192 tal-1997

LN. 192 of 1997

[UUC AT ION ACT

(C Al'. 327)

M ugisler Juris - i\.1. J ur . • !)egree Course Regu lalions, 1997

IN eltercisc of the POWCri conferred upon hi m by sections 30(5)

and 3 1(6) of the Ed ucation Act (Cap. 327). the Chance llor of the

Universi ty of Mal ta has promulgated the fol1o .... ·in£ regulations made

by the Scn:llcof lhc Un iversity of Maim by " inue of tile powers conferred

upon it by sections 31 and 35 of tile said Act

Citation a nd interpretation

These regulations may be c ited as the Magiste r l uris.· M. l ur. · Degree

(I )

Co urse Regulati ons. 1997.

In these regulations. unless the conteltt otherwise requires-

(2)

"the Bo:mf' means the Board of the Faculty of Laws

"the Course" means the Course leading to the Degree of Magister Juris - M .

Jur.

"'the Degree" means the Degree of Magister l uris - M . Jur.

Applicability

TIlese regulations shall appl y to courses start ing in 1995 or later.

O igibility for the Degree

To be eligi ble for the award of the Degree, a student mus!

(a) be registered as a regular slUdent in tenns of the Admission Regulations

oflhe Un iversity

(b)

satisfy any q ualification req uireme nts for admission to the Co urse;

(c) complete the course of studies . qualify in the eltaminlltions and comply

with allY mlle r requirements as prescribed in these regu lat ions

(d ) comply with any other requirements prescribed in any other relevant

statutes and regul:llions of the Un i \ er.-ity.

Qualifications for Admission

(I) Candidates for admiss ion to the Course shall be in possession of one of

the following qualifications

the LL.D. degree;

(3)

a Bachelor's degree in Law with at least Category II;

(h)

(c)

a Bachelor's degree with at least Second Class Honours

(d) equivalent qualifications from this University or another University

recognised by Senate for the puriX'se.

(2) The admission of a candidate whose first degree is not the LL.D. may

be made conditional on the results of an interview and the Board may imiX'SC additional

requirements including the requirements to follow a preparatory programme of studies

and passing a qualifying examination prior to registration for the Course.

Registration

On admissio n to the Course, students shall be required to choose the area of

study they intend to fol low from the areas of study offered inlenns of paragraph (I) of

Reg ulation 7 and registe r for the appropriate number of credits for the area of study

chosen, as may be required in the catalogue published in teons of Regulation 7.

Course Duration

(I) The Course shall extend over twelve months offult·time study, provided

that the student may choose. with the permission of the Faculty Board, to study for the

Degree on a part-time basis, in which event the course of studies shall last for twenty-

four months of part-time study.

A student shall submit his dissertation not later than three months after the

(2)

taking of the Examinations referred to in Regulation 8. Part-time students shall submit

their dissertation not later than three months after the Examinations in the second year

of their Course.

Course of Studies

(I) The Course shall be offered in those areas of study related to Law as

detennined by the Board.

(2) In order IOcompletc the Course students must obtain not less than e ight

credits of which at least three-quarters (usually six) must be in the area of a study

chosen, with the option of taking the remaining number of credits from another approved

area of study. and be approved in the dissertation related to the area of study followed.

(3) A cataloguc of study-units for each area of study shall be published

before the commencement of the Course. The catalogue for each area of st udy shall

indicate the credits ass igncd to each study-u nit and the number of credits required to

satisfy paragraph (2) of this regulation.

Notwithstanding the provisions of parugr<lph (2) of this reg ul ation, in

(4)

exceptional cases the Board may, before the co mme ncement of the Course, decide to

allow a student to obtain the Degree by dissertation only. In such instances , students

nmy be TCquired by the Board to register for study-units relevant!O the proposed area

of research. In such cases the dissertation shall be of not more than 50,000 words in

length.

Assessment and "~J(a min ation s

( I) Dur ing their Course, students shall be sct coursework which shall be

assessed. They shall also be required to pass end-of-year written examinations.

(2) Credits for each study-unit shall be assigned according to the grades A,

B , C, D.or F. in descending order of merit. F indicating Fail. The coursework assessment

shall accou nt for 40% of the weight ing for the award of the grade and the writte n

exalliinations shall account for the remaining 60%.

A student who fails in the written exami nations in one or more areas of

(3)

study wi th a mark of not less than forty per cent (40%) of the marks allotted 10 the

examination in 1hat area of study shall be allowed to resit that examination once only.

In such cases the maximum grade that can be awarded is grade D.

A student who fails to obtain a minimum of five credits at the first

(4)

si tting shall be considered 10 have definitely failed. A st udent failing in an examination

with a mark below 40%, or failing any resit . shall be considered to have definitely

fa iled, unless the Faculty Board . in exceptional circumstances, decides to review the

case.

Dissertation

(I)

The dissertation is a compulsory element in the Course .

(2) The dissertation shall be of not more than 25,000 I',ords in length on a

subject proposed by the student and approved by the Faculty Board. It should provide

evidence of independent research and constitute an original contribution to the subject.

The student shall present a written proposal for a dissertation topic not

(3)

Inter Ihan six months from the beginning of the Course referred to in Regul3tion 6.

Part-time sfUdellls shall present their proposal not late r than si~ mOlllhs from the

beginning of the second year of the Course.

(4) On approval of the dissenation proposal, the studenl shall be assigned

a supervisor who shall be appoinled by the Board.

The dissertation shall be submi ned not later than the end of the period

(5)

referred to in paragraph (2) of Regulation 6.

The Board may in its discretion grant a student an extension of the

(6)

submission date referred to in panlgraph (5) of this regulation up to a maximum of

three months.

(7) The dissertation shall be examined by a Board of Examiner,; appointed

by Senate on the recommendation of the Board.

The student shall submit eight copies of the dissertation and declare in

(8)

writing that the dissertation is his own work and confonns to the requirements slatcd

in paragraph (2) of this regulation.

The Board of Examiner,; shall be convened by its Chainnan to discuss

(9)

the dissenation. A student may also be required to take a viva VQce examination in

defence of his dissertation.

(10) The Board of Examiners may approve the dissertat ion. It may require

the student to make corrections or to completely rewrite the dissenation within a stated

time limit or may reject the dissertation altogether.

(11) A student whose dissenation is rejected or whose corrections or

rewriting are considered inadcquate or who has not submitted his dissertation within

the required time limit, shall not be awarded thc Degree.

Classification and Award of the Degree

(I) The award shall be classified as a Pass with Distinction, or Pass,

depending on the overall results obtained. Forclassification purposes, the perfonnance

of the student in the study-units shall account for 70% of the final we ighting for the

classification of the Degree. while the performance of the student ill the dissenation

shall accoUII! for the remaining 30%.

(2) The names of successful students shall be published on the notice-board

of the University. in alphabetical order, and in the order of the classification awarded.

(3) The cenificate of the award of the Degree shall indicate the area of

study in which the Degree was obtained.

Tr:ms ilory I'ro\'ision

II . T he Regulati ons for the Degree of M~gister Juri s (Intemmional Law) and

MagiSlcr Juris (Eu ro~an and Compar3li\"c Law) shall be deemed to cease 10 be in

fOKe as fro m the 30th Se ptember, 1996 .

Provided that sludent s registered for these co urses before the l SI October 1995

shall continuc to be go\'cmcd by the RcguJatiOfis Ihm were in force m the time ofthci r

joining the course.

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