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Many law students and prospective law students continue to debate and discuss the merits of pursuing graduate law studies in one jurisdiction over the other. But there are still very few convincing answers out there. This book, therefore, is an attempt to provide some responses.
While the book is not an indictment of any particular jurisdiction or law school, it offers an objectively balanced discussion, covering weaknesses and strengths of legal education systems in Commonwealth Africa, the UK and the US. The book weaves through all these jurisdictions, highlighting what one jurisdiction can learn from the other(s). The book argues, for example, that a factor that has contributed to the shaping of the landscape of legal education in Commonwealth Africa is the interpretation of law by the early judges, the civil servants and the academics in the newly independent African States. The book also explains how some academic programmes were constructed on the basis of the view of the world, as held by some expatriates.
Chapter One provides an introduction, highlighting the context of the study. The chapter identifies Commonwealth African jurisdictions that follow the Roman-Dutch law system in addition to the common law. The role of expatriate academics in developing legal education systems in Commonwealth Africa is also spelt out. The chapter examines the coming on board of indigenous African academics, including some developments leading to years of pioneer professorships and when African universities began to suffer from poor funding.
Chapter Two examines the primary university-level qualification to become a lawyer in the USA, the UK and South Africa. The chapter looks at how the Juris Doctor (JD) degree was introduced in the US, highlighting how some universities in jurisdictions outside the US, such as Canada, China and Australia, are beginning to pick up and transplant models of law degrees from the USA. A related issue here is the academic rank of the American JD degree, in relation to comparable law degrees.