Overseas electives

Hosted by Tsinghua University (one of the highest ranked universities in China) in China’s capital Beijing, the course introduces the legal system of the People's Republic of China. Particular reference is paid to modern developments in China’s international business and economic law, commercial law and related areas.

The course examines Chinese business and economic law in an international context, and students will gain an understanding of relevant Chinese laws and their broader social, cultural and economic contexts. Students will also gain insights into Chinese business and legal practices, and challenges of doing business in China. This will give graduates tools that could later assist them when advising clients with respect to negotiations, agreements, disputes and other legal matters involving Chinese entities.

In addition to classroom teaching, field trips have been organised to Chinese legal organisations, and to historical and cultural locations that are relevant to an understanding of Chinese legal and business culture.

Topics covered in the course are expected to include:

• Chinese Society and Chinese law
• General Introduction to Chinese Business Law
• Chinese Civil Procedure
• Chinese Company Law
• Foreign Trade and Investment law
• International and Comparative Intellectual Property Law
• Chinese Intellectual Property Law
• Chinese Securities Law

Lectures will be held at the campus of Tsinghua University from Monday–Friday for two weeks. Most classes and activities will be between 9am-5pm, though there may be activities outside these hours that students must be available for (e.g. farewell dinner; transport to/from field trips). You will also have opportunities to interact with local students and learn more about legal education and practice in China.

In conjunction with the cultural activities, the field trips to cultural sites and Chinese legal institutions are designed to give increase your understanding of Chinese culture, and Chinese social and business traditions.

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Coming soon

The course will be taught intensively over 2 weeks in English by law professors from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and will also include field trips and cultural activities. The course provides an introduction to the legal system of the People’s Republic of China with particular reference to modern developments in contract and commercial law.

China opened up its economy to market forces thirty years ago.  When it did so, law and the legal system lost the pariah role under which they had been cast during the Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

The course examines the role law is playing in modern China by reference to its historical antecedents. It examines particular areas of development for their own sake but also as indicators of the changing role of law in Chinese society.

Areas which are the subject of particular attention include:

• The elements and institutions of Chinese legal system
• Constitutional law
• Contract law
• Intellectual property law
• Foreign investment law
• Corporate and securities law
• Foreign trade law and
• Mediation and, arbitration and civil enforcement procedures

Lectures will be held at the city campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong from 9.00am–12.00pm from Monday–Friday for two weeks. In addition, there will be field trips and travel activities organised for some afternoons and weekends to sites such as the Bund, a cruise of Huang Pu River, Shanghai World Expo, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Xitang Water Town, Shanghai Arbitration Commission, a Chinese court, a Chinese law firm and a foreign law firm. You will also have opportunities to interact with local students and learn more about legal education and practice in China.  

Additional Fee

An additional fee of $4,000 applies to Chinese Legal System, covering the costs of accommodation, breakfast, transportation for field trips, visits, and administrative expenses. 

Payment Structure
The additional fee is payable in two instalments, due on separate dates. The first instalment is a non-refundable deposit, typically due one week after the enrolment closing date, to secure your place in the course. 

The second instalment is the final payment, typically due 3-4 weeks after the deposit.

Deposit
After the enrolment closing date, you will receive instructions via your UNSW student email regarding the payment process for the deposit, including the due date for the final instalment.

Deposit Due: Monday, 31 March 2025
Amount: $1,000

Final Instalment
The remaining balance is due by the specified date. Please ensure full payment is made by the deadline.

Final Instalment Due: Monday, 21 April 2025
Amount: $3,000

Please note: Domestic students enrolled as Commonwealth Supported students in the undergraduate law or JD program will be charged the Student Contribution Charge for the course. Full Fee Paying Domestic and International students will be charged tuition fees for the course.

New Colombo Plan Mobility Grants of $3000 are available for this course and are open to eligible Australian undergraduate students.

Students do not need to apply directly for these grants, as eligible students will automatically be considered as part of their course enrolment.

This course will provide an introduction to the legal systems of the Pacific region, and to some specific areas of Pacific law. Most Pacific Island states have gained independence relatively recently and their laws and legal systems have undergone significant change over recent decades.

The course will introduce the key issues arising in developing legal systems, including the role of history and politics, constitutional developments, the recognition and application of customary law, land tenure regimes, the extent of adoption of common law principles and regional engagement between states and with outside bodies.

As the course will be taught on location in Vanuatu, students will gain direct exposure to the key features of a Pacific Island legal system in its own environment. In addition, the location will allow field trips to important legal institutions, such as courts, parliament, government departments, and NGOs. This will help students to appreciate some of the challenges faced by developing legal systems in the region and to appreciate how and why local laws and legal systems are developing in the way they are. Students will also be exposed to the culture and way of life of the South Pacific and will have an opportunity to meet and mix with local and regional USP students and staff.

This course will explore the interaction between law and modern technology. It will introduce students to the potentially problematic relationship between legal rules and technological change, and then begin to explore real substantive problems at the interface between them. This will require some understanding of particular legal doctrines and technologies, which the course itself will provide. It is the aim of the course to teach, encourage and nurture creative legal (and technological) thinking when contemplating questions such as the possible regulation and/or promotion (for example, through patents) of technology and technological change. This course also provides students with knowledge of the legal frameworks and theoretical approaches regarding regulation of technologies in a global and transnational context. The course will draw on Australian, U.S., and European perspectives (among others) in order to ensure that students understand the topics covered on a broader, global canvas.

Topics may include:

• Theories on law and technological change and the regulation and governance of technologies
• Understanding the law’s role in channelling, promoting or hindering technological change
• Legal responses to disruptive technologies (case studies, including AI)
• Patent issues for emerging technologies
• Technologies, the legal profession and legal/law enforcement decision-making
• Legal Issues for digital technologies – governance, privacy, security
• New forms of evidence eg digital evidence, algorithmic outputs, expertise in patent cases

This course considers the role of the law in creating and perpetuating gender inequalities. Feminist legal theory is a significant body of thought challenging the practice and theory of law, and this course explores its potential to effect social transformation in select areas of women's lives. The course will trace the historical development of feminist legal theory in both India and in the West, and its modern developments, including key concepts such as formal and substantive equality, the public/private divide, intersections between categories such as race, class, caste and gender and explore theories of universalism and cultural relativism. The course will also explore a range of substantive issues of particular relevance to Indian society including child marriage, dowry, and sex-selection, and a range of issues relevant to both Indian and Australian society including family relations, sex work, economic empowerment of women and violence against women. Where relevant the course will compare the approaches and solutions of Indian scholars and activists with those of Australian scholars and activists.

The course aims to assist students to develop skills in critical thinking and to evaluate areas of law that have been subject to feminist critique. It builds core skills that students need to examine gendered constructions of law and how those constructions lead to inequality and discrimination. Two field trips to local organisations will be included as part of the course.

The topics covered in the course include:

• The historical development of feminist legal theory in India and the west
• Feminist theories of formal equality and substantive equality
• Feminist theories of intersectionalism
• Postmodern feminist legal theories
• Marriage and family relations
• Violence against women
• Economic empowerment of women
• Political representation of women
• Reproductive rights of women
• Sex work

Where possible, the course will include guest lectures from leading Indian gender advocates. Students will also have an opportunity to take part in extra field trips of relevance to the course.

The purpose of the program is to expose students from both institutions to new legal, political and cultural paradigms through the prism of international and comparative perspectives on children’s rights, sexual harassment issues, and family law. This course will provide up to 10 UNSW Law Students with an opportunity to visit VM Salgaocar College of Law for a 10-day planned program. The program will cover topics including child rights and law reform in India, intersecting issues including sexual harassment and family law issues, community education initiatives in India and Australia, learning about the legal aid and child rights clinical program that is operated by VM Salgaocar College of Law in Goa, and learning generally about the Indian and Goan legal systems and taking relevant legal site visits, including to the:

• Child Welfare Committee
• Children’s Court
• Women’s police station
• Legal Aid Cells
• Victim Assistance Unit
• State Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights

Topics covered will include:

• Legal system of India / Goa
• Young offenders and the law
• Child development
• Cybercrime by juveniles
• Family law and domestic violence
• Sexual harassment law
• Role of community legal clinics and community legal education