Useful links
Unit of study_
LAWS6252: Legal Reasoning and the Common Law System
2025 unit information
This is a compulsory unit for all postgraduate students who do not hold a law degree or equivalent from a common law jurisdiction entering the: Master of Administrative Law and Policy; Master of Business Law; Master of Environmental Law; Master of Environmental Science and Law; Master of Health Law; Master of Labour Law and Relations as well as Graduate Diplomas offered in these programs. The unit has been designed to equip students with the necessary legal skills and legal knowledge to competently apply themselves in their chosen area of law. Instruction will cover the legislative process; the judiciary and specialist tribunals; precedent; court hierarchies; legal reasoning; constitutional law; administrative law; contracts; and torts. Some elements of the unit will be tailored in accordance with the requirements of the particular specialist programs. Students must either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in this unit prior to commencing other law units of study. Law graduates from a non-common law jurisdiction are strongly recommended to undertake this unit. This unit is not available to students who have acquired a law degree from Australia or another common law jurisdiction. Further information about this unit is available in the Sydney Law School timetable https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-lecture-timetable, unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units and academic staff profile https://www.sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people/academic-staff.html
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Law School
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Law |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
|
None |
|---|---|
|
Corequisites:
?
|
None |
| Prohibitions:
?
|
LAWS6881 |
| Assumed knowledge:
?
|
None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. analyse the sources and hierarchies of Australian law, the fundamental principles underpinning the Australian legal system, and the government institutions responsible for making and enforcing laws, and for adjudicating legal disputes.
- LO2. apply methods and principles of statutory interpretation to resolve legislative ambiguities and identify legislative intent.
- LO3. construct persuasive written legal arguments, employing evidence, legal principles, and multiple perspectives, and communicate these arguments to diverse audiences.
- LO4. use legal research skills to identify, locate, and evaluate primary and secondary sources, and use those sources to provide appropriate support for answers to essay questions and legal problem questions.
- LO5. identify and implement the conventions of legal writing via the creation of essays, case summaries, and responses to legal problem questions, employing appropriate citation practices and the principles of academic integrity.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Intensive April 2025
|
Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
|
Semester 1a 2025
|
Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
|
Intensive September 2025
|
Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
|
Semester 2a 2025
|
Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
Find your current year census dates
Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
