A Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree provides candidates with a law degree that opens doors to a diverse range of professional careers in Australia and around the world.

In addition to equipping you with an understanding of law and the contexts in which it operates, the LLB (Hons) places a significant emphasis on building your high-level research skills through opportunities to conduct independent legal research.

Through the LLB (Hons), you will graduate with an honours-degree, giving you additional advantages in establishing your career or providing a strong foundation for postgraduate study. The program satisfies the academic component to be admitted as a legal practitioner in Australia.

Are you a leader? The Australian National University is a leader too, especially in the fields of philosophy, politics and economics. This progressive and well regarded degree will arm you with the moral, economic and political perspectives you need to make a real impact.

The Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics has a strong international component that gives you the opportunity to engage with other leading Universities around the world.

You will develop exceptional problem solving skills and critical and conceptual thinking, all while gaining a passport to some of the world’s most promising careers.

Employment Opportunities

Law graduates may find work either in areas where a law degree is a professional requirement or more general fields in which law is especially useful. A Bachelor of Laws would normally be a requirement for the following occupations: a Barrister or Solicitor in professional practice; a Legal Officer in government departments or private enterprise; a Corporate Legal Officer in private industry, commerce and finance; community legal work; law teaching and academic research; a Judge's Associate, and legal journalism. To practice as a Barrister or Solicitor graduates must complete professional training such as the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at ANU. More general fields of employment include: the Australian Foreign Service; industrial relations; social welfare; government administration; business management; lobbying; media; public relations; law librarianship; court reporting; environmental agencies; technology and communications; and Federal and State police forces. Law graduates may find work either in areas where a law degree is a professional requirement or more general fields in which law is especially useful. A Bachelor of Laws would normally be a requirement for the following occupations: a Barrister or Solicitor in professional practice; a Legal Officer in government departments or private enterprise; a Corporate Legal Officer in private industry, commerce and finance; community legal work; law teaching and academic research; a Judge's Associate, and legal journalism. To practice as a Barrister or Solicitor graduates must complete professional training such as the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at ANU. More general fields of employment include: the Australian Foreign Service; industrial relations; social welfare; government administration; business management; lobbying; media; public relations; law librarianship; court reporting; environmental agencies; technology and communications; and Federal and State police forces. 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program graduates will be able to:

• review, analyse, consolidate and synthesise knowledge from primary and secondary legal sources to identify and provide solutions to complex legal and justice problems with some intellectual independence;
• demonstrate a broad understanding of law and theoretical understandings of law with advanced understanding of caselaw, legislation and extrinsic legislative material, government documents and academic commentary on law;
• exercise critical thinking and judgment in developing new understandings about the nature of law and the impact of law in society;
• use technical legal research skills, and interdisciplinary research skills, to access a range of legal materials and other research materials in literature databases and other online sources;
• use those technical skills to conduct research with some independence; and
• communicate research to a variety of legal and non-legal audiences and in a range of presentation and writing formats.

Identify the principal theoretical approaches to the study of PPE, and the relationships between them;

Identify main currents in the three disciplines of PPE and their theoretical bases;

Define, critically discuss and apply:

1. major philosophical theories and approaches to the evaluation of social institutions;

2. the methods of economics to the study of political institutions and processes;

3. the methods of economics to questions within political philosophy;

4. the assumptions, ‘tools’ and limitations of political economy;

5. the core arguments and principles of public choice and rational choice theory.

Describe and evaluate how the core arguments and principles of public choice and rational choice theory affect and influence political situations, institutions and complex political processes in liberal democracies;

Recognise and analyse the different actors, processes and stages involved in formulating public policies; and

Analyse practical dilemmas that arise in politics using the theories, approaches and methods of the three main disciplines of PPE.

Admission Requirements

Prerequisites

None.  However, there there may be prerequisites or levels of assumed knowledge for certain individual subjects.

Adjustment Factors

The National Access Scheme 2014

ANU offers bonus points for nationally strategic senior secondary subjects, and in recognition of difficult circumstances that students face in their studies. 

Bonus points are applied to all applicants with an ATAR at or above 70. Points are awarded in accordance with the approved schedule, and no more than 10 points (maximum 5 academic points and maximum 5 equity points) will be awarded.

Bonus points do not apply to programs with an ATAR cutoff of 98 or higher.

Bonus Points are only awarded to domestic applicants applying for admission through UAC who have not previously attempted tertiary study.

How to apply

Academic Bonus Points: senior secondary students do not need to apply for ANU academic bonus points. They are automatically added in accordance with the schedule.

Educational Access Scheme: senior secondary students do not need to apply if their school is part of the Priority School Funding Program or Country Areas Program. All other applicants should refer to http://www.uac.edu.au/eas/  for more information.

Scholarships

ANU offers a wide range of scholarships to students to assist with the cost of their studies.

Eligibility to apply for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are.  Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.

For further information see the Scholarships website.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Laws (Honours) flexible double degree component requires completion of 144 units, of which:

A maximum of 36 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

 

The 144 units must include:

90 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:

LAWS1201 Foundations of Australian Law

LAWS1202 Lawyers, Justice and Ethics

LAWS1203 Torts

LAWS1204 Contracts

LAWS1205 Australian Public Law

LAWS1206 Criminal Law and Procedure

LAWS2201 Administrative Law

LAWS2202 Commonwealth Constitutional Law

LAWS2203 Corporations Law

LAWS2204 Property

LAWS2205 Equity and Trusts

LAWS2207 Evidence

LAWS2244 Litigation and Dispute Management

LAWS2249 Legal Theory

LAWS2250 International Law

 

48 units from completion of 4000-level courses in the subject area LAWS Law

 

6 units from completion of 2000, 3000 or 4000-level courses in the subject area LAWS Law.

 

HONS4300 Final Honours Grade will be used to record the class of honours (determined by Table 2 of the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy.  

Marks will be calculated using the formula Σ (mark x units) / Σ units, giving NCN and WN a nominal mark of zero, from the following Honours courses:

54 units of 4000-level [elective] courses in the subject area LAWS, which may include LAWS4300 Supervised Research Paper (12 units), and,

90 units of compulsory courses, which are:

LAWS1201 Foundations of Australian Law

LAWS1202 Lawyers Justice and Ethics

LAWS1203 Torts

LAWS1204 Contracts

LAWS1205 Australian Public Law

LAWS1206 Criminal Law and Procedure

LAWS2201 Administrative Law

LAWS2202 Commonwealth Constitutional Law

LAWS2203 Corporations Law

LAWS2204 Property

LAWS2205 Equity and Trusts

LAWS2207 Evidence

LAWS2244 Litigation and Dispute Management

LAWS2249 Legal Theory

LAWS2250 International Law 

The Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 48 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must include:

54 units from the completion of the following compulsory courses:

ECON1101 Microeconomics 1

ECON2101 Microeconomics 2(P)

ECON3056 PPE Integrative Seminar Year 3: Classic Literature in PPE

PHIL1004 Fundamental Ideas in Philosophy: An Introduction

PHIL1005 Logic and Critical Thinking

PHIL2116 PPE Integrative Seminar Year 2

POLS1002 Introduction to Politics

POLS1008 PPE Integrative Seminar Year 1: Puzzles in Politics, Philosophy and Economics

POLS1009 Research and Writing in Political Science

 

A minimum of 6 units from completion of courses from the following list, which may also be counted towards completion of any other other requirements:

ECON2141 Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory (P)

POLS2125 Game Theory and Social Sciences

POLS2130 Public Choice and Politics

 

12 units from completion of courses from the following list:

POLS2063 Contemporary Political Theory

POLS2094 Issues in International Political Economy

POLS2111 Elections, Political Behaviour and Public Opinion in Australia

POLS2114 Australian Political Institutions

POLS2120 Foundations of Political Theory

POLS2125 Game Theory and Social Sciences

POLS2130 Public Choice and Politics

 

12 units from completion of courses from the following list:

PHIL2020 Theories of Social Justice

PHIL2057 Philosophy of Science

PHIL2064 Theories of Ethics

PHIL2080 Logic

PHIL2113 Global Justice

PHIL2115 Political Philosophy from Hobbes to Mill

PHIL3073 Advanced Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy

 

12 units from completion of courses from the following list:

CRIM2000 The Illicit Economy

ECHI1006 The Australian Economy: Past and Present

ECHI2005 History of Economic Thought(P)

ECON1102 Macroeconomics 1

ECON2013 Behavioural Economics: Psychology and Economics

ECON2014 Managerial Economics

ECON2026 Money and Banking

ECON2120 Law and Economics(P)

ECON2141 Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory (P)

EMET1001 Foundations of Economic and Financial Models

INDG3003 The Indigenous Economy

 

6 units from the completion of 2000- and 3000-level courses from one of the following subject areas:

ANIP Australian National Internship

ECON Economics

PHIL Philosophy

POLS Political Science

 

Study Options

Honours

For information about honours, please see Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (Honours)