LL.B. DEGREE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 300, 18 December 1937, Page 10

LL.B. DEGREE.

LONGER COURSE. SENATE DECISION. THREE MORE SUBJECTS. LAW SOCIETY BLAMED. By the addition of t!iror more cultural <-übjecls to tin- Bachelor of Law degree in the I'niversity of Now Zealand, tho course has been Icngl liened by at lonst 011,1 year. This new regulat ion affects students undertaking tlie course in 1038. Tho-p students who began the course before 103S, nnd who have not yet completed, are allowed two years in which to fini.-h oIT their degree under existing condition- 1 . This, students claim, is not a sufficiently long period, and it is likely that a petition will lie presented to the Senate by students asking that the period of grace should he extended. Students interviewed thU morning slated that in their opinion the new regulation Mas sponsored by the Law Society, and had as its main objective a reducli n iu the number f)f passes into an aire;: . ..Tcrowded profession.

They I in principle with the stated i..'-.in that there were not enough cultural' subjects at present required by the course, but urged that its imposit ion on students already taking the course was unfair. The best students took for yenrs now to pass in the 15 subjects required. Those who had entered the university this year had no hope of being able to complete in the two yenr* they were allowed. They would thus be. compelled to stay on at the university for at least a year longer than they hud bargained for when they entered. It thus savoured of a breach of contract. Position Explained. Explniniiifr the position this morning, Professor R. M. Algie, dean of the faculty of law at Auckland University College, stated that by regulation, adopted by tho Senate and sent forward by the council of legal education, a group of additional subjects had been added to the university course, and the arrangement nnd classification of some of tho existing syllabus had been altered.

"The result will l>e that candidates entering into legal studies in 1938 will bo'required to add an additional three art subjects to the previous course," he said,, "although a wide choice of subjects is given them. Latin -will remain compulsory and students may select the additional art units from subjects such us. English, philosophy, history, economics, political science, any modern foreign language, mathematics, and a pure science.

/'lt. virtually means that tho law course 'will be delayed by at least one year,. Candidates who commenced their Htudies of law before 1038 are allowed two years in which to complete under the former regulations. It is commonly felt among law students that tins period is too short, and it is likely that a petition will be presented to the senate to ask for a longer period of grace.

"The introduction of the additional nrts subjects is based, on the ground that tho law course as it stands makes insufficient provision for purely cultural subjects."