The Gazette 1972

try and commerce and in various forms of public ser- vice. That is one good reason why there must be as small a compulsory core as possible. Students should have available to them a range of optional subjects suitable for the careers they have in mind and at the same time catering for these aspirants to the profession who wish to specialise to some extent, even while they are still in their undergraduate stage. However, this is not meant to advocate anything like the vast proliferation of elec- tive and seminar courses offered by the major American law schools, even if the human and material resources were available for such an undertaking in other coun- tries. Diversification is important, but should not be- come an end in itself with the risk of the law degree becoming to a large extent meaningless. One way out of the dilemma is to have several kinds degree available for different purposes. Some of the English universities already have "mixed" degree courses, which combined a number of law subjects with other subjects (usually in the social sciences). The Re- Port even suggested that it would be reasonable for the profession to accept a three-year mixed degree as a law degree for qualifying purposes provided that it conformed to certain requirements, one being that it required the study of at least eight law subjects of which five should be the proposed "core" subjects. (Para. 111.) While the mixed degree is a good choice for those who do not intend to practise or are uncertain about their future careers or simply desire a liberal education with a law slant, there should be some misgivings about giv- mg it the same status as a proper law degree. Three years too short The question may also be raised whether the English traditional three-year law degree course is in any event sufficiently long. Many law teachers consider that four years is the minimum period in which they can reason- ably be expected to turn the raw material from the schools into presentable, if inchoate, lawyers. Some would say that it would be well-nigh impossible to achieve in three years the objectives of the academic stage set by Ormrod, especially the objective of provid- »ng the student "with an understanding of the relation- ship of law to the social and economic environment in which it operates", perhaps the most important and difficult aspect of all for the future. As the Report admits, the length of the university law course, and indeed of the total period required to produce the finished lawyer, is shorter in England than most other countries. In those countries where there •s only a three-year law degree course this normally is a post-graduate degree, as in the U.S.A. and Canada (and it is in fact recognised in the U.S.A. as such now under its new title of J.D.). There is a strong tendency 111 this direction in Australia where a combined degree course (i.e. a Bachelor of Arts or Economics or Com- m erce, etc. degree combined with the LL.B. degree) taken over a period of five or six years is now quite commonly undertaken. The LL.B., though technically a first degree, is in fact taken as the second degree follow- ing the completion of the Arts, etc. sector of the com- bined course. Despite its length, the standard LL.B.

degree in Australia and New Zealand is a pass degree; the honours degree generally involves considerable additional work.

Compulsory pre-LL.B. Degrees in Australia

There have been developments of a different nature in the two newest law schools in Australia in that an- other degree has, except in some special cases, been made a prerequisite to proceeding to the LL.B. degree. In the Law School of Monash University (in Melbourne), which is in its seventh year of operation, and in the Law School of the University of New South Wales (in Syd- ney), which is in its first year, there are three-year courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Jurispru- dence. These are "mixed" degrees combining a core of legal subjects with some (preferably) related subjects from Arts, Economics, or Commerce. In addition to the basic legal subjects, a student in the University of New South Wales might, for example, take Accountancy or Economics and Business Law electives; Political Science and Public Law electives; Industrial Relations and Labour Law electives, or various other groups of sub- jects. The B.Juris. is a non-professional degree and either it or an approved Arts, Economics or Commerce degree course must be combined with the LL.B. degree course, so that the student will have two degrees after success- fully completing five years' study. This will, of course, satisfy the academic requirements for admission to prac- tice as a barrister or solicitor (or as both in Victoria). Those desiring to qualify as solicitors in New South Wales will be required to undertake one year's articles after graduation. (This is already the position in Vic- torio with regard to graduates in law who are prospec- tive "barristers and solicitors".) The different combin- ations of degrees cater for students with different am- bitions and interests, while the three-year B.Juris. degree is (or at the University of New South Wales soon will be) available on its own for those who desire to have a basic legal education (or simply a liberal education), but not the full professional qualification. A full-time LL.B. programme of three years duration will be offered in the University of New South Wales to graduates of other faculties. The innovation is in the insistence of another "tailor-made" degree as a prerequisite to the LL.B. degree, with the consequent broadening of the educa- tional scope. This is illustrated by the curricular struc- ture in the University of New South Wales, which in- cludes two compulsory subjects entitled "Language and the Law" and "Law, Lawyers, and Society" for all pros- pective practitioners. These comments on the Ormrod Report have been made in this Gazette in order to stimulate debate on the best forms of legal education for Ireland. The Re- port is a good one, not perhaps as revolutionary in its proposals as some of its members may believe, but essentially rational and highly credible. So far as Eng- land is concerned, the big question is whether it will 15 Prospects in England and Ireland