Adapting the LL.B. Curriclum to meet new challenges
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The traditional law school curriculum has undergone many significant changes in recent times. The compulsory core subject-areas have always dominated the curriculum. Whilst core subject-areas such as contracts law, law of persons, law of property, public and private international law, administrative and constitutional law etc. still continue to be the main subject-areas, one major change in recent times has been the offering of optional subjects, in addition to these compulsory core subject-areas. This has been an inevitable change due to the fact that lawyers are now called upon to provide advice or handle cases involving complex or multi-disciplinary issues that previously required either self-study or the exposure to a master of laws (LL.M.) degree.
Among U.K. universities, the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland has been ranked as the first in the U.K. for research impact in Law. It is also within the first 2% in the World Young University Rankings for 2018 according to Times Higher education. The Nawaloka College of Higher Studies School of Law (NCHS) will shortly be offering its LL.B. with the first two years to be spent in Sri Lanka and the final year in Ulster. It is the only 2 + 1 LL.B. degree to be offered in Sri Lanka.
The LL.B. curriculum of Ulster University is illustrative of the type of new subject-areas which tend to find a place in the curriculum of some of the more progressive law schools in the U.K.; USA; Australia and Canada, just to name a few.
In the first year first semester one subject is Law, Politics and Governance. This sets the background to the complex inter-play of law, public opinion and politics within a broad comparative socio-legal context. In the first semester of year 2, Public Interest Litigation is a compulsory subject. Public right activists are increasingly playing a key role in challenging governments and semi-state institutions in protecting the rights of the individual, environment, state resources etc. This type of litigation serves as a form of check and balances in state interference, corruption and abuse of power.
The third year curriculum, which will be completed at Ulster, has two compulsory subjects. In addition, two optional subjects have to be done in each semester choosing the four from a long list of optional subjects. On top of the list is Transitional Justice. Ulster is perhaps best known for its Transitional Justice Institute, ranked as one of the best in the world. Transitional Justice is an increasingly important topic in Sri Lanka, even though the record thus far has been less than impressive according to many commentators. Other optional subjects include the following:
Company Law,
Human Rights Law,
Surveillance and the Law,
Social Justice, Land Rights Resources and the Environment;
Legal technology;
Law of Armed Conflict;
Medical Law;
Media Law;
Law and the Family;
Legal Practice;
Employment law; and,
Law, Film and Visual Culture.
Within the scope of a short article, one cannot possibly explain in detail the critical importance of each of the above subject-areas. The list reflects some of the new issues which lawyers and courts have to grapple with. Each subject-area opens up vistas to an entirely wide world of new challenges and opportunities. Legal Technology, for instance, will address issues such as Artificial Intelligence and the role of new technology in financial businesses such as crypto currency. Medical Law will deal with issues of informed consent and excesses by the medical profession- a hot topic in Sri Lanka now in the wake of alleged reports of ‘forced infertility’. Human Rights Law and Law of Armed Conflict will deal with the evolution of case law in determining the parameters of permissible and impermissible limits of intervention.
The Nawaloka College of Higher Studies-Ulster University LL.B. programme will provide a unique and hitherto locally unavailable opportunity to study law here for the first two years and proceed to Ulster for the third and final year where students will inter-act with students from other jurisdictions and an internationally renowned academics. You may call Nawaloka College of Higher Studies on 0778 889 655 for more information.-
Dr. Dayanath Jayasuriya P. C.