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Information for students

Selection of student editors

Eighty undergraduate students are invited to apply for the Sydney Law Review course at the beginning of their final year. These students are selected according to the following criteria:

  1. expression of interest in the course in pre-enrolment;
  2. academic performance;
  3. particular interest or experience in publishing.

The Review's Course Co-ordinator selects 28 students (14 per semester) from those who have accepted the invitation to apply. These students are then advised of a meeting date. Students are welcome to apply by completing the application form which is available from the Sydney Law Review office.

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Duties

Members of the Committee must be prepared to serve for 6 months, and due to the production schedule of the Review, duties often commence before formal teaching, or extend beyond the end of formal teaching and assessment. The student editors meet periodically with the Course Co-ordinator and are expected to liaise with each other and the Co-ordinator as required.

The functions of the Student Editors have been formulated with three objects in mind:

  1. to provide Student Editors with an opportunity to gain experience in research, writing and publishing skills and techniques and in particular to contribute to the production of the Review;
  2. to provide Student Editors with an opportunity to increase their understanding of areas of law already examined in the degree or to gain an understanding of areas not covered; and
  3. to provide the Course Co-ordinator with a proper basis for assessing the performance of each Student Editor and assigning a grade in the subject Sydney Law Review.

The Student Editors have two main areas of responsibility:

  1. Students perform a major editorial role in the production of the Review. All accepted submissions are edited by the students in consultation with an academic supervisor. Students then proofread the articles after they have been typeset. As the Review is produced to a tight schedule, students must complete editing within two weeks and proofreading within two weeks;
  2. Students are required to complete two pieces of written work: a 2500 word essay analysing a recent piece of law reform and a 5000 word case note (see Assessment). For both the law reform essay and the case note students work with an academic supervisor, selected by the student. A limited number of case notes are selected for publication, according to their merit. It must be stressed that student case notes are not guaranteed publication.
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Assessment

Meetings
The following meeting has been scheduled for this course:

Monday 7th July 2008
Introduction to the course; introduction to editing;
Researching and writing a law reform essay and a case note;
What is publishable quality?

The class is at 1:00 pm in the Law School.
Additional meetings may be arranged during the semester as required for distribution of editing.

Assessment Scheme
The assessment scheme for the Sydney Law Review course is as follows:

  1. Law reform essay, 2500 words, worth 25%. The topic for the essay is:
    "Critically evaluate a recent piece of law reform. (You may write about some recent legislation, a Bill, or a report, such as a Law Reform Commission report)."
  2. Case note, 5000 words, worth 50%. Examples of published case notes can be found in previous issues of the Review.
  3. Editing of manuscripts, worth 25%.

Word Limits
The word limits for essays are as advised above in the details of the assessment scheme.

The word limits for essays are to be observed. Part of the task of writing an essay or case note is to be able to present a set of arguments in a succinct and logical manner. As a result, failure to observe the word limit goes to the quality of the piece of work and it will be marked accordingly.

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Due dates

For Second Semester 2008, the due dates for the Sydney Law Review course are:

  1. Law Reform Essay: Friday 12th September 2008
  2. Case Note: Friday 24th October 2008
  3. Editing of manuscripts. Deadlines for completion of editing tasks are determined by the Review's production schedule and will be advised during the semester
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Supervision

For both the law reform essay and the case note students are required to find a member of the academic staff to act as supervsior for their work. Where the essay and the case note are in different areas a separate supervisor for each piece of work may be needed. The role of the supervisor is to provide initial assistance to the student in terms of making some suggestions as to useful starting places for reading and research, and if required, to comment on draft work. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to arrange an examiner for supervised work.

It is the responsibility of the students to ensure that they arrange their supervision in adequate time having regard to the due dates for assessment. Students who wish their supervisor to comment on draft work must provide a copy of the draft to the supervisor in adequate time for the supervisor to be able to read and comment on the draft. A minimum of seven days should be allowed for the supervisor to read and comment on a draft. All draft work must be clearly labelled as such.

Prizes

There are two prizes awarded for student contributions to the Sydney Law Review:

  1. The Peter Paterson Prize, established in 1988, is awarded annually for the best contribution to the Review on any topic.
  2. The Sir Peter Heydon Prize is awarded annually for the best undergraduate contribution to the Review in the field of Constitutional, Administrative or International Law.
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