Overview

The J.D. programme is a full-time 3-year programme, comprising 22 courses totaling 25 course units ( Each course carries one course unit unless stated otherwise). The curriculum was formulated by legal academics and practitioners after extensive discussions, and endorsed by Singapore Institute of Legal Education and Ministry of Law. The academic year begins in mid-August and follows the same academic calendar/grading scheme as the LL.B programme. The programme may be accelerated in some cases for completion within 2 to 2.5 years subject to the approval of the J.D. Committee, which will take into consideration their first term's exam grades.

Teaching Approach
The J.D. programme bears the SMU's distinctives of holistic learning, active seminar-style pedagogy and international and practical exposure, amongst others. Students engage in a substantial amount of pre-class preparatory reading and thinking, and they participate actively in class discussion. Our experience is that the interactive / participative learning environment at the School of Law helps develop confidence and analytical and presentation skills -attributes which are essential for excelling in the legal and corporate world. Classes are deliberately kept small and a multi-faceted approach to course assessment is adopted. This includes class participation, term assignments and oral and written presentations. The end of term written examination (usually open book) typically accounts for a maximum of 50% of the final grade in a course. A significant amount of time is devoted to group presentations. A distinctive feature of the J.D. programme is that lawyers from practice, government and the judiciary will be invited to participate in classroom teaching. This will provide our students with the opportunity to integrate practical expertise with theory and doctrine.

Award of the Juris Doctor (J.D.) Degree

The J.D. programme is a meritorious honours programme. On successful completion, students will be awarded the degree accordingly, depending on their overall performance: J.D. (merit), J.D. (high merit), J.D. cum laude (with distinction), J.D. magna cum laude (with high distinction) or J.D. summa cum laude (with highest distinction). Students will qualify for legal practice in Singapore (admitted as Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore) if they attain a GPA of at least 3.00 in the courses leading to the J.D. degree, and have completed the five-months Practical Law Course and at least a six-month Training Contract with a law firm. Students graduating from SMU in December are allowed to serve their practice training period before passing Part B. This is on the account that the graduand is able to complete the practice training period before attending any part of the preparatory course leading to Part B of the Bar Examinations (Rule 16(2)(c)); or where his or her practice training period (or part thereof) is served through working as a Legal Service Officer or under the supervision of a qualifying relevant legal officer (Rule 16(2)(d) read together with Rule 17(2)). Under Rule 24 of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011, all graduates who are qualified persons are required to obtain approval from the Singapore Institute of Legal Education before commencing the practice training period.