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By contrast, as the author argues, the LLM and SJD/JSD programmes in the US, unlike their UK counterparts, the British LLM and the British PhD in law, do not have much to offer to Commonwealth African law schools (i.e., law schools in countries such as Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
In this book, the international and comparative analysis of various undergraduate and postgraduate law degree programmes in the UK, the US and Commonwealth Africa provides a novel and authoritative treatment of legal education systems in these parts of the world. Without doubt, the author has succeeded in raising challenging questions and offering solutions to such questions, regarding, for example, the troublesome duration of most postgraduate degree programmes at African universities. It should be added, however, that the criteria or methodology of ranking or judging academic degrees or law schools varies from context to context, and that the author is fully awake to such issues.
This book is certainly a valuable asset to a wide range of audiences, including prospective law students, current law students, law professors, many other academics and practising lawyers. The book provides a holistic and balanced treatment of an inherently contentious topic, setting out a strikingly frank and honest discussion of important policy issues in the development of legal education in the Anglo-Saxon world. The themes, issues and conclusions expressed by the author will, no doubt, give fruit to further debate on this topic. The author has succeeded in sowing seeds for critically insightful discussions from the readership.
All in all, the book is a well-written treatise, and the arguments advanced by the author are fully supported by extensive use of references.