L.L.B - Structure of LL.B. Programmes - Canada

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 second-entry, undergraduate, professional degree, and now completely replaced by the J.D. by all Canadian common law schools. 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. As a result, there is an increasing trend for Canadian law schools to switch a Juris Doctor degree in recognition of the profession second-entry nature of Canadian legal studies. (See Juris Doctor in Canada)

The common law programme is three years in length. Upon graduation, one holds a Bachelor of Laws degree, but cannot yet practise law. To practise law, the graduate must obtain a license from the Law Society of the province where he/she wishes to practise law, which also requires a year of articling (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 Master of Laws (LL.M.) or the Doctor of Laws (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 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 de Québec à Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval 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, Université de Montréal and the University of Ottawa are law schools that 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 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 program. Similarly, the 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.

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