Thursday, July 12, 2012

Sri Lanka Law College and Attorney at Law Entrance examination


The Sri Lanka Law College is the the oldest institution for training of professionals in the country. It has trained almost all the lawyers in Sri Lanka and it is the only gateway to the legal profession in the country. Open Universiy also offers Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.

Admissions

There are three main channels of admission to the College.
(1) Direct admission of those who qualify via Law Entrance Examination for admission. The minimum academic qualification recognised for admission is four passes in the General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) Examination and credit passes in Sinhala/Tamil in the General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) Examination. The entrance examination is highly competitive and only a limited number gain admission on the results of this examination.
(2) Admission of Law graduates of Sri Lankan and foreign Universities – LL.B (Bachelor of Laws) Degree holders from either the University of Colombo or the Open University of Sri Lanka can enter this way. These Law graduates need not sit the entrance examination and they are also exempted from taking the first and second year examinations. They only need to take the final examination at the Law College.
(3) Admission of members of the legal profession of commonwealth countries
The Attorneys at Law course at the Law College is of 3 years duration except for the law graduates as above referred to. On passing the final examination students have to undergo an apprenticeship of six
months under a lawyer of at least 8 years standing and follow a practical training course
conducted by the Law College with the assistance of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka
and their senior members.

Law Entrance Examination

The CLE (Council of Legal Education) conducts an entrance examination each year for eligible persons, for selection of students to Law College. The examination consists of a written test of 2 hours duration, titled “Background to the Law.”
The syllabus for the test consists of:
(a) Nature of Law – role and function of law in society;
(b) Sources of Law – evolution of the Legal system of Sri Lanka;
(c) Constitution – a general knowledge of the main features of the
Constitution of the Democratic socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the powers and of the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary;
(d) Current Socio-legal Issues – including functions, training and skills required of a lawyer.
The Brochure, the Application Form and the Course Book may be obtained from the College on payment of the requisite fee during the times specified in the Press advertisement announcing the acceptance of applications for the Entrance Examination, which is usually published in March/April of each year.
The Law College does not offer any courses to prepare students for the Entrance Examination, but there are classes conducted by different private institutes.
General Information Address : 244 Hulftsdorp Street, Colombo 12 P.O. Box Address. P.O. Box 1501, Colombo
Telephone # 94-1-473119, 323759. Fax: 94-1-385847 E – mail : <locwal@slt.lk>
For details visit Law College Official web site