Course details

Summary

Interested in law and the legal system? Gain an understanding of New Zealand’s legal framework in less than a year.

The Certificate in Legal Studies offers an introduction to law in New Zealand and includes papers from the Bachelor of Laws. It's ideal for students who aren’t quite ready to commit to a full law degree or who have an overseas law degree and need to complete CLE’s requirements to practise law in New Zealand.

To graduate with a Certificate in Legal Studies you must successfully complete 60 points from the Bachelor of Laws.

If you haven't studied law before

You complete the following papers:

LAWS501 Legal System (15 points - Semester 1)
LAWS504 Personal Property (15 points – Semester 2)
LAWS509 Legal Reasoning and Writing (30 points - full-year paper)

If you've previously studied law

If you need to complete papers required by the Council of Legal Education, you may complete Level 6 and Level 7 papers from the Bachelor of Laws.

Entry criteria

University Entrance (NCEA, CIE or IB) or equivalent

Preferred school subjects
Subjects that develop a very good standard of reading, oral and written English

English Language requirements:

Minimum IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 overall with all bands 5.5 or higher; TOEFL iBT score of 70; Computer-based: Total score of 133 with minimum essay writing of 3.5; PTE minimum overall score of 42.