Advocates and
Solicitors (Qualifying Examination) Rules 1997
1 Educational requirement for
an applicant to sit the qualifying examination
(1) A
person applying to sit the qualifying examination must have a legal
qualification or the general qualification and, if applying to sit the final
examination, must have enrolled on an approved course of instruction.[1]
(2) For
the purposes of these Rules, a person has a legal qualification if the person
has –
(a) a law
degree of a British University or of such other university or institution as
the Board approves which conforms to the requirements in Rule 2;
(b) passed
the examinations and assessments included in any course validated by the Common
Professional Examination Board in England and Wales;
(c) passed
the examinations and assessments included in any course –
(i) validated by the
Law Society of England and Wales for admission as a solicitor of the Supreme
Court of England and Wales (or the examinations formerly set by the Law Society
of England and Wales for that purpose), or
(ii) accredited
by the Law Society of Scotland for admission to the Roll of Solicitors in
Scotland; or
(d) passed
the examinations and assessments included in any course –
(i) validated by the
Bar Council for call to the Bar of England and Wales by any one of the Inns of
Court in England (or the examinations formerly set by the Council of Legal
Education for that purpose), or
(ii) validated
by the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland for admission as a member of the
Faculty of Advocates in Scotland; or
(e) passed
the examinations and assessments leading to the award of a Certificate of
Professional Legal Studies by the Institute of Professional Legal Studies of
the Queen’s University of Belfast or met such equivalent requirements as
may be recognized for the time being by –
(i) the Law Society
of Northern Ireland, or
(ii) the
Executive Council of the Honorable Society of the Inn of Court of Northern
Ireland.[2]
(3) For
the purposes of these Rules, a person has the general qualification if the person
has a degree other than a law degree within paragraph (2)(a).
(4) In
these Rules –
“approved”
means approved by the Board;
“course of
instruction” means a course of instruction in the law of Jersey set by an
approved person or body.[3]
2 Subjects to be included in law degree
(1) Subject
to paragraph (2), for the purposes of Article 4(2)(a)(i) of the Advocates and Solicitors
(Jersey) Law 1997 (hereafter
called the “principal Law”) and Rule 1, a law degree must
include the following subjects –
(a) the law
of contract;
(b) the law
of tort;
(c) criminal
law;
(d) equity
and the law of trusts;
(e) constitutional
and administrative law; and
(f) the
law of the European Union.
(2) Where,
in the opinion of the Board, a law degree awarded to a person requires a course
of legal study of a sufficiently comprehensive nature, the Board may, at its
discretion, treat the degree as satisfying the requirement in paragraph (1)
even though the subjects included in the degree do not wholly correspond with
the subjects specified in that paragraph.
3 The qualifying examination[4]
(1) A
candidate who has the general qualification, but not a legal qualification,
must sit a preliminary examination and a final examination.
(2) A
candidate who has a legal qualification need only sit the final examination.
(3) The
preliminary examination consists of 6 papers on the following
subjects –
(a) the
English law of contract;
(b) the
English law of tort;
(c) principles
of English criminal law and the law of evidence;
(d) principles
of English constitutional and administrative law;
(e) principles
of English equity and the law of trusts; and
(f) the
law of the European Union.[5]
(4) The
final examination consists of –
(a) 6 papers
on the following subjects in Jersey law –
(i) Paper 1:
the Jersey legal system (including the history of Jersey law, its sources,
customary law, the writers on Jersey law and the relevance of Norman customary
law, English common law and the law of other legal systems) and constitutional
law;
(ii) Paper 2:
the law of contract;
(iii) Paper 3:
the law of testate and intestate succession;
(iv) Paper 4:
the law of immovable property;
(v) Paper 5:
civil procedure and criminal procedure, including legal professional ethics;
(vi) Paper 6:
the law of security over movable property and bankruptcy; and
(b) subject
to paragraph (5), one paper on a subject chosen by the candidate from the
following options –
(i) company
law,
(ii) trust
law, and
(iii) family
law.[6]
(4A) Paragraph (4)
applies to the final examinations held after 1st January 2014.[7]
(4B) Subject
to paragraph (18), in relation to any final examination held before 1st
January 2014 –
(a) a
pass in the Jersey legal system (including the history of Jersey law, its
sources, customary law, the writers on Jersey law and the relevance of Norman
customary law and English common law) and constitutional law, counts as a pass
in Paper 1 after that date;
(b) a
pass in the law of contract and the law relating to security on movable
property and bankruptcy counts as a pass in both Paper 2 and Paper 6
after that date;
(c) a
pass in testate and intestate succession counts as a pass in Paper 3 after
that date;
(d) a
pass in the law of immovable property and conveyancing counts as a pass in
Paper 4 after that date;
(e) a
pass in civil procedure and criminal procedure counts as a pass in Paper 5
after that date; and
(f) a
pass in one of the options of company law, trust law or family law counts as a
pass in that option after that date.[8]
(5) A
candidate shall be exempt from the paper referred to in paragraph (4)(b)
if the candidate –
(a) has
obtained from the University of Caen –
(i) a
Certificat d’Etudes Juridiques Françaises et Normandes, or
(ii) a
Certificat d’Etudes de Droit Français et Normand; or
(b) has
passed the examination specified in Rule 2A(2) of the Advocates
(Examinations) (Jersey) Rules 1989[9].
(6) The
syllabus for each of the subjects described in paragraphs (3) and (4)
shall be such as is issued from time to time by the Bailiff after consultation
with the Board.
(7) The
Board shall, in accordance with Article 6 of the principal Law, appoint
sessions for the holding of the preliminary examination (if necessary) and for
the holding of the final examination each year –
(a) in
June and July; and
(b) in
September.[10]
(8) Each
session shall be held over 6 weekdays with no more than one paper being
held on any one day.
(9) Each
paper in the preliminary examination shall be of 3 hours duration.
(10) Each
paper in the final examination shall be of 3 hours duration.[11]
(11) The
President of the Board shall –
(a) assign
a number to each candidate; and
(b) when
notifying the candidate of the date, time and place of the examination, inform
the candidate of the number so assigned.
(12) A
paper written by a candidate shall be identified only by the number assigned to
the candidate.
(13) The
Board may supply to the candidates in the examination room books, papers or
information recorded in any form relevant to the paper concerned.
(14) No
book, paper or information recorded in any form relevant to an examination
shall be taken into or used in an examination room other than a book, paper or
information supplied by the Board pursuant to paragraph (13).
(15) A
candidate sitting the preliminary examination must attempt all the papers at
any one session.
(16) A
candidate sitting the final examination may not attempt less than 2 papers
at any one session.
(17) Notwithstanding
paragraph (16), if –
(a) it
remains for a candidate to pass only one paper; or
(b) a
candidate wishes to re-sit a paper that the candidate has failed to pass at the
immediately preceding session,
he or she may attempt that
paper.[12]
(18) In
order to pass the final examination a candidate must pass all the papers
referred to in paragraph (4) required of that candidate within a period of
6 successive sessions appointed by the Board under paragraph (7)
commencing with the session in which he or she first sat any of those papers.[13]
(19) A
candidate who has not passed all the papers within the period referred to in
paragraph (18) shall, subject to paragraphs (20) and (21), have
failed the examination, but without prejudice to his or her right to begin the
final examination again at a subsequent session.[14]
(20) If
the Board is satisfied that, within the period referred to in paragraph (18),
personal circumstances of an exceptional nature have impaired the ability of a
candidate to sit any one or more of the papers, the Board may permit the
candidate to attempt one or more of the papers after that period.
(21) If
the Board is satisfied that a candidate who failed to pass one of the papers
within the period referred to in paragraph (18) has in the other papers
attained a sufficiently high standard, the Board may permit the candidate to be
re-examined in that paper at the next session appointed by the Board under
paragraph (7).[15]
4 Application to sit an examination[16]
(1) A
person applying to sit the preliminary examination shall produce evidence that
he or she –
(a) fulfils
the requirements described in Article 5(1)(a) and (b) of the principal
Law; and
(b) has
the general qualification.
(2) A
person applying to sit the final examination shall, when application is made at
the first of the sessions referred to in Rule 3(18) –
(a) produce
evidence that he or she –
(i) fulfils the
requirements described in Article 5(1)(a) and (b) of the principal Law,
(ii) has
a legal qualification or has passed the preliminary examination, and
(iii) has
enrolled on an approved course of instruction;
(b) indicate
which of the papers in the examination he or she wishes to attempt at that
session; and
(c) if
the person claims an exemption under Rule 3(5), produce evidence that he
or she –
(i) has obtained one
of the Certificats referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of that Rule, or
(ii) has
passed the examination referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of that Rule.[17]
(3) A
person applying to sit the final examination shall, when application is made at
the second or a subsequent session referred to in Rule 3(18), indicate
which of the papers in the examination he or she wishes to attempt at that
session.[18]
(4) An
application to the Board for permission under Rule 3(20) to attempt a
paper on a later occasion must be made in writing to the President of the
Board.
5 Conditional passes (preliminary examination)[19]
(1) If
the panel of examiners appointed under Article 9(3) of the principal Law
for the preliminary examination is of the opinion that a person who has failed
to pass one of the papers in that examination has attained a sufficiently high
standard generally, the person shall be –
(a) permitted
to be re-examined in that paper only; and
(b) treated
as having passed the preliminary examination conditionally upon passing that
paper.
(2) If
a person re-examined in a paper fails again to pass that paper, the panel may
permit the person to be re-examined in that paper on a further occasion or
occasions.
(3) An
application under this Rule to be re-examined in a paper shall be made in the
same manner as an application to sit the preliminary examination, except that
the evidence referred to in Rule 4(1) need not be produced.
6 Co-opting of non-voting members to the Board etc.
(1) The
Board may co-opt so many non-voting members as are experienced in the setting
and marking of examinations in law (whether or not they are advocates or
solicitors) as it thinks fit.
(2) The
Board may appoint one or more such non-voting members as adviser to a panel of
examiners appointed pursuant to Article 9(3) of the principal Law on the
setting and marking of the qualifying examination it is conducting.
7 [20]
8 Citation
These Rules may be cited
as the Advocates and Solicitors (Qualifying Examination) Rules 1997.