Part I

(Term 1)

Module 1: Political System and Legal Education in English-speaking

Countries

Basic Topics

Legal Education in the United Kingdom

Part 1

There are three separate jurisdictions in the UK – England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All three are based upon the common law system. The UK is also a member of the European Union and subject to European law. Whilst the UK does not have a written constitution, the Human Rights Act 1999 incorporates in the UK law the European Convention on Human Rights.

The legal education systems of the three jurisdictions in the UK involve two prequalification stages – the Academic stage and the Vocational stage. Although the approach to legal education is very similar, each jurisdiction has its own distinctive characteristics.

The undergraduate law degree is the most common form of entry into the legal profession, followed by a one year professional course and examination (the professional stage). This bifurcation of legal study has resulted in development of undergraduate programmes which largely concentrate upon the analysis of legal texts and the identification of legal principles, whilst the Vocational stage has more recently turned its attentions to the knowledge, skills and competencies that practicing lawyers require.

The Academic stage usually consists of an undergraduate degree which is offered in 89 UK universities. The majority of programmes, commonly leading to a Bachelor of Laws or a Bachelor of Art, joint honours degree, lasts 3 years. The study of law at undergraduate level marks a significant difference to the USA where law is a postgraduate discipline. Law students in the UK are therefore younger and have studies less than their colleagues in the USA when they enter the Law school. There are about 33,000 full time law students and some 7,500 part time law students. Entry from schools to higher education is through centralised admissions process and is dependent upon grades achieved in secondary schools (high school) exams. Most law schools make offers to school students dependent upon their achieving a number of points or grades in these exams. Only a few law schools interview candidates before admission and some Oxford and Cambridge Colleges also set entrance exams.

Law teaching in universities is influenced by two main concerns – the legal profession and the government’s higher education policy. The two branches of the legal profession – barristers and solicitors – have sought over the last century to protect their markets, including the training of their members, as well as jointly to influence the content and quality of the programmes of law degrees. The professions have agreed a Joint Statement on the minimum requisites of a law degree in order to enable any student to gain admission to the Vocational stage.

Although today only about 45% of law graduates will enter the professions, most will study the required subjects leading to ‘exemption’ from the study of exams prescribed by the professions. The alternative route to qualification is to take a one-year conversion course or Common Professional Examination (CPE) having first obtained an undergraduate degree in another discipline. This is offered by a small number of universities that provide a postgraduate one year Diploma in the core law subjects prescribed by the professions for entry into the Vocational stage. Many City firms actively seek CPE students, and the proportion of non-law graduates entering the professions continues to grow.

Law schools or faculties set their own syllabus within the constraints of the Joint Statement and the charter or constitution of their university. A typical law degree lasts 3 years and each year is divided into two semesters of 12 to 15 weeks or three terms of 10 to 12 weeks, depending on your university. Typically a student would take four full subjects, or eight half subjects or modules each year.

In order to fulfill the requirements of the Joint Statement of the professions the core subjects studied during a law degree will include such subjects as:

Contract Constitutional & Administrative

Tort Legal system

Land or Property European

Trusts Criminal

Students will also be able to select optional modules or courses dependent upon the alternatives offered by the School. Typically a graduate will have taken the equivalent of 12 whole courses (lasting 2 semesters or over 3 terms) or 24 modules in the same period. Jurisprudence or legal theory is an option offered by nearly all law schools and such a subject is compulsory at some. French, German, Japanese, and the laws and legal systems of other nations are popular options or electives. A small number of law schools still teach Roman Law. A widespread but demanding option in a number of law schools is the European law degree, usually lasting 4 years and incorporating a year of study in another European country. Joint or mixed degrees have grown in popularity in recent years. Law and business, law and French, German or other language are popular mixed degrees.

Legal Education in the United Kingdom Part 2

The Vocational stage. After graduation those students wishing to practice law must select one of the two professions and apply for entry. These programmes place a strong emphasis upon the practical skills that lawyers require.

Solicitors

The Law Society, the professional body representing solicitors, requires those who wish to qualify to join a Legal Practice Course. If the successfully pass this they will have to obtain a Training Contract from a solicitor’s firm which will provide two further years training, before a successful law student is finally ‘admitted as a solicitor’ or entered on the Roll of Solicitors. The Law Society has franchised about 10 university institutions and two private education institutions to provide the course which is supervises closely. The Legal Practice Course (LPC) lasts one academic year and costs on average 7,000 pounds for fees.

The LPC involves compulsory study of some substantive subjects: accounts, taxation, company law, and professional conduct. The skills of interviewing, drafting, and negotiation are also studied and examined.

The larger City firms sponsor their recruits during the LPC, but those students who do not obtain a Training Contract have to find the course themselves with no guarantee of employment afterwards.

Upon successfully completing the LPC a Trainee Solicitor enters a firm and continues the job training for the further two years. This period includes formal training and advocacy.

Thereafter all solicitors are obliged to continue compulsory professional development (CPD), which can be achieved by obtaining credit for attending accredited courses which update legal knowledge or procedure or otherwise inform the practice of law.

Barristers

The General Council of the Bar has franchised a one year programme and examination for those wishing to become barristers. Called the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) it was introduced in 1989 to emphasise the practicing skills required for court work. The course utilises practical exercises for the DRAIN competencies (Drafting, Research, Advocacy, Interviewing and Negotiation), and its early development owed much to North American experiences, especially Canada.

In addition to practical skills classes, substantive courses in crime, common law, and taxation are taught as well as civil and criminal procedure. Different institutions evolve their own programmes and assessment methods. Performance assessment in the skills areas and multiple choice testing detailed knowledge of procedural rules have been adopted by most, if not all, institutions. Providers of the BVC are increasingly those institutions which also provide the LPC, suggesting the potential for the eventual amalgamation of the two programmes.

Upon successfully passing the Bar exams, a student can be called to the Bar by her/his Inn of Court. All those wishing to become barristers have to join one of the four Inns of Court (Gray’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple Inn or Lincoln’s Inn), which basically involves paying a membership fee and eating a number of compulsory dinners.

Call to the Bar however does not entitle a barrister to practice and she/he must then complete a further 12 months ‘pupilage’ offices or ‘set of chambers’. A pupil in the first six months of pupilage will be assigned to an experienced barrister. The system is intended to introduce the novice to the forms and procedures that constitute a barrister’s work. There is at present no formal structure to this but efforts are being made by the Bar Council to ensure that all pupils receive an adequate standard of training. During the ‘second six months’ a barrister can appear in court, but is technically still under the supervision of a more experienced barrister. Thereafter a barrister wishing to practice on her/his own account must find a ‘set of chambers’ to join as a tenant.

The biggest hurdles for trainee barristers are obtaining a pupilage and finding a tenancy. There is a restricted number of vacancies each year for pupils and far more students pass the exams than there are pupilages. There are still fewer tenancies available and as a consequence each year many more barristers qualify than are needed to practice in the courts. Many find employment in corporations, government, or court administration.