Melbourne University Law Review

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Practical experience with ad hoc guidance from the subject coordinator.

144 hours

Legal Method and Reasoning or equivalent subject(s). A student must be an editor of the Melbourne University Law Review for the enrolled semester and can not have previously or currently be enrolled in the subject Editor Melbourne University Law Review.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject is available only to a student appointed editor of the Melbourne University Law Review. It permits a student to provide evidence of what the student has learnt about the nature of legal research from undertaking the job of editor. This evidence takes the form of two specified writing tasks: a short piece suitable for journal publication and a longer piece providing a report on the state of the research field, namely, legal research suitable for Australian university law review publication.

Note: The 5000 word essay in this subject is regarded as a substantial piece of legal writing.

- An editorial for a particular part of the journal or a review of a research book, written in a form suitable for publication in the student editor's journal. The editorial or book review is not required to be actually published in the journal. Word limit: 2000 words. Due: near the conclusion of the teaching period in the enrolled semester; exact date to be fixed by the subject co-ordinator at the commencement of that semester. Worth 30% of the final mark in the subject.

- An essay on the state of the research field, being legal research suitable for Australian university law review publication, based upon the editorship experience. A student has discretion as to approach. The essay could take any one of a number of perspectives, including:

• What research methodologies/frameworks of analysis were being deployed in the field (and/or those which are not)
• What areas are currently topical in the research field (and/or those which are not)
• A survey of a major debate or controversy in the field
• An analysis of the types of submissions being made to the journal
• An analysis of what is being published/emphasised by comparable journals

Word limit: 5000 words. Due: near the conclusion of the teaching period in the enrolled semester; exact date to be fixed by subject co-ordinator at the commencement of that semester. Worth 70% of the final mark in the subject.

- The above word limits will be regarded as recommended rather than compulsory, and no student will be disadvantaged by exceeding the limit.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of the subject, students should have developed the following generic skills (and graduate attributes):

• attitudes towards knowledge that include valuing truth, openness to new ideas and ethics associated with knowledge creation and usage
• the capacity for close reading and analysis of a range of sources
• the capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection
• the ability to collect and evaluate information
• the capacity to communicate, both orally and in writing
• the capacity to plan and manage time
• intercultural sensitivity and understanding

In addition, on completion of the subject, students should have developed the following skills specific to the discipline of law:

- analysis of the nature and quality of legal research, including an ability to:

• read legal research as a critical and informed user of that research
• situate a particular piece of legal research within a broader body of research and within a particular style or approach
• explain a personal view or position on legal research as a critical and informed user of that research

- legal writing skills, including an ability to:

• use and synthesise legal research
• be able to convey a coherent appraisal of legal research
• produce complex pieces which offer comprehensible analysis of legal research