Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Laws (
Latin:
Legum Doctor,
LL.D) is a
doctorate-level
academic degree in
law.
In the
United Kingdom,
Australia, and
New Zealand, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of exceptionally insightful and distinctive
publications that contain significant and original contributions to the study of law. Some universities, such as the
University of Oxford, award a
Doctor of Civil Law degree instead. In
Canada, LL.D and Doctor of Civil Law degrees are awarded as substitute of
Ph.D. in law. In South Africa, the LL.D. is awarded by many university law faculties as the highest degree in law, based upon research and completion of a Ph.D. equivalent dissertation. The LL.D. may also be awarded as an
honorary degree based upon a person's contributions to society.
At the
University of Malta[
1], the LL.D. is a second-entry, coursework-based
professional degree required for admission to the profession of
advocate in
Malta. A Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree is offered by the university but it is a pre-professional degree that serves a normal prerequisite for entry into the university's LL.D. program. LL.B. graduates from the university who do not wish to become advocates can, at the university, pursue studies to obtain a diploma of Notary Public (N.P.) for admission to the profession of
notary public in Malta, or pursue studies to obtain a diploma of Legal Procurator (L.P.) for admission to the profession of
legal procurator in Malta.
In the
United States, the LL.D. is almost always an
honorary degree. The
Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D. or J.S.D.), sometimes awarded as Doctor of the Science of Law, is the degree awarded for research in the form of a
dissertation, the equivalent to a Ph.D. in law.
Most people who pursue the SJD intend upon a career as a
law professor or other legal scholar, as the
Juris Doctor (JD) is the professional degree required for contemporary law practice in the United States and the SJD is not required for professional practice, but as a JD and usually an LLM are prerequisites, individuals aspiring to the SJD already possess the JD in some form. Moreover, lower graduate (not professional) degrees in law (e.g.,
LL.M.) exist for further study of specific areas of law, such as taxation of international relations. Therefore, most scholars who take the doctoral graduate degree intend study in a very specific field of law or to continue work beyond what research experience a
Master of Arts would provide. Legal scholars who intend to teach in the United States but who were educated elsewhere are attracted to the doctoral degree because many hold degrees that would be considered equal to the bachelor's rather than a master's or JD in the United States.
Plural abbreviations in
Latin are formed by doubling the letter, hence the double "L."
*
Juris Doctor (J.D.)
*
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
*
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)
*
Doctor of Canon LawIt must be noted that in Italy, Doctor of Law is the title, given to anybody who graduates from the university having finished a normal university degree studies. These can be compared to the British-system Bachelor of Laws degree.
