Undergraduate: Course rule and topic information

Bachelor of Justice and Society

(BJus&Soc)

Program of study
Honours degree
Combined degrees program

INTRODUCTION

The Bachelor of Justice and Society requires three years of full-time study (or the equivalent part-time) and the honours program an additional year (or the equivalent part-time). The course is offered by the Faculty of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology.

Enrolment in the honours program may be offered to a student who meets certain academic criteria and subject to the school/department being able to provide appropriate resources and staff to supervise the program of study.

A Bachelor of Justice and Society also may be studied in a combined program with a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (five-and-a-half years full-time or equivalent) and a Bachelor of Laws (five years full-time or equivalent).

COURSE AIMS

This course is designed to give students the intellectual tools to research and evaluate the way the legal system works in practice in society.

Students develop:

• an understanding of concepts central to the structure and functioning of a just society, such as rights, laws, freedom, power and rules;
• an overview of how modern society works, as well as different conceptions of justice;
• skills to research and analyse social issues and assess proposals for social change; and
• a specific understanding of social policy, including how public policy is developed, implemented, reviewed and reformed within society.

Students will also acquire high levels of skills applicable in many occupations: the ability to reason and argue clearly; to understand complex positions and their implications; the ability to recognise and resolve issues involving values; and the skills required to understand and constructively criticise contemporary life.

COURSE RULE

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The minimum requirements for consideration for entry to all undergraduate courses are specified in detail in the University Entry Requirements.

PROGRAM OF STUDY [November, 2007]

To qualify for the Bachelor of Justice and Society, a student must complete 108 units with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic, according to the following program of study.

Not all topics are necessarily available in a given year.

Elective topics may be selected from any offered by the University, provided entry and course requirements are met.

First Year

36 units comprising:

CRIM1003	Crime and Criminology	4.5
CRIM1004	Criminal Justice System	4.5
LEGL1001	Australian Legal System	4.5
PHIL1030	The Individual and Society	4.5
PHIL1060	Critical Reasoning	4.5
LEGL1003	Contemporary Legal Issues	4.5
	First Year elective topics	9

Second and Third Years

72 units comprising:

(a)

at least one of:

PHIL2330	Freedom, Law and Society	6
PHIL2335	Rights, Welfare and Power	6

(b)

at least one of:

PHIL2110	Moral Philosophy	6
PHIL2130	Bioethics	6

(c)

and 6 units of Philosophy topics from the following:

(d)

and

LEGL2002

Researching Juvenile Crime

6

(e)

and 12 units of Legal Studies topics from the following:

LEGL2001	Child Protection	6
LEGL2003	Gender, Law and Society	6
LEGL2004	Access to Justice in Australia	6
LEGL2100	Small Business: Legal Issues	6
LEGL2101	Small Business: Legal Foundations	3
LEGL2102	Small Business: Legal Applications	3
LEGL2103	Technology, Regulation and Society	6
LEGL3002	Income Support, Justice and the State	6
LEGL3007	Information Technology and the Law	6
LEGL3010	Comparing Legal Cultures	6
LEGL3013	Law and Welfare	6
LEGL3014	Migrants, Policy and the Law	6
LEGL3016	Law and Urban Change: The Impact of Built Heritage	6
LEGL3021	Mediation Theory and Practice	6
LEGL3023	Cultural Heritage and the Law	6
LEGL3027	Law, Public Health and the Environment	6
LEGL3028	Regulating Environmental Change	6

OR

Students may substitute one 6-unit topic from the following list for the Second and Third Year LEGL topics above:

Not all these topics will be available each year.

(f)

and

JUSS3000

Seminar in Justice and Society

6

(g)

Either

JUSS3001

Practicum/Work Placement in Bachelor of Justice and Society

6

AND 24 units of upper level elective topics

OR 30 units of upper level elective topics

HONOURS DEGREE

A student who has completed all the requirements of the Bachelor of Justice and Society, or another qualification which the Faculty Board agrees is equivalent, may be accepted as a candidate for the honours degree providing a sufficiently high standard has been achieved in fulfilling the requirements for the bachelors degree. Consult the Bachelor of Justice and Society honours handbook for more details.

To qualify for the honours degree, a student must complete satisfactorily 36 units of study, comprising: 9-unit Legal Studies honours topic; 9-unit Philosophy honours topic; and 18-unit Thesis.

COMBINED DEGREES PROGRAM

BACHELOR OF JUSTICE AND SOCIETY/BACHELOR OF LAWS AND LEGAL PRACTICE

The combined degrees program of Bachelor of Justice and Society/Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice requires the completion of a minimum of 192 units of study and a Bachelor of Justice and Society/Bachelor of Laws a minimum of 174 units.

For admission to the program, students must first apply for admission to the Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice. If successful, they will be given the option of taking up the combined degrees program at the time of their first enrolment.

Eligible students who decline the offer to take up the combined degrees program at enrolment and wish in a subsequent year to enrol in the combined degrees program will be required to apply to SATAC for admission to the Bachelor of Justice and Society.

Students who commence, but subsequently do not wish to complete, the combined degrees program may be eligible to transfer to either the Bachelor of Justice and Society or Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice programs and to receive credit for some or all of the topics already completed.

Program of study
To qualify for the combined degrees of Bachelor of Justice and Society/Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice a student must complete the following program of study with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic:

• a Law component of 138 units for the Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice or 120 units for the Bachelor of Laws [see Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice entry for further information];

• a Justice and Society component of 66 units, consisting of 27 units of Philosophy topics including PHIL1030 and PHIL1060 at first year level and 18 units at upper level as set out under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of the program of studies for the Bachelor of Justice and Society. Students must also complete 27 units of Legal Studies topics including LEGL1001 and LEGL1003 at first year level and 18 units at upper level as set out under clauses (d) and (e) of the program of studies for the Bachelor of Justice and Society.
  Students must also complete JUSS3000 (clause f) and either JUSS3001 or an upper level elective. The Bachelor of Justice and Society component may be reduced to a minimum of 54 units if PHIL2330 and up to 6 units from CRIM2002, CRIM3001, CRIM3002 or CRIM3003 are included as electives in the Law component.