The entering undergraduate class of 2023 was approximately 67 students.[3] To date, the school has nearly 3000 alumni.[4] Additionally, UQ Law School offers
LLM, MICLaw, MICLaw/MCom, MIL, MIR/MIL,[5]MPhil[6] and
PhD degrees.[7]
The ULS is home to one of Australia's largest academic law libraries; the Walter Harrison Law Library having been built almost 70 years ago in 1949.[8][9] The school has over 93 professional and academic staff.[4] According to the University of Queensland, 81% of 300 students who had graduated from UQ Law school in 2016 had current employment.[10]
History
Although the Law School began properly teaching in 1936, a Faculty of Law was established pro forma with the foundation of the
University of Queensland in 1911.[11] This enabled the university to confer ad eundem gradum degrees, an honorary degree recognising the award given by another university, and Doctors of Laws honoris causa, recognising the contribution of selected persons toward the establishment of the
university.[11]
A limited amount of law subjects began to be taught in 1926- when the first Garrick Professor of Law was appointed.[11] However, this was under the ambit of the university's faculty of arts, as no law school had been properly established yet.[11] In 1935
Thomas Charles Beirne endowed the university with £20,000, enabling the university's senate to officially approve the law school on 10 May 1935.[11] In May 1936, students commenced studies under the newly formed TC Beirne School of Law.[11]
World Champions (viz. winner of the Frédéric Eisemann Award) (1997, 2000) in the prestigious
Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Runners-up (1998, 2002). Equal Third Place (2020).[23] Teams from UQ Law (TCB) have been the most successful to partake in this moot (by way of moot wins and runners-up).[24]
World Champions (2008, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019)[25][26][27][28] in the International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot.
World Champions (2015) in The Sarin Leiden International
Air Law Moot Court Competition.[30]
Notable domestic advocacy competition accolades
Australian Champions (2013, 2020) in the Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot.[31][32]
Australian Champions (2001) in the ALSA Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot.[33]
Australian Champions (2016, 2018) in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students' Moot.[34][35]
Australian Champions (2017) in the Castan Centre Human Rights Law Moot.[36]
Australian Champions (2014) Negotiating Outcomes on Time (NOOT) Competition.
Australian Champions (2008, 2011, 2014) in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal National Mooting Competition.[37][38][39]
Australian Champions (2004, 2008, 2009, 2012) in the QUT Torts Moot Competition, making them the most successful school to partake in the moot.[40]
Australian Champions (2009, 2012) in the Shine Lawyers Torts Moot Competition.[41][42]
Winner (2005) National Family Law Moot Competition.
Building
In 2015, the University of Queensland (UQ) undertook a refurbishment of the west wing of the heritage-listed Forgan Smith building. The project aimed to reimagine the School of Law and the Walter Harrison Law Library, resulting in a program restructure and a smaller cohort size.[43] The refurbishment was completed in 2017 by Brisbane-based architecture firm
BVN.[44] The redesigned west wing of the Forgan Smith building has received recognition, including several awards:[44]
RAIA National Awards – Educational Architecture Award;
RAIA National Awards – Interior Architecture Award;
The UQ Law School is Queensland's premier law school; usually achieving the highest rank for law of any Queensland university.[45][46] The UQ Law School is Australia's best academically-performing law school, as measured by the averaged QS citations per paper (CPP) and QS H-Index citations (H-index) ranking, at 27.5;[47]ANU College of Law follows UQ Law at an averaged CPP & H-index ranking of 38.5.[47]
University of Queensland's School of Law often appears to be Australia's foremost law school: according to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the school has ranked 1st (nationally) for CPP in 2017,[48] 2018,[49] 2019,[45] and 2020;[47] and 1st, 3rd, and 2nd (nationally) regarding H-index in 2018,[49] 2019,[45] and 2020[47] respectively. Globally, the school currently ranks =25th for QS' CPP metric (alongside
Cambridge University's law school) and =30th for QS' H-Index citations metric.[47]
Notably, UQ's Law School achieved a THE-WUR citation ranking of 3rd globally (1st domestically) in 2017 (THE 2018) - two positions above
Yale Law School, six positions above top-ranked
Duke Law School, and just one position below
Harvard Law School.[50] UQ's Law School also recently received a THE-WUR research ranking of 36th in the world (THE 2020).[51]
Joint degree program
Since 2011, the UQ Law School established a partnership with
Washington University School of Law, enabling current UQ students to pursue their UQ law degree while also obtaining an American LLM degree in a shorter timeframe.[52][53]
Current and previous ranking positions
(Positions enclosed in parentheses refer to domestic ranking)
***US News (Social Sciences and Public Health)[61]
22 (1st)
21 (2nd)
26 (2nd)
*THE-WUR ranks ahead of the current year (e.g. the ranking(s) released in 2019 were "2020" rankings).
**TheARWU Law subject ranking does not necessarily reflect the quality of a given law school (hence why universities without law schools feature on the ranking- see
Princeton University). The ARWU Law subject ranking primarily measures the amount and performance of papers which relate to Law (the ranking additionally may include papers from Law-related subjects such as Policy, Public Affairs, and Criminology- hence why
Griffith University, renowned for Criminology, performs well solely on the ARWU Law subject rankings) and that are associated with, or originate out of, a given university.
*** This subject ranking includes research on social policy, political science, education, demographics, law, and public health and administration.[62]
UQ Law Centres
Australian Centre for Private Law (ACPL)
The APCL aims to foster the development and understanding of private law through the means of advanced research, and seeks to effectively disseminate that research through education and professional outreach.[63]
Centre for Public International and Comparative Law (CPICL)
The CPICL is a large research centre that brings together faculty members and doctoral students to support, coordinate, promote and showcase work related to: Public International Law; Private International Law; Comparative Law; Competition Law; Constitutional Law; Administrative Law; Human Rights Law; Law of Institutions; Legal Philosophy; International Criminal and Humanitarian Law; and The Law of International Organisations.[64]
Marine and Shipping Law Unit (MASLU)
The MASLU is a community of legal scholars focused on teaching, researching and consulting services in maritime law and international law of the sea. The MASLU also collaborates with other recognised marine centres on multi-disciplinary projects, and liaises with legal and marine scholars on multiple issues.[65]
UQ Pro Bono Centre
The UQ Pro Bono Centre strives to be a national leader in developing, promoting and providing student
pro bono legal services, as well as to educate about the importance of access to justice. About 30% of TC Beirne School of Law's students are registered to the
pro bono program offered by the centre.[66]
Publications
The following publications are produced by staff and/or students at UQ Law:[67]
LAWASIA Journal is a leading international law journal primarily dealing with legal issues and developments in the Asia Pacific region. LAWASIA Journal's editorial board consists entirely of legal scholars and members of the judiciary in the Asia Pacific region; such as former justice of the
High Court of Australia,
Michael Kirby, and former
Chief Justice of India,
M.N. Venkatachaliah.[69]
Australian and New Zealand Maritime Law Journal
The Australian and New Zealand Maritime Law Journal (ANZ Mar LJ) is the online incarnation of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand Journal (MLAANZ Journal). The ANZ Mar LJ focuses on making contributions to the areas of maritime law and commerce. The ANZ Mar LJ is edited by, and features contributions from, academics as well as students.[70]
Megan Davis,
UNSW pro vice-chancellor indigenous, former commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court, UN expert member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.