Wikipedia

UQ Law School

The UQ Law School (also known as TC Beirne School of Law) is the law school of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 1936, UQ law school is the sixth oldest law school in Australia and the oldest operating in Queensland.

UQ Law School
UQ Law School Logo
MottoInspiration; Innovation; Impact
Parent schoolUniversity of Queensland
Established1936; 88 years ago
School typePublic university
DeanRick Bigwood
LocationBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
EnrollmentYearly intake of ~200[1]
Faculty93[2]

North entry of the UQ School of Law

Thomas Charles Beirne, eponym of the law school

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 called the Walter Harrison Law Library. The library was 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

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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 recognizing the award given by another university, and Doctors of Laws honoris causa, recognizing the contribution of selected persons toward the establishment of the university.[11]

A limited number 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]

Reputation and student achievements

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Since 1935, twenty-seven UQ Law graduates have won Rhodes scholarships.[12][13][14] In 2020, two UQ law students won scholarships to study at the University of Cambridge.[15] Eleven UQ Law students have won Fulbright Scholarships since 1955.[16] Ten UQ Law students have won New Colombo Plan Scholarships or Mobility Grant Programs since 2014.[17][18][19][20][21][22]

The UQ School of Law is well regarded as one of the world's foremost law schools for mooting; significant mooting achievements include the following:

Notable international advocacy competition accolades

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Notable domestic advocacy competition accolades

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  • Australian Champions (2013, 2020) in the Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot.[32][33]
  • Australian Champions (2001) in the ALSA Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot.[34]
  • Australian Champions (2016, 2018) in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students' Moot.[35][36]
  • Australian Champions (2017) in the Castan Centre Human Rights Law Moot.[37]
  • Australian Champions (2014) Negotiating Outcomes on Time (NOOT) Competition.
  • Australian Champions (2008, 2011, 2014) in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal National Mooting Competition.[38][39][40]
  • Australian Champions (2004, 2008, 2009, 2012) in the QUT Torts Moot Competition, making them the most successful school to partake in the moot.[41]
  • Australian Champions (2009, 2012) in the Shine Lawyers Torts Moot Competition.[42][43]
  • Winner (2005) National Family Law Moot Competition.

NICA Ranking[44]

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The NICA rankings evaluate law schools based on their performance in moot court competitions. The rankings consider two factors: the weight of the competitions, determined by the number of participating law schools, and the advancement of teams within these competitions. The system provides a straightforward comparison of law schools' performance in moot courts.

The UQ Law School boasts a leading mooting program, with its students consistently excelling in international moot court competitions. Between 2013 and 2023, they achieved an average world ranking of 27th and an Australian ranking of 3rd, making UQ Law School the highest-ranked law school for mooting in Australia.[45]

UQ Law School Mooting NICA Rankings 2013-2023[46]
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Average
World Ranking 25th 1st 46th 22nd 13th 1st 15th 10th 106th 41st 17th 27th
Australian Ranking 5th 1st 4th 5th 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 7th 5th 1st 3rd

Building

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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.[47] The refurbishment was completed in 2017 by Brisbane-based architecture firm BVN.[48] The redesigned west wing of the Forgan Smith building has received recognition, including several awards:[48]

  • RAIA National Awards – Educational Architecture Award;
  • RAIA National Awards – Interior Architecture Award;
  • RAIA Qld Chapter – Interior Architecture Award;
  • RAIA Qld Chapter – Educational Architecture Award;
  • Australian Interior Design Awards Best of State Queensland – Commercial winner;
  • RAIA Qld Chapter Brisbane Regional Commendation – Interior Architecture; and
  • RAIA Qld Chapter Brisbane Regional Commendation – Educational Architecture.

Academics

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The UQ Law School is Queensland's premier law school; usually achieving the highest rank for law of any Queensland university.[49][50] 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;[51] ANU College of Law follows UQ Law at an averaged CPP & H-index ranking of 38.5.[51]

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,[52] 2018,[53] 2019,[49] and 2020;[51] and 1st, 3rd, and 2nd (nationally) regarding H-index in 2018,[53] 2019,[49] and 2020[51] 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.[51]

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.[54] UQ's Law School also recently received a THE-WUR research ranking of 36th in the world (THE 2020).[55]

Joint degree program

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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.[56][57]

Current and previous ranking positions

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(Positions enclosed in parentheses refer to domestic ranking)

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
QS Ranking by Subject (Law)[51] 48 (7th) 51-100 (10th) 49 (6th) 45 (7th) 48 (7th) 36 (6th) 43 (6th) 39 (6th) 43 (6th)[58] 55 (6th)[59] 53 (6th)[60]
QS Citations Per Paper Ranking[51] - 74 (7th) 80 (5th) 76 (5th) 52 (1st) 35 (1st) 24 (1st) 25 (1st) 37 (3rd)[58] 101 (10th)[59] 93 (6th)[60]
QS H-Index Citations Ranking[51] - 87 (6th) 71 (6th) 53 (7th) 46 (4th) 38 (1st) 47 (3rd) 30 (=2nd) 59 (5th)[58] 51 (5th)[59] 74 (6th)[60]
*THE-WUR Subject Rankings (Law)[61] - - - - 54 (5th) 40 (4th) 58 (6th) 56 (5th)
*THE-WUR Citations Ranking[62] - - - - 3 (1st) 10 (2nd) 56 (7th) 67 (8th)
*THE-WUR Research Ranking[63] - - - - 55 (5th) 44 (4th) 36 (4th) 37 (4th)
**ARWU Law Subject Ranking[64] - - - - 87 (8th) 87 (7th) 60 (6th) 101-150 (2nd-8th)
***US News (Social Sciences and Public Health)[65] 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).

**The ARWU 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.[66]

UQ Law Centres

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  • 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.[67]
  • 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.[68]
  • 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.[69]
  • 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.[70]

Publications

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The following publications are produced by staff or students at UQ Law:[71]

  • University of Queensland Law Journal (UQLJ)
  • LAWASIA Journal
  • 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.[74]

Notable alumni

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Main article: List of University of Queensland people

Jurists

Politicians, public servants and vice regals

Business leaders

Higher education

Other

See also

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References

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