Bond Law School NCA subjects update
As you may be aware, there is a very important update regarding a change that has been made by the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) related to foreign-trained lawyers and the process of coming back to practice law in Canada.
The NCA accredited Bond University as the only university outside Canada with the ability to offer four Canadian core subjects—Canadian Administrative Law, Canadian Constitutional Law, Canadian Criminal Law and Foundations of Canadian Law—and provide credit to students who completed these subjects at Bond, subject to sufficient academic performance (as detailed in NCA Assessment Policy 1.2.2.e).
If students completed any of the four approved law subjects at Bond they would not be required to complete the NCA examinations in Canada upon their return. After a formal assessment process by the NCA, these students would be granted a Certificate of Qualification without NCA examination.
The NCA has formally notified Bond University that it will no longer be waiving the requirement for Bond graduates to sit the four exams that other graduates from non-Canadian law schools must sit. This decision by the NCA was not the result of any concern about the quality of Bond’s subjects or its graduates, but the result of numerous requests from law schools in the US and elsewhere for the same arrangement to be extended to them. The NCA could not justify maintaining Bond University’s monopoly, and does not have the resources to manage applications from other law schools for a similar arrangement, so it has decided to treat all law schools equally and discontinue the arrangement with Bond University.
How does this affect Canadian Bond Law School students?
This change does not affect current students or new students enrolling in September 2014 and January 2015 at Bond Law School, who will continue to benefit from the present arrangement; however, Canadian students enrolling in May 2015 and onwards will have to sit the 5 NCA exams upon their return to Canada. Since it takes two years to complete the Juris Doctor (JD) full time, Bond students will not start sitting these exams until after the end of the January 2017 semester. Bond Law School will continue to offer the current Canadian subjects into the future to assist Canadian students enrolling from May 2015 onwards to prepare for these exams.
Summary
For students currently at Bond Law School and for those beginning September 2014 or January 2015
Students who commence their studies in the Juris Doctor (JD) at Bond University in September 2014 or January 2015 are NOT affected by this change. Students who commence their studies in the Juris Doctor (JD) at Bond University in September 2014, January 2015 or prior, will still be able to complete the four Canadian law subjects, as outlined above subject to sufficient academic performance (as detailed in NCA Assessment Policy 1.2.2.e), and be eligible for a Certificate of Qualification without NCA examination.
For Bond Law School students who commence the Juris Doctor from May 2015 onward
Students who commence the Juris Doctor (JD) in May 2015 and beyond will be required to complete the NCA examinations, even if they complete the Canadian law subjects offered at Bond University, in order to be eligible for a Certificate of Qualification.
If you are interested in being part of the last cohort at Bond Law School to be exempt in sitting the NCA examinations, subject to sufficient academic performance (as detailed in NCA Assessment Policy 1.2.2.e), then you can apply to the September 2014 and January 2015 intakes.
Bond Law School Juris Doctor Program
Program: Juris Doctor (JD)
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland
Semester intakes: January, May, or September
Next intake: September 2014 and January 2015
Duration: 2 years
Apply now to Bond Law School Juris Doctor program!
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