YES ANU has alot of international electives in law
YES ANU has an asian studies and an international relations degree
BUT
1) The international relations BA degree (like at pretty much every university) is just a specialised arts degree. That means, you'll do the same courses as someone doing a BA, but your choices will be restricted. I for one don't see the benefit which you gain from have (IR) tacked on to the end of your BA.
2) The asian studies faculty has its good and its bad points. It's a fairly small faculty and you'll end up developing a great relationship between your classmates and your lecturer, particularly as you'll probably be doing the same language for three years and seeing the same people for three years. However, while the language faculties themselves are generally good, its also tough balancing a law degree with language studies (particularly Chinese and Japanese because there IS alot of work i.e. regular tute exams, mini exams, take homes and you name it) and then to top it off the arts type subjects which you can take in the Asian Studies faculty are (with complete honesty) usually pretty crap. Some of the lecturers in that faculty could take some of the most interesting things you could think of i.e. Chinese History and turn them into snooze fests.
3) International law itself is dissimilar to pretty much any other law course. While I won't dispute that the faculty itself is good alot of people who were initially quite enthusiastic about international law are really put off because of how flakey most of the rules are (particularly in Australia) and because of the difficulty of the subject.
4) Exchanges aren't exclusive to ANU (though I'm sure they'd like you to think that they are). When they say that you can take an exchange as part of your degree i.e. Asian Studies Specialist you're in the same position as any student at any other university.
5) We have a crap law library. During the breaks I study at UNSW. OK ILL ADMIT IT, I STUDY AT UNSW OVER THE HOLIDAYS! GOT A PROBLEM UNSW GUYS!?!?!?!?
Ok on to the good points though
1) There is a large range of international law electives at ANU
2) The law faculty is very good - though exams and such are a little more demanding compared to some other universities (i.e. Monash
)
3) The arts courses here are great particularly in European languages, modern history, politics, IR etc etc
4) You’ll be conveniently located if you’re intending to look for summer work in the public service
