Structure of LL.B. programmes

Historically, law students studied both canon law and civil law. Today, this is much less common among common law countries, who now study the English-derived common law system, which includes the criminal law of most jurisdictions. However, a few institutions continue to offer alternatives to strictly English common law: for example Cardiff University's Department of Canon (Ecclesiastical) Law, or combined programmes in common and French civil law (pertinent to Canada's bijuridical system) at McGill University and University of Ottawa.

Common law jurisdictions in generaledit

In most common law countries (with the exceptions of all Canadian provinces except Quebec, and the U.S.), the Bachelor of Laws programme is generally entered directly after completion of secondary school. In England and Wales it is also possible to study a programme for conversion to the legal profession following completion of a previous undergraduate degree unrelated to law (the Graduate Diploma in Law), which entitles graduates to take the vocational courses for entry into the legal profession. Master's degree courses are also offered to university graduates; those who graduate from such courses are entitled to use the initials LL.M. (Master of Laws).

Australiaedit

A qualifying law degree for the purposes of admission as a lawyer in Australia is either the undergraduate LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) programmes at accredited universities recognised by the admission board of the respective state, or the graduate J.D. (Juris Doctor). Every recognised qualification of each admission board is reciprocally recognised. However, prior to degrees, there existed an alternative to a degree to become a lawyer in Australia, which was either the Barrister's Admission Board, or the Solicitor's Admission Board, whose examinations rendered one eligible to be admitted respectively, the successor of these boards that still operates this alternative is the Legal Profession Admission Board which issues the distinct Diploma in Law which is equivalent to either an LL.B. or a J.D. Law degrees typically last 4 years for undergraduate admission or 3 years for university graduates.

Additionally, of the thirty-eight law schools, thirteen of those universities have also started offering the Juris Doctor (J.D.) as a graduate-entry degree.

Bangladeshedit

In Bangladesh, as in other common-law countries, obtaining a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree is a prerequisite for practising as an advocate in a court of law. Both LL.B. and LL.B. (Hons.) degrees are offered at public and private universities. Only seven public universities offer LL.B. (Hons.) degree. These universities also offer one-year LL.M. courses. Some private universities also offer four-year LL.B. (Hons.) degrees and one-year LL.M. courses. The National University of Bangladesh also offers a two-year LL.B. degree to graduates of subjects other than law. But remarkably, the department of Law, University of Rajshahi is the first institute in South Asia to offer bachelors degree in law with honors as B. Jur.(Bachelor of Jurisprudence) and M. Jur. (Masters of Jurisprudence) from 1970 (not offered in the years 1971 & 1972). Later on they were replaced with LL. B (Hons.) and LL. M degree respectively. This institute is considered the leading institute to study legal science in Bangladesh having a great number of alumni and former members of the faculty around the world including former president, chief justice, ministers of several governments and many of the former and current judges of the apex courts and the courts of the lower judiciary of Bangladesh and many more formidable legal minds of the country. As per the number of participants in the admission tests, this is considered as one of the most desirable choices for the High school/college students of Bangladesh.

Canadaedit

Canada has two legal systems. The Province of Quebec uses a civil law system. At the federal level, as well as in every province or territory except Quebec, a system of common law is used. Because of this, there are two types of Canadian law degrees generally in use.

Common lawedit

The programme of study for common law has traditionally been an undergraduate LL.B. degree, which has now been re-designated as a J.D. at nearly all Canadian common law schools. Entrants to the J.D. programme generally hold an undergraduate degree before registration in the law programme and a significant number hold a graduate-level degree as well. However, admission may be granted to applicants with two years of undergraduate studies towards a degree. Unlike the United States, the J.D. is considered a bachelor's degree-level qualification, albeit a "second-entry" one. The common law programme is three years in length. Upon graduation, one holds a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree, but cannot yet practise law. To practise law, the graduate must obtain a licence from the Law Society of the province where they wish to practise law, which also requires a year of articling. Those law graduates wishing to become law professors instead of lawyers often obtain a more advanced academic degree, such as the Master of Laws (LL.M.) or the Doctor of Laws (LL.D., S.J.D. or D.C.L.).

Civil lawedit

The civil law programme in Canada is three years in length. The programme of study for the first degree in Quebec civil law (called LL.B., B.C.L. or LL.L.) is a first-entry degree programme. Like other first-entry university programmes in Quebec, it requires a college diploma for entry. Law schools that offer civil law B.C.L., LL.B., or LL.L. degrees include McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval and the University of Ottawa.

Bijuridicaledit

Because of Canada's dual system of laws, some law schools offer joint or dual degrees in common law and civil law: McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke and the University of Ottawa. The law degree offered by McGill University is a mandatory joint common law LL.B. / Quebec civil law B.C.L. degree. The programme is four years in length. Admission to that programme is a first-entry programme in the case of Quebec students (as a college diploma is required) while it is a second-entry programme in the case of students from other provinces (since two years of university studies is required—effectively one extra year of studies more than for a college diploma). The University of Ottawa offers a civil law degree (LL.L.) on its own.

A number of Canadian law schools offer students the opportunity to earn, besides their three-year first degrees in common law, programmes in common law for holders of baccalaureate degrees in Quebec civil law enabling those individuals to earn the LL.B. in common law in two or three semesters, depending on the offering university's programme. Similarly, the University of Ottawa offers, besides its three-year LL.L. programme in Quebec civil law, a one-year LL.L. programme in Quebec civil law for holders of an LL.B. or J.D. degree in common law from a Canadian law school.

Additionally, some Canadian universities with common law law schools have an arrangement with a Canadian university with a Quebec civil law law school enabling students to obtain the home school's law degree in three years and the exchange school's law degree in the fourth year.

Hong Kongedit

In Hong Kong, three universities, including The University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and City University of Hong Kong, provide legal studies with both LL.B. degree or J.D. degree, where the former is for students right after secondary school, and the latter is for the degree holders. LL.B. is 4 years in length, while J.D. is 2 years. Students who had an LL.B. or J.D degree, whether conferred by local universities or the accredited universities overseas, would be eligible to apply for admission to PCLL, the legal qualification programme in Hong Kong.

On top of LL.B., University of Hong Kong offers a variety of Mixed-Degree programmes that allow students to take a first degree and then have an option to take a conjunctive law degree, including Bachelor of Business Administration (Law) (abbreviated as "BBA(Law)&LLB", or as BLaw), Bachelor of Social Science (Government & Laws) ("BSocSc(Govt&Laws)&LLB", or as GLaws), and Bachelor of Arts (Literary Studies) ("BA&LLB", or as ALaw). Previous mixed-Degree programme also includes Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering).

Indiaedit

In India, legal education is traditionally offered as a three-year graduate degree conferring the title of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B./B.L.), requiring prospective students to have a bachelor's degree in any subject from a recognised institution.

However, specialised universities of law known as National Law Schools solely devoted to legal education offer an undergraduate five-year law course for students that have completed Class XII from a recognised board of education in India. The five-year law course leads to an integrated honours degree combining the LL.B. degree with another bachelor's degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Social Work. In these programs, students are taught subjects associated with the additional non-law bachelor's degree during the first two years, in addition to standard legal subjects such as torts, contracts and constitutional law, such as social sciences for the Bachelor of Arts and a combination of physical, life and applied sciences for the Bachelor of Science. In the latter three years of all these programmes, legal subjects dominate the curriculum.

The first National Law School was the National Law School of India University. This was followed by others including the Nalsar University of Law and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences were established. Today, many Indian universities offer five-year integrated BA LL.B. programmes similar to that of the National Law Schools of India while others continue to offer a traditional three-year programme. Both integrated and traditional types of three years law degrees are recognised by the Bar Council of India for to qualify for enrollment to the Bar. Though, one need to have a full time Law degree to practice as a lawyer in India. Bar Council of India considers only full time Law degrees programmes. Hence, distance or online education options are available to become a practicing lawyer in India.

Malaysiaedit

Malaysia inherited a common law system from the British colonial period. However, unlike the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, Malaysia adopted the fused legal profession with legal practitioners acting both as solicitors and in a way "barristers". Hence all are lawyers eligible and can be admitted to the High Court as a legal professional is entitled to be bestowed with the title "Advocate & Solicitor". This applies to both lawyers practising in the Peninsular Malaysia (Malaya) and the States of Sabah & Sarawak.

Under the Legal Profession Act 1976, a person is deemed to be a qualified person to be admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor if they completed and passed the course of Bar Vocational Course in UK & Wales from any Inns of Court, passed the Certificate in Legal Practice or completed a 4-year LL.B. (Honours) course from any of the following Universities:-

• University of Malaya
• National University of Malaysia
• International Islamic University of Malaysia
• Mara Technological Institute University
• Malaysia Multimedia University
• Malaysian Northern University
• Sultan Zainal Abidin University

New Zealandedit

An LL.B. is required to be able to practice law in New Zealand. An LL.B. typically takes four years to complete after high school, and is often combined with another degree program, such as a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) or Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). Most New Zealand universities allow graduates of other degrees to complete an LL.B. in three years. Six New Zealand universities offer LL.B. programmes:

• University of Auckland
• Auckland University of Technology
• University of Waikato
• Victoria University of Wellington
• University of Canterbury
• University of Otago

Pakistanedit

Pakistan is a common law country and to become a lawyer in Pakistan, one needs a law degree usually called LL.B. from a Pakistani or a foreign university from common law country recognized by the Pakistan Bar Council. Lawyers in Pakistan are called advocates. An advocate has to be member of one of the provincial Bar Councils, i.e., Punjab Bar Council, Sindh Bar Council, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, Balochistan Bar Council or the Islamabad Bar Council.

The Bachelor of Laws obtained from universities in Pakistan consists of a 5-year B.A.-LL.B. qualification. This rule was laid down by the Pakistan Bar Council in 2016 requiring 5 years of education to obtain a Bachelor of Laws qualification. This change in the legal education rules led to the abolishing of 3 year LL.B. programs being offered by universities in Pakistan. This rule however does not affect the recognition of LL.B. degrees of less than 5 years obtained from foreign universities recognized by the Pakistan Bar Council for the purposes of enrolling as an advocate in Pakistan.

Singaporeedit

In Singapore, the LL.B. is an undergraduate degree that is conferred by the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Singapore Management University (SMU) or the Singapore University of Social Sciences after four years of study. Three-year graduate degrees are also offered by NUS with its LL.B. (Honours) course, and SMU with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) course. In September 2020 NUS announced they are replacing their Graduate LLB with a JD programme. The JD will be a three year programme for candidates holding a non-law degree, or a two year programme for international candidates who wish to practice law in Singapore and already hold a basic law degree. To be called to the Singapore Bar, graduates are minimally required to possess a LLB with a lower second-class honours from NUS or a grade point average of 3.00 from SMU.

South Africaedit

In South Africa the LL.B. is offered both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As of 1996 it is the universal and only legal qualification for legal practice, superseding the existing B.Juris and B.Proc degrees. The undergraduate programme, offered since 1998, requires four years of study. At the postgraduate level, the programme generally requires three years. Several South African universities offer B.A. and BCom degrees with a major in "Law", and these graduates then undertake a two-year postgraduate-programme. Some universities also offer a one-year programme for holders of the BProc degree.

The curriculum is typically structured around preliminary, core and advanced courses, and most universities also offer elective coursework. The preliminary courses acquaint the students with both the background and the foundations of the South African legal system, and with legal thinking and analysis in general. The core subjects are those regularly required for legal practice. The advanced courses (usually) comprise further study in these core subjects, deepening and / or broadening the student's knowledge as appropriate. The electives – often comprising these advanced courses, amongst others – allow students to specialise in a particular area of law, to an extent, by choosing from a range of optional courses. Some universities also require that students complete an experience based course ("Practical Legal Studies" / "Law clinic"); a credit comprising independent research exclusively is often offered as an elective, and at some universities is a degree requirement.citation needed

The undergraduate LL.B. may depart from this structure. Depending on university, the curriculum will comprise legal subjects exclusively, or may include humanities subjects so as to prepare graduates with a "broad-based" legal education. Some undergraduate programmes do not offer any optional coursework. Credits in English and Afrikaans are also often included. Along with Latin, these were, but are no longer, "subjects compelled by statute", and were typically entrance requirements for the LL.B., having been studied as undergraduate modules. Similarly, Roman Law was previously a preliminary course, whereas, in both the post- and undergraduate degree, it is now offered as an elective.

Note that the structure of the undergraduate programme is under review. The issues noted are: graduates of these programmes are seen to be less prepared for the profession as compared to those pursuing the graduate LLB; only 20% of entrants complete the programme within four years; only about 50% of graduates here enter the legal profession at all. Further, there are those who question the academic standard of the new degree. Some universities have now discontinued the programme; in other cases undergraduate students are required to initially register as Arts, Commerce or Science students – with first year law subjects – and, in the second year of study, only those meeting specified criteria may choose to pursue the four-year LLB.