UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice

Faculty of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

The Faculty comprises the School of Global and Public Law; the School of Criminal Justice, Law and Society; and the School of Corporate and Private Law. It further comprises 13 affiliated research and specialist legal centres, including a community legal centre, the Kingsford Legal Centre, as well as the Refugee Advice and Casework Service. The Faculty is also co founder and operator of the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII), which provides free access to case law, legislation and other primary legal resources online. It offers legal education for all career stages: undergraduate law dual degree programs, the Juris Doctor for graduates, postgraduate coursework, postgraduate research, and continuing legal education short courses.

On 13 July 1964, the University's Council approved the creation of the UNSW Faculty of Law. On 24 January 1966, the Foundation Chair of Law was created, with the appointee to also be the Dean of the Faculty of Law. Prior to this, only the University of Sydney offered law degrees in New South Wales. The task of establishing the new law school was given to John Halden Wootten QC, a former judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, who was appointed Foundation Dean in 1969. In 1976, the Faculty moved to occupy five floors of the UNSW Library Tower on upper campus. In 2006, the Faculty moved to a new law building on lower campus. The official opening took place on 21 September 2006 by the then Chief Justice of Australia Murray Gleeson. A quotation from Hal Wootten, Founding Dean, is set out on a wall of the law building: "a law school should have and communicate to its students a concern for those on whom the law may bear harshly." In 2021 (the 50th anniversary of the Faculty), the Faculty was renamed to the UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice to highlight the Faculty's commitment to social justice. The new Faculty incorporates law programs as well as criminology and criminal justice. 2021 also saw the Faculty structured into three schools: Corporate and Private Law; Global and Public Law; and Criminal Justice, Law and Society.

In 2021, the QS World University Rankings placed UNSW Law School 13th on its list of the best law schools in the world. The UNSW Law School was noted as one of the primary faculties in helping to place the University 1st in Australia and 33rd in the globe for most millionaires produced. In the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Good Universities Guide, UNSW was the only law school in Australia to receive top ratings across all criteria, which include: teaching quality, generic skills, overall satisfaction, and success in obtaining a job. From 2006 to 2009, the Federal Government's assessment of excellence in tertiary education found that the Faculty lead all Australian universities for the quality of learning and teaching in law. Among the Go8 law schools, UNSW Law topped the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) 2014 survey, conducted and funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training, which measured the perspectives of recent students and graduates on experience as students and employment and salary outcomes. UNSW Law achieved the highest percentage in each of these categories, and continued to do so as of 2016.

The Law Faculty is situated in the Law Building on the University's main campus in Kensington, Sydney. The building is four levels high and was designed by Melbourne architects Corbet Lyons. Features of the building include light filled atria space, open staircases, landscaped courtyards and an agora running up through floors. There are 13 classrooms with 40 plus seats, two Harvard style lecture rooms with 90 seats and a 350 seat auditorium. Other features include a new Moot Court and student lounge. The Herbert Smith Freehills Law Library is occupied over two levels.

The Law Faculty offers both an undergraduate and a graduate law program, namely the combined Bachelor of Law (LLB) with a Bachelor in another discipline, and the graduate Juris Doctor (JD) program. After an extensive curriculum review, the Faculty introduced a new curriculum in 2013.

The Law Faculty offers a number law subjects taught at overseas institutions through international arrangements, including courses at Columbia Law School, UC Berkeley School of Law, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. It also offers exchange programs at over 60 universities, including Sciences Po, Panthéon Assas University, University College London, Tilburg University, McGill University, National University of Singapore, University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and others.

In 2015 and 2016, entry to the undergraduate combined law program required an ATAR mark of 99.7, the highest entry requirement for admission to a law degree in Australia. From 2017, entry into the undergraduate combined law program will be based on both an ATAR or academic result, as well as the results from a Law Admission Test (LAT) (not to be confused with the Law School Admission Test used in the United States). The test will consist of two questions requiring written responses. It is designed to assess aptitudes and skills that are relevant to success in the law program, including critical thinking and analysis, and organising and expressing ideas in a clear and fluent way. Applicants will have two hours to complete the test. The first LAT test was held on Monday 26 September 2016 for entry into 2017 admission. LAT results will be valid for two years. The introduction of the LAT, allowed faculty to better differentiate candidates and was no longer a reflection on their sole performance in the ATAR. Candidates were now assessed on the basis of both their ATAR and LAT performance. Previously, in 2016 entry into the program required an ATAR mark of 99.7, this was lowered to an ATAR mark of 98 in 2017 with the introduction of the LAT. Admission to the program in 2022, required a median ATAR of 97.5 as well as student's performance in the LAT. The UNSW JD (Juris Doctor/J. D.) is the professional law degree for graduates of disciplines other than law, or with a law degree from an overseas institution. It is the equivalent of the undergraduate Bachelor of Laws for the purpose of admission as a legal practitioner, but is only open to university graduates. Entry into the JD program is based on academic results in previous university degrees earned by the applicant. Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP): AU$10,440 per year at Commonwealth funded Maximum Student Contribution amount (per EFTSL) as per 2016 rates. Full Fee Places Domestic: AU$38,640 per year (based on a full time year of 48 units of credit) or $805 per unit of credit. Full Fee Places International: AU$41,040 per year (based on a full time year of 48 units of credit) or $855 per unit of credit. FEE HELP is a Commonwealth government loan available to help eligible students pay part or all of their tuition fees. FEE HELP is available only to domestic students on CSP or Full Fee places. In 2016, the FEE HELP limit is AU$99,389.

There is a number of UNSW Law Centres, which contribute to the Faculty's research as well as providing internships and clinical legal education to students.

The Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law was founded in October 2013 by former refugees Andrew and Renata Kaldor , who were awarded honorary doctorates by UNSW in November 2018. Dedicated to the study of international refugee law, it is a world leading research centre. It undertakes research on displacement issues in Australia, the Asia Pacific region and around the world, and contributes to public policy by proposing legal, sustainable and humane solutions to forced migration. In June 2019, the Centre published a document citing seven principles which should be key to Australia's refugee policy, supported by law and evidence based research.

The Australasian Legal Information Institute is operated jointly by the Faculties of Law at the UTS and the UNSW. AustLII offers free access online to case law, legislation and other primary legal resources and is "Australia's largest online legal public library."

In 2000, Danny Gilbert, managing partner of law firm Gilbert + Tobin, agreed to support a centre for public law at UNSW, and in 2001 the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law was founded. It functions as a research centre specialising in constitutional and administrative law, Indigenous legal issues, and human rights. The Centre's Advisory Committee is chaired by Sir Anthony Mason, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. The Centre has hosted a number of projects, including: the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship: Anti Terror Laws and the Democratic Challenge Project; the International Refugee and Migration Law Project; the Charter of Human Rights Project; the Referendums project; the Electoral Law Project; and the Federalism Project. The Centre also hosts an annual Constitutional Law Conference and Dinner attended by practitioners, academics, and judges involved or interested in public law issues.

The Faculty hosts the Kingsford Legal Centre which is both a teaching centre offering clinical legal education and a community legal centre which provides free legal advice and referral and ongoing assistance to the residents of the local area in relation to legal problems. The Centre takes on cases where there is no other source of assistance or where acting for the client will benefit the community by achieving change in the law or government policy. The Centre advises on matters including domestic violence, debt, criminal law, employment law, legal aid, victim's compensation, motor vehicle accidents, consumer matters and accidents and injuries. It has a statewide specialisation in discrimination law.

The Faculty publishes the UNSW Law Journal, one of Australia's leading academic, peer reviewed legal journals. The journal is produced entirely by a voluntary student board, selected on academic merit and editorial skills, and assisted from time to time by faculty advisors. Submissions for publication are received from local and international academics, judges, and legal professionals from a wide range of practice areas. The journal is distributed among a diverse set of subscribers, including judges, government departments, non government organisations, law firms, and more than 250 universities worldwide. Four editions are published each year. Other Faculty publications and journals include: Australian Indigenous Law Review; Australian Journal of Human Rights; Australasian Journal of Natural Resources Law and Policy; Human Rights Defender; and Indigenous Law Bulletin.