Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated ‘BCL’ or ‘B. C. L.’) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. Historically, it originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but many universities now offer the BCL as an undergraduate degree. Reference to civil law was not originally in contradistinction to common law, but to canon law, although it is true that common law was not taught in the civil law faculties in either university until at least the second half of the 18th century. However, some universities in English-speaking countries use the degree in the former sense.
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In Oxford, the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) is a taught postgraduate degree in English law, occupying a similar position as the Master of Laws (LLM) programmes of other British universities, but specifically for common law degree holders. Students with civil law degrees following the same programme are awarded the degree of Magister Juris (MJur). The Oxford BCL and MJur are widely considered to be the most academically demanding postgraduate taught law courses in the Common Law world.[1] The course differs from many LLM programmes insofar as it provides not only seminar- and lecture- format teaching, but also the intensive small-group tutorials that characterize Oxbridge's famous undergraduate Tutorial system.[2] The principal mode of assessment for the BCL and MJur are end-of-year examinations held in Oxford's Examination Schools after the end of Trinity Term.[3] The degree is either an overall "pass" or an overall "distinction", the latter requiring more than 70 marks in 2 or more of the 4 courses and not less than 60 in any of the courses.
The Faculty of Civil Law in Oxford was so named to distinguish it from the faculty of canon law which was abolished in both universities by King Henry VIII in 1535. The syllabus consisted entirely of Roman civil law until the establishment of the Vinerian Professorship of English Law in 1758. Undergraduate examinations in law were not established until 1850, with the separate BA undergraduate honour school of Jurisprudence being established in 1872.
The Faculty of Civil Law in Cambridge was renamed the Faculty of Laws after the teaching of English common law was introduced in the 19th century. The initial postgraduate degree in the faculty became the LLB, before being retitled LLM in the 20th century in order to clarify its status as a postgraduate degree. The BCL degree in Durham University is now also titled LLM. Within the UK, only the Law Faculty at Oxford has retained the older nomenclature.
Before it was renamed in 1969 as the Bachelor of Laws degree, the bachelor’s degree in common law conferred by Canada's University of New Brunswick was known as the Bachelor of Civil Law. [1]
Until recently replaced by the Juris Doctor, the Bachelor of Civil Law was the degree granted by the first law school in the United States, the William & Mary School of Law founded in 1779.
The B.C.L. degree is also a standard law degree in Ireland. It is awarded by constituent universities of the National University of Ireland, such as University College Cork, University College Dublin and the National University of Ireland, Galway. The B.C.L. degree is also offered by Dublin City University.[4] Other Irish universities, including the University of Limerick and the University of Dublin, award the LL.B. degree. The LLB is offered at postgraduate level by NUI, Galway and the University of Limerick also.
At McGill University, the bachelor's degree in Quebec civil law is called the Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.), to distinguish it from the bachelor's degree in common law offered by that same university: Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). Graduates earn both degrees concurrently after three to four years of study.
The University of Ottawa, although located in Ontario, also offers a baccalaureate degree in Quebec civil law, which it styles the LL.L. (Latin Legum Licentiatus, Licentiate of Laws), to distinguish it from the first degree in common law (i.e., the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), now renamed as the Juris Doctor (J.D.)) offered by that same university.
The other universities in Quebec that offer a baccalaureate degree in Quebec civil law (Université de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal, Université Laval and Université de Sherbrooke) call it an LL.B. (baccalauréat en droit), though in the past the degree at Université de Montréal and Université Laval was styled as the Legum Licentiatus (LL.L.).
These bachelor's degrees in Quebec civil law (LL.B., B.C.L. or LL.L. depending on the university) are a first-entry degree programme which, like other first-entry university programmes in any discipline in Quebec, require a CEGEP diploma for entry. Except in the cases of both Ottawa and McGill, they are three years in length. The common law LL.B. and Quebec civil law LL.L. are combined in programmes offered by both the University of Ottawa and by McGill University. McGill offers a "transystemic program" of 105 credits. Students can choose to complete the curriculum in 3, 3.5 or 4 years. Admission to the McGill programme is a first-entry programme in the case of Quebec students (as the CEGEP diploma is required) while it is a second-entry programme in the case of students from other provinces (as two years of university studies is required, effectively one extra year of studies more than for a CEGEP diploma).
While the baccalaureate degree in Quebec civil law is the terminal professional degree for entry into the bar admission programme of the Barreau du Québec (Bar of Quebec), a candidate for entry into the training programme of the Chambre des Notaires du Québec must, after that baccalaureate degree, go on to obtain a Diplôme de deuxième cycle en droit notarial (graduate studies Diploma of Notarial Law) from Université de Montréal, Université Laval, Université d'Ottawa or Université de Sherbrooke that requires two semesters of full-time study. At Université de Montréal, by completing two additional graduate-level law classes and doing a directed studies paper, the student can also earn an LL.M. in Notarial Law, in addition to the Diploma of Notarial Law.
The Paul M. Hebert Law Center on the campus of Louisiana State University in the U.S. confers on the graduates of its law program a combined J.D. (Juris Doctor) / D.C.L. (Diploma of Civil Law) in view of the Louisiana civil law components in the program and the additional (i.e., 7th) semester of study.[5]
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