EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1979 No. 40

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

LEGAL PRACTITIONERS (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE (NO. 2) 1979

	The Ordinance amends the Legal Practitioners Ordinance to provide that the degree of Bachelor of Legal Studies from Macquarie University is added to the educational qualifications prescribed for admission as a barrister or solicitor of the A.C.T. Supreme Court in section 10 of the principal ordinance.  It also provides that a person who has become eligible for admission to that degree may receive the approval of the Admission Board to enter into articles of clerkship on the same basis as a person who is eligible for admission to the degree of Bachelor of Laws from an Australian university.

	The degree of Bachelor of Legal Studies at Macquarie University is similar in content and standard to the degree of Bachelor of Laws from that University but is the degree offered to external students.  Approximately 20% of those enrolled in the course leading to the degree are resident in the A.C.T.  The degree of Bachelor of Legal Studies from Macquarie University is an approved educational qualification for admission as a barrister or solicitor in New South Wales.  A holder of the degree once admitted to legal practice in New South Wales is automatically entitled to apply for admission as a barrister and solicitor in the A.C.T. under the provisions of section 11 of the principal ordinance.

	The amendment enables a holder of the degree of Bachelor of Legal Studies to apply for admission in the Territory without the necessity of first seeking admission in New South Wales.  The amendment is machinery in nature necessitated by the name given by the university to the degree to distinguish its holders as part-time external students.

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