Magister Juris
Encyclopedia
Magister Juris is an academic degree
in law
awarded by some universities.
. It is a postgraduate degree requiring a previous undergraduate degree in law for admission, and is thus comparable to an LL.M. With the Bachelor of Civil Law
(BCL), it is normally seen as the most highly regarded taught masters-level in the common law world. Over more than a thousand of applicants, up to 45 students are normally admitted to the MJur each year.
Oxford's Magister Juris and BCL are the same degree except that students whose undergraduate law degree is from a common law
jurisdiction receive the BCL, whereas students from a civil law
background are awarded the Magister Juris, although BCL and the MJur students are drawn from the same pool of applicants and share the same classes.
The BCL and MJur are the only taught graduate courses in the world which make use of tutorials as a central part of their teaching (as well as the seminars and lectures more generally used on LLM and other masters courses). The tutorial is an intensive discussion between a tutor and typically two or three students, providing an opportunity for students to present their ideas and discuss their work with leading academics. It is this level of access to some of the best known teachers and researchers across a wide range of legal subjects which perhaps more than anything distinguishes the BCL and MJur from their LLM counterparts.
Teachers at the Magister Juris include legal philosophers Leslie Green
, John Gardner
, John Finnis
, private lawyers Stefan Vogenauer
, John Cartwright
, public lawyers Paul Craig
, Sandra Fredman
and Nicholas Bamforth
.
) in Law, which was administered by the ministry of justice of the respective state, not the university. More recently, however, some universities have begun to award their students a Magister Juris upon passing the First State Examination, in order to indicate the equivalence of the education to a master's degree in other disciplines. Examples include the universities of Cologne
and Constance
. Other German universities are awarding the Diplom-Jurist
to their law examinees, following the same principle.
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
awarded by some universities.
The Magister Juris at the University of Oxford
The Magister Juris is a one-year master's level course offered at the University of OxfordUniversity of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. It is a postgraduate degree requiring a previous undergraduate degree in law for admission, and is thus comparable to an LL.M. With the Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. Historically, it originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but many universities now offer the BCL as an undergraduate degree...
(BCL), it is normally seen as the most highly regarded taught masters-level in the common law world. Over more than a thousand of applicants, up to 45 students are normally admitted to the MJur each year.
Oxford's Magister Juris and BCL are the same degree except that students whose undergraduate law degree is from a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
jurisdiction receive the BCL, whereas students from a civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
background are awarded the Magister Juris, although BCL and the MJur students are drawn from the same pool of applicants and share the same classes.
The BCL and MJur are the only taught graduate courses in the world which make use of tutorials as a central part of their teaching (as well as the seminars and lectures more generally used on LLM and other masters courses). The tutorial is an intensive discussion between a tutor and typically two or three students, providing an opportunity for students to present their ideas and discuss their work with leading academics. It is this level of access to some of the best known teachers and researchers across a wide range of legal subjects which perhaps more than anything distinguishes the BCL and MJur from their LLM counterparts.
Teachers at the Magister Juris include legal philosophers Leslie Green
Leslie Green
Leslie William Green was an English architect known especially for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20th century....
, John Gardner
John Gardner
John Champlin Gardner, Jr. was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He is perhaps most noted for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view....
, John Finnis
John Finnis
John Finnis , is an Australian legal scholar and philosopher, specializing in the philosophy of law. He is Professor of Law at University College, Oxford and at the University of Notre Dame, teaching jurisprudence, political theory, and constitutional law...
, private lawyers Stefan Vogenauer
Stefan Vogenauer
-References:...
, John Cartwright
John Cartwright
John Cartwright may refer to:* Major John Cartwright , supporter of American independence and British political reform* John Robert Cartwright , Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada...
, public lawyers Paul Craig
Paul Craig
Paul Craig is currently Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St John's College. Craig is a specialist in Administrative and EU Law....
, Sandra Fredman
Sandra Fredman
Sandra Fredman FBA, is a Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.-Early life and education:...
and Nicholas Bamforth
Nicholas Bamforth
Nicholas Bamforth BCL, MA is a Fellow in Law at Queen's College, Oxford, and a lecturer in Lawat the University of Oxford since 1999. He had previously worked at UCLand Cambridge....
.
Germany
Historically, German law students did not receive any academic degree upon completion of their curriculum. Instead, after usually four or five years of study, students would sit their First State Examination (Erstes StaatsexamenStaatsexamen
The ' is a German government licensing examination that future doctors, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists and jurists have to pass to be allowed to work in their profession. The examination is generally organized by government examination agencies which are under the authority of the...
) in Law, which was administered by the ministry of justice of the respective state, not the university. More recently, however, some universities have begun to award their students a Magister Juris upon passing the First State Examination, in order to indicate the equivalence of the education to a master's degree in other disciplines. Examples include the universities of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Constance
Constance
Constance is a female given name that derives from Latin and means "constant." Variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, Constanze, Constanza, Stanzy, and Konstanze.Constance may refer to:-People:*Constance Bennett , American actress...
. Other German universities are awarding the Diplom-Jurist
Diplom-Jurist
- Background :Historically, German law students did not receive any academic degree upon completion of their curriculum. Instead, after usually four or five years of study, students would sit their First State Examination in Law, which was administered by the ministry of justice of the respective...
to their law examinees, following the same principle.