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GAZETTE
U
I
N
MARCH 1992
New Preparatory Course for Entrance
Examination
The Law School is proposing a new
preparatory course for the Final
Examination - First Part (FE-1)
from next Autumn. According to the
Chairman of the Education
Committee,
JustinMcKenna,
the
examination has created an industry
of grind schools over the years. " I
believe that the Law School can
provide as good a service if not
better. We have recently upgraded
our facilities in the Gym. This has
enhanced the existing teaching
facility and will enable us to make
night courses available." Further
details of the new preparatory course
will be published later in the
year.
Introduction of New Core Subjects
The Education Committee is
discussing the introduction of two
new core subjects, Equity and
European Community Law, to be
added to the six core subjects that
form the Entrance Examination for
admission to the Law School.
Applicants to the Law School who
are not law graduates will now have
to sit examinations in these subjects
in addition to the traditional six core
subjects: Property, Contract, Tort,
Company, Criminal and
Constitutional Law. The new
subjects may be examined as separate
subjects making an eight subject
Final Examination - First Part, or
they may be included within the
existing six subjects by having trusts
and other equitable aspects of land
law treated within the Law of
Property. This might be examined in
two papers rather than the present
one, while EC Law may have its
overall structure examined within the
Constitutional Law paper. Other
aspects may be covered in the other
subject areas where EC Law must be
considered in tandem with domestic
law.
Justin McKenna explained that while
the core subjects had not changed
for over a decade, the relevance of
other subjects had come to the fore
in recent years. "Knowledge of
equity and the law of trusts is a
prerequisite to the understanding of
tax and how it works. The correct
and proper avoidance of tax and the
schemes relating to it is an essential
part of law students' training.
Equity, as every practitioner knows,
has a fundamental effect on the
practice of law in its many aspects.
It is important that non-law graduate
entrants would also establish a basic
level of knowledge of European
Community Law since European law
permeates through a variety of
different modules now on both
the professional and advanced
courses."
Law Graduates now exempt from
FE-1 must anticipate that they will
need to cover E.C. Law and Equity
as well as the full Law of Property
syllabus. This is an area where
consultations with the universities
must now be put in place.
According to Justin McKenna, the
Education Committee is acutely
aware that the imposition of a
further two subjects at the entrance
point to the Law School will create a
strain on examination candidates.
" We are anxious to minimise this
strain and we will explore various
options including the timing of exam
sittings." These may be spread to
give the student longer time to
prepare between each examination. A
new preparatory course which would
be run by the Law School from next
Autumn would also be a help, he
said.
New Law School Fees
A new schedule of fees has come
into operation with effect from
1 February, 1992. This is the
first increase in fees since 1989.
The increases have been kept to a
minimum, but are necessary if
the Law School is to continue
to operate on a break-even
basis.
The new schedule is set out below: -
S CH E DU LE
£
1. On each application to attend the First Irish examination or Second
Irish examination
50.00
2. On each application to attend the Preliminary
Examination
100.0
3. On each application for entry on the Register of Apprentices by the
Registrar of Indentures of Apprenticeship, other than supplemental
Indentures
350.0
4. On application (whether for the first or any subsequent time) to take
each subject of the Final Examination - First Part
25.00
5. On each application to attend the Professional Course
2,407.00
6. On each application to attend the Advanced Course
965.00
7. On each application for permission to give late notice of intention to
attend any examination
25.00
8. For each day or part of a day re-attending the Professional Course
or the Advanced Course (including re-taking any individual part of
the Final Examination - Second Part or the Final Examination -
Third part)
25.00
9. On application for entry of a name on the Roll of Solicitors . 100.00
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