Qualifications
Overview
As a Law student, you will learn how to think critically, analyse complex facts and issues, and persuade by logical argument.
You will gain a comprehensive grounding in working with statutes, cases, and other legal materials, and understand about the law in its wider social, political, and historical contexts.
Why study Law at UC?
- UC’s Te Kura Ture | School of Law is the internationally recognised, professionally relevant, community focused Law School in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have been producing outstanding legal graduates for over 140 years.
- UC is ranked in the top 150 universities in the world for Law and Legal Studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2020).
- The School’s lecturers are respected internationally, write important textbooks, and act as public commentators on the law. Many Law teachers maintain close contact with the legal profession and local professionals contribute to the School’s curriculum. International visitors to the School provide specialist courses on a regular basis, and students are able to attend guest lectures by Supreme Court Judges.
The Law School environment
Te Kura Ture | School of Law is housed in a modern building with purpose-built tutorial and lecture rooms, and a specially designed Moot Court room, which is regularly used for client interviewing, witness examination, mooting, and negotiation competitions.
Law students enjoy the collegial atmosphere within the School, where they get to know each other and the staff well.
- LAWSOC, the Law Students’ Society, has over 800 members and is very active, organising academic support, social activities, a range of competitions, and other events eg, the Law Revue, the Law Ball, and the Leavers’ Dinner.
- The Māori Law Students’ Association, Te Pūtairiki, provides a supportive environment, fostering academic excellence among Māori Law students and organising cultural and social events.
- The UC Pasifika Law Students’ Association is a society dedicated to providing support and fostering networks for Pasifika Law students, both on campus and with other campuses.
Community and international partnerships
- There are numerous scholarships, prizes, and overseas exchange opportunities, including an internship to the United States Congress.
- Law firms and other employers come to the School each year to recruit summer clerks and graduates.
- Many Law students choose to become active in groups like Women’s Refuge or Amnesty International.
- The Director of Clinical Legal Studies at UC supervises internships and community placement opportunities for UC Law students, making sure students are work-ready when they graduate
Courses
UC offers a Bachelor of Laws, which focuses on contemporary legal systems and policies.
Students studying other degrees may also want to include the introductory course LAWS 101 Legal System: Legal Method and Institutions to their studies.
Bachelor of Laws
See the Bachelor of Laws for the compulsory courses in the degree.
Freedom of choice in first-year Law allows students to try various subjects before making a final decision about the degree or degrees they intend to complete. Students intending to complete a double degree will choose non-Law courses needed for progression in their other degree.
Good grades in LAWS 101 and LAWS 110 are necessary to advance into second-year Law courses.
The third and fourth years are made up of optional courses in Law. These courses cover a broad range of areas including:
- commercial law
- family law
- media law
- international law
- human rights law
- law and medicine
- property and environmental law.
Students may also take other highly specialised courses, such as law and sport, trade law, trial advocacy, gender and the law, and law of the sea.
If you achieve a satisfactory standard in your first two years of Law study, you may be invited to enter the Honours programme in your fourth year.
Career opportunities
Law degrees are popular because of the value placed on core legal skills and the career opportunities available to graduates. UC Law graduates can be found among the judiciary and at all levels of the legal profession, across Aotearoa New Zealand and the world.
Employers are increasingly seeking work-ready graduates. Law students at UC have the opportunity to participate in a variety of internships and community placements which will satisfy this requirement.
UC graduates can become a practice solicitor, in-house lawyer, or a self-employed barrister. Recent UC graduates have also found roles as research counsel, judge’s clerk, policy analyst, and Māori development advisor.
Legal skills of research, writing, analysis, and reasoning are highly prized in many professions such as politics, policy, public service, foreign affairs, journalism, publishing, immigration, and business.
Find out more about what you can do with a degree in Law.