Advocates and Solicitors (Qualifying Examination) Rules 1997

Revised Edition

07.070.50

Showing the law as at 1 January 2007

This is a revised edition of the law

Advocates and Solicitors (Qualifying Examination) Rules 1997

Rule

1             Educational requirement for an applicant to sit the qualifying examination. 5

2             Subjects to be included in law degree. 6

3             The qualifying examination. 6

4             Application to sit an examination. 8

5             Conditional passes (preliminary examination) 9

6             Co-opting of non-voting members to the Board etc. 9

7                          10

8             Citation. 10

 

Table of Legislation History. 12

Table of Endnote References. 12

 

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.

(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.[3]

(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).

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[4] (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[5]

(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 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.

(4)     The final examination consists of –

(a)     5 papers on the following subjects –

(i)      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,

(ii)      the law of contract and the law relating to security on movable property and bankruptcy,

(iii)     testate and intestate succession,

(iv)     law of immovable property and conveyancing, and

(v)     civil procedure and criminal procedure; 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.

(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[6].

(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.

(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 except the paper referred to in paragraph (4)(b) which shall be of 2 hours duration.

(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)    However, if it remains for the candidate to pass only one paper, he or she may attempt just that paper.

(18)    Subject to paragraph (20), 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 4 successive sessions appointed by the Board under paragraph (7) commencing with the session in which he or she first sat any of those papers.

(19)    A candidate who has not passed all the papers within the period referred to in paragraph (18) shall have failed the examination, but without prejudice to his or her right to begin the final examination again at a subsequent session.

(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.

4        Application to sit an examination[7]

(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, and

(ii)      has a legal qualification or has passed the preliminary examination;

(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.

(3)     A person applying to sit the final examination shall, when application is made at the second, third or fourth of the sessions referred to in Rule 3(18), indicate which of the papers in the examination he or she wishes to attempt at that session.

(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)[8]

(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        [9]

8        Citation

These Rules may be cited as the Advocates and Solicitors (Qualifying Examination) Rules 1997.

 

SCHEDULE[10]

 

Endnotes

Table of Legislation History

Table of Endnote References