Doctor of Laws

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doctor of Laws (Latin: Legum Doctor, LL.D.^[1]) is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. What follows is a country-by-country analysis of earned doctorates in law, which are the most analogous to the concept of the LL.D. These degrees, as shown below, may be formulated, inter alia, as LL.D., Ph.D., Dr. iur., D.C.L., S.J.D. or J.S.D. (Scientiae Juridicae Doctor in Latin). They are the highest degrees in law in their nations.

Contents 1 By Country 1.1 Brazil 1.2 Canada 1.3 European and Commonwealth usage 1.4 Finland 1.5 Germany 1.6 Czech Republic and Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia) 1.7 Italy 1.8 Malta 1.9 United Kingdom 1.10 United States 2 See also 3 Notes and References

[edit] By Country

[edit] Brazil

In Brazil, the Doctor of Laws degree, known in Portuguese as Doutor em Direito or Doutor em Ciências Jurídicas is the second highest academic degree in law available - because in some of the most important University of the country there´s another level known as Livre docência, like the Habilitation in some european countries. The degree is awarded upon the completion and the successful defense of a dissertation prepared by the doctoral candidate. In most Brazilian Law Schools, the candidates are also required to earn a minimum number of credits.

[edit] Canada

Most Canadian universities that award the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) award it only as an honorary degree, but typically when awarded by a law school, it is an earned degree.

Of the universities in Canada that offer earned doctorates in law, four (University of Ottawa,^[2] University of Montreal,^[3] Laval University,^[4] and University of Quebec at Montreal^[5]) offer LL.Ds, three (University of British Columbia,^[6] Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, and University of Victoria^[7]) offer Ph.Ds, three (University of Toronto,^[8] and Dalhousie University^[9]) offer J.S.D./S.J.D degrees (Doctor of Laws), and one (McGill University^[10]) offers a D.C.L (Doctor of Civil Law). The differences largely reflect the divide between Canada's two legal systems (the common law and the civil law). Faculties that teach in the civil law tradition grant LL.D degrees, whereas those in the common law tradition grant either Ph.Ds or J.S.Ds.

[edit] European and Commonwealth usage

In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of exceptionally insightful and distinctive publications that contain significant and original contributions to the study of law. Some universities, such as the University of Oxford, award a Doctor of Civil Law degree instead. In South Africa, the LL.D. is awarded by many university law faculties as the highest degree in law, also based upon research and completion of a Ph.D. equivalent dissertation like in most European countries. The LL.D. may also be awarded as an honorary degree based upon a person's contributions to society.

[edit] Finland

In Finland, the Doctor of Laws (in Finnish, Oikeustieteen tohtori, OTT) is the highest degree in law, based on 40 credits of course studies and, most importantly, successful completion of a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation can take the form of a monograph of 250-300 pages in length, or of a series of published articles. A successful oral disputation is also required.

[edit] Germany

Officially referred to as Doctor of Jurisprudence (Doktor der Rechtswissenschaften) by most German law schools, the Doctor of Law (observe the singular) is the terminal degree in law, awarded as Dr. iur. (Doctor iuris). It is conferred based on a thesis consisting of a suitable body of original academic research. The thesis must have been published as a book or as a series of articles in a peer reviewed law journal before the degree can be formally conferred. Admission usually requires the grade of "Fully Satisfactory" (approximately top quintile of class) in the student's first Staatsexamen (the Master's level first professional degree). Having successfully passed the second Staatsexamen (the German equivalent to the bar exam) is not required.

The Doctor of Laws (now note the plural), awarded as Dr.iur. utr. (Doctor iuris utriusque) is rare, since it means considering both Civil Law and Canonical Law. A doctorate solely in the latter area is the degree of Dr.iur.can. (Doctor iuris canonici).

Approximately ten percent of German law graduates hold a doctoral degree. However, the Doctor of Law is still only the first step to tenure at German law schools. Despite the initiative to establish a junior professorship with tenure option after five to seven years, and special professorships specializing in teaching (Lehrprofessur), to become a university professor of law a habilitation (de iure not an academic degree) is still mandatory at most German law schools.

[edit] Czech Republic and Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia)

In the Czech Republic and Slovakia the Doctor is a postgraduate degree awarded as JUDr. (Juris utrisque doctor) based upon research and completion of a dissertation. This dissertation differs from a Ph.D. dissertation in its lesser time and work (approx. 2 - 3 years for full time candidates, 5 years for PhD). The PhD is chosen by candidates interested in an academic career since it comprises the capacity for teaching at universities.

[edit] Italy

In Italy, the title of "Doctor of legal science" (Dottore in scienze giuridiche) is the title given to anybody who graduates from university having completed a normal course of undergraduate studies in law (3yrs), also known as corso di laurea triennale [1]). These can be compared to the British Bachelor of Laws degree. The title of "Doctor of law" (Dottore in giurisprudenza [2]) is the title given to students who, after first level degree, complete the master degree in law (Laurea magistrale [3]) (+2 years), and, previously, this was the title given to the students that completed the old courses of studies in law (4 years). The Ph.D. title (Dottore di ricerca [4]) can be earned after (+3 years) of schooling, by students that have a master in law (Laurea specialistica) and are "Doctor of law". Once a prospective lawyer has been awarded the "doctor of law" (Dottore in giurisprudenza), and worked two years like trainee lawyer, he or she is required to pass a state bar examination in order to be licensed to practice as an Attorney at Law (Avvocato).

[edit] Malta

In Malta, the European Union's smallest member state, the LL.D. is a doctorate-level academic degree in law requiring at least three years of post-graduate full-time study at the University of Malta,^[11] Malta's national university. At least three years of previous law study are required for entry. Students are required to complete coursework in a number of core areas of law, as well as to submit a thesis which is to be "an original work on the approved subject or other contribution to the knowledge showing that he/she has carried out sufficient research therein".^[12] It confers the title of Doctor, which in Malta is rigorously used to address a holder of the degree. The LL.D. is one of the requirements for admission to the profession of advocate in Malta (an advocate, as opposed to a legal procurator, has rights of representation in superior courts).

In Malta, practising lawyers are of three designations – notaries, legal procurators and advocates. The Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree is an undergraduate degree that of itself is not sufficient for admission into any of the legal professions. A one-year full time taught post-graduate diploma of Notary Public (N.P.) is required after the LL.B. for admission to the profession of notary public, while a taught post-graduate diploma of Legal Procurator (L.P.) is required for admission to the profession of legal procurator. A legal procurator is a lawyer in Malta that has rights of audience in the lower courts, a profession that was existent in Malta as early, and even prior to 1553.^[13] All three professions also require members to be holders of a warrant issued by the President of Malta, obtainable after a minimum of one year of work experience in that profession, and examination. It is not possible for a Maltese lawyer to hold a warrant in more than one of the professions at a time.

Notable holders of the LL.D. degree include Dr. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici (former President of Malta), Prof. Guido de Marco (former President of the United Nations General Assembly and former President of Malta), Dr. George Borg Olivier (first post-independence Prime Minister of Malta), and Dr. Lawrence Gonzi (current Prime Minister of Malta).

[edit] United Kingdom

In the UK, the modern practice of a Doctor of Laws is much the same as in other countries. However, in former years, Doctors of Law were a distinct form of Attorney-at-Law who were empowered to act as advocates in civil law courts. The Doctors had their own Inns of Court, which was called Doctors' Commons.

In 1953, a case was brought under long-dormant law in the High Court of Chivalry. The opening arguments in that case were by George Drewry Squibb, who was simultaneously distinguished as a barrister, a doctor of laws, and a historian. Squibb argued, to the satisfaction of the court, that since the modern class of Doctors of Laws were no longer trained as advocates, their role must necessarily be performed by barristers. ^[14] This was because Victorian reforms, which had unified the other classes of court attorney into the single profession of Barrister, had overlooked the Doctors of Law.

[edit] United States

While it is difficult to equate one country’s degrees to another, this section sets out to give examples, country-by-country, of the degrees that are most analogous to the earned Doctor of Laws (as opposed to an honorary doctorate). Awarded by only approximately twenty of the top law schools in the United States, the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D. or J.S.D.) is the closest degree to the notion of the “Doctor of Laws.” Like most doctorates, the S.J.D. and the earned LL.D. share in common with the Ph.D. the requirement of a dissertation and an original contribution to the scholarly field. Most of the U.S. law schools (which have such programs) state that the S.J.D./J.S.D. is their most “advanced law degree” and others state that it is “the terminal degree in law.” See, for example, Harvard Law School,^[15] Stanford Law School,^[16] and Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.^[17]

The S.J.D. is expected to be completed within three to five years, following the completion of an LL.M. See for example, Tulane Law School.^[18]

[edit] See also

• Juris Doctor (J.D.)
• Master of Laws (LL.M.)
• Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)
• Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.)
• Ijazah

[edit] Notes and References

v • d • e Academic degrees Bachelor's degree · Master's degree  · Doctoral degree Professional degree · Specialist degree · Engineer's degree · Terminal degree Licentiate · Magister · Diploma Associate's degree (U.S.) · Foundation degree (U.K. except Scotland)