Postgraduate courses

See a list of 500-level LAWS courses and the trimesters in which you can study them.

Our postgraduate courses are offered over all three trimesters. They are taught in a range of formats that allow you to tailor your studies to fit around your other commitments.

Courses can be taken individually or as part of a qualification.

View our programme options

Course formats

There are three types of course formats:

Intensive courses

These are taught in a concentrated format over one or two weeks.

Typically taught over consecutive weekdays.
Suitable for those in a position to take a short period of time out of work for training or professional development, as well as full-time students.

Block courses

These are broken into chunks and taught in the evening, on Fridays, and on Saturdays.

Typically spaced over two or more weeks and sometimes over several months.
As with intensive courses, designed to accommodate full-time workers as well as full-time students.

Weekly courses

These run with two-hour weekly meetings over one or two trimesters.

This is our standard course format.
The majority of 500-level courses are offered in the late afternoon or evening.

Intensive and block courses have been indicated in the course details below.

2026 courses by trimester

Trimester 1, 2026

LAWS 504: International Trade Law
LAWS 513: Modern and International Construction Contracts
LAWS 532: Special Topic: Law, Regulations and Emerging Technologies
LAWS 533: Special Topic: International Dispute Resolution
LAWS 541: Negotiation and Mediation
LAWS 581: Advanced Legal Study [BLOCK]

Patent attorney accredited courses:

LAWS 537: Special Topic: Patent Law [INTENSIVE]

Trimesters 1 and 2, 2026

ITRA 501: Multidisciplinary Approaches to International Trade
LAWS 522: Special Topic: Public Law: Authority, Deliberation, Accountability
LAWS 526: Special Topic: Continuity and Change in Public Law
LAWS 528: Special Topic: Contemporary Issues in Public International Law - Human Rights, Climate Change
LAWS 582: Legal Writing

Trimester 2, 2026

LAWS 514: He Ture Whenua Māori me te Mana Whenua Taketake / Māori Land Law and Indigenous Land Rights
LAWS 535: Special Topic: Criminalisation and Overcriminalisation
LAWS 542: Special Topic: Health Law
LAWS 545: Special Topic: Contemporary Land Issues in New Zealand
LAWS 550: Special Topic: Internship
LAWS 581: Advanced Legal Study [BLOCK]

Patent attorney accredited courses:

LAWS 530: Special Topic: New Zealand and Australian Copyright and Designs Law [INTENSIVE]
LAWS 554: Special Topic: Patent Interpretation
LAWS 555: Special Topic: Patent Drafting

Trimesters 2 and 3, 2026

LAWS 531: Special Topic: Issues in International and Comparative Labour Law
LAWS 582: Legal Writing

Trimesters 3 and 1, 2026–2027

LAWS 582: Legal Writing