Legal Education Review
|
|
Home
| Databases
| WorldLII
| Search
| Feedback
Legal Education Review |
|
DISTANCE TEACHING IN LAW: POSSIBILITIES FOR
COMMONWEALTH COOPERATION
JOHN GOLDRING*
BACKGROUND
Most Commonwealth countries share the heritage of the
common law. Many of them face difficulties in training a legal profession to
meet current needs. In many areas Commonwealth countries are co-operating in
education and training, but, to date, despite the efforts
of the Commonwealth
Legal Education Association, there has been little formal co-operation at the
“academic” stage of
legal education.
Following the agreement of
the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their 1987 Meeting, a new Commonwealth
institution, The Commonwealth
of Learning, was established in Vancouver, under
the presidency of Dr James Maraj, formerly Vice-Chancellor of the University of
the South Pacific. The Commonwealth of Learning will provide a clearing house
and co-ordinating body for institutions carrying on
distance teaching activities
in different parts of the Commonwealth. Its establishment is seen as a means of
developing existing
expertise on distance teaching to solve problems which have
arisen in Commonwealth countries over recent years. Those problems include:
It will be a major force for educational co-operation in
the Commonwealth.
Distance education in law is relatively unusual. Australia
is the only Commonwealth country which has developed and maintained all
aspects
of distance education in law. Some experiments in Commonwealth Southern Africa
have fallen by the wayside. Only in two other
countries — the Republic of
South Africa and the People’s Republic of China — has any sustained
attempt been made
to provide formal professional legal training through distance
education.
The Commonwealth Legal Education Association has commissioned a
study of possibilities for developing distance education in law as
a
co-operative activity within the Commonwealth. Law is not yet a priority within
The Commonwealth of Learning. This year, under
the auspices of the CLEA, I
propose to conduct a survey of existing distance education activities in law and
in related disciplines
within the Commonwealth and elsewhere, and of the demand
for legal education within the Commonwealth. A questionnaire will also be
addressed to educational, professional and judicial authorities in different
Commonwealth countries about their attitude to legal
training under a system of
distance education as a qualification for professional work in law and as part
of continuing legal education.
The study may extend to studies in law which are
not the academic foundation of a professional qualification in law. The study
should
indicate the extent to which distance education offers possibilities for
future co-operation within the Commonwealth, and will concentrate
on the
academic element of legal education, but distance and mixed mode teaching may
also offer possibilities for other aspects of
legal education —
particularly continuing legal education, and no opportunity for co-operation in
this area should be lost.
DISTANCE EDUCATION IN LAW — WHERE, WHY, WHEN AND HOW
Existing Programs
Five universities within the common law world currently offer programs of distance education in law. Three are in Australia. The University of South Africa operates outside the Commonwealth, but its courses are available to students in the Commonwealth countries of Southern Africa1 and because the South African legal system to some extent draws on the common law of England, it provides a source of distance education in law for some Commonwealth citizens. The University of South Africa course resembles those of two of the Australian institutions rather than the London LLB. The University of London has offered its LLB degree to students enrolled externally for many years. It determines a syllabus and examines students, who are required only to pay fees and pass formal examinations in specified subjects. Other institutions throughout the world offer tuition to prepare students for the London University examinations.
The Tradition of Distance Education in Australia
Australia has been a pioneer in part-time and
distance education. Until the 1970s all Australian universities offered
part-time study
in many faculties, including law, because this was the only way
many Australians could afford to study. In Australia there is a long
tradition
of government subsidy to higher education, and until the 1980s governments
encouraged public servants to develop their
career prospects (and the quality of
the public service) by part-time study. However, public servants and school
teachers working
outside the State capitals, where the older universities are
located, could not attend evening classes. Australia is a very large
country,
and travel was chancy and expensive. Rurally-based distance education fulfilled
a number of clear needs. The University
of New England in NSW (formerly a
college of the University of Sydney) and the University of Queensland provided
access to a law
degree program externally for many years.
Several new
universities were established under new Government policies in the 1960s and
1970s. Three, Macquarie (NSW), Deakin (Victoria)
and Murdoch (WA), had specific
distance teaching functions. In 1974 Macquarie University established a School
of Law with the specific
function of providing external studies in law.
Distance Education in Law in Australia
The University of Queensland. The University
of Queensland downgraded its external law degree program when the Queensland
University of Technology commenced to
offer studies in law, and has now ceased
to enrol new external law students. Its role in law was very similar to that of
the University
of London. A student enrolled for the degree. From time to time
the University would send the student a syllabus and reading list
and
occasionally some notes for student guidance. At the appropriate time the
student would sit for examinations set and marked by
the University.
Examinations and syllabuses were identical to those for internal students, but
internal students were required to
attend lectures and tutorials, as well as to
complete the examinations.
More recent courses. Macquarie University,
from 1975, and the Queensland University (formerly Institute) of Technology,
from 1978, have offered full distance
education programs leading to a law
degree. In these courses students receive not only course outlines and reading
lists, but also
extensive written material, reading guides and exercises, which
are submitted and returned on a continuous basis. These operate in
lieu of or in
addition to terminal examinations. Students are also offered the opportunity for
contact with teaching staff on a regular
basis.
Macquarie University.
From the mid 1960s, when the University of Sydney abandoned part-time teaching
of law, the only way in which people in New South
Wales could complete part-time
studies in law, and thus become qualified to practice as barristers or
solicitors, was by completing
the professional examinations conducted by the
Joint Examinations Board of the Supreme Court. At that time no formal tuition
was
available for those students. The professional bodies and the
magistrates’ courts administration wanted facilities for students
outside
Sydney and Canberra to have access to a fully recognised program of studies in
law, leading to a university degree, particularly
after admission to practice
became a requirement for appointment as a stipendiary magistrate. The
establishment of a law school at
Macquarie University was intended to meet this
need. The law course at Macquarie University not only adopted an innovative
approach
to the study of law but also adopted teaching methods which were novel,
at least in the context of legal education. For its internal
students it
decided, as the newly established Faculty of Law at the University of New South
Wales had done a few years earlier, to
teach exclusively in small groups.
However, Macquarie went further. The design of the courses for external students
influenced the
design of the teaching program for the fulltime, internal
students. The staff effort which otherwise might have been devoted to lecture
preparation went into the preparation of ‘study guides’ for
distribution — not just to external students, but also
to internal
students. The intention was that all students would learn independently, rather
than simply absorb the material passed
on to them by teachers in lectures. A
feature of the study guides was the series of questions for revision or
discussion points.
The external students were encouraged to think about them
independently, but were then supplied with audio tapes in which staff members
would discuss the points raised in the written material. Classes on campus took
the form of seminars and problem solving sessions,
focussing on the materials
and discussion points in the study guides. Lectures were given only on special
occasions, such as when
a distinguished visitor was available, or when a teacher
had prepared materials on areas of particular complexity. In all external
courses Macquarie University has always required external students to attend
on-campus sessions — two to four days of intensive
lecture, tutorial and
class discussions, are often supplemented by voluntary sessions with tutors
either at the University or in
regional centres. Staff are in regular telephone
contact with the students. Because far greater thought was given to
instructional
design and the needs and capacity of students, both internal and
external teaching was highly successful.
Queensland University of
Technology. The Queensland University of Technology Law School, established
a few years later, also took pains to prepare material for external
students,
and designed the materials with expert advice for presentation to the external
students. Because the distances in Queensland
are even greater than those in New
South Wales — the eastern coast of Queensland stretches for over 2,000
kilometres —
the cost to students of compulsory attendance at the Brisbane
campus is prohibitive. The University therefore appoints regional tutors
in
selected centres throughout the State — law graduates, paid by the
University on a part-time basis, who offer advice and
limited formal tuition to
students in the area. Students are required to attend tutorials at the
University on these centres.
Educational techniques and technology. Because
distance teaching offers access to education for many people who otherwise would
have
no access, new techniques and technologies have been developed. They have
not been fully explored in the distance teaching of law
to date. Many of the
techniques require little, if any, additional resources. They simply reflect the
fact that most distance students
are relatively mature people who have
considerable experience of life and work and who are highly motivated. They also
reflect that
students do not have the same opportunity for communication and
interaction with other students, both in and out of the classroom.
Materials and
student tasks need to be designed with these factors in mind. Technology’s
main application is in improving communication.
Macquarie University is
experimenting with electronic mail through computer links in some law courses,
and has also tried telephone
tutorial links. Other technological advances
include satellite communication (the University of the South Pacific has a
dedicated
satellite channel). However, law is likely to remain centered on the
printed word, and written materials are likely to remain important,
even if
supplemented.
THE OBJECTIVES OF LEGAL EDUCATION: AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE WITH COMMONWEALTH APPLICATIONS
Originally, the qualification for admission as a
legal practitioner in Australia was the completion of a form of apprenticeship
or
“articles of clerkship” in a solicitor’s office. A similar
system existed in England. As in many other things,
the Australian colonies
simply followed the English model.2 After the 1850s the
period of apprenticeship was reduced for graduates, although university studies
in law were not widely offered
during the 19th century, and apprenticeship was
required in the United Kingdom and all parts of
Australia.3 The universities in the six Australian
State Capitals all offered law degree courses by 1920, taught largely by
practising lawyers
on a part-time basis. Full-time academic staff at law schools
were not common until after 1960. The university courses became the
sole means
of obtaining the academic qualifications required for admission to practice law,
except in New South Wales and Queensland
(and for a brief period in Victoria)
where the Supreme Courts continued to prescribe and examine syllabuses which
they considered
all intending practitioners should
complete.4 Although lip service was paid to the idea of
legal study as general education from the earliest days of the Australian
university
law schools, the study of law in Australia was professionally
oriented, despite the broadening influence of leading jurisprudential
scholars
like Sir George Paton, Julius Stone and Geoffrey
Sawer.5 The main subject of study in the university law
schools, as in the professional examinations supervised by the courts, was case
reports,
and to a lesser extent, statutes and texts. The better teachers and
students appreciated that the study of law could provide a worthwhile
introduction to the understanding of society, culture and values, but this was
not emphasised until recently, and law schools provided
essentially training
designed to enable students to practice as solicitors and barristers.
The
professional objective remains and should remain, but more enlightened law
teachers, judges and practitioners now realise that
it is not enough. Until 30
or 40 years ago it could be said that a basic training in legal rules was all
that a practitioner needed.
The rules did not change very often. However, since
1950 law has developed rapidly in all Commonwealth countries. It is no longer
enough for a student to learn a fixed body of rules, because the rules fall into
disuse and are superseded almost as quickly as they
are made. A law student is
no longer confined on graduation to practice as a barrister or as a solicitor.
There are many employment
opportunities in the public and private sectors. Legal
training remains valuable in that it provides an insight to society, an ability
to deal with technical rules and to apply them in practical concepts and to
solve problems. But more than ever, it requires flexibility
and intellectual
discipline.
In the United States this development was perceived earlier than
in the Commonwealth. Between 1890 and 1920 American lawyers and law
teachers
realised that the apprenticeship system alone did not provide an adequate
training. They gave a great deal of thought to
the development of legal
education. Prestigious law schools were established at the leading universities.
The study of law became
a postgraduate study. While law graduates were equipped
with technical knowledge, they were also encouraged to develop skills of
flexibility and understanding. Those qualities are now recognised as necessary
for any worthwhile legal education in any common law
country.
It is now
generally accepted that part of a good legal education is the development of
critical faculties which allow students to
identify and evaluate the policies
underlying the law, as well as to interpret legal rules and to prepare documents
which will be
legally binding.
It is sometimes suggested that for these
purposes there is no real substitute for full-time intensive study of law in an
academic
institution. To some extent this reaction is the fruit of experience in
the United States and subsequently in Australia. It is a
reaction against the
narrowly professional legal education which accompanied by the apprenticeship
which all intending lawyers were
required to undertake. While discussion and
reflection are important aspects of any academic study, it has not been
established conclusively
that they are provided exclusively in full-time
internal study. The experience at Macquarie University indicates that external
students
can be at least the equal of full-time students in developing critical
facilities and broader perspectives, but this requires preparation
of material,
teaching methods and assessment tasks which emphasise these skills.
A proper
and thorough legal education, which enables students to develop a broad
perspective, can be provided through distance education.
NATIONAL DIFFERENCES AND NATIONAL LAWS
Although most Commonwealth countries derive their
legal systems from the common law in different ways. The United States, which
broke
away from England at the end of the 18th century, still maintains a legal
system which a common lawyer trained in a Commonwealth
country can easily
understand. Many Commonwealth countries have, like the United States, adopted
written constitutions, and their
constitutional apparatus includes judicial
review of legislation, which is unknown in England. This gives a different slant
to the
legal development of these countries, but does not affect the basic
nature of the common law. Similarly, many countries have, in
exercising their
national sovereignty, adopted statutes very different from those of the United
Kingdom. The techniques of legislative
drafting and statutory interpretation
developed in England, however, remain. On their independence, some Commonwealth
countries retained
appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at
least for a time. As this body is comprised almost entirely of British
Judges,
who have tended to apply both English common law rules and the English approach
to law in all Commonwealth countries, this
has provided a measure of uniformity
of law within the Commonwealth. Even after abolition of appeals to the Judicial
Committee, courts
in many Commonwealth countries defer to English courts. If
anything, this defence is more pronounced in the newer Commonwealth countries,
such as those in Africa and South East Asia, than in the older Commonwealth
countries such as Canada, India and Australia.
Some areas of law are
specific to the particular nations involved. Constitutional law is an obvious
example. The constitutions of
most Commonwealth countries differ markedly from
that of the United Kingdom, especially as all of them are written, but the legal
techniques of applying public law, remain basically the same. The criminal law
in most Commonwealth countries is either based on
English common law or on
various attempts to codify that law.6 The law of torts
and contracts developed similarly throughout the Commonwealth. In such areas of
law as property, trusts, wills and
succession, there are marked similarities
throughout the Commonwealth, even though many countries have made statutory
modifications
to the common law, or allow customary local law to operate in
parallel with the common law. Despite differences in specific areas
of law, a
number of areas are common. The principles of the law of torts or of contracts
are basically the same in India, Nigeria
and New Zealand, even though specific
rules may vary and other rules, like those dealing with taxation, divorce or
succession may
be totally different according to locality.
If the objective
of legal education is simply to prepare persons qualified to practice law in a
particular jurisdiction, some courses
of study which lead to that qualification
must be specific to that jurisdiction, even though many of the principles are
common throughout
the Commonwealth.
Even in the more developed Commonwealth
countries many law teachers have been practitioners serving as part-time
teachers, so that
legal education has always been much cheaper than education
for other learned professions. Legal education does not require, for
example,
extensive laboratories, teaching hospitals, agricultural field stations and so
on. Nor does it-necessarily require full-time
teachers. For this reason there
has not been the same degree of co-operation in legal education as in other
areas of professional
education.
The development of more modern approaches
to legal education has made the common elements of legal education throughout
the Commonwealth
easier to see. The Commonwealth Legal Education Association
seeks to develop cooperation and has recognised that the establishment
of the
Commonwealth of Learning may enable significant further co-operation in distance
teaching or the sharing of resources.
POSSIBILITIES FOR COMMONWEALTH CO-OPERATION
Views on Legal Education
Even before there were many full-time law teachers, there were debates over the correctness of accepted wisdom about legal education. Current (post-Ormrod) wisdom is that legal education and training falls into three stages: academic, practical and continuing legal education. The university law degree provides the academic element. The professional element is provided by either a formal course in a practical training institution, by apprenticeship or on-the-job training, or by a combination. Continuing education has been, at least until recently, largely neglected. The distinction may be artificial7 and although few advocate a return to apprenticeship as the sole form of training, some call for a greater integration of the academic and practical aspects of legal education. As some of these arguments have merit, any proposals for a Commonwealth-wide scheme of distance education must take them into account.
Specific National Needs
Day to day legal practice is rather jurisdiction-specific because each jurisdiction has its own local rules, such as rules of procedure, land law, and family law. However, rules of procedure, evidence and governing the conduct of the legal profession have a number of common elements. Other areas — torts, contracts, criminal and public law — have many common historical and technical elements. The development of local variations should not inhibit the preparation of material which would be useful to law students through the Commonwealth.
Language
English remains the language of legal proceedings throughout the Commonwealth. In many Commonwealth courts examination of a witness in the vernacular may be interrupted by argument in English, on questions of admissibility of evidence. Statutes are traditionally drafted in English, and judgments delivered in English. While this may change, the cost and difficulty of translating the whole of the common law into a hundred different vernacular languages means that English will remain as an important element in the legal system of many Commonwealth countries, and it is unlikely that legal education in English will be effectively supplanted by vernacular training within the forseeable future. In countries such as Malaysia and Tanzania nationalistic attempts to translate the laws and to teach them in the vernacular have encountered almost insuperable difficulties8
A Common Body of Principle
A common package of English language materials on
basic principles of the common law could form the basis of a course of legal
education
offered in the distance mode.9 It could not
provide all the material required for study of law in every commonwealth
country, because circumstances and conditions
in each country will continue to
differ. Where any common materials are prepared, allowance would have to be made
for the incorporation
of local material where appropriate, if only to encourage
students to evaluate the applicability and appropriateness of English rules
in
the setting of their own country. Further, all students would need to study
their own constitution. In many Commonwealth countries
the law of property,
family law and laws of succession are based on traditional local rules or
religious law, and relevant materials
would have to be prepared locally by
someone with full local knowledge.
Some years ago the study of legal history
appeared to have fallen into decline, but many law teachers now appreciate the
value of
a sound historical foundation for the social context of various periods
of English history. Such an historical foundation would be
an especially
valuable introduction to a course in which students would have to grapple with
the application of common law in different
circumstances and different parts of
the Commonwealth. Indeed, an adequate background in the economic, social and
political history
of Britain and the Empire and of the development of its laws
is essential for understanding fully how the common law was adopted
throughout
the Commonwealth. Much of the legal history of the Commonwealth is a common
legal history, and the development of a common
set of materials on the legal
history of the Commonwealth should have applications far beyond any distance
teaching program.
Another area of common interest is the way in which the
laws existing in a nation prior to conquest or acquisition by the British
have
been incorporated into the contemporary legal system. This subject is equally
important in “developed” Commonwealth
countries such as Australia,
Canada and New Zealand as it is in the “third world” Commonwealth
nations.
Common materials could be prepared for use throughout the
Commonwealth in areas like torts, contracts, criminal law, criminal procedure,
administrative law, evidence, civil procedure, law of sale and transport of
goods (especially the law of international trade and
investment), the law of
business organisations, the law of employment, insurance and banking law, law of
intellectual and industrial
property, conflict of laws, public international
law, jurisprudence, law and practice of the legal profession, and comparative
law.10
Specific Local Requirements
In other areas, despite local variations, English law (or a derivative), is shared by groups of Commonwealth countries. For example, the English law of real property, as supplemented by the Torrens system of registered title, applies in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and several Canadian provinces. The English law of trusts is also widely shared, although supplemented in some countries by concepts drawn from other legal systems, particularly Islamic and Roman-Dutch systems. Possibilities also exist in this area for the development of some common materials. Because many Commonwealth countries incorporate elements of Islamic law, there are possibilities for the development of common materials in this area.
How Might This be Done?
A single institution would not be appropriate to
offer distance education throughout the Commonwealth. However, the Commonwealth
of
Learning could co-ordinate the distribution of materials to national or
regional institutions which could establish their own curriculum
and assessment
standards. Possibilities for Commonwealth cooperation in distance education in
law arise at least two levels: first,
preparing common materials and secondly,
providing support and assistance for those parts of the curriculum which must be
taught
on a jurisdiction-specific basis, including the preparation of specific
local materials. Local teachers would undoubtedly be required
to teach all
subjects, but there would be advantages if they were assisted in instructional
design and teaching method. In addition,
the best distance education in law
requires not only materials of high standard, but also intensive face-to-face
contact between
teachers and students. This can only be provided on a local
basis, no matter how much or how good the quality of written, audio-visual,
video tape or satellite communication may be.
Other matters which must be
addressed include:
Resources
Law schools throughout the Commonwealth face a common problem — shortage of adequate and competent academic staff. This has always been a problem in most of the younger Commonwealth countries where there were few qualified lawyers at Independence. National priorities and higher salaries have attracted the best and brightest law graduates — especially those who have obtained post-graduate qualifications. The decline in public interest in education in more developed countries — the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — has made it extremely difficult for law schools to retain young staff. Only Singapore seems to have given higher education the resource it needs as the best investment a country can make in its future. staff who remain in university law schools are forced for financial reasons to spend more time on paid consultancy work, at the expense of research and teaching. All these factors suggest that the availability of a body of common, basic materials could lead to a more efficient use of resources.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL ATTITUDES
Until about 1960 English, Irish or even Scottish
solicitors and barristers were readily admitted to practice in other
Commonwealth
countries, although this was not reciprocal. An Australian or
Canadian practitioner still has no automatic rights of admission in
the other
country or in the United Kingdom, although United Kingdom practitioners still
retain automatic admission rights in Australia.11 Other
countries, for nationalistic and other reasons, have restrictive admission
criteria.12 The reasons for restriction of admission to
practice vary considerably. In most cases restrictive criteria are justified by
the need
to ensure that the population of a state is served by a competent
profession knowledgeable about local laws as well as general principles.
Admission requirements have been used artificially to exclude members of
immigrant or other groups who are considered undesirable.
Racist and
chauvinistic nationalist barriers present their own problems.
If there is to
be significant co-operation in legal education, it may be necessary to persuade
local admission authorities to become
more flexible in recognising foreign
qualifications, and, in particular, to convince them that studies completed in
the distance
mode should be accepted as fulfilling local requirements for
admission to practice. A study of admission requirements within the
Commonwealth13 provides a framework of the detailed
requirements but is dated and incomplete. Before embarking on any extensive
exercise on a Commonwealth-wide
distance education scheme in law, it will be
necessary to investigate closely the attitude of local admission authorities to
qualifications
obtained in this way. That is an important part of the current
study.
THE NEED FOR LEGAL EDUCATION
Both British colonists and the post-colonial elites
who are now influential in most Commonwealth countries regarded the common law
— and the “rule of law” — as important. This had led to
strong demands for legal education. One may ask whether
law faculties are a
justified expense, other than in terms of national pride, but many universities
in the newly independent countries
of Africa, the Caribbean,’ and South
and East Asia have included law faculties from their inception. The University
of the
South Pacific in Fiji is a notable exception, and the Pacific still
relies on institutions in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
and the
United Kingdom for its legal personnel.
Local institutions may be unable to
satisfy the demands for education from local residents. Even if there is an
appropriate local
institution which satisfies some demand, there may still be a
potential market for part-time legal studies amongst public servants
and persons
working in the private sector in a number of Commonwealth countries. The same
factors which promoted distance education
in Australia, Britain and Canada
(geography, and the need to provide part-time study for those who could not
afford full-time study),
exist in many other Commonwealth countries. Studies,
including those by the Commonwealth Legal Education
Association,14 have shown that access to legal
education is restricted in the developed countries as well as the developing
countries. People in
lower socio-economic brackets in many countries find it
difficult to obtain access to study in law even if they have managed secondary
educational qualifications for admission to a university or college. Mature
students in all Commonwealth countries find it difficult
to enter full-time
study of law, or to maintain themselves if they are able to gain entry.
Demand for legal education is one thing. Whether or not a country can afford
to devote resources of manpower or educational funding
to legal education is
another. In more developed countries, it is sometimes claimed that there are too
many lawyers. In developing
countries lawyers are seen as wasteful. However,
more and more people want to study law, and there seems to be no shortage of
employers
of law graduates. Demand suggests that there is a need.
As
indicated, most of this paper has discussed the academic stage of legal
education. A country which makes the policy decision that
it is not prepared to
devote its resources to basic training of lawyers may still require a legal
profession; and will therefore
probably consider that some continuing legal
education is required. The possibilities for Commonwealth co-operation are
great. However,
much continuing legal education seems to focus on highly
practical, jurisdiction-specific material, especially the impact of new
legislation. Here the possibilities for co-operation would seem to lie more in
the area of instructional design and technique.
CONCLUSIONS
The current study should identify further possibilities and potential obstacles. The prospect may result in the improvement of the standards and quality of legal education in some Commonwealth countries — and thus better legal services for the people of those countries. It may also produce a more efficient and less costly system of legal education, by eliminating wasteful duplication of effort by the good law teachers who are continually becoming a scarce resource throughout the Commonwealth.
* Faculty of Law, Wollongong University.
© 1990. [1991] LegEdRev 4; (1990) 2 Legal
Educ Rev 83.
1 Particularly Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Botswana, which, like South Africa, have Roman-Dutch elements of law.
2 R Dhavan, N Kibble & W Twining eds, Access to Legal Education and the Legal Profession (London: Butterworths, 1989) contains recent and accurate information about the history and procedures for obtaining professional qualifications in selected Commonwealth countries. The articles by Kibble (England), Weisbrot (Australia) and Dhavan’s concluding remarks are especially relevant. For more specific discussion of the history of legal education in Australia see, L Martin, From Apprenticeship to Law School [1986] UNSWLawJl 17; (1986) 9 UNSWLJ 111; VA Edgeloe, The Adelaide Law School 1883–[1983] AdelLawRw 7; 1983 9 Adel L Rev 1. For a similar historical perspective in Canada see BD Bucknell et al, Pendants, Practitioners and Prophets: Legal Education at Osgoode Hall to 1975 (1968) 6 Osgoode Hall LJ 137.
3 It is still required in the United Kingdom and some parts of Australia.
4 This method of admission to practice now survives only in New South Wales.
5 All of whom were appointed to academic positions in Australia before 1950.
6 Especially the Indian Criminal Code, which was developed in the mid 19th century and adopted in many other parts of the then British Empire, including most of British Africa, Canada and some Australian States.
7 See for example W Twining, Taking Skills Seriously, in N Gold, K Mackie & W Twining eds, Learning Lawyers’ Skills (London: Butterworths, 1989).
8 But see LJM Cooray Changing the Language of the Law: The Sri Lankan Experience (Quebec: L’Université de Laval, 1985).
9 It could be argued that the English texts prescribed for the London external LLB course already perform this function. Generally, however, they are specifically English, and therefore possibly less relevant in other Commonwealth countries.
10 The subject areas are necessarily arbitrary and influenced by the structure of Blackstone’s Commentaries, but they indicate the possibilities.
11 Within Australia, some States restricted admissions of practitioners from other States, but the High Court has now found such restrictions unconstitutional: Street o Queensland Bar Association [1989] HCA 53; (1989) 63 ALJR 715.
12 Although Malaysia readily admits English practitioners, it has only recently recognised more than a handful of Australian law degrees as forming the basis of admission to practice in Malaysia.
13 BC McLachlan, Admission of Commonwealth Lawyers (London: 1985).
14 See Dhavan, Kibble & Twining, supra note 2.
AustLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/LegEdRev/1991/4.html