Third-year law students at Jane College are being offered an experience most Australian law graduates will never have: two weeks tracing the story of international justice through Nuremberg, the Rhine Valley, The Hague and London - under the guidance of Professor Tim McCormack, one of the most respected international law figures in the world.
It's the next chapter in what has already been a big year for law at Jane. Enrolments from law students have surged 300% year on year, driven in no small part by Professor McCormack's now well-known message: that Tasmania's law degree - and the Jane experience that comes with it - beats anything on offer at the big mainland universities.
McCormack taught for 28 years in Melbourne at the #1 ranked law school in Australia, so he knows both programs intimately. The biggest difference? A much more encouraging and supportive learning experience. Add a third-year study tour guided by McCormack, the former Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and the UTAS/Jane experience is impossible to beat.
"The lecturer-to-student ratio is so much lower at UTAS, which means a much more encouraging and supportive learning experience. There is more opportunity to get extra help and assistance and be treated like an individual, not a number. At big mainland universities, students will be one of 350 or 400; they won't get to know all their professors. At UTAS, we have our best teachers in the room. We know our students, and our students know us, "Professor McCormack says.
Jane’s International Law Study Tour
For a law student, the chance to stand in the courtroom where the modern rules of international justice were written, sit in on live proceedings at the International Criminal Court, and hear from the practitioners and judges who apply those rules today is career-changing. Most students only encounter these institutions through their textbook; Jane residents will walk through their doors.
Jane residents already have access to weekly law study groups, academic mentoring from Fellows and alumni, and formal dinners that have included the Chief Justice of Tasmania on their table. This tour takes that same idea - that studying law at Jane means learning from people who actively practise it - and extends it onto the world stage.
Jane's current law students will be the first group to experience the overseas study tour.
Life at Jane
Jane College is a fully catered residential college in Hobart, affiliated with the University of Tasmania since 1950. Around 130 students live on site, with all meals provided, their own room and study space, academic tutorials and mentoring from the college's Fellows, and a full calendar of sport, music and formal dinners. For school leavers arriving from regional Tasmania or the mainland, it is a ready-made community from day one.
"I was a resident tutor at Jane when I was 22. I couldn't believe what other students were missing out on. It was so much fun. Meals are provided so students don't have to worry about their meals, they have their own study space, they can retreat to their room, but have amazing activities together. This broader life experience is important in their education as well - mixing with other young minds, experiencing diversity of thought." - Professor Tim McCormack, Jane Fellow
A once-in-a-degree opportunity
The new International Law Study Tour, planned for the University’s mid-year break in 2027, will take a cohort of Jane residents through some of Europe’s most significant sites in the history of international law. The itinerary is currently being developed and is likely to include:
Nuremberg, Germany
Explore the history of the Nuremberg Trials, including the Palace of Justice - where the foundations of modern international criminal law were laid - and the Nazi Party rally grounds, alongside the charm of Nuremberg's old town.
The Rhine Valley
An overnight stopover by rail, taking in the medieval castles that line one of Europe's most storied rivers.
The Hague, Netherlands
The centrepiece of the tour: almost a week in the legal capital of the world. Visit the International Court of Justice, the main judicial arm of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, hear from professionals working in international law today, and take in everything else The Hague has to offer.
London, England
Visit Whitehall and the Ministry of Defence, hear from a serving London judge, and explore the city in your own time.
Students will be guided throughout by Professor McCormack, who served for 14 years as Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and by Jane's Dean of Students, Sarah Hopkins.
Learning from a leader in the field
Professor Tim McCormack is exactly the kind of guide this trip demands. A UTAS Law graduate himself, he spent 28 years at the University of Melbourne before returning to Tasmania, where he is Professor of International Law at the University of Tasmania. He is also a Fellow of Jane, providing mentorship to Jane law residents.
For 14 years, from 2010 to 2024, he served as Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and his career has taken him from Harvard Law School to the United States Naval War College and the trial of Slobodan Milošević.
"I've maintained my connection with Jane, and I am now a Fellow of the college. I interact with the resident law students, and they can reach out to me for help if they need it."
For students, that means the tour isn't a guided history lesson delivered by a tour guide - it's a firsthand walkthrough of institutions Professor McCormack has worked inside for nearly two decades. Few undergraduates anywhere in the world get to study international law with someone who has advised the very court they're standing in.
“I have spent the best part of two decades inside the institutions on this itinerary. To walk our own students into Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg, and through the doors of the Court I served in The Hague, will be a highlight of my own career. There is no substitute for standing where it happened.”
He'll be accompanied by Jane's Dean of Students, Sarah Hopkins, whose background running group travel programs across Europe means students are supported every step of the way, from the Nuremberg old town to the London Underground.
What Jane students are saying
For current Jane law residents, opportunities like this are exactly why they chose the college in the first place. UTAS Arts/Law student Sophie Lamb has already experienced what it means to learn law outside the lecture theatre at Jane.
"There are so many opportunities, especially as a law student. We have special guest lecturers, practising barristers and even had the Chief Justice for dinner! It is very inspiring and gets you thinking about different choices and careers in law. At university, you learn the content. Being at Jane has helped me understand what a career in law is really like."
Sophie Lamb, University of Tasmania Arts/Law student and Jane resident
It's that philosophy - that the best legal education happens as much outside the lecture theatre as in it - that sparked the inspiration for the tour. When students were first consulted on the concept, the enthusiasm was immediate, with many describing it as a genuinely unique opportunity that would set their degree apart.
Accessing the International Law Study Tour
The International Law Study Tour is exclusively available to University of Tasmania students living at Jane College who are in their third or fourth year of law or a related discipline. It will run in the University's mid-year break in 2027.
The tour is an optional, student-funded program, with an estimated cost of approximately $10,000 per participant. The final cost and inclusions will be confirmed once the itinerary and bookings have been finalised. Students will receive full details before committing to the tour.
Applications for 2027 residency at Jane are open now.