School of Law: About the Law School
Introduction
The School of Law at Flinders University was established to help
meet an overwhelming demand for University places in law. In 1992 the
first 60 undergraduates were admitted into the Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
programme. Since that time both the size of the intake and the
choices available to students have increased dramatically. Most
significantly, in 1999 the new LLB/LP
programme commenced. This gives Flinders students the option not
just of obtaining a law degree, but also the practical legal training
(PLT) needed to gain admission to practise law as a solicitor or
barrister. The PLT component is taught in conjunction with the Law
Society of South Australia. By integrating it into their
undergraduate degree, students can become qualified to practise
without having to pay upfront fees for the final part of their
training, unlike their counterparts at many other law schools.
One thing that has changed little over the past decade has been
the success of the Flinders law programme. It has consistently been
given outstanding ratings by LLB graduates, who in turn have been
highly valued by employers for the skills they possess. With the Law
School now also responsible for the popular and innovative Criminal
Justice major and also for the teaching of most Law
topics in the Commerce programme, its role in providing high
quality education and training will continue to evolve.
Charter and Goals of the Law School
The Law School is a community which seeks to promote a broad
understanding of law and legal systems through teaching, scholarship
and involvement in the community at large.
Under that broad charter, the Law School has adopted the following
goals as part of its strategic plan:
- To maintain and develop a small, high quality Bachelor of Laws
and Legal Practice programme which provides a broad legal
education, integrates practical legal training with the teaching
of substantive law and allows graduates to pursue a variety of
careers in the legal profession and in other sectors.
- To maintain and develop high quality Criminal Justice
programmes that provide an understanding of criminological
research and criminal justice policy.
- To maintain and develop other undergraduate, postgraduate and
continuing education programmes which reflect staff expertise and
meet the needs of the community.
- To promote equity in access to legal education and to the
legal profession.
- To encourage and provide support for legal and criminological
research and to enhance the national and international reputation
of the Law School.
- To foster co-operation with the University community, with
other institutions and with other disciplines.
- To promote a healthy, pleasant, inclusive and mutually
respectful working environment in which the Law School can be
effectively managed and workloads equitably distributed.
- To promote a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect between
the staff and students of the Law School.
- To promote a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect between
the Law School and the legal profession and the wider
community.
- To gain recognition for having achieved these goals.
Legal Education at Flinders
The course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Laws and Legal
Practice is designed with the intention that students will obtain:
(a) knowledge, understanding and the capacity to critically
appreciate and evaluate Australian law and the Australian legal
system, taking into account historical development and societal
imperatives; (b) facility in a range of basic legal and generic
skills that assist in the translation of legal rights into effective
outcomes; and (c) competence in applied legal skills essential to the
ethical and professional conduct of legal practice, broadly
construed. The overarching aim is to have graduates properly prepared
to enter upon the practice of law in Australia.
Particular skills emphasised include:
- legal research techniques, in particular the capacity to
locate primary source material (statutes and judicial decisions)
in both the traditional hard copy and in the developing range of
electronic data bases;
- legal reasoning, especially case analysis, statutory
interpretation and an appreciation of how facts are established
and their relevance determined;
- critical evaluation of legal rules and policy issues;
- presentation of arguments, both orally and in writing;
- interpersonal communication, for instance in the contexts of
interviewing clients or conducting negotiations; and
- use of plain and understandable English in legal drafting and
other forms of writing.
Legal skills such as the interpretation and analysis of statute
and precedent, the oral and written presentation of legal argument,
the ability to retrieve information and the capacity to distinguish
the relevant from the irrelevant are of value in a variety of careers
as well as professional legal practice.
Within Australia the content of both academic and practical
courses in law is influenced by the lists of subject areas and skills
which have been agreed by admitting authorities. These lists
(commonly referred to as the Priestley 11 and the Priestley 12) set
out the areas of study which are essential if a graduate is to be
admitted as a legal practitioner. Compliance with these lists is
regulated in this State by the Legal Practice Education and Admission
Council (LPEAC), which is satisfied that the Flinders degree is fully
compliant.
The topics for the law degree are taught on a semester basis. The
first year of the course seeks to introduce students to the nature
and structure of the legal system and to a cross-section of
substantive legal principles involving civil law, criminal law and
public law. The remaining compulsory law topics consolidate these
principles and cover the remaining areas of substantive law and legal
procedure generally accepted as the core areas. Elective topics
enable students, as desired, to develop specialist knowledge and
skills, a greater understanding of the social impact or theoretical
bases of the law, and an appreciation of possible future directions
of the law. The legal practice topics provide students with the
knowledge and skills relevant to the conduct of legal practice. For
students who have not previously done so, some tertiary study of
topics outside the legal area is required. Combined degrees are
encouraged.
Students are expected to view the law in its historical,
conceptual and social context. Critical evaluation of the evolution,
purpose and operation of the law is part of all compulsory and
elective topics. Study of the history and philosophy of law is one
topic within the compulsory core. Throughout the course attention is
directed to philosophical, economic, racial and gender-based
analyses. The legal practice topics are linked to the substantive
topics in the law core so that students are able to apply substantive
principles within the related practical environment.
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