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| The undergraduate ] of '''Bachelor of Laws''' is the degree required for the practice of law in the many of ] countries, other than the United States, where their equivalent entry-level law degree is the ]. Most law schools in Canada are, or are in the process of, changing their degrees to the J.D. degree. Indeed, this is the trend in both Asia and Australia. The LLB is historically classified as a ] and that accounts for its demise in most countries that have placed law school as a second-entry professional degree. | |||
| Where the term ''Bachelor of Laws'' continues to be used, it is abbreviated '''LL.B.''' (or '''LLB'''): "LL." is an abbreviation of the genitive plural ''legum'' (of ''lex, legis f.'', law), thus "LL.B." stands for ''Legum Baccalaureus'' in ]. In the ] it is sometimes erroneously called "Bachelor of Legal Letters" to account for the double "L" (however then it is abbreviated as "L.L.B."). | |||
| Historically, in Canada, Bachelor of Laws was the name of the first degree in common law, but is also the name of the ] awarded by a number of Quebec universities. All Canadian common-law LL.B. programs are ], meaning that the majority of those admitted to an LL.B. programme are already holders of one or more degrees, or, at a minimum, have completed two years of study in a first-entry, undergraduate degree in another discipline. | |||
| Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the first degree in ] and ] (both being ]s that are based partly on common law and partly on civil law) awarded by a number of universities in ] and ], respectively. | |||
| ==Structure of LL.B. programmes== | |||
| Historically, law students studied both ] and ]. Today, this is much less common. However, a few institutions, such as ]'s Department of Canon (Ecclesiastical) Law and ]'s and the ]'s combined programme, continue to offer alternatives to the common law. | |||
| ===Common law countries generally=== | |||
| In most common law countries (with the exception of Canada, the U.S.), the Bachelor of Laws programme is generally entered directly after completion of secondary school, but some universities in Britain also offer the programme as an accelerated (shorter duration), second-entry programme for the LL.B. following completion of a previous undergraduate degree. {{Fact|date=April 2008}} | |||
| ===Australia=== | |||
| The programme of study for the common law LLB can be either a graduate-entry degree programme requiring a previous bachelors degree or can be undertaken directly after high-school either by itself (the duration of which is usually 4 years) or with another degree (ie. BComm/LLB or BSc/LLB), the duration of which can vary between 4-7 years depending on the specific combination. | |||
| ===Canada=== | |||
| Canada has a dual system of laws. In the province of Quebec, a system of civil law is used. 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 Canadian law degrees generally in use. | |||
| The programme of study for the common law LL.B. is graduate-entry degree programme. While the degree awarded is at the first-degree level and admission may be granted to applicants with two or three years of undergraduate studies towards a degree, in practice the programme generally requires completion of a previous undergraduate degree before registration in that programme. In fact, almost all admitted law students hold at least a bachelor level degree, and a significant number hold a graduate level degree as well. | |||
| The common law programme is three years in length. At that time, the graduate holds a Bachelor of Laws degree, but cannot practice law yet. In order to practice law, the graduate must then be licensed by the Law Society of the province where he/she wishes to practice law, which also requires a traineeship. (See '''Becoming a Lawyer''' below.) Those law graduates wishing to become law professors instead of lawyers often obtain a more advanced academic degree, such as the ] (LL.M.) or the ] (LL.D, S.J.D or D.C.L). | |||
| The civil law programme in Canada is three years in length. The programme of study for the ] (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 ] diploma for entry. | |||
| Law schools that offer civil law B.C.L. or LL.L. degrees include McGill University and the University of Ottawa. | |||
| Because of Canada's dual system of laws, some law schools offer joint or dual degrees of common law and civil law. McGill University and the University of Ottawa are two law schools which offer such degrees. | |||
| 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 the CEGEP 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 CEGEP 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 program. Similarly, the ] offers, besides its three year LL.L. program in Quebec civil law, a one year LL.L. program 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. | |||
| ===India=== | |||
| '' Main article ]'' | |||
| ''See also: ], ]'' | |||
| In ], ] has been traditionally offered as a three years graduate degree conferring the title of title of LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) or B.L. (Bachelor of Law). However the legal education system was revised by the ], the governing body of ] in ]. Pursuant thereto, various ] were established which administer five years undergraduate degree programme and confer an integrated honours degree, such as "B.A.,LL.B. (Honours)", "B.B.A, LL.B. (Honours)", "B.Sc., LL.B. (Honours)", etc. | |||
| Both the types of degrees (i.e. three years and five years integrated honours) are recognized and are also qualifying degrees for practice of legal profession in India. A holder of either type of degree may approach a Bar Council of any ] and get upon compliance with the necessary standards, be enrolled on the rolls of the said Bar Council. The process of enrollment confers a license to the holder to practice before any court in India and give legal advice. The entire procedure of enrollment and post-enrollment professional conduct is regulated and supervised by the Bar Council of India. | |||
| ===Bangladesh=== | |||
| Like other Common Law countries, Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree is a condition precedent to practice as an Advocate in the Courts of Law of Bangladesh. Both LL.B. and LL.B. (Hons.) degrees are offered in different Public and Private Universities. Only four Public Universities offer LL.B. (Hons.) degree. These Universities are-the University of Dhaka, the University of Rajshahi, the University of Chittagong, the Islamic University of Kustia. All these Universities also offer one year LL.M. course. Private Universities like Green University of Bangladesh, Eastern University, South East University, University of Asia Pacific, Stamford University, Northan University, World University of Bangladesh also offer LL.B. (Hons.) degree. Besides, the National University of Bangladesh also offers two years LL.B. degree to the graduates of subjects other than Law through some Law Colleges. | |||
| ==Becoming a lawyer== | |||
| ''See also: ] and ]'' | |||
| Upon completion of the LL.B. degree (or its equivalent), graduates are generally qualified to apply for membership of the ] or ]. The membership eligibility bestowed may be subject to completion of professional exams. A student may have to gain a further qualification at postgraduate level, for example a traineeship and the ] or ] in England and Wales or the ] in ]. | |||
| In ], LL.B. graduates are required to undertake a one year articled clerkship or the Legal Practice Course (Commonly Practical Legal Training or PLT) before applying for registration as a ]. Depending on the State to which a practitioner is admitted membership of the Bar is either restricted to Barristers, or open to both Solicitors and Barristers in the states where both roles are fused. In the states that maintain membership of the bar as a separate entity, entry is attained through the successful completion of an exam and a nine-month period of tutelage (the reading period) under a senior Barrister. | |||
| In ], the lawyer licensing process usually requires the law graduate to 1.) take further classroom law courses, taught by the law society itself, and pass a set of written examinations, commonly referred to as '''bar exams''', related to the taken courses and 2.) complete articled clerkship commonly known as '''articling'''. Although the vast majority of law graduates fulfill the articled clerkship requirement by articling (i.e. working and learning) in a law firm, a government's legal department, a corporation's (in house) legal department, a community legal clinic or some other type of non-profit organization involved in legal work, a small minority of law graduates (with exceptional academic records) satisfy the articled clerkship requirement by undergoing what is commonly called '''clerkship''' with a specific courthouse and under the supervision of a judge instead of working in a more "lawyer-type environment" under the supervision of a lawyer called a '''"principal"'''. In either articling or clerkship, there is the expectation that the law graduate will work in a variety of legal fields and be exposed to the harsh realities of legal practice that are absent from law school's academic atmosphere. | |||
| In the province of ], for example, the licensing process for the ] (Ontario's governing law society) consists of three mandatory components: The Skills and Professional Responsibility Program with assignments and assessments, Licensing Examinations (a Barrister Licensing Examination and a Solicitor Licensing Examination), and a 10-month Articling term. | |||
| At the conclusion of the licensing process, the law graduate is "called to the bar" whereby he/she signs his/her name in the ] and swears lawyer-related oaths in a formal ceremony where he/she must appear in a complete barrister's gown and bow before judges of the local superior court and benchers of the licensing law society. After the call ceremony, he/she can designate him/herself as a "solicitor and barrister", and can practice law in the province in which he/she is licensed. In the Province of ], licensed lawyers are automatically permitted to practice the powers of a ]. In Ontario and other provinces, a licensed lawyer requires further licensing from another authority, such as the provincial attorney general, before he/she can work in a Notary Public capacity. | |||
| Although not required by the licensing process, many 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> year law students work in law firms during the summer off-school season to earn extra money and to guarantee themselves an articling position (with the same law firms) upon their graduation from law school, because there is always fierce competition for articling positions, especially for those in large law firms offering attractive remuneration and prestige, and a law graduate cannot become a licensed lawyer in Canada if he/she has not gone through articled clerkship. | |||
| ==Alternative titles and formats== | |||
| ===Doctor of Jurisprudence or Juris Doctor (J.D.)=== | |||
| ''For main article, see ]'' | |||
| In the United States, the LL.B. as a requisite for admission to practice was replaced by the requirement of a graduated degree, the ] or ] (J.D.). The accepted post-nominal abbreviations noting the conferral of the degree are either "J.D." or "D.Jur." | |||
| Universities in some other common-law jurisdictions generally continue to award the LL.B. degree as the 'first degree' in law. Some law schools in ], ], and ] have begun to offer Juris Doctor programmes. For instance, in 2001, Canada’s University of Toronto began conferring the J.D. instead of the LL.B. it had previously.<ref>"JD Program," ''University of Toronto Faculty of Law''.</ref> The Faculty of Law at Canada’s Queen’s University voted to replace its LL.B. with a J.D.<ref>“A law degree by any other name: Proposed changes from LL.B. to J.D. ‘consistent with international norms,’ dean says” ''The Queen’s Journal'', November 29, 2007.</ref> The decision received the approval of the University’s Senate in February 2008.<ref>“J.D. Proposal,” ''Queen’s University Faculty of Law''.</ref> A similar change is pending at Toronto's Osgoode Hall Law School, where 73% of students casting a ballot in a 2008-03 plebiscite supported the change. Finally, in a unique, joint degree programme, The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law <ref>"Joint & Multiple Degree Programs," ''University of Detroit Mercy School of Law''.</ref>and the University of Windsor Faculty of Law<ref>"J.D./LL.B. Program," ''University of Windsor Faculty of Law''.</ref> have collaborated to create a program wherein, after three years of study, the American law school issues the Canadian student an American J.D., while the Canadian law school issues the same student an LL.B. | |||
| ===Irish B.C.L.=== | |||
| Three of the four universities under the ] (]) umbrella, award the degree of ] (B.C.L.). These are ], ] and ]. | |||
| Five (three in the republic) Irish universities (]; ]; ]; the ], and the ]), one English university (]) and one Welsh university (]) award the LL.B. in Ireland as a basic professional degree in law (the latter two are run via local private colleges). | |||
| ] therefore, awards both. It should be noted, though, that Ireland is a ] jurisdiction (in fact there are two common law jurisdictions on the island) and the expression "civil law" is used to differentiate common law from ] in the republic. | |||
| In the past ] B.C.L. graduates who went to work in Britain sometimes didn't disabuse people of the casual notion that it was a post-graduate degree, similar to the more famous ] B.C.L. | |||
| ===Zimbabwe B.L. and LL.B.=== | |||
| At the ], the first degree in common law is the Bachelor of Law (B.L.) which is equivalent to the LL.B. in other common law jurisdictions. It is followed by a one year programme at the university (analogous to post-LL.B. vocational programmes in other common law jurisdictions) at the end of which a second degree, the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), is awarded. | |||
| ===The LL.B. in Pakistan=== | |||
| In Pakistan, a person going for an LL.B. degree should have a bachelor's degree. Most law students choose to obtain a two year bachelor degree before enrolling for an LL.B. degree in a law college. The LL.B. itself is a three year programme. In Punjab, a five year joint B.A./LL.B. degree is being offered by law colleges. | |||
| After obtaining an LL.B. degree, a person wishing to practise has to intimate the concerned Bar Council that he is undergoing a six month training period under the supervision of a High Court lawyer with ten year standing. After he completes the pupillage, he will be asked to take a written test and undergo a viva-voce exam. | |||
| ===Variations on the LL.B.=== | |||
| Some universities in the ] and ] offer variations of this degree, such as the LL.B. (Europe), which generally take four years to complete and include a wider range of topics as well as some degree of specialisation. | |||
| Various universities in the United Kingdom and Australia will allow a degree that combines study with a non-law discipline. For example, some universities in the United Kingdom offer a combined study of law and history leading to a B.A. degree that is accepted by the Law Society and Inns of Court as equivalent to an LL.B. | |||
| The University of London External Programme in Laws (LL.B.) has been awarding its law degree via ] since 1858. The LL.B. awarded by the University of London External Programme is of the same standard and quality irrespective of the mode or manner of learning. | |||
| At various universities in the UK such as ], and ] the principal law degree is a ], in either Jurisprudence or Law respectively; the B.C.L. and LL.B. are second-entry postgraduate degrees. The ] has recently replaced their LL.B. degree with an ] | |||
| ==Eligibility to Practice Law in the U.S. with Foreign Credentials== | |||
| For the most part, foreign law graduates seeking admission to the bar in the United States will find their LL.B. law degree does not of itself fulfill the core admission requirements of most states, thereby not allowing them to take the bar exam. The major exception to this is ], where those foreign graduates who have fulfilled the educational requirements to practice law in another common law country through study at an approved educational institution, similar in both duration and content to the equivalent teaching at an approved U.S. law school, are permitted to sit the bar.. Additionally, both New York and ] permit Canadian LL.B. holders to take the bar. The requirements of each of the states vary, and in some states sufficient years of practice in one's home country may allow for those otherwise excluded to sit for the bar. Interested applicants should check the requirements of each state bar association carefully as requirements vary markedly. | |||
| ==Situation within the European Union== | |||
| ] permits ] citizens with LL.B. degrees from ] or the UK, who practise law in one of these countries for three or more years, to practise also in every other member state. The actual procedure to receive the respective national ] is regulated by the member state and therefore differs from country to country, but every EU member has to apply the relevant EU Directives to its own national law. | |||
| Recently many universities in ] have introduced LL.B. degrees as part of the ].The LL.B. is a three or four year basic law degree. Some students pursue the LL.M. after pursuing the LL.B. The LL.B. in Germany doesn't cover all classes which are also required for the First State Exam. A credit point system is used for the LL.B. degree. In order to obtain the LL.B. students have to pass different sorts of exams and collect fewer points than needed for the First State Exam. The LL.B. degrees are intended for those students not necessarily seeking to be lawyers by profession. The background in law obtained is, however, solid. Currently, in Germany, there is a huge dispute as to the value of Bachelor degrees in general. One will often hear State Exam students criticizing the Bachelor as being a lesser degree. In fact, the objective is simply different. By obtaining the LL.B., a student is not automatically qualified to sit for the First State Exam. It is expected that the First State Exam will be completely replaced by the LL.B. by 2010. The LL.B. is a cornerstone to the future of law practice in Germany. | |||
| In Malta, the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree, offered by the ], is an undergraduate degree that of itself is not sufficient for admission into any of the legal professions. | |||
| ==Alternative to a law degree in England/Alternative degree route in Scotland== | |||
| There are also conversion courses available for non-law graduates, available as an alternative to the full-length LL.B. degree course. One such example of a conversion course in England and Wales is the GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law), which takes one year to complete. | |||
| In the UK, as well as in other Common Law jurisdictions, the main approach to this, is the so-called ] (undergraduate) LL.B. degree, where graduates from another discipline can complete the LL.B. in two years, although this may occasionally require taking qualifying law courses within the first degree to meet professional requirements in full. Therefore it is not entirely correct to regard it as an 'accelerated' degree. | |||
| This 'double degree' system was, at one time, an alternative route to the former B.L. degree (now obsolete) but students were required to have independent means to complete the second degree. The current Scots LL.B. degree, a direct-entry undergraduate degree, meets all professional requirements when coupled with the Diploma in Legal Practice. The Diploma was introduced circa 1980; prior to this, all professional exams were taken within the degree itself (or as part of an earlier non-law degree), limiting the scope for academic study. | |||
| Therefore the pursuit of the double degree nowadays, for school-leavers at least, is mainly to indicate that one (or, more precisely, one's parents) can afford to do so - in other words, a marker of affluence. The first non-law degree will almost invariably be an arts degree although science or other degrees are not unknown. Rarely, the double degree principle is found in reverse; just as an arts or science degree can provide exemption from the full academic (not professional) requirements of a subsequent law degree, similarly a law degree can provide exemption from the full academic requirements of a subsequent arts or science degree {{Fact|date=October 2007}}. In this case, it is more likely that the second degree will be taken as a self-funding mature student, possibly on a part-time basis. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * Admission to the Bar - US/Canada/UK | |||
| * ] - other common law jurisdictions | |||
| * ] | |||
| *] | |||
| == External links == | |||
| {{Refimprove|date=September 2007}} | |||
| {{Academic degrees}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 01:11, 30 May 2008
Misplaced Pages- the 💕