Legal Education and Bologna A British Perspective John Bell

British context Multiple jurisdictions, professions and qualification routes Scots lawyers can ’ t as such practice in England Different national education systems four ministries of education, three ministers of justice, at least 6 professional bodies Scots degree lasts 4 years, English & Northern Irish 3 years. In England & Wales, no obligation to have a law degree only since 1980 had to have a degree cf. Scotland

University and professional education Student Law degree Non-law degree Law diploma Professional course Traineeship Fully qualified lawyer Non-legal career

What is the law? Surface: Law as rules or norms directions about what should happen Deep1: Law as a concept map seeing reality “ from the legal point of view ” locating issues within the map provides a set of heuristics Deep 2: Values Techniques: interpretation and research use of sources: material and formal

Broader features of law Context: Institutional setting operational: procedures, courts and professions political and social: non-legal institutions Transferable Skills intellectual: analysis, synthesis presentation

Ambitions of education Learning the concept map basic concepts and relationships between them Knowing how to find rules sources: material and formal interpretation: acceptable arguments Learning the Values legalism: the lawyerly way values the law serves Ensuring have general skills many not specifically legal some particularly necessary, e.g. use of language

Benchmark statement Knowledge Skills

How much detail? Education ≠ filling the brain with information law changes content rapidly new areas of law emerge What do we need to cope? ability to find and integrate new law into existing knowledge ability to know how to evaluate it and make effective use