The Canadian National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) recently announced some changes to its policies that will affect graduates of Bond’s Canadian law program in the future.
Following an extensive review the NCA has decided to require that the following Canadian core subjects be acquired at a Canadian law school or through the NCA examination process only.
- Canadian Administrative Law
- Canadian Constitutional Law
- Canadian Criminal Law
- Foundations of Canadian Law
- Canadian Professional Responsibility (new)
This means Bond’s current arrangement with the NCA where they waived the requirement for graduates to sit these exams if the courses were completed at Bond will come to an end. Bond graduates will now be required to sit the NCA exam when they return to Canada.
The Bond Law degree (LLB or JD) will continue to be accepted as a qualifying law degree for the purposes of practicing Law in Canada.
The NCA has implemented this policy to ensure a fair and level playing field for all international universities and international law graduates.
Deborah Wolfe, Managing Director of the National Committee on Accreditation, said the NCA decision was in no way related to any concerns about the quality of the law program at Bond or with Bond graduates.
“The decision was focused on the need to be fair, consistent, objective and transparent about evaluation and completion of the NCA knowledge areas,” Ms Wolfe said.
However, there is a significant transition period before the NCA’s new policy becomes active.
Students who enrol at Bond in the September 2014, or January 2015 intakes and complete the Bond taught courses in the Canadian core subjects will meet the NCA’s core competency requirements for four of the five subjects, and will only be required to sit the NCA assessment on the ‘Canadian Professional Responsibility’ subject.
Students wishing to take advantage of these exemptions are encouraged to enrol on or before the January 2015 intake.
Applications for Bond’s September 2014 and January 2015 semesters are still open.
For over 20 years Bond has been the international law school of choice for many Canadian law students wishing to study abroad, and we will continue to be a leader into the future with the introduction of new and exciting programs for Canadian law students.
If you are Canadian, interested in studying Law at Bond in future and have any questions regarding this topic or life at Bond please contact Stuart Floyd, International Regional Manager via phone +1(416) 558 5353 (Toronto) or email stfloyd@bond.edu.au.
If you are currently studying Law at Bond and have any questions regarding this topic, please contact Brenda Marshall via phone +61 7 5595 1055 or email bmarshal@bond.edu.au.