30 years young – Law at Macquarie

Professor Bruce Kercher

In 1975 Macquarie University began teaching law in an innovative way. Thirty years on, it remains a law school with a difference.

Teaching law in a new way

“The law school at Macquarie was established in the early 1970s, at a time when schools around the world were questioning assumptions about the law’s neutrality,” says Bruce Kercher, a Professor in Law and Vice-President of the Academic Senate.

“We wanted to give students the skills both to know and understand the law on its own terms, and also to challenge it. We taught in small groups, so students were actively involved. We used round tables so they could question the authority of the teacher as much as the law. Assessment moved beyond exams. All this was really exciting.

“Our initial aim was to slice up the teaching of law in a different way, to teach according to affected interests rather than traditional categories. So we taught Personal Injury, incorporating both criminal law and torts, rather than crime and tort. We taught both the rules of law needed by practising lawyers and the context in which they were developed and applied.”

From the beginning, distance education students were mixed with those on campus, and Macquarie has now built up considerable expertise in this area. “We were the first in the country in any discipline to teach via electronic tutorials. We did this from the mid-80s,” Kercher recalls.

Macquarie Law today

From 2000, as Dean, Professor Rosalind Croucher “played a huge role in building up an energetic, high-achieving group of teachers,” says Kercher.

Says Croucher: “Macquarie has grown to provide a very distinctive quality of legal education, through emphasis on contextual study and inter-disciplinary work. We teach the underlying historical, social and philosophical dimensions that underpin the way law is, and the ways it can develop. We emphasise intellectual breadth, strong analytical skills and an ethical sense. Our alumni are making their mark in the academy, the profession, politics and the judiciary.”

She draws attention to the top international scholars who have been Visiting Professors, and the four scholarly journals the Division hosts.

In the last five years, students have shown increasing interest in international law.

“This may be due to globalisation and the rise of international trade,” says Kercher. “They’re also reacting to the wars in Iraq, and want to know the laws governing war and peace.”

Postgraduate programs have also expanded, strengthening the research base of the Department. A “boutique Masters” degree can now be taken, and Croucher says Macquarie has “one of the strongest PhD programs of all the law schools”.

The next 30 years

While celebrating 30 years of law at Macquarie University, Croucher and Kercher are already looking ahead to future developments in growth teaching and research areas such as international, business and environmental law, as well as building on strengths such as inter-disciplinary scholarship and distance education.

Both believe the future is bright for Macquarie and its law school, in academic measures such as research grant money and research performance, as well as practical additions such as the new rail link which will bring students from a wide and diverse area.

For more information, see the Division of Law website at www.law.mq.edu.au