LAW444 is offered in each Semester under the supervision of the Associate Editor of the Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law. The Unit is limited to a maximum of 5 students per semester who are selected on the basis of their academic results in law units completed prior to applying to take LAW444 and a short written statement explaining their interest in legal publishing and environmental law. Students selected for the Unit must be prepared to be available to attend meetings outside the period of formal teaching and assessment.
The Unit consists of formal seminars on legal academic research, and editing law journals as well as meetings focusing on the progress of Volume 2, Number 1 (semester 1) and Volume 2, Number 2 (semester 2) 2005 of the Journal. Students will undertake a range of tasks with respect to the publication of the Journal, including:
* reading articles submitted to the review and preparing written appraisals of their strengths and weaknesses;
* proof-reading and editing articles submitted for publication;
* liaising with authors and referees over issues prior to publication;
* other tasks associated with the production of the journal.
In addition, students will complete their own piece of legal research in the form of a case note, a book review, or a short article. Students will be encouraged to submit their work for publication in an appropriate academic journal.
The Unit differs from other units in the curriculum because of its focus on legal scholarship rather than legal practice. Also, it has a strong skills based component. Learning is achieved primarily through contributions to the production of the journal. There is a close relationship between legal scholarship and legal practice. The High Court commonly cites work published in academic journals to support their reasoning, and important suggestions for law reform are generated through scholarship in academic journals.
