Are you looking for high level legal knowledge and skills?

Have you completed an undergraduate degree and want to take your academic studies further? Are you looking for relevant high level legal knowledge and skills in a particular professional disciplinary career and enhance professional capabilities, employability and career progression in a range of relevant professional disciplines covering International Relations, Human Resources, Public Health and Humanitarian Assistance?

If this sounds like you, Deakin's new Master of Legal Studies could be just what you’re looking for. 

Master of Legal Studies

The Master of Legal Studies (MLS), and its associated professional discipline specialisations, will be attractive to those students who are legally qualified and who wish to practice in a chosen profession, along with those students who have prior studies in those specialisations who wish to advance their capabilities through advanced legal training of dedicated legal subjects of relevance. 

The MLS will combine legal and specific discipline area knowledge which would be of interest to organisations such as professional recruiting firms/consultants, company human resource managers, corporate governance and policy development roles across different industries, including the health industry, regulatory authorities/government, international human rights organisations, other non-government organisations (NGOs) and the United Nations.

Specialisation in Public Health: 

Master of Legal Studies (specialising in Public Health) is in a prime position to produce leaders in key areas of professional practice and policy formulation.

As societies grapple with problems such as increasing rates of obesity, cardio-vascular disease, and global pandemics, officials are resorting to legal tools to design solutions.  Some of the most important public health victories in the United States in the past century — declining lead exposure, reduced rates of smoking, improvements in workplace and motor vehicle safety, and increased vaccination rates — are the result of new legislation, heightened regulatory enforcement, litigation, or a combination of the three. 

Specialisation in Human Resources: 

Master of Legal Studies (specialising in HR) is a specialised course that provides enhanced Human Resource qualification with critical legal skills for a Human Resource personnel.

The proliferation of statutory rights for employees and consequent burden of compliance requirements on employers, the growth in the volume of bullying and harassment complaints, and the greater legalisation of the employment relationship has spawned an array of new skills challenges for HR professionals.

Specialisation in International Relations: 

Master of Legal Studies (specialising in International Relations) will equip graduates with the advanced academic legal and international relations practical skills required to gain employment and operate effectively in a range of careers that require expertise about our complex, dynamic and globalised world.

Globalisation continues to expand both the number and depth of legal relationships between nation states evidenced in treaties and conventions. Coevally, international and intra-national conflicts have also grown in number and an array of new tribunals and international courts have been created to resolve disputes through legal processes. 

Specialisation in Humanitarian Assistance: 

Master of Legal Studies (specialising in Humanitarian Assistance) will equip graduates with the advanced academic legal and practical humanitarian assistance skills required to be accomplished global practitioners with strong legal skills.

There are major gaps in law in the area of humanitarian assistance and in response international organizations such as the UN and the EU are developing their own legal frameworks. The environment in which humanitarian workers find themselves today is more complex and diverse than ever. Conflicts are increasingly complicated and natural disasters are escalating in number and intensity, often occurring in regions already struggling with socio-economic and political constraints.

Specialisation in Research: 

As part of the Master of Legal Studies, students are also invited to specialise in a research component combining one of the four aforementioned specialisations to fine-tune their learning and undertake independent research in a niche area. This specialisation equips students with highly developed research and analysis skills by undertaking original research in the legal area. Successful completion of this degree enables a PhD pathway into a Deakin PhD, ideal for those seeking a career in research.