The Honours Thesis makes up Part B of the final Honours Examination for students wishing to graduate with an honours degree. For this course a student must complete an honours thesis on a topic of their choice, under the supervision of a member of the academic staff or a person approved by the Course Convenor.

By the end of the course the student will have undertaken a limited but systematic study of an issue in the law of the student's own choosing, and presented the results of that study in a written form which is accessible to an interested, but not necessarily informed, legal reader. The student will have developed legal research and writing skills; and will have educated himself or herself further in the law, its methods and limits.

Students are required to complete a thesis of between 11,000 and 13,000 words on a topic of their choice, under the supervision of a member of the academic staff or a person approved by the Course Convenor.

There are no classes scheduled in this course. Instead, students are expected to meet regularly with their supervisors during the semester and to devote at least 20 hours per week to the thesis.

Enrolment in Honours Thesis is restricted to students who satisfy the following requirements:

• the candidate, at the time of completion of his or her studies in the Law School, will have completed 14 or more eligible law courses
• the candidate has, by Tuesday of the first week of the semester in which they will undertake Honours Thesis, submitted to the Law School Administration Office a form signed by their supervisor indicating that the supervisor has read and approved a detailed research proposal prepared in accordance with issued guidelines, and has agreed to supervise the student
• the candidate is in a position to complete the requirements for admission to the degree in a period of one year or less as a full-time student
• at the time that the candidate qualifies under paragraph 3, the candidate has an Honours mark of 4.5 in the eligible law courses completed by the candidate, after disregarding the three courses (or less, if the Policy on Award of Honours in the Law School otherwise requires) in which the candidate has scored the lowest marks
• Guidelines for the detailed research proposal are available in the course outline for Honours Thesis (which can be accessed via the Law web page) or by request from the course convenor.

To assist students to prepare their detailed research proposal and to undertake Honours Thesis, the ANU College of Law offers Honours Thesis Workshops each year.  Attendance is voluntary. Dates for 2010 will be advised on the web. It is strongly recommended that students attend a Workshop at least three months before the semester in which they enrol in Honours Thesis. Students may attend more than one Workshop.  For more information, see the brochure about Honours in Law available on the noticeboard at the student's login page, the honours information page on the College website and the course outline.