based-learning and discussion.
Principal topics will include:
- The historic and contemporary context of Aboriginal justice in the Northern Territory and in Victoria
- Community understandings of justice – e.g. economic and social justice frameworks, recognition of Aboriginal law and justice systems, land justice and Treaty.
- Access to Justice policy in Australia e.g. publicly funded legal aid, emerging models for legal service delivery to reduce access-to-justice gaps
- The role of Aboriginal corporations and community-controlled organisations contributing to self-determined initiatives in the subject site.
- Recent developments in justice policy in the Northern Territory e.g the Aboriginal Justice Agreement
- Ethical obligations of lawyers to improve access to justice e.g. culturally-responsive and client-centred lawyering
- Students own positionality, including the office of the lawyer and its complicity in barriers to access-to-justice
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Explain and critique approaches to access to justice, and demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of public policy governing legal aid services provision in Australia, and emerging alternatives to traditional models
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the formal and informal barriers to access to justice that exist in context, and how these barriers impact outcomes for clients and communities with reference to the subject site
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of place-based and community owned understandings of justice, and how these differ from hegemonic understandings
- Understand and critique the operation of legal pluralism, and encounters of systems of laws within the particular context
- Discuss and critique the ethical and interpersonal obligations of lawyers as well as the student's own positionality in relation to achieving effective access to justice
Generic skills
- Legal and interdisciplinary research
- Cultural responsiveness and cultural humility
- Oral and written communication
- Reflective writing
- Professional conduct and relationship building
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
AND
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50023 | Legal Method and Reasoning | Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
AND
At least a further 25 credit points from the JD compulsory subject program.
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Attendance, participation and satisfactory behaviour. Hurdle requirement: Satisfactory participation in subject, including attendance at all class and travel unless with reasonable excuse. Satisfactory behaviour during travelling component, including reasonable punctuality, active participation in seminars, observance of cultural protocols and respectful engagement with guests. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Reflective assignment (marking code 3)
| Due before departure for travel. | 15% |
Reflective assignment #2 (marking code 3)
| Due upon return from travel. | 15% |
Blog post on a topic developed by the student and approved by the subject coordinator
| During the teaching period | 20% |
Legal writing piece on a topic to be approved by the subject coordinator (marking code 2)
| End of the assessment period | 50% |
Additional details
The due date of the above assessment(s) will be available to students via the Assessment Schedule on the LMS Community.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- April
Principal coordinator Eddie Cubillo Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Seminars: 4 x 2-hour seminars, on campus, Wednesdays on 26 April, 3, 10 and 17 May 2023 (Weeks 8 - 11 of Semester 1) Travel dates: 3 - 14 July 2023. Total time commitment 144 hours Pre teaching start date 10 April 2023 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 24 April 2023 to 14 July 2023 Last self-enrol date 13 November 2022 Census date 12 May 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 14 July 2023 Assessment period ends 25 August 2023
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
This subject has an enrolment quota of 18 students.
This subject is an application-based enrichment subject. More information about the application process can be found on the JD LMS Community.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be available via the LMS.
Last updated: 31 January 2024