UNSW Law & Justice has more than 20 scholars working on a wide range of socio-legal theoretical and empirical research projects.

They take a reflective interest in the study of law  – its intellectual foundations, social conditions, relationship with morality and politics, and kinship with other disciplines. The projects focus on fundamental questions of legal thinking, practices, institutions, regulatory processes and governance regimes.

Legal and regulatory theory gives students a grounding in responsive regulation, demonstrating how decision-making by regulators can have a profound impact upon the laws in Australia or other regulatory regimes. Drawing from criminology, international law, political science and the social sciences, students will emerge with an appreciation of the rule of law in the regulatory state, and the conditions necessary for self-regulation and deregulation.

Our expertise

  • Critical legal theory
  • Feminist legal theory
  • Law & social theory
  • Legal philosophy
  • Theories of human rights
  • Theories of regulation