Make your university career more exciting by travelling to Macerata, Italy, for the International Summer Law Program.

Murdoch is offering law students the opportunity of a lifetime to study in Italy during the European summer. At the centre of Europe - historically, culturally and legally - Italy has strongly influenced the development of international law, via Roman Law. In recognition of an increasingly globalised world, Murdoch is offering a structured program at one of Europe's oldest universities in Macerata.

About the program

The program offers up to three units focused on Comparative Law, European Union Law and International Trade Law. With the unit points counting towards the participants degrees, this unique opportunity allows students to broaden their knowledge of the law beyond the domestic sphere.

The program is run intensively throughout the winter semester break and into the second semester. The face to face teaching component and exams of the program will be run for three weeks in the winter break at the historical campus of the Università di Macerata in Italy.  Other course work such as assignments, readings, any other engagement with the course topics and a final exam will have to be completed before and/or after the intensive teaching period as advised by the unit coordinator and in the unit outline.

The program is open for application to all Australian law students that have satisfied the pre-requisites.

Participants need a solid foundation of legal knowledge to participate in this program because the subjects are demanding elective subjects. A sufficient foundation can be demonstrated by having successfully concluded all or most of Part 1 units or an equivalent level of foundational knowledge as well as Constitutional Law.

The following three units are scheduled to be offered in the European Summer Program in Law:

The units are Murdoch University School of Law units, taught intensively in English.  Each unit will be taught in intensive mode for about 24 lecture hours and will be worth 3 credit points. All classes will be conducted either in the morning and/or afternoon so as to enable students to pursue other scholarly or curricular activities.

Students may enrol in one, two or three units, for a maximum of 9 credit points. As this does not constitute a full second semester load (12 credit points), Murdoch Students also need to enrol and complete at least one unit in Semester 2. Students who successfully complete this Program’s units may receive credits towards their LLB degree at their respective Australian universities. All grades awarded are Murdoch Law School grades.

The program is offered as cross-institutional study.

Please note that results will not be available until after Board of Examiners approves those results at the end of semester 2.

Workload

Murdoch University considers a 12 point unit load to be full time study. Each of the Macerata units are 3 credit points and students enrolling in all three, will need to enrol in at least one other unit in Semester 2. Students are expected to be doing 50 hours of learning for each point of load. Students engaged in a full load are expected to be doing around 40 hours a week of learning related activity if they wish to get the most out of their units.

Face to face teaching will consist of 24 lecture hours taught intensively over the three weeks. Unit examinations will be held in the last week of teaching in Macerata and any further assessments will be due in early September 2019. Please direct any queries you have in relation to assessment to your unit coordinator.

Resources and materials

Students will be provided with materials electronically prior to the commencement of studies in Macerata. The School of Law will provide unit guides to students and most reading materials to participants on LMS (Moodle). Cross-institutional students will be given advice on the use of LMS. There will also be a Facebook page for the students attending the program.

The Students will have access to the law and general libraries at the Università di Macerata, as well as to computer laboratories and wireless Internet access. Rooms at the residence should have cable connections for Internet access, though students should bring their own cables. In addition, they will be able to remotely access Murdoch University Law Library electronic information, databases and digitised print material.

Murdoch University School of Law’s European Summer Law Program offers an enriching experience beyond the four walls of a classroom. In addition a number of other functions and activities are planned. Some examples include:

  • Ciao/G’day Welcoming Reception: An inaugural drinks and nibbles in the first week of lectures to enable students to meet and make plans together, as well as to familiarise themselves with the staff at Macerata and other colleagues.
  • Weekly get-togethers for all participants to share experiences and exchange information
  • Guided tour of the city and region
  • Students will also have access to a swimming pool near their residence.

Macerata is a provincial capital in the Marches region of Italy, about 35 km from the Adriatic Sea and 250 km from Rome. It is world-renown for its annual open-air opera festival in July which takes place in the 7,000-seater Sferisterio - a Neoclassical arena erected in the 1820s. Though much of the city centre was built between the 16th and 19th centuries, it also has many sites of historical and archaeological interest.

The teaching of law has an even more ancient tradition in the city, with the Università di Macerata having individuals studying law as far back as 1290, making it one of Europe’s oldest universities. It has remained over the centuries a prestigious institution of higher education and linked to distinguished jurists from all over Europe.

A State university of more than 12,000 students with Programs in all major social sciences disciplines (education and training, law, literature & philosophy, economics & finance, cultural heritage, political science and social science & communications), the Università di Macerata has a number of well-known research institutes, including an Institute of International and European Union law. It is in part this expertise in international and European law which Murdoch and other law students will be able to benefit from as part of the European Summer Law Program.

OS-HELP Loans

Students may be eligible under the OS-HELP loan scheme for financial assistance since they are undertaking some of their course of study overseas.

To be eligible, students must complete all three units in the program and enrol in one unit in Semester 2. Students must have completed a minimum of 24 credit points of law to apply for OS-HELP.  Please be aware that if you have a GPA of lower than 2.0, you may not be successful in obtaining a loan from OS-HELP.

Students who withdraw from units upon receipt of government funding may face penalties.

See OS-HELP and overseas study for more information.

All Murdoch students are covered under the Murdoch corporate travel policy when they are travelling on Murdoch business. You will be covered for your studies in Macerata plus travel days and an additional 2 days of cover for private travel. If Students intend on travelling outside the program dates, they will be required to purchase additional travel insurance. All travel dates will need to be entered in the travel registry prior to travel. Murdoch Insurance Team will go through the insurance cover and procedures at an information session which will be arranged close to departure date for all students travelling to Macerata.

Cross-institutional students: If you are unable to attend this session, the information will be emailed to you. You will be covered by the Murdoch policy however you will need to advise us whether your home university also provides insurance cover, as this can cause problems if there is dual cover.

How to apply

Please complete your expressions of interest to the program by filling out the form

Register Interest

Contact

For further information and enquiries, contact:

Tamara Jones
Email: Law.programs@murdoch.edu.au