Université de Moncton Faculty of Law | |
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Established | 1978 |
School type | French-language common law school |
Dean | Dr Fernand de Varennes |
Location |
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada 46°6′19.1″N 64°46′55.6″W / 46.105306°N 64.782111°WCoordinates: 46°6′19.1″N 64°46′55.6″W / 46.105306°N 64.782111°W |
Website | www.umoncton.ca/umcm-droit |
Université de Moncton Faculty of Law is one of only two law schools in the world offering a common law legal education taught entirely in French, the other being the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law.
The Faculty was established in 1978 in order to respond to the needs of francophone communities in New Brunswick, and more broadly those outside Quebec. New Brunswick has a significant francophone minority (approximately 35% of the province speaks French as a first language), and it is the only constitutionally bilingual province in Canada, thus the province faced a unique need that was recognised by the creation of the school. Moreover, as Quebec follows the civil law tradition, francophones in common law jurisdictions were recognised as needing a legal education in order to defend their rights and to practice law in other parts of Canada.
The Honourable Michel Bastarache, former Puisne Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada, served as one of the first deans of the faculty.
The Faculty admits students on the basis of their GPA, extracurricular activities, interview, questionnaire, as well as letters of reference. As classes are conducted entirely in French, proficiency in French is required. Like other francophone law schools in Canada, the Université de Moncton does not require that its students take the LSAT, although it does consider the LSAT score if provided.
The Université de Moncton offers both the basic J.D. (formerly LL.B.) and the graduate LL.M. The faculty also offers joint degrees: the J.D.-MBA (Masters of Business), J.D.-MAP (Masters in Public Administration) and J.D.-MEE (Maitrise en études de l'environnement/Masters of Environmental Studies). In addition, students who already possess a civil law degree (an LL.L. or a B.C.L.) from a Canadian school can enroll at the Université de Moncton for two semesters to complete a J.D. Lastly, the Faculty offers a D.E.C.L. (Diplôme d'études en common law) for international students seeking an understanding of the common law tradition.