Postgraduate Certificate in Law [PGCertLaw] (international students)

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Whether you’re a lawyer, a paralegal, a non-Law graduate, or a legal practitioner from overseas, the PGCertLaw can help you meet your postgraduate study goals.

With the PGCertLaw, you can explore specialised subjects, refresh your existing knowledge in a field, and gain experience in conducting and presenting research.

Here in Wellington, you’ll be close to where New Zealand law and policy are made. You’ll be studying with leading legal experts who will encourage you to tackle contemporary issues in a vibrant academic environment.

Focus on an area of interest

Within the 60-point PGCertLaw, you can take almost any of our 400- or 500-level LAWS courses—the only exceptions are the thesis course (LAWS 591) and the dissertation course (LAWS 592).

Choose from courses covering a wide range of contemporary topics in New Zealand law. Here is a sample of some of the courses you could take:

LAWS 438—Fraud and Corruption in an International Context (10 points)
LAWS 528—Contemporary Issues in Public International Law: Human Rights, Climate Change (40 points)
LAWS 530—New Zealand and Australian Copyright and Designs Law (20 points)
LAWS 532—Law and Technology (20 points)
LAWS 535—Restorative Justice (20 points)
LAWS 536—Trade Marks and Unfair Competition (20 points)
LAWS 537—Patent Law (20 points)
LAWS 547—Financial Markets Regulation (20 points).

Boost your legal acumen

Through the PGCertLaw, you’ll enhance your skills in research, writing, and oral communication. You’ll get to think critically about the law, explore topical issues, and solve legal problems.

Depending on your goals, the PGCertLaw can help advance your career in various ways:

If you’re currently working in a policy or regulatory area, it will give you substantive legal knowledge that you can apply to your daily work.
If you’re a practising lawyer, you can upskill in specialised areas or get abreast of critical legal topics.
If you’re interested in developing a sustained research project in the future, you could use the PGCertLaw to explore a theme.

Pathway to further study

Although the PGCertLaw by itself does not qualify you to practise as a lawyer, it can act as a stepping stone towards a higher qualification.

If you complete the PGCertLaw and want to pursue further study, the courses you’ve completed in the PGCertLaw may be counted towards the Master of Laws (LLM).

Alternative qualifications

If you’re a legal practitioner from overseas who needs to meet New Zealand Council of Legal Education requirements, the PGCertLaw may not be the best qualification for you. Instead, we recommend taking the Graduate Certificate in Law (60 points) or the Graduate Diploma in Law (120 points).

Workload and duration

Depending on your choice of courses, it may be possible to complete the entire PGCertLaw in a single trimester of full-time study. In that case, you can expect a workload of 40 to 45 hours a week.

Domestic part-time students taking two courses per trimester will need to do around 20 to 23 hours of work a week. Make sure you take this into account if you are balancing study with other commitments.

You can estimate your workload by adding up the number of points you’ll be doing. One point is roughly equal to 10 to 12 hours of work.

Support for students

Victoria University of Wellington is a welcoming place with great student support. There are all sorts of resources and support available to help you make the best of your time at university.

All students can join VUWSA—your student representative organisation on campus. VUWSA assigns a postgraduate executive to help meet the needs of postgraduate students.