MJur (Magister Juris or Master of Jurisprudence; common abbreviations include MJur, M.Jur., Mag. Jur. and Mag. iur.) is an
academic degree
An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...
in
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
awarded by some universities.
Magister Juris at the University of Oxford
The Magister Juris (MJur) is a one-year master's level course offered at the
Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
The University of Oxford Faculty of Law is the law school of the University of Oxford. It has a history of over 800 years in the teaching and learning of law. Oxford's law school is currently ranked fourth in the world in the 2023Times Higher ...
. It is a postgraduate degree requiring a previous first-class undergraduate degree with honours in law for admission, and is comparable to an
LL.M. It is a counterpart to the long-established
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Camb ...
(BCL) offered at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, which is claimed to be "the most highly regarded taught masters-level qualification in the common law world", but for students from a
civil law rather than a
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
background.
The content and structure of the MJur is practically the same as the BCL, and for the most part, BCL and MJur students study the same options in the same classes. Students select four options from a list of 40 or so available in common to BCL and MJur students. In place of one of the four taught options, students may also choose to write a dissertation of 10,000 to 12,500 words. Alternatively, MJur students only may select one option from a list of approximately 12 courses from the undergraduate BA in Jurisprudence. All taught options are taught by a combination of lectures and/or seminars and tutorials. Tutorials, which involve an intensive discussion between a tutor and two or three students, are a feature of the MJur and BCL programmes which is not offered in any taught graduate course in law elsewhere in the world.
Academic dress for the MJur is the same as for the BCL, an outward sign of their shared content and structure: A black gown of silk with a form of black lace sewn on the collar, the lower part of the back, and down the sleeves which are closed and cut straight, but have an opening just above the elbow. The hood, of Dean Burgon shape, is of blue corded silk or poplin with white fur fabric. Holders of the MJur degree rank directly below Bachelors of Civil Law, and above Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery.
Admission to the MJur is slightly more competitive than to the BCL: According to data disclosed by the University of Oxford, for 50 places available each year, 376 people applied on average in the three years before the academic year 2019/20, which equals an average application success rate of 13.2%. The success rate for BCL applications in the same period was 15.1%.
Historically, students from civil law jurisdictions were able to study for the BCL at Oxford, but had to meet additional requirements. Following the establishment of the Institute for European and Comparative Law at Oxford, in 1992 the faculty of law introduced a one-year degree programme of ''Magister Juris in European and Comparative Law'', and in 1999/2000 closed the BCL to students from civil law jurisdictions. The Magister Juris at that time allowed to choose a number of undergraduate options, as well as an option in the history faculty. As the MJur and BCL programmes became more similar, the qualifier ''in European and Comparative Law'' was dropped in 2001.
Master of Jurisprudence at the universities of Durham and Birmingham
Whereas the Oxford MJur is a taught degree, the MJur programmes offered by
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
are ''research'' degrees. It is awarded on the basis of a candidate's thesis (usually 40,000 words) in an approved area of law, under the supervision of an academic staff. The MJur must demonstrate an advanced understanding of the subject but – in contrast to a PhD – need not constitute an original contribution to knowledge nor reach a standard worthy of publication. Unlike LLM or Oxford's MJur dissertations, MJur degrees at Durham and Birmingham are examined by appointed internal and external examiners, for which a report is prepared. A
viva voce
''Viva voce'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice" but most often translated as "by word of mouth."
It may refer to:
*Word of mouth
*A voice vote in a deliberative assembly
*An oral exam
**Thesis defence, in academia
*Spoken evi ...
, an essential component of PhDs at British universities, is unusual for MJur degrees.
Ireland
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...
offers the Masters in Common Law (MCL/ ''Magisterii in Jure Communi, M.Jur.Com)'', an advanced two-year programme for non-law graduates. The degree is a qualifying law degree for admittance to the entrance exams of the
Honorable Society of King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...
.
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 sit their First State Examination (''Erstes
Staatsexamen
The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, public ...
'') in Law, which is 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 ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
,
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
.
Other German universities are awarding a
Diplom-Jurist {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
Diplom-Jurist (Dipl.-Jur.) is a master's-level law degree awarded by some German universities.
Background
Historically, German law students did not receive any academic degree upon completion ...
degree to their law examinees, following the same principle.
Austria
Austrian law students are usually awarded a "Mag. iur." after completion of a four-year curriculum. On average it takes students 13.6 semesters to complete the curriculum. Despite the Bologna process Law is one of the studies that still stick to the traditional Austrian system without a bachelor's and master's degree. However, in addition to traditional law studies, there are also special study programmes such as business law, which could be completed with academic degrees like LL.B. (bachelor's degree) or further with a LL.M. (master's degree).
Italy
After the Bologna process, the former ''Laurea in Giurisprudenza'' had been replaced by a first level degree, ''Laurea in Scienze Giuridiche'' (three years), and a second level degree, ''Laurea Specialistica in Giurisprudenza'' (two further years). This system changed in 2006: at present the ''Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza'' (i.e., Magister Juris) is the law degree in Italy. It is a five-year, second level (
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. ) degree which does not require a previous bachelor's degree for the admission (''
Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico'', i.e. integrated master's degree).
See also
*
Master of Laws
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
*
Master of Studies in Law
A Master of Studies in Law (M.S.L.), also Master of Science of Law or Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) or Juris Master (J.M.) or Masters of Jurisprudence (M.J.) or Master in Law (M.L.), is a master's degree offered by some law schools to students ...
*
Master of Jurisprudence Master of Jurisprudence is sometimes used as an alternative name for both Master of Laws and Master of Juridical Science.
Offered within United States law schools, students of a Master of Jurisprudence (abbreviated as M.J. and/or M.Jur.), curriculu ...
References
{{Reflist
Law degrees
Master's degrees