Legal education Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular j ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

is based on the constitution and the legal framework of Sri Lanka which is mainly based on

Roman-Dutch law Roman-Dutch law (Dutch: ''Rooms-Hollands recht'', Afrikaans: ''Romeins-Hollandse reg'') is an uncodified, scholarship-driven, and judge-made legal system based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. As such, it ...

. The modern legal education in Sri Lanka dates back to 1833 when the Supreme Court was allowed by Section 17 of the Charter of 1833, to "admit and enrol as

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

s and

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

s, persons of good repute and of competent knowledge and ability upon examination by one or more of the judges of the Supreme Court." In 1874, the

Colombo Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

was established to carry out formal legal education. At present in Sri Lanka to practice as a lawyer one needs to be enrolled as an

attorney at law Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Unite ...

of the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

. This is achieved by passing law exams at the

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

which are administered by the Council of Legal Education and spending a period of six months under a practicing attorney of at least eight years' standing. Prospective attorneys can register in the Sri Lanka Law College through an entrance exam and follow a three-year program of legal study undertaking exams on each legal subject at the end of the year. Graduates who have gain an

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from a local or foreign university, may gain admission in the Law College and undertake these exams without attending lectures at the Law College.

Law schools in Sri Lanka

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

, University of Colombo * Department of Law, Faculty of Arts,

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...

* Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka * Department of Law, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya *

, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

References

External links

{{World topic, Legal education in, title=

in the world, noredlinks=y