Bachelor in Law is an Graduation Course which is offered by some
Universities.The Course offered by University is an Regular Learning
Program i.e Students have to attend the Classes Regularly in the
Universities.There will be Some Specified Universities which Offered LLB
Course in Regular Learning Program.
The Historically, in Canada, Bachelor of Laws was the name of the
first degree in common law, but is also the name of the first degree in
Quebec civil law awarded by a number of Quebec universities. Canadian
common-law LL.B. programs were, in practice, second-entry professional
degrees, meaning that the vast majority of those admitted to an LL.B.
programme were already holders of one or more degrees, or, at a minimum
(with very few exceptions), have completed two years of study in a
first-entry, undergraduate degree in another discipline. Today in Canada
the predominant first degree in common law is the Juris Doctor degree
having replaced the LL.B.
The Bachelor of Laws or LL.B. is an undergraduate, or bachelor,
degree in law (or a first professional degree in law, depending on
jurisdiction) originating in England and offered in most common law
Jurisdictions. In English-speaking Canada it is sometimes referred to as
a post-graduate degree because previous university education is usually
required for admission. The "LL." of the abbreviation for the degree is
from the genitive plural legum (of lex, law). Creating an abbreviation
for a plural, especially from Latin, is often done by doubling the first
letter (e.g. "pp" for "pages"), thus "LL.B." stands for Legum
Baccalaureus in Latin. It is sometimes erroneously called "Bachelor of
Legal Letters" to account for the double "L".
The United States is the only common law country that no longer
offers
the LL.B. While the LL.B. was conferred until 1971 at Yale University,
since that time, all universities in the United States have awarded the
professional doctorate J.D., which then became the generally
standardized degree in most states for the necessary bar exam prior to
practice of law. Many law schools converted their basic law degree
programs from LL.B. to J.D. in the 1960s, and permitted prior LL.B.
graduates to retroactively receive the new doctorate degrees by
returning their LL.B. in exchange for a J.D. degree. Yale graduates who
received LL.B. degrees prior to 1971 were similarly permitted to change
their degree to a J.D., although many did not take the option, retaining
their LL.B. degrees.
The first academic degrees were all law degrees in medieval
universities, and the first law degrees were doctorates. The foundations
of the first universities were the glossators of the 11th century,
which were also schools of law. The first university, that of Bologna,
was founded as a school of law by four famous legal scholars in the 12th
century who were students of the glossator school in that city. The
University of Bologna served as the model for other law schools of the
medieval age. While it was common for students of law to visit and study
at schools in other countries, such was not the case with England
because of the English rejection of Roman law(except for certain
jurisdictions such as the Admiralty Court), and although the University
of Oxford and University of Cambridge did teach canon law until the
English Reformation, its importance was always superior to civil law in
those institutions.
The bachelor's degree originated at the University of Paris, whose
system was implemented at Oxford and Cambridge.The "arts" designation of
the degree traditionally signifies that the student has undertaken a
certain amount of study of the classics.On continental Europe the
bachelor's degree was phased out in the 18th or early 19th century but
it continued at Oxford and Cambridge.
The teaching of law at Oxford University was for philosophical or
scholarly purposes and not meant to prepare one to practise
law.Professional training for practising common law in England was
undertaken at the Inns of Court, but over time the training functions of
the Inns lessened considerably and apprenticeships with individual
practitioners arose as the prominent medium of preparation.However,
because of the lack of standardization of study and of objective
standards for appraisal of these apprenticeships, the role of
universities became subsequently of importance for the education of
lawyers in the English speaking world.
In England in 1292 when Edward I first requested that lawyers be
trained, students merely sat in the courts and observed, but over time
the students would hire professionals to lecture them in their
residences, which led to the institution of the Inns of Court system.The
original method of education at the Inns of Court was a mix of moot
court-like practice and lecture, as well as court proceedings
observation.By the seventeenth century, the Inns obtained a status as a
kind of university akin to the University of Oxford and the University
of Cambridge, though very specialized in purpose.With the frequent
absence of parties to suits during the Crusades, the importance of the
lawyer role grew tremendously, and the demand for lawyers grew.
Traditionally Oxford and Cambridge did not see common law as worthy
of study, and included coursework in law only in the context of canon
and civil law and for the purpose of the study of philosophy or history
only. The apprenticeship program for solicitors thus emerged, structured
and governed by the same rules as the apprenticeship programs for the
trades. The training of solicitors by apprenticeship was formally
established by an act of parliament in 1729. William Blackstone became
the first lecturer in English common law at the University of Oxford in
1753, but the university did not establish the program for the purpose
of professional study, and the lectures were very philosophical and
theoretical in nature. Blackstone insisted that the study of law should
be university based, where concentration on foundational principles can
be had, instead of concentration on detail and procedure had through
apprenticeship and the Inns of Court.
The Inns of Court continued but became less effective and admission
to the bar still did not require any significant educational activity or
examination, therefore in 1846 the Parliament examined the education
and training of prospective barristers and found the system to be
inferior to the legal education provided in the United States.
Therefore, formal schools of law were called for, but not finally
established until later in the century, and even then the bar did not
consider a university degree in admission decisions.When law degrees
were required by the English bar and bar associations in other common
law countries, the LL.B. became the uniform degree for lawyers in common
law countries.
