English Law and Australian Law

English law and Australian law at King's College London is a four-year degree that offers a genuinely comparative legal education, preparing graduates to understand and practise within two distinct but related common law systems. The English and Australian legal systems share a common heritage in English common law, but they have developed differently in important respects: Australia has a federal constitution that shapes the distribution of legislative power in ways that have no equivalent in the unitary UK system, and Australian courts have developed their own body of case law and statutory interpretation that diverges from English law in significant areas. Studying both gives you a depth of comparative legal understanding that is difficult to acquire any other way, and a qualification that is recognised in two major jurisdictions.

At King's, you will study the foundational elements of the English legal system alongside the constitutional and private law of Australia, developing a detailed understanding of how both systems work and where they agree and differ. The programme covers the areas of law that are core to any qualifying UK law degree, including contract, tort, constitutional and administrative law, land law, and equity, alongside comparative content on Australian constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, and key areas of Australian private and public law. The four-year structure allows both systems to be covered with real depth, and the programme benefits from King's position as one of the leading law schools in the UK and its academic connections with Australian universities.

Graduates hold a qualifying law degree in English law and have also studied Australian law at a level that supports further qualification in Australia. This opens professional pathways in both jurisdictions, including solicitor training in England and Wales through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, and the bar or solicitor routes in Australian states. Careers in international law firms, particularly those with offices in both jurisdictions, and in organisations operating across the UK and Australia are natural applications of this combination.

Academic research in comparative law, constitutional law, or private law is a further path for those who want to pursue the intellectual dimensions of the degree.