LAW ENTRANCE EXAMINATION.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18549, 26 November 1925, Page 11

LAW ENTRANCE EXAMINATION.

TO THE EDITOR 01 "THE PRESS.' Sj r _I ■ have followed with interest the letter of your Wellington correspondent, and the reply of Mr Rowe, concerning the recent stringent Law Professional ,Three viewpoints stand out quite clear,' fetter a perusal j of the [Regulations in'the Gazette. That the Latin' : '■prescribed:'has been stiffened beyond requirements r(?) that many men long past "the High School age will he barred front eyer completing the examination; (3) that this type, :the --working student, 1 being aman».or practice lather than theory, lus loss will be apaprent to the community as well as to himself. It seems also to ioUow that,legal subjects passed by such a student will, under certain eircumstances, be taken .from'-'him. Ibis seems -unconstitutional and possibly the point 'cpuld be tested'. • It amounts to this: that a student holds a certificate from the University saying he has passed the Law Professional examination in given subjects,\but the Regulations -will not iegard him. as having • passed in them. From the fountains ■p£. justice there appears to flow elements foreign to justice. \V hero .one would expect." fair reasoning, - above all places, fliere exude stringent • stipulations mixed with .apparent modifications which, . on close examination accentuate more than ever the- general harshness. Mr Rowe says the effect will be to make all take the TJL.B. course. Does the country want an army of s, or does it want men with working experience. The "theory" man is to be fostered, the practical man- is to be throttled. If,the source, of trouble is: immature and . inexperienced barristers, why not deal with the barristers by examinations ? Why stiflo intending, solicitors, many of whom are experienced conveyancers and common law men who ha»fe had, no University train-. in<r, but who have'burned)-the midnight oil. . It ai/pears-your Wellington correspondent is- correctly informed of the. position.' • The fact remains that the •Law Society was strongly represented at this conference, and that the society wishes to limit the profession. A grocer wishing to limit his-fellow competitors would receive short shrift. No representative of students or parents ■ was present at this conference. It consisted' of Law Professors and Law Society men. The Law Professors naturalv wish to teach men 'of an advanced education. co that even their, deliberations are not wholly unbiased in the matter. It became necessary for Parliament to intervene on 'behalf of dental students, and seeing law students have no advocate, it may yet be necessary to disclose the position on the floor of the House, and I trust the newspapers will render some service/to thostv "whose plans have been mapped out and which are now wrecked by-snch ungoverned restrictions. —Yours, etc., LEX.