Master of Environmental Law

Climate change is a pressing environmental, economic and social problem. Global warming is predicted to have wide-ranging impacts, and it presents enormous challenges for conventional models of law and socio-economic governance due to its pervasive character, long-term effects and the need for dynamic change in many of the fundamental areas of life. This subject examines the challenges for law in driving that change, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its associated Paris Agreement, to international trade, climate finance and litigation, to federal and state legislative responses, through to local effects including relating to Indigenous peoples. The lecturer is active in research and advice in climate change law and governance in the international and domestic law spheres.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The scientific basis for global warming and physical impacts of climate change
• The international legal framework, including the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement and associated international instruments
• Social and cultural impacts and legal responses, such as human rights protection
• Climate finance and schemes for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
• The role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in climate change governance, particularly with respect to renewable energy technologies and the disciplining of fossil fuel subsidies
• The interaction of climate change regimes with other international law frameworks; eg World Heritage, refugee law, human rights and security
• The federal legislative framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation, including direct action plans, market mechanisms and carbon trading
• State-based legislative and regulatory responses to climate change
• Bio-sequestration and carbon capture and storage
• The nature of climate change litigation

View detailed information in the Handbook

Climate change is increasingly necessitating systemic change to the structure of the global economy and financial system. This subject will examine the interaction between climate change law and policy and these systemic changes. It considers a range of legal, policy and financial tools that governments around the world have used to try and manage responses to climate change, such as carbon pricing, green fiscal spending, climate risk disclosure and emissions regulations. It critically evaluates these legal, financial and policy approaches, and the economic theory underpinning them.

Our subject introduces students to these climate change legal and policy approaches through case studies across different themes (carbon markets, sustainable finance, energy, transportation) and geographies. Guest speakers with legal, sustainable investment and public policy backgrounds will join the course to speak to some of these case studies. By drawing together economic theory and practitioner-informed case studies, we will provide students with the knowledge, tools, and networks to critically assess and participate in the future development of regulatory regimes, policies and financial mechanisms which might help arrest global warming.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• An introduction to climate science,
• Key debates in climate change economics
• International and domestic law frameworks
• Market-based legal mechanisms: pricing carbon externalities
• Information based regulatory approaches to carbon emissions
• Emerging legal risks – greenwashing, climate litigation and investor actions
• Green industrial policy, state-owned enterprises and innovation ecosystems
• Emissions caps, performance standards and other forms of regulation

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environmental law deals with pressing legal and social issues within Australia and internationally that range from biodiversity protection to waste reduction. This subject provides an overview of fundamental environmental law concepts and principles, such as the precautionary principle. It charts the evolution of Australian environmental law in response to global environmental challenges, such as climate change, as well as national regulatory reforms. The subject equips students with a thorough grounding in environmental impact assessment law by reference to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). It examines the regulatory tools and approaches relevant to pollution control and ecological protection– including market mechanisms and offset models. This subject introduces international environmental law; dealing with issues such as trans-boundary harm and World Heritage protection, that have shaped Australian environmental law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The scope of environmental law – nationally and internationally – including transboundary regulation.
• The multidisciplinary character of environmental law and regulation that needs to respond to complex, multilevel environmental problems.
• The diversity of environmental law approaches from the common law through direct regulation to market measures and community engagement.

These themes are illustrated by case studies in the following areas:

• Environmental law: Principles and concepts
• Environmental actors, including public interest litigation with a focus on biodiversity protection
• The procedures and substantive law governing impact assessment and development approvals.
• Legal and regulatory tools used in environmental law, including duty of care concepts in pollution laws.
• The interaction of law and science, with a focus on the precautionary principle
• Implementation, compliance and enforcement in Environmental Law
• International environmental law, including biodiversity protection, world heritage cases and climate change governance.

View detailed information in the Handbook

In national legal systems, much of environmental law consists of legislative schemes. To practice environmental law requires a mastery of public law. This subject introduces students to the public law skills needed to work in the specialised field of environmental law. The subject focuses on environmental laws in a range of common law jurisdictions and the skills that the course fosters can be deployed in any legal system. Each topic is taught through in-depth focus on legal materials, particularly case law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• A basic framework of environmental law
• The distinctive nature of different types of environmental problems and how those features require the development of a particular type of legal expertise.
• The role that law (legislation and common law) plays in framing and defining environmental problems and the legal significance of this.
• The classic types of legal obligations and duties in environmental law and how they are enforced.
• The ways in which environmental law gives rise to a range of public law questions concerned with constitutional and administrative governance.
• The types of legal and other disputes that environmental law gives rise to and the implications for courts and tribunals
• How accountability in environmental law operates.
• Each topic is taught through a focus on a particular topic in environmental law including climate change, water quality, waste, environmental assessment, natural resource management, air quality, and nature conservation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject examines the law applicable to planning and development projects within Victoria. A detailed analysis of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) and its application will be supplemented by an examination of the various political, environmental, social and economic aspects that bear upon decision-making under the Victorian planning system. The subject will also address the interaction of the Victorian planning system with a number of other statutory processes relevant to the development of land within Victoria, including those contained within the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic) and the Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic).

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The conceptual framework for planning law in Victoria
• Evaluation of the various components of the Victorian planning regime, focusing on the operation of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) and the Victoria Planning Provisions
• The role of key actors under the Victorian planning regime (such as the Victorian Minister for Planning and municipal councils) and the key processes established under the regime
• The review of decisions made under the regime (both in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Victoria) and the powers available to relevant planning authorities under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic)
• Particular problems that arise in the Victorian planning system such as the fair and equitable distribution of undesirable land uses, the limitation of urban sprawl within metropolitan Melbourne, the appropriate level of public participation in decision-making processes, and the need to deliver sound planning outcomes in a timely and efficient manner
• The key processes under the Planning and Environmental Act 1987 (Vic).

View detailed information in the Handbook

Chemicals have reconfigured the material foundations of our economies. Yet an unintended consequence has been the widespread toxification of the planet and the growing chemical burden on our bodies. Exposure to hazardous substances presents serious risks to both human and environmental health. In response, the international community has developed a range of legal instruments targeting specific threats, and most countries have enacted laws and regulations to control pollution and to manage chemicals and waste.

In this subject, we explore the evolving international and comparative legal landscape of this ‘chemicals and waste’ cluster. We will provide insights into global governance processes, accountability mechanisms as well as opportunities for legal reform - including the main international treaties, non-binding instruments, ongoing international negotiations, and national level laws and regulations.

Drawing on the teacher’s experience as the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, the subject also examines environmental harm and the human rights dimension, including access to information, participation in decision-making, and justice in cases of toxic exposure. Students will engage with real-world case studies—such as litigation over PFAS, shipbreaking, and gold mining—and develop practical skills to advise stakeholders across public, private, and civil society sectors.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Transboundary movement of hazardous waste and the Basel Convention
• Persistent organic pollutants and the Stockholm Convention
• International trade in chemicals: Rotterdam Convention and current reform proposals
• Mercury governance under the Minamata Convention
• The human rights dimensions of toxics, including jurisprudence and the right to a healthy environment
• Litigation and accountability: a ‘toxic tort’, human health and environmental justice
• Emerging developments: Adoption of the Global Framework on Chemicals and plastics treaty negotiations

View detailed information in the Handbook

Water law and natural resources management are fundamental to human society, environmental protection and economic productivity. Legal rules around water are found in all societies. Water is both a human right but also a source of conflict – that law seeks to regulate. There is increasing pressure on water globally, and extreme events such as drought, heighten tensions around water allocation in Australia and many other countries.

The subject considers the international laws governing freshwater, including trans-jurisdictional water governance for major shared river systems. It examines contemporary trends in water law and governance such climate change impacts on water availability. It provides an overview of common law rules around water allocation and water quality. There is a major focus on indigenous water rights and rights for rivers.

The subject provides an in-depth understanding of the federal water legislation governing the Murray-Darling Basin and the Victorian water legislation- including water trading. It introduces urban water laws, with a focus on water pollution controls. It examines the innovative reforms around environmental water and the ecological protection of rivers and groundwater. It provides a case study of the impacts on groundwater due to mining and fracking.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• International and comparative law and policy governing water, including relevant treaties and conventions, and case law
• Water rights: including human rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights
• Common law rules for surface and groundwater
• The Australian national water law reform model
• The Water Act 2007 (Cth), including water trading and water planning
• Environmental water law and regulation – including the Environmental Water Holders
• Victorian water laws, including water authorities and governance models
• Water quality: addressing point source and diffuse water pollution
• Integrated catchment legislation
• Urban water laws, including water-sensitive urban design.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Biotechnology in Asia-Pacific is advancing at an unprecedented pace with major economies like China and Japan implementing ambitious national biotech strategies.

This introductory subject offers an accessible yet comprehensive examination of biotechnology regulations across the region, requiring no scientific background. Students will explore legal frameworks governing healthcare and pharmaceutical safety, agricultural biotechnology, GMO and gene-edited food regulations, intellectual property, data governance, and economic security, with a focus on international cooperation in commercial development and national economic security considerations. Through comparative case studies, we will examine how Asian jurisdictions balance innovation, ethical considerations, and national security while responding to public health emergencies and biosecurity incidents.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The foundations of biotechnology regulation
• The medical and pharmaceutical biotechnology framework
• Agricultural biotechnology governance
• Biosecurity and biodiversity protection
• Biosecurity and public health systems
• Data governance
• Intellectual Property regimes
• Economic security dimensions

View detailed information in the Handbook

Australia is one part of a global movement toward clean energy, including energy generation, supply chains and transportation.

The kinds of projects being delivered are diverse, including those required to produce clean energy, and all ‘supporting’ projects crucial to the energy transition such as storage and mining. A few examples include:

• ‘big batteries’, both artificial (such as lithium-ion battery terminal stations), natural (such as pumped hydro) and hybrid (such as compressed air energy storage) storage solutions
• hydrogen generation and supply chains
• ancillary industries including electrolyser manufacturing and ammonia production facilities
• wind farms, both onshore and offshore
• industrial scale solar arrays
• carbon capture and storage technologies
• increased transmission interconnectivity, including overland transmission lines and subsea transmission cables
• projects which combine these elements (eg solar or wind farms in a remote location, linked to the place of supply by subsea cables).

The law (private and public) and practice relating to the successful planning, procurement, risk allocation and delivery of these projects is equally diverse and evolving. Certain aspects of that law and practice is unique to Australia, however Australia's clean energy future is part of global technological ecosystems and supply chains, and global trends continue to influence the legal and practical issues arising from these kinds of projects.

This subject seeks to provide students with an understanding of the private and public law affecting these projects individually, and the overarching themes that connect these projects as part of a global trend.

This subject seeks to equip lawyers and industry professionals with the expertise required to provide appropriate advice, or suggest regulatory reforms, in relation to projects in the clean energy transition. In particular, it will explore the issues which arise due to the untested technologies implemented in this transition, a new and evolving landscape of regulatory frameworks, and ancillary issues such as supply chain security, local community engagement and the rise of governments mandating ‘friend-shoring’.

The subject will take students through a life cycle of a clean energy project from initiation through to resolving disputes and decommissioning.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Introduction to the clean energy transition and overview of the kinds of projects that are involved.
• Project funding, equity and ownership structures, insurance issues on projects involving nascent international supply chains and cross-border joint ventures.
• Planning, approvals and environmental regulation, and project envelope, including various Australian state/territory and Commonwealth environmental and planning regulatory regimes, land rights and water access issues, and potential application of royalty regimes.
• Procurement and contracting models, risk allocation issues and delivery risks on a project type-by-type basis, including hypothetical risk scenarios and lessons learned from Australian and international jurisprudence.
• Transmission and connectivity issues, such as high-voltage above ground transmission, subsea cables, trucking and pipeline reform, such as State-based pipeline legislation and Commonwealth Heavy Vehicle National Law and Regulations.
• OH&S framework, including Safety on-site: construction sites, sites involving handling of dangerous substances, and Australian state/territory-based dangerous goods legislation.
• International investment and trade, including Investor-state dispute settlement and international shipping standards for nascent assets (eg, liquified hydrogen) and the UN Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea.

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

To provide valuable advice to clients in the construction industry, lawyers need an integrated understanding of the legal and technical aspects of this specialised area of practice. This subject is designed to build such an understanding and to expose students to a wide range of construction law-related topics in an interdisciplinary mode. Students will learn about the key legal principles that are specific to construction law (from project inception through to dispute avoidance and resolution) and their interaction with the technical underpinnings of construction practice. In addition to classroom discussion, students have the opportunity to see principles put into practice through construction site visits and detailed case studies.

The subject lecturers bring to the classroom a combined, multi-disciplinary experience of decades in advising clients in the construction industry

A range of topics is covered in an interdisciplinary mode, integrating a detailed case study and site visit.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Setting up the project: delivery methods, standard forms, subcontracting, costing, risk mitigation (including insurance and performance security)
• Key technical principles: construction technology, engineering services and structures, geotechnical engineering (including the legal treatment of latent conditions), sustainability and building information modelling
• During the project: contract administration, time and programming, payment, variations, major plant deployment, cost control, dispute avoidance and resolution.

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Risk and insurance are at the heart of all construction projects, yet their role and detailed provisions are often misunderstood, leading to significant losses and disputation. The already-sophisticated contracting landscape has, in recent years, been made significantly more complicated by the introduction of proportionate liability reforms. This subject will examine these issues with particular emphasis on how risk can be managed to minimise losses.

The lecturers are expert navigators in relation to these complex issues. They have leading-edge expertise in advising on risk, security for performance and insurance in the construction context.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Identifying risk in a construction project and how various industry participants (including principals, contractors, designers, professional advisers, insurers, security providers, and statutory and government authorities) may bear responsibility
• Philosophies and commercial drivers affecting risk allocation in construction contracts and consultancy agreements, and how these are reflected in standard forms
• Security for performance mechanisms, including cash retentions, unconditional undertakings, parent guarantees, insurance bonds, adjudication bonds and other instruments
• Insurance products available to the construction industry (including public liability, works insurance and professional indemnity insurance) and the law relating to them, including regulation by legislation, common law principles and treatment under standard-form construction contracts and consultancy agreements
• Proportionate liability regimes (including Part IVAA of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic)) and their impact on contract risk allocation.

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The energy transition – a key plank in achieving Australia's net zero targets – represents a generational challenge for energy markets.

Transitioning Australia's energy system to renewable energy and storage involves a complex group of stakeholders, with policy makers, regulators, investors, energy providers and consumers grappling with multiple – often conflicting – objectives.

This subject aims to give students a clear understanding of the structure and principles of Australia's energy markets in the context of achieving the energy transition. Focusing on the Australian electricity sector, it will examine the foundations of our energy markets and the pathway for renewable energy, together with the nature and scale of the energy transition and current policy debates.

Key legal elements of the subject include the structure and legal framework for the electricity supply industry and markets, the legal framework supporting investment in renewable energy, principles and policy frameworks underpinning the energy transition, the role of government and electricity market reform initiatives.

This subject has an Australian-focus and is aimed at students with an interest in energy law and legal practice, energy markets, energy regulators and energy policy and reform.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The structure of, and key participants in, the electricity supply industry across generation, transmission and retailing

• Legislative and regulatory framework for the National Electricity Market, including market bodies and rulemaking

• Key principles of the wholesale and retail electricity market, including typical wholesale market contracting and trading

• The legal framework for investment in renewable energy and storage

• The nature, scale and objectives of the energy transition

• Key principles underpinning the development of renewable energy and storage, including government support contracts

• Key principles in the regulation of electricity transmission systems, including regulated pricing, open access principles and renewable energy zones

• Legal principles and policy frameworks underpinning energy transition steps, including the role of government

• Legal issues in implementing a just transition

• Current electricity market policy debates and reform initiatives

View detailed information in the Handbook

This is a foundational subject in the Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) which is compulsory for graduates of disciplines other than law and for law graduates from countries with a non-common law system. It provides students with an opportunity to acquire the foundational legal skills necessary for studying and working in a common law system, such as that in Australia.

The common law forms one of the two principal systems of Western law that, through colonisation, have spread throughout the world. Common law systems have a distinctive approach to understanding the sources of law, the role of law-making institutions, and processes for resolving disputes. These characteristics of the common law system have had a profound effect on the development not only of the societies in the countries in which it applied, but also on international law and practice.

The aim of this subject is to acquire basic foundational legal skills that will assist you with other subjects in the MLM program. The subject teaches students how to read, use and interpret reported cases and legislation. The subject explains the sources of law, what influences them, and how they influence the development of the common law. These aims are given in context of some contemporary debates on common law reasoning by assessing the role of the High Court of Australia. The subject focuses on developing skills in analysis and legal writing, the tools of the common lawyer.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• How to read and analyse a case
• The concept and use of precedent
• Evolution of a common law principle
• Common law issues: judicial activism, separation of powers
• The role of the High Court and an overview of the Constitution
• The relationship between the Constitution, case law and statute law
• Influences of other sources of law on the common law
• How to read and analyse statutes
• Approaches to statutory interpretation
• Legal writing skills and expectations in the MLM program.

Important information about this Subject

This subject is an important foundational skills-based subject for many common-law focussed subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters. We recommend Masters students needing an introduction to the common law enrol in this subject when they first start their program of study. For most graduate diploma students, Australian Legal Process and Legal Institutions (ALPLI) is the alternative intensive offering.

All students enrolled in the following common-law focussed Masters courses are strongly recommended to take LAWS70217 Fundamentals of the Common Law (if you don't already have prior professional or educational background in the common law):

• Master of Banking and Finance
• Master of Commercial Law
• Master of Construction Law
• Master of Employment and Labour Relations Law
• Master of Energy and Resources Law
• Master of Health and Medical Law
• Master of Intellectual Property Law
• Master of Private Law
• Master of Laws (if you wish to focus on one of these common-law areas above)

More information on course planning in the Melbourne Law Masters.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Today, international law and its institutions are being called upon to respond to and redress multiple, intersecting global crises, including climate change and its manifold consequences; global instability and conflict, including amongst nuclear powers; ‘trade wars’; rising inequality between and within states; and new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence.

Understanding these developments requires knowledge in and across various distinct domains of international law, including the peaceful settlement of disputes; international environmental law, the use of force and the laws of war; international economic law; law and development; international migration law; and global health law.

This subject considers these crises, and their mutual imbrications, examining the role of international law in addressing them by drawing on these distinct but related subject legal domains. It aims to think across these crises and domains to identify points of contact, co-constitution and rupture, and to consider both the potential and limitations of international law.

At the same time, international law remains deeply implicated in the very social problems and transformations that imperil humankind and the planet – and that threaten to make this century its last. As a mode of thought and governance, ‘crisis’ is not new to international law. As Judge Hilary Charlesworth famously observed, international law is a ‘discipline of crisis’: throughout its history ‘crises’ have both empowered and shaped and the field - giving it purpose, while also limiting its imagination and capacity for reflexivity.

This subject critically examines the historical and theoretical role that global crises – real and imagined – have played in the formation, development and functioning of international law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Global Crises and International Law: A history
• Thinking through crises
• Climate change and ‘just transition’
• Global Conflict
• The new New International Economic Order
• Migration and/as Decolonisation
• Pandemics
• Technological transformation
• The Geographies of ‘crises’: for whom, where?

View detailed information in the Handbook

Developments such as the decision to appoint a UN special rapporteur on human rights and climate change are significant milestones in the long-time efforts by international institutions and advocates to recognise and address the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the enjoyment of human rights. UN institutions and international treaty bodies responsible for human rights and environmental matters have over many years taken steps to deal with the serious impacts that climate change has on the rights to life, culture, health, food and an adequate standard of living for individuals and communities across the world. Advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have also provided insights on these matters. Meanwhile, advocates have initiated proceedings before courts and other complaints bodies claiming that human rights have been violated as a result of climate change. In the process, existing human rights have been repurposed towards environmental ends, and rights to a healthy environment and a safe climate have emerged for international recognition.

This course will introduce and explore the main concepts, laws, institutions and policies at the intersection of international human rights law and international law on climate change. Through an examination of treaties and case law, it will consider how international law and policy is being developed to protect human rights affected by climate change.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The human rights of particular groups – including Indigenous Peoples, children and displaced people – affected by climate change.
• The different responsibilities of nations and businesses to address the human rights impacts of climate change.
• Key developments in UN bodies, treaty institutions and courts dealing respectively with human rights and environmental protection, including existing and emerging human rights such as the right to a healthy environment.
• Critical perspectives on the use of human rights law and procedures to tackle harms arising from greenhouse gas emissions.
• The international movement on rights of nature as part of the context in which international human rights law is evolving to address climate change.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Impact investing is a hot topic, championed as well as vilified globally. From charities to large fund managers, investors are looking beyond purely financial returns to tangible and sustainable impact. What does it take to be a responsible investor? What is the role of a lawyer with an impact fund, and what are the responsibilities of investors and managers? This subject explores both responsible and impact investing, highly dynamic and urgent topics in the transition to net zero and the challenge of the sustainable development goals.

The subject has a distinctly practical approach and is designed to assist students in developing the skills to assess, prioritise and negotiate impact transactions. We dig into the structuring, negotiation and documentation of impact investing across a broad spectrum, ranging from venture capital, direct and co-investments to managed equity funds. We also explore challenging and live legal topics such as corporate responsibility, fiduciary duty, disclosure obligations and impact washing.

Special attention is dedicated to how investors can generate meaningful and sustainable change in their engagement with investee companies and impact funds. Seasoned practitioners from across the market provide their insights as part of a valuable diversity in perspectives.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Exploring impact and sustainability across private equity in the broadest sense, from venture capital and direct investments to managed funds.
• The wave of (hard and soft) relevant regulation, taking our cue for instance from EU sustainable finance directives on corporate responsibility and disclosure, to public policy and increasingly principles and best practices driven by market participants.
• Engagement of responsible (as well as activist) investors with investee companies and impact funds.
• Investor stewardship to help and drive change.
• The role of major institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds alongside NGOs.
• Reviewing and critiquing impact funds in practical case studies, lessons learnt from recent failures, and the toolbox of the responsible investor.
• Challenges to the credibility and growth of the impact investment market, and the role of market supervisors.
• The risk of ‘impact’ washing litigation for both investors and managers and how to mitigate or exploit it.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This highly topical subject analyses the rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Topics are discussed within a framework of encounter and include land and resource rights; doctrine of discovery; Aboriginal title; human rights; treaties; role of cultural institutions in state narratives; and constitutional freedoms. The subject is taught from a critical perspective, comparing and assessing law’s responses to and attempted control of Indigenous peoples in a global context.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• History of the concept of Aboriginal title and the doctrine of discovery
• Concepts of sui generis agreement-making between Indigenous peoples and governments
• Encounters between governments, public cultural institutions, and Indigenous peoples
• Implications of government constitutional obligations and Indigenous rights
• Overview of current practices
• Human rights and their influence on Indigenous rights

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is an introduction to the foundational principles and rules of the public international legal order. It is designed as an introduction to international law and, therefore, provides students with an understanding of the key concepts of international law, its history and contemporary relevance, sources of international law and the role of some key international institutions, such as the United Nations (UN). The subject is grounded in both theory and practice in order to consider how international law works in shaping and dealing with a range of issues such as dispute settlement, jurisdiction and immunities, and the use of force. Contemporary examples will be used to enrich student learning. Students will be encouraged to critically evaluate the position and relevance of international law in international politics and society by addressing past and current developments through case studies. The members of the teaching team are scholars in international law who have developed specific areas of specialisation in international law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The nature, purpose and language of international law
• Sources of international law
• International legal personality, statehood and sovereignty
• Jurisdiction of states and jurisdictional immunities
• The responsibility of states for violations of international law
• Peaceful settlement of disputes and the functions of the International Court of Justice
• Regulation of the use of force in international relations (jus ad bellum)

This subject provides an introduction to the basic concepts and norms of the public international legal order. It is designed for those with no (or very limited) background in international law. Students who have completed an undergraduate subject in international law or have some professional experience are advised to consider other international law offerings.

Important information about this Subject

This subject is a pre-requisite for many other international law subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters. We recommend part-time students enrol in this subject when they first start their program of study. For full-time students, Principles of International Law (LAWS90295) is the alternative five-day intensive offering.

All students enrolled in the following internationally focussed courses are strongly recommended to take either LAWS90295 Principles of International Law or LAWS70173 International Law (if you don't already have prior professional or educational background in public international law):

• Master of Environmental Law
• Master of Human Rights Law;
• Master of Law and Development;
• Master of Public and International Law;
• Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law
• Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law
• Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law
• Graduate Diploma in International Law.

More information on course planning in the Melbourne Law Masters.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The concept of development has been crucial to structuring international legal relations from the end of World War II to the present day. During that time, international law and institutions have taken on ‘development’ as a primary project. In both the public and economic domains, the vast majority of international institutions engage with the development project in some shape or form.

This subject invites students to think about the nature and importance of development and its relation to international law. The history of development in relation to imperialism, decolonisation, the Cold War and globalisation means that this set of relations is complex and dynamic. Understanding it is crucial to understanding the place of international law, and the work development does in the contemporary world.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Law and development as a field
• The ‘development’ concept and its precursors
• The relationship between the concepts of ‘law’ and ‘development’
• The institutionalisation of development
• Development, imperialism, decolonisation and the nation state
• Permanent sovereignty over natural resources and the new international economic order
• Debt crises and development(s) at the Bretton Wood institutions
• Trade and development
• Globalisation, governance and the rule of law
• Sustainability, democracy and human rights
• Resistance, alternatives and post-development.

This subject provides a conceptual, historical and theoretical frame for students undertaking Master of Law and Development in which to situate and critically assess learning in other subjects. For students in other courses, this subject will help you understand the importance of the concept of development to our understandings of international law and appreciate development’s central role in the construction and maintenance of contemporary global orderings.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Legal Internship allows students to gain credit for undertaking advanced legal research and analysis on an approved international internship of at least five weeks of full-time work in an approved international institution or organisation. This subject is focused on providing students with an opportunity to engage with legal and policy issues in contemporary society through work experience and further develop oral and written communication skills. Students are required to secure and fund their internships personally.

Students are encouraged to discuss their internship proposals with the subject coordinators. Students who successfully enrol in International Legal Internship must arrange a meeting with at least one of the subject coordinators both prior to their internship and upon completion, to develop a better understanding of research and the role of international institutions in international law and relations.

Important information about enrolling

This subject is not available for self-enrolment but is an application-based enrichment subject, which means prospective students must apply to enrol.

More information about the application process can be found on the MLM International Legal Internship webpage.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The Challenge of a Decade, if not our Generation. Can sustainable finance be the answer to climate change, poverty and inequality? The purpose of this subject is to immerse students in sustainable finance in international practice, from sustainable lending, green bonds, renewable energy, innovative structured products and impact investing. Across these markets, key legal concepts, structural features and documentation are covered in detail. By engaging in-depth, through term sheet negotiations, and pitches the students jointly develop the skills to assess, prioritise, challenge and negotiate these transactions.

The subject coordinator draws on his own experience in global sustainable finance, and invites experts from international law firms and organisations, to help you become ‘more than a lawyer’.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The Sustainable Development Goals, the evolving regulatory framework of sustainable finance, and implementation by banks, development institutions, funds and corporates in international practice
• Understanding the structural features of sustainable lending, including sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) as well as inclusive finance, along with the relevant principles and contentious issues in negotiation
• Thoroughly analysing and comparing the green, blue, orange, social and sustainable bond structures and terms, including social impact bonds, bond linked to sustainable performance, as well as their challenges in practice
• Negotiating and mastering the negotiation of key terms of renewable energy project finance
• The implementation of impact investing in fund management and private equity, in day to day practice
• How structured finance can further sustainable goals, for instance through refugee finance, vaccine bonds, drought risk transfer and microfinance securitisation
• The litigation challenges in sustainable finance for both investors, issuers and ‘green’ rating agencies, for instance the risk of mis-selling ‘green’ products, and how to address this and other risks in documentation as well as through strategic means.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The law of the sea relates to the allocation of jurisdiction and peaceful uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient utilisation of marine resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment. Historically concerned with the ‘freedom of the seas’ for sovereign states, the law of the sea must also address contemporary and emerging challenges such as climate change, marine species preservation, pollution, overlapping territorial claims and national security. The overarching legal regime of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is supplemented by specific agreements as well as market techniques and supply chain oversight. This subject provides an overview and critique of the established and newly forming international regimes – and their interaction – and is informed by an institutional approach that acknowledges the influence of dispute settlement systems, non-state participation and transnational and administrative practices. The lecturers have published widely on fisheries law, trade law, the law of the sea and on the interaction between international legal regimes.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The Law of the Sea Convention and associated instruments, including the Fish Stocks Agreement
• Divisions of jurisdiction within the Law of the Sea, including key notions of the territorial sea, exclusive economic zones (EEZ), areas beyond national jurisdiction (high seas) and the sea-bed area
• Regime of straits
• The International Maritime Organization and regulation of global shipping.
• Critical marine infrastructure (cables and pipelines).
• The Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).
• Seabed mining in the AREA and related issues.
• Climate Change and the Ocean.
• The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).
• Marine pollution, including microplastics.
• Relevant dispute settlement bodies, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), arbitral bodies and the WTO.
• Advisory Opinions addressing law of the sea, including whaling.

Other topics may include:

• Marine protected areas, including efforts to create a new legally binding international agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)
• Freedoms of the seas in contested areas of jurisdiction (such as Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise)
• Overlapping maritime claims such as the ruling on the South China Seas issued by an arbitral tribunal based at the Permanent Court of Arbitration
• The role of indigenous rights, subsistence and artisanal practices
• Selected regional approaches to fisheries management
• The influence of legal approaches to climate change, especially with respect to low-lying island coastal states.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject will provide students with an understanding of key concepts in the field of leadership and enable them to more effectively assume leadership responsibilities within organisations, legal practices and/or the community more broadly. The subject aims to give students not only a theoretical understanding of leadership but practical skills and approaches that they can enact both during the course and subsequently to enhance their careers and impact. The subject focuses on the particular challenges and opportunities for lawyers seeking to have impact in modern organisations and the community through leadership. The modes of instruction will include experiential learning, transformative learning, collaborative learning and guest speaker presentations. Students will draw on their own experience of leadership (as both leaders and followers) as well as biographical and hypothetical case studies in leadership. This subject is designed for students who have worked in organisations or legal practices and who have an interest in assuming leadership responsibilities.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• A brief modern history of leadership (tracing the evolution of leadership from the industrial age to the present)
• Lawyers as leaders (the role of advocacy, emotional stability, expertise and objectivity in modern leadership)
• Harnessing human motivation
• Authority and leadership
• Leading in complexity
• Leading change
• The psychology of judgment and decision making (as individuals and in groups)
• Self as leader (preferences for behaviour, emotional intelligence, self-awareness and cognitive flexibility)
• Sustainable leadership

Students in the Melbourne Law Masters program who would like to take this subject as an elective should have a minimum of 2-5 years relevant legal work experience.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The delivery of major infrastructure, energy and resources projects is an organic process which involves multifaceted interactions with the law. In this subject, students will gain insights into the way that advising on such projects involves navigating an often-challenging intersection of construction and regulatory systems, drawing on aspects of property law, environmental law, native title, finance, banking and commercial law.

Students will also engage with the need for reform in major project delivery, with the cost of project delivery in Australia already prohibitive and globally uncompetitive.

The subject will examine how major energy and resources projects are defined, designed, structured and developed, the pressure points for successful and cost-efficient project delivery in Australia, and the areas where conflicts and disputes emerge and how they are managed.

Indicative list of principal topics include:

• Project scoping from feasibility to design, including examination of recent studies on procurement practices and a simulated workshop on procurement models and how they respond to risks and opportunities
• Overview of regulatory approval frameworks and the social license for major project delivery, including a case study-based discussion of the interaction of such frameworks with construction document development and management
• Project delivery models and frameworks in the energy and resources sector
• Examination of leading causes of project stress and failure, including the need for proactive planning and strategies
• Interactive case study where students collaboratively examine particular aspects of project design and execution
• Current approaches to dispute management in major project delivery, including exercises examining common problems encountered in drafting dispute resolution clauses in project documentation, as well as a discussion of contemporary and innovative approaches to dispute management and avoidance in major projects.

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Unfortunately this subject is no longer running in 2026, and is now intended to run in early 2027.

Confirmation will come when the Handbook opens for 2027 re-enrolment.

More-than-human rights has emerged as part of the broader ecocentric turn in law. Borrowing from David Abram’s work on the “more-than-human,” more-than-human (MOTH) rights locates human rights within a broader landscape of concern for the rights and well-being of the living world. In doing so, it builds off the rights of nature but also constitutes an evolution in two dimensions. First, by making use of the term “more-than-human,” MOTH rights moves beyond the nature-culture binary implied by the linguistic dichotomy established between human rights and rights of nature. Second, substantively, by locating human rights squarely within the ambit of rights for the larger living world, more-than-human rights bridges human rights, animal rights, and nature rights, creating a legal paradigm which exceeds the sum of these parts.

Our subject explores the legal philosophy, rulings, and practice which are shaping the articulation and advancement of more-than-human rights. Adopting a global perspective, students will examine how legal theorists, judges, and lawyers have grappled with extending legal personhood and rights to natural entities, including ecosystems and animals. This includes deep dives into precedent-setting cases, like the ruling of the Spanish Constitutional Court affirming the legal personhood of Mar Menor; landmark legislation, like that in New Zealand / Aotearoa recognising the Whanganui River as a legal person; constitutional provisions, like those in Ecuador granting rights to nature; and soft law declarations, like that proffered by Polynesian Indigenous leaders on the rights of cetaceans.

In short, this subject equips students with a firm understanding of the legal foundations of more-than-human rights and new directions in this quickly evolving field of legal scholarship and practice.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The More-Than-Human turn in law, science and philosophy
• Eco-centric critiques of human rights
• Rights of Nature in Practice: Constitutions, Legislation and Case Law
• Future Directions for More-Than-Human Rights

View detailed information in the Handbook

Payment has always been at the heart of construction contracting, and payment disputes have been—and remain—at the centre of construction law case law. This subject aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the contractual procedures for payment and associated issues such as set-off. Its major focus is upon the ‘security of payment’ reforms of recent years. This state and territory-based legislation was designed to simplify the payment stream and disputation yet, in practice, has spawned hundreds of court cases, further complicating the contracting landscape for construction projects. The lecturers are based in the two states that have been at the forefront of the reforms—Queensland and New South Wales—and are therefore well-placed to guide students through this area of law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Payment processes under construction contracts, including treatment under standard forms and the impact of the security of payment legislation enacted in various jurisdictions
• History and policy underpinnings of the security of payment legislation, including comparison of the regimes in Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand
• Processes to resolve payment disputes, including those under security of payment legislation (with detailed consideration of bases for judicial review of such processes)
• Associated issues, including set-off, securing payment to workers and subcontractors, and means of dealing with the consequences of late payment.

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is designed for construction law students without prior legal training (the alternate subject LAWS70176 Construction Law is for students who have a law degree). It provides an overview of the broad spread of the construction law curriculum, from the statutory and common law landscape through legal aspects of project procurement and contracting to dispute avoidance and resolution options. This subject also provides detailed treatment of legal issues specific to construction law such as variations, quality, time and payment. The seminar format is supplemented by exercises to develop students’ skills in contract preparation and writing legal hypotheticals, and includes sessions on construction law research tools and techniques.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Overview of the regulatory regime for construction contracting
• Causes of action in construction disputes
• Contracting methodologies
• Contract administration: standard forms of contract, tendering, contract preparation and minimising legal exposure
• Role and liability of superintendents
• Issues relating to sub-contracts
• Variations
• Quality of work
• Latent conditions
• Time, programming and liquidated damages
• Contractual mechanisms for payment and security of payment legislation
• Security for performance
• Insurance
• Dispute avoidance procedures and alternative dispute resolution
• Construction litigation and arbitration (domestic and international).

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is an introduction to the foundational principles and rules of the public international legal order. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the key concepts of international law, its history and contemporary relevance, sources of international law and the role of some key international institutions, such as the United Nations (UN). The subject is grounded in both theory and practice in order to consider how international law works in shaping and dealing with a range of global issues, including the creation, recognition and sovereignty of states, self-determination of peoples and the use of force in international relations.

Using contemporary examples and case studies which address recent and current developments, students will critically evaluate the position and relevance of international law in international politics and society.

The teaching integrates both content and skills in advanced legal research and writing. We will purposefully introduce students to the practices and protocols of advanced study in international law, as well as to the specialised knowledge and skills required of studying at postgraduate level in the Melbourne Law Masters.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The nature, purpose and language of international law;
• Sources of international law;
• International legal personality, statehood and sovereignty;
• Jurisdiction of states and jurisdictional immunities;
• The responsibility of states for violations of international law;
• Peaceful settlement of disputes and the functions of the International Court of Justice; and
• Regulation of the use of force in international relations (jus ad bellum).

Important information about this Subject

This subject is a pre-requisite for many other international law subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters. We recommend full-time students enrol in this subject when they first start their program of study. For part-time students, International Law (LAWS70173) is the alternative five-day intensive offering.

All students enrolled in the following internationally focussed courses are strongly recommended to take either LAWS90295 Principles of International Law or LAWS70173 International Law (if you don't already have prior professional or educational background in public international law):

• Master of Environmental Law
• Master of Human Rights Law;
• Master of Law and Development;
• Master of Public and International Law;
• Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law
• Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law
• Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law
• Graduate Diploma in International Law.

More information on course planning in the Melbourne Law Masters.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Project finance is the financing of major projects. It often takes the form of a financing arrangement under which the monies raised for a project are repaid primarily from the project’s cash flow, with the project’s assets held as collateral. It enables the sponsor of a project to arrange financing with no recourse, or limited recourse, to the sponsor’s balance sheet. Project finance is complex in view of the number of parties involved, the security that is taken over the project’s cash flow and assets, the nature of the rights that are exercised by the lenders in respect of the project generally and the cross-border character of stakeholders. Project finance lawyers need to have an in-depth understanding of both the legal issues that arise as well as the commercial and operational aspects of the project.

The lecturer is a leading practitioner in this area and will introduce students to the key legal, contractual and structural issues concerning major projects and project finance, and analyse these issues in the context of a number of case studies in the mineral, energy and infrastructure sectors.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Characteristics of suitable projects
• Characteristics of project financing in Australia
• Project financing techniques
• Identification of risk and techniques for allocation of risk
• Structuring financing requirements for a project
• Contractual arrangements
• Project financing default and remedies
• Case studies of project financing in mineral, energy and infrastructure sectors.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Private sector involvement in the financing, delivery and operation of public infrastructure is nothing new; it is, however, constantly evolving. The public appetite for social and economic infrastructure is insatiable, yet must constantly be tempered by economic constraints. Alongside the increasingly sophisticated and internationalised market for funding and technical capacity, there has been in recent years a renewed focus upon the policy bases for public private partnerships (PPPs) by governments and the broader community. Navigating all this in its legal context is one of the great ongoing challenges faced by the infrastructure industry and its legal advisers. This subject is designed to equip students to respond to this challenge.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Historical perspectives on private involvement in the delivery of public infrastructure, how it has changed over time and lessons learnt.
• The PPP family, and the different categories of PPPs within the family.
• The differing objectives of the various participants in a PPP.
• The benefits and challenges associated with privately financed PPPs, and how PPPs can be improved.
• The role of Australian governments (Federal, State and Territory) in PPPs. How PPP policies fit within the broader government policy framework for investing in and managing infrastructure assets.
• The role of government in developing nations in creating a PPP enabling environment.
• Funding and financing mechanisms, including government funding, private finance and value capture.
• PPP risk allocation, including how it is evolving in response to current trends and pressures in the Australian market.
• The matrix of contractual documents required for a privately financed PPP, including Government Project Agreements, Debt Financing Document, Equity Documents, Sub-Contracts, Tripartite Deeds, Interface Agreements and the like.
• The procurement process for PPPs, including how to manage a PPP bid.
• Dispute resolution on PPP projects, including linked claim provisions and equivalent project relief provisions.
• Other legal issues unique to PPPs including the legal enforceability of abatement regimes, the application of security of payment legislation, ipso facto provisions, transparency and disclosure obligations.
• Managing PPP contracts through the delivery, operation and handback phases.

Students interested generally in the Construction Law program in the Melbourne Law Masters are encouraged to explore the Construction Law subject selection PDF guide.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject examines the law and economics of globalisation. Economic globalisation is at the centre of ongoing debates in areas as diverse as sustainability and climate change, national security, fair and balanced economic growth, and the very restructuring of international relations that seems to be underway. This subject offers a sophisticated understanding not only of contemporary globalisation, but also the reactionary trends that continue to emerge in varied forms: so-called ‘trade wars’ between major economies, unilateral climate measures, restrictions on trade in critical technology like semiconductors or 5G, concerns around forced labour or weak environmental standards, concerns around data protection and cybersecurity in the new digital economy, repatriating foreign supply-chains to the domestic economy, concerns around currency undervaluation by export-driven States, and issues around the so-called ‘State-led’ capitalist model in economies like China. We offer a detailed analysis of these phenomena and how States are using existing and new legal instruments to manage the risks and impacts of globalisation as it evolves and adapts in this new environment. The course caters both to practitioners looking to build expertise in the highly commercially-relevant areas of trade remedies and export controls, as well as to those looking to deepen their understanding of the modern dynamics of globalisation and its intersection with law.

The subject begins with an overview of economic impacts of trade liberalisation and lays out why there are winners and losers. It proceeds with a discussion of current trends in globalisation and relates them to the evolving geopolitical context. It then examines the legal instruments available to States to manage economic pressures resulting from increased globalisation and to counter (potentially) trade-distorting practices of their trade partners. These include the existing legal instruments at the international level under the WTO treaties, such as anti-dumping/anti-subsidy measures and safeguards, as well as more recent innovations at the domestic level relating to matters like currency undervaluation, cybersecurity and “data sovereignty”, transnational subsidies, foreign investment screening, differences in environmental/labour standards, and distortions arising from economies and sectors with substantial government involvement.

The compatibility of such innovations with WTO and other international rules is untested and, accordingly, this course does not express views on the “right” answers. Rather, it seeks to equip students with the knowledge to form their own views and to facilitate their own understanding of possible intersections between these domestic innovations and international rules.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The economic rationale behind international trade agreements, the economic benefits of globalisation, the distributional impacts of trade liberalisation, and the role of regulatory frameworks that facilitate adjustment to international competition;

• Current issues in global economic relations and trade policy, and the reasons States resort to legal instruments to manage risks or negative impacts of globalisation, such as concerns around unfair trade practices; an evolving geopolitical context; supply-chain resilience; and "global commons"- and related issues such as climate change.

• The primary legal instruments that States use to address negative economic impacts of trade liberalisation, particularly the ‘trade remedy’ tools under the WTO treaties (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguard measures), as well as recent domestic innovations with these tools in areas like transnational subsidies and currency manipulation;

• New and emerging legal tools at the domestic level in jurisdictions like the EU, US, Australia and India to manage perceived geopolitical risks and impacts of globalisation, such as:

  • national security concerns around supply chains and critical products
  • cybersecurity and data protection in the new digital economy;
  • foreign investment screening;
  • lower environmental/labour standards; and
  • concerns around forced labour.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The conventional intellectual property (IP) system has historically been shaped by Western and European concepts of innovation, creativity, and originality, with implications for the theoretical structures and practical application of IP law. Responding to recent globalising trends in IP law, , developing countries and Indigenous communities have called into question the foundational principles of IP law, advocating greater recognition and respect of traditional knowledge (TK) systems and forms of cultural expression, and equity in the use of genetic resources (GR). This reframing of IP challenges the assumption that such material had 'fallen' into the public domain, free for exploitation without recognition or benefit sharing, akin to terra nullius.

This reframing of IP law and policy has had diverse influence at theoretical and practical levels, spurring policy debate, international negotiations and legislative reforms, and influencing judicial decisions and IP office practice. International debate has probed the relationship between IP conventions, notably the WTO TRIPS Agreement, and other areas of public international law like human rights (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), environmental law (Convention on Biological Diversity), and cultural heritage law (UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions). In May 2024, the World Intellectual Property Organisation concluded the Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, and Associated Traditional Knowledge, linking the patent system with GR and TK and recognising Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Developing countries have also integrated TK protection into recent trade agreements.

Domestically, many countries are revising IP laws or developing sui generis laws to protect TK and traditional cultural expressions, to govern access to GR, and to recognise Indigenous People's collective rights. Several initiatives in Australia are reshaping the interaction between IP and Indigenous knowledge systems, including practical tools for recognising Indigenous knowledge and customary laws and protocols, applying principles of prior informed consent, and equitable benefit sharing. These developments have increasing practical implications for the practice of patent, trademark and copyright law.

In this subject we will review the international legal and policy framework for TK and GR protection and survey domestic laws, mechanisms, and policy processes, with case studies from the Asia Pacific and Australia. We will also analyse tools within patent, trademark, and copyright law, critically utilise research databases. We will also feature guest lectures from Indigenous experts and representatives.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The context: respect, recognition, preservation and protection of traditional knowledge systems and genetic resources.
• Survey of traditional knowledge systems and related customary law and protocols.
• Indigenous experts' perspectives on the justice, equity, policy and practical dimensions of the protection of traditional knowledge.
• The international legal framework: human rights, environmental, cultural and intellectual property instruments.
• Genetic resources and traditional knowledge in the patent system.
• Indigenous and traditional communities and the law of trademarks and geographical indications.
• Indigenous and traditional cultural expressions and copyright law.
• Comparative analysis of current and proposed sui generis forms of protection of traditional knowledge.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This is a foundational subject in the Melbourne Law Masters (MLM) which is compulsory for graduates of disciplines other than law and for law graduates from countries with a non-common law system. It provides students with an opportunity to acquire the foundational legal skills necessary for studying and working in a common law system, such as that in Australia.

The common law forms one of the two principal systems of Western law that, through colonisation, have spread throughout the world. Common law systems have a distinctive approach to understanding the sources of law, the role of law-making institutions, and processes for resolving disputes. These characteristics of the common law system have had a profound effect on the development not only of the societies in the countries in which it applied, but also on international law and practice.

The aim of this subject is to acquire basic foundational legal skills that will assist you with other subjects in the MLM program. The subject teaches students how to read, use and interpret reported cases and legislation. The subject explains the sources of law, what influences them, and how they influence the development of the common law. These aims are given in context of some contemporary debates on common law reasoning by assessing the role of the High Court of Australia. The subject focuses on developing skills in analysis and legal writing, the tools of the common lawyer.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• How to read and analyse a case
• The concept and use of precedent
• Evolution of a common law principle
• Common law issues: judicial activism, separation of powers
• The role of the High Court and an overview of the Constitution
• The relationship between the Constitution, case law and statute law
• Influences of other sources of law on the common law
• How to read and analyse statutes
• Approaches to statutory interpretation
• Legal writing skills and expectations in the MLM program.

Important information about this Subject

This subject is an important foundational skills-based subject for many common-law focussed subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters. We recommend Masters students needing an introduction to the common law enrol in this subject when they first start their program of study. For most graduate diploma students, Australian Legal Process and Legal Institutions (ALPLI) is the alternative intensive offering.

All students enrolled in the following common-law focussed Masters courses are strongly recommended to take LAWS70217 Fundamentals of the Common Law (if you don't already have prior professional or educational background in the common law):

• Master of Banking and Finance
• Master of Commercial Law
• Master of Construction Law
• Master of Employment and Labour Relations Law
• Master of Energy and Resources Law
• Master of Health and Medical Law
• Master of Intellectual Property Law
• Master of Private Law
• Master of Laws (if you wish to focus on one of these common-law areas above)

More information on course planning in the Melbourne Law Masters.

View detailed information in the Handbook