Law Honours (11289.1)

This unit provides students with the opportunity to undertake research and to write an Honours thesis. Successful completion of Law Honours will further develop student's legal or socio-legal analysis capabilities, ability to think critically (and originally), and research and writing skills. Students will also learn how to work independently and with a supervisor. Successful completion of Law Honours at credit level or above means students will be eligible to graduate from their LLB with Honours, if their meet all the other requirements in the Honours Policy.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Manage and complete a substantial research project under supervision;
2. Identify and apply existing research paradigms and methodologies as reflected in an explicit justification of the choice of paradigm and methodology;
3. Engage in critical thinking in both the evaluation of research literature and the formulation of original arguments;
4. Master written expression through (a) employing the basic principles of effective, grammatical and argumentative writing, (b) polishing multiple drafts under supervision, and (c) complying with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation; and
5. Identify and apply the most up-to-date primary and secondary sources relevant to the research project.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - evaluate and adopt new technology
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development
4. UC graduates are able to demonstrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing - communicate and engage with Indigenous Australians in ethical and culturally respectful ways
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development

Skills development

This unit is conducted through supervised research. You should have taken the pre-Honours unit in a prior semester (most likely 2024), and you should already have identified a supervisor and met with that person in developing your research proposal for Law Honours. If you still need to identify a suitable supervisor, please contact the unit convenor as soon as possible.

If your research involves interviews, surveys or observation, you need to submit an ethics application - with the help of your supervisor. 

Learn about requirements and timetable of University ethics applications at:

https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/ucresearch/ethics/accordion/human-ethics

The site also notes the ethics application process.

Ethics approval takes time, and ideally you need to seek it prior to the unit starting, as you can do no research involving human subjects until you have obtained approval.

There are no lectures/tutorials/practicals/field classes in this subject. However, the unit proceeds according to the timetable listed elsewhere in this unit outline.

Prerequisites

11272 Law and Justice Research Project

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

9804 Law Honours (6cp)

Assumed knowledge

None.