Message from the Principal
Welcome to the Norman Manley Law School's Website.
The Norman Manley Law School is one of three Law Schools administered under the auspices of the Council of Legal Education in the Caribbean. Established over 35 years ago, the Norman Manley Law School has played a pivotal role in the education and training of generations of lawyers, some of whom have risen to positions of high prominence in the judiciary, and at the public and private bars in the Caribbean and beyond.
For the majority of persons, the programme of study at the Law School involves the pursuit of expertise in eleven compulsory courses, work at the Legal Aid Clinic of the Law School, court attendance, and participation in in-service training at legal chambers within the Caribbean. This course of study normally begins in September of each year, and lasts for two years. Its ultimate objective is to equip graduates with the intellectual and technical skills and knowledge that they will need to be successful practitioners in diverse areas of law in the Caribbean.
Most students in the two-year programme of study have traditionally entered the Norman Manley Law School as direct entrants from the Faculty of Law, of the University of the West Indies, direct entry being provided for in the treaty setting out the core arrangements concerning the work of the Council of Legal Education. An increasing number of students now enter the Norman Manley Law School through the Entrance Examination of the Council of Legal Education. Students need to have LL.B degrees from approved universities in order to be eligible to take the Entrance Examination.
The Law School also offers a six-month programme of study for persons who have already fully qualified to practice at the bar in a common law jurisdiction outside the Commonwealth Caribbean. Students in the Six-Month Programme are normally required to take the courses, Criminal Practice and Procedure, Civil Practice and Procedure, Caribbean Constitutional Law, Law and Legal Systems, and Law Office Management, Accounts and Technology. Persons who qualify to pursue the Six-Month Programme are not required to take an entrance examination.
Details on various aspects of the Law School's offerings are to be found on this website. You may also find information about members of staff, and about recent activities at the Law School (set out in the School's newsletter, The Writ). You may also download application materials.
I hope the Norman Manley Law School will provide a stimulating and challenging environment for the development of your legal skills and your knowledge of the Caribbean.
With best wishes,
Stephen Vasciannie
