Bachelor of Laws

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The degree of Bachelor of Laws is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries other than the United States, where it has been replaced by the Juris Doctor degree.

It is abbreviated LL.B. (or sometimes Ll.B.): "LL" is an abbreviation of the genitive plural legum (of laws), thus "LL.B." stands for Legum Baccalaureus in Latin. In the United States it is sometimes called "Bachelor of Legal Letters" to account for the double "L".

In Canada, Bachelor of Laws is the name of the first degree in common law, but is also the name of the first degree in Quebec civil law awarded by a number of Quebec universities.

Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the first degree in Scots law and South African law (both being pluralistic legal systems that are based partly on common law and partly on civil law) awarded by a number of universities in Scotland and South Africa, respectively.

The Bachelor of Laws is considered a professional degree as one of the main purposes of the degree is to provide the academic training for those who wish to become lawyers.

Contents

1 Structure of LL.B. programmes

1.1 Common law countries generally
1.2 Canada

1.2.1 Common Law
1.2.2 Civil Law
1.2.3 Joint or Dual Common Law / Civil Law Degree

2 Becoming a lawyer
3 Alternative titles and formats

3.3 Juris Doctor (J.D.)
3.4 Oxford and Cambridge B.A.
3.5 Irish B.C.L.
3.6 Zimbabwe B.L. and LL.B.
3.7 Variations on the LL.B.

4 Eligibility to foreign jurisdictions
5 Situation within the European Union
6 Alternatives to a law degree
7 See also

Structure of LL.B. programmes

Historically, law students used to study both civil law and common law. Today, this is much less common. However, a few institutions, such as Cardiff University's Department of Canon (Ecclesiastical) Law and McGill University's and the University of Ottawa'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 and the U.S.), the Bachelor of Laws programme is generally entered directly after completion of secondary school, but some universities in Britain and Australia also offer the programme as an accelerated (shorter duration), second-entry programme for the LL.B. following completion of a previous undergraduate degree. Australia's University of Melbourne offers both first-entry and second-entry first degrees in law: the LL.B. is offered as a four year programme for secondary school graduates, while the Juris Doctor is offered as a two year (six-trimester) programme for "mature graduates with a good degree in a discipline other than law and significant employment experience, and for lawyers who have a civil law degree". [link]

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 available.

Common Law

The programme of study for the common law LL.B. is generally a second-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 wishes to practice law. For Ontario, the licensing process for the Law Society of Upper Canada (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.[link] At the conclusion of the licensing process, he is "called to the bar", can designate himself as a "solicitor and barrister", and can practice law in the province in which he is licensed.

Civil Law

The 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 CEGEP diploma for entry.

Law schools that offer civil law B.C.L. or LL.L. degrees include McGill University and the University of Ottawa.

Joint or Dual Common Law / Civil Law Degree

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, programs 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, University of Ottawa 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.

Becoming a lawyer

See also: Legal education and Legal education in the United Kingdom

Upon completion of the LL.B. degree (or its equivalent), graduates are generally qualified to apply for membership of the bar or law society. The membership eligibility bestowed may be subject to completion of professional exams. In Canada a one year period of articled clerkship (apprenticeship to an established lawyer or a judge) must be completed before admission to the bar. A student may have to gain a further qualification at postgraduate level, for example the Legal Practice Course or Bar Vocational Course in England and Wales or the PCLL in Hong Kong.

In Australia, LL.B. graduates are required to undertake a one year articled clerkship or the Legal Practice Course before applying for registration as a solicitor. Membership of the Bar is restricted to Barristers, and is attained through the successful completion of an exam and a nine-month period of tutelage (the reading period) under a senior Barrister.

Alternative titles and formats

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

For main article, see Juris Doctor

In the United States, the LL.B. became the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, a three year graduate degree taken after completion of a four-year undergraduate degree.

While universities in other common law jurisdictions generally still award the LL.B. degree as the basic professional law degree, some law schools in Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia have changed their LL.B. programmes to Juris Doctor programmes.

Australia's University of Melbourne offers both first-entry and second-entry first degrees in law: the LL.B. is offered as a four year programme for secondary school graduates, while the Juris Doctor is offered as a two year (6-trimester) programme for "mature graduates with a good degree in a discipline other than law and significant employment experience, and for lawyers who have a civil law degree". [link]

Oxford and Cambridge B.A.

At Oxford and Cambridge, the principal law degree is a B.A., in Jurisprudence and Law respectively; the B.C.L. and LL.B. (recently renamed LL.M.) are postgraduate degrees.

Irish B.C.L.

While a number of universities in Ireland award the LL.B. as the basic professional degree in law, some universities in that country award the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.). It should be noted, though, that Ireland is a common law jurisdiction and the expression "civil law" is used to differentiate common law from ecclesiastical law.

Zimbabwe B.L. and LL.B.

At the University of Zimbabwe, 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. [link]

Variations on the LL.B.

Some universities in the United Kingdom and New Zealand 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.

Eligibility to foreign jurisdictions

Foreign law graduates seeking admission to the bar in the United States may find their LL.B. law degree fulfils core admission requirements and allows them to take the bar exam. For example, New York permits holders of Oxford and Cambridge B.A. degrees and University of London LL.B. degrees (not the external degree) to take the bar, and both New York and Massachusetts permit Canadian LL.B. holders to take the bar. (The University of Toronto J.D. is a renamed LL.B. and treated no differently by American states.) The [procedures] vary between states and interested applicants should seek specific advice.

Situation within the European Union

European Union law permits European Union citizens with LL.B. degrees from Ireland or the U.K., 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 licence 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 Germany introducing LL.B. degrees as part of the Bologna process. However, a German LL.B. is not a qualifying law degree. There are two different types of LL.B. degrees in Germany. The first one is the LL.B. as part of a traditional German Staatsexamen. The LL.B. is in this case granted after three years in law school, but the student has to stay at university to complete his education and pass the Erstes Juristisches Staatsexamen, also called Referendarsexamen. This German qualification, traditionally a first degree but a graduate degree in this case, is equivalent to a German Diplom or Master's degree. To become a Rechtsanwalt (lawyer) the student has to complete the Referendariat, a two-year traineeship, and then pass the Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen, also called Assessorexamen, the German equivalent to the Bar exam in the US. The second type of German LL.B. degrees are Bachelor's degrees in business law from German polytechnics (Fachhochschule). These degrees actually include courses in business law and in business administration. A graduate of this type of degree is generally employed in law departments of private companies or in roughly the same jobs like graduates with degrees in business administration. He can also extend his education with a (German) LL.M. degree but he is not permitted to take the Assessorexamen since he lacks the Referendarsexamen and is therefore not able to become a lawyer.

Alternatives to a law degree

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. The Scottish alternative to this is the accelerated LL.B., where graduates from another discipline can complete the LL.B. in two years.