Brazil[edit]
The Order of Attorneys of Brazil (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil), the Brazilian bar association, administers a bar examination nationwide two to three times a year (usually in January, March and September). The exam is divided in two stages – the first consists of 80 multiple choice questions covering all disciplines (Ethics, Human Rights, Philosophy of Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Civil Law, Consumer Law, Civil Procedure Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, Labour Law and Labour Procedure Law). The candidate must score at least 40 questions correctly to proceed to the second part of the exam, four essay questions and a drafting project (motion, opinion or claim document) in Civil Law (including Consumer Law), Labour Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Corporate Law or Tax Law, and their respective procedures.[9] The Bar examination can be taken on the graduation year. Success in the examination allows one to practice in any court or jurisdiction of the country.[10]
Canada[edit]
In Canada, admission to the bar is a matter of provincial or territorial jurisdiction. All provinces, except for Québec, follow a common law tradition.[11] Lawyers in every common law province are qualified as both barristers and solicitors, and must pass a Barristers' Examination and Solicitors' Examination administered by the Law Society that governs the legal profession in their respective province or territory. The common law provinces all require prospective lawyers to complete a term of articles (usually 10 months) after graduation from law school during which they work under the supervision of a qualified lawyer. The bar exams may be taken after graduation from law school, but before the commencement of articling, or may be taken during or after articling is completed. Once the barristers' and solicitors' exams have been passed and the term of articles is successfully completed, students may then be called to the bar and admitted to the legal profession as lawyers (barristers and solicitors).[12]
England and Wales[edit]
Since the UK has a separated legal profession, Law graduates in England and Wales can take examinations to qualify as a barrister or a solicitor by either undertaking the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) or the Legal Practice Course (LPC) respectively.[13] These courses are the vocational part of the training required under the rules of the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors Regulation Authority and are either undertaken on a full-time basis for one year or on a part-time basis over two years.[14][15] After successfully completing these courses, which generally include various examinations and practical ability tests, graduates must secure either a training contract (for those who have completed the LPC) or a pupillage (for those who have completed the BPTC). These are akin to articling positions in other jurisdictions and are the final practical stage before being granted full admission to practice. The general timescale therefore to become fully qualified after entering Law School can range between 6–7 years (assuming no repeats are required).
However, some controversy remains about the lack of training contracts and pupillages available to graduates even after having completed the LPC/BPTC. These courses can vary in cost anywhere from £9,000 to £17,000 and are generally undertaken by students on a private basis making them incur additional costs. The final debt in student fees alone after having completed the academic and vocational training can range between £20,000-£25,000. This is set to increase to £40,000-£50,000 for students entering law school.
The Solicitor Qualifying Examination (also known as the SQE exam or "super exam") is the common or single route to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. Replacing the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme in September 2021, this us the only English and Welsh bar examination for solicitors.
France[edit]
In France, Law graduates must obtain a vocational degree called certificat d'aptitude à la profession d'avocat (or CAPA in everyday speech) in order to practice independently. The most common way to achieve the CAPA is by training in an école d'avocats (Lawyer's School). This training includes academical and vocational courses and mandatory internships in law firms. Entrance to Lawyer's School is obtained by competitive examination.
Germany[edit]
To become a lawyer in Germany, one has to study law at university for four or five years. Then, one has to pass the First Examination in Law (Erste Juristische Prüfung), which is administered in parts by the Oberlandesgericht (Higher State Court) of the respective state and in parts by the university the person attends; the state part accounts for two thirds of the final grade, the university part for one third. The First Examination is recognised as equivalent to an integrated Master's degree. However, it only provides a limited qualification and does not itself permit access to regulated careers in the legal field without further training.
After the First Examination in Law, candidates that wish to fully qualify must participate in a two-year practical training period (Referendariat) including placements at a court of law, a public prosecutor's office, a public sector in-house legal team and a law firm (private practice) or private sector in-house legal team. At the end of this training, candidates must take and pass the Second State Examination in Law (Zweites Staatsexamen).
Successful candidates of the Second Examination are called fully qualified lawyer (Volljurist). They may join the bar as an attorney, to become judges and to become state attorneys (public prosecutors). There are some other legal or legal-adjacent careers which require additional or different training (namely public notaries and patent lawyers).
Ghana[edit]
To become a lawyer in Ghana, one has to study law at any university that offers the Bachelor of Laws degree. After completing the four year law degree, graduates can apply to be enrolled at the Ghana School of Law. Following two years of professional training, successful students can take their bar examination. Upon passing the bar examination, an induction and calling to the bar ceremony is held for all graduating students.
Ireland[edit]
The bar exams in Ireland are the preserve of the Honorable Society of King's Inns, which runs a series of fourteen exams over ten weeks, from March to June each year, for those enrolled as students in its one-year Barrister-at-Law degree course. These exams cover such skills as advocacy, research and opinion writing, consulting with clients, negotiation, drafting of legal documents and knowledge of civil and criminal procedure. For those who fail to meet the requisite 50% pass mark, repeats are held in the following August and September.
Israel[edit]
Israel requires candidates, who had completed their law degree overseas, to hold an Israeli citizenship or permanent residency, and a law degree from an educational institution recognized by the law faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, before being eligible to take the examinations for admittance to the Israel Bar Association. The candidate must pass a battery of examinations for admittance. There is an initial series of examinations in eight separate areas of law: obligations and labor law, property law, family and succession law, criminal law and procedure, civil procedure and professional ethics, constitutional and administration law, commercial law on corporations, partnerships, and other associations, and commercial law on bankruptcy, liquidations, bills, exchange, and tax law. After passing these exams, candidates must serve as an articled clerk for one year, after which they must pass the final examinations, which deal with court procedure, procedure for registering land rights in real estate, procedure for registering corporations, partnerships, and liquidations, interpretation of laws and judicial documents, professional ethics, evidence, and recent changes in case law and legislation. The final examinations consist of a written examination followed by an oral examination in front of three judges.[21]
Iran[edit]
The Bar Exam in Iran is administered by two different and completely separate bodies. One is the Bar Association of every province—all of which are under the auspices of the country's syndicate of the bars of the country. The other one is administered by the Judicial System of Iran subject to article 187 of the country's economic, social and cultural development plan.
To receive the license to practice as a "First Degree Attorney" in Iran, an applicant should complete a bachelor of law program. The official career path starts after passing the Bar Exam and receiving the title of "Trainee at Law". The exam is highly competitive and only a certain number of top applicants are admitted annually.
After admission to the bar, an 18-month apprenticeship begins which is highly regulated under the auspices of Bar Syndicate Rules and supervision of an assigned First Degree Attorney. Trainees or apprentices must attend designated courts for designated weeks to hear cases and write case summaries. A logbook signed by the judge on the bench has to certify their weekly attendance. By the end of the eighteenth month, they are eligible to apply to take the Final Bar Exam by submitting their case summaries, the logbook and a research work pre-approved by the Bar. It is noteworthy, however, that during these 18 months, Trainees are eligible to have a limited practice of law under the supervision of their supervising Attorney. This practice does not include Supreme Court eligible cases and certain criminal and civil cases.
Candidates will be tested on Civil law, Civil Procedure, Criminal law, Criminal Procedure, Commercial Law, Notary (including rules pertaining Official Documents, Land & Real Estate registrations and regulations etc.). Each exam takes two days, a day on oral examination in front of a judge or an attorney, and a day of essay examination, in which they will be tested on hypothetical cases submitted to them. Successful applicants will be honoured with the title of "First Degree Attorney", after they take the oath and can practice in all courts of the country including the Supreme Court. Those who fail must redo the program in full or in part before re-taking the Final Bar Exam.
Italy[edit]
In Italy, the Bar Examination is called "abilitazione all'esercizio della professione forense". To sit for an exam, the candidate needs a 5-year university degree in jurisprudence and 18 months of legal apprenticeship at a law firm with at least 20 court hearings per semester. The State Bar Exam is composed of two parts: a written exam and an oral exam. The written exam is composed of three written tests over three seven-hour days. The candidate writes two legal briefs, respectively on contracts and torts (and more generally about civil law), and criminal law, and a third court brief on civil, crime, or administrative law. The candidates who pass the written tests (the pass rates vary from 30% to 50% according to jurisdiction) can sit at an oral exam before a panel of judges, lawyers, and law professors, who interview for about an hour the candidates on six areas of law.[22] Italian lawyers may represent their clients on any Italian criminal, civil, or administrative court, except the Supreme Court of Cassation for which an additional exam after several years of law practice is required.
Japan[edit]
The bar exams in Japan yield the fewest successful candidates worldwide. The old format of the examinations, last held in 2010 saw only 6% passing the exam. With the new format of examinations—even after extensive reforms and a new mandatory duration of graduate school education for a period of two years—the pass rate is only 22%. Since 2014, candidates are allowed to take the examinations within five years before their right to take the exam is revoked and they either have to return to law school, take the preparatory exam or give up totally. It is administered solely by the Ministry of Justice.
Philippines[edit]
The Philippine Bar Examination is administered once every year on the four Sundays of November (September before 2011).[23] It covers eight areas of law: political law, labor law and social legislation, criminal law, civil law, commercial law, taxation law, remedial law, and legal ethics and practical exercises.
Poland[edit]
In Poland, the bar examination is taken after graduating from a law faculty at a university.[24] It allows a person to undertake practice, the duration of which varies depending on the specialization. After the practical period applicants must pass the exam held by the Professional Chambers with assistance from some members of the Ministry of Justice.
South Korea[edit]
Due to the colonial-era influence, South Korea's bar exam system closely follows that of Japan's.[36] First introduced in 1963,[37] South Korea is phasing out in 2017 its old system that allows anyone to take the exam and undergo mandatory 2-year state-sponsored training that is criticized for generating "고시낭인" or "exam jobless" referring to people who spend many years of their lives preparing for the exam.[38] The new law school system that began in 2009 allows only the graduates of a law school to apply for the bar exam.[39]
In Spain the examination to access the legal profession and legal practice is called State Examination for Access to the Legal Profession.
The evaluation test has a total duration of 4 hours and consists of: