University of Transnational Business Law

University of Transnational Business Law is the first and only fully online Transnational Business Law School in the world.
Transnational law regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers.
It involves individuals, corporations, states, or other groups—not just the official relations between governments of states.
An almost infinite variety of transnational situations might arise, but there are rules or law bearing upon each.
Transnational Business Law covers the full spectrum of complex legal issues pertaining to International trade and Global Business between soverign countries.

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There is no one world standard to teaching law, testing law students, Bar exams, or Practicing law. We are setting that standard.
The University of Transnational Business Law provides the most comprehensive legal studies to anyone anywhere.

Not all Students wish to persue a career in Law, there are many opportunities that do not require a law degree or Bar exam. A few examples are:

1. International Accountant

If you found accounting interesting during your business classes, you can pursue a career as an international accountant. This career usually involves obtaining an MBA in accounting in addition to your bachelors of international business. This position is very important as standard GAAP doesn’t apply in every country. The company will need your expertise in knowing the various tax laws and currency exchanges as well as how to read and create financial statements for other countries’ laws and specifications

2. Import/Export Compliance Specialist (Or Customs Compliance)

This job is found in both the federal government and private sector. You could also be an independent contractor and work for several companies. A compliance specialist maintains the compliance of imports and exports within regulatory law, both domestic and international. In addition, you would need to make changes as needed to stay within the regulatory laws. The most lucrative jobs are found within the federal government.

3. International Economist

Economists study the market, they analyze, examine trends, and make projections. An international economist does this on an international level and not just domestically. Companies in the international market or those looking to enter it will use an international economist to watch the trends, examine economies, and make projections about the places they are interested in doing business with or continuing. This is not an entry-level position but you can work your way up to one from starting in finance or marketing within that organization.

4. Management Analyst

Also called a management consultant, these jobs are found everywhere domestically. They analyze company operations to look at efficiencies, examine profit margins, and study the company structure. With an international business degree, you can go beyond the domestic side and examine how the international segments of the company can be improved. This position often involves significant travel or living abroad as you will have to personally examine the segment of the company in order to analyze its function.

5. International Banking

For degree holders who have an interest in banking, you have some choices with an international business degree. You could work at a local bank with foreign accounts or at a foreign-owned bank that does business in your country.

After you complete your degree, you will have several different options on where you want to go in your career, from finance to banking to consulting. While many of these jobs need advanced degrees or specialization, they are still obtainable and lucrative.


Bar examinations

Brazil

The Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (Order of Lawyers of Brazil), the Brazilian Bar association, administers a bar examination nationwide two to three times a year (usually in January, March and September). The exam is divided in two stages – the first consists of 80 multiple choice questions covering all disciplines. The candidate must score at least 40 questions correctly to proceed to the second part of the exam, four essay questions and a drafting project (motion, opinion or claim document) in Civil Law, Labour Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law or Tax Law, and their respective procedures. The Bar examination can be taken on the graduation year. Success in the examination allows one to practice in any court or jurisdiction of the country.

England and Wales

Since the UK has a separated legal profession, Law graduates in England and Wales can take examinations to qualify as a Barrister or a Solicitor by either undertaking the BPTC or the LPC respectively. These courses are the vocational part of the training required under the Bar Association and The Law Society rules and are undertaken on a full-time basis for one year. After successfully completing these courses, which generally include various examinations and practical ability tests, graduates must secure either a Training Contract (for those who have completed the LPC) or a Pupillage (for those who have completed the BPTC). These are akin to Articling positions in other jurisdictions and are the final Practical stage before being granted full admission to practice. The general timescale therefore to become fully qualified after entering Law School can range between 6–7 years (assuming no repeats are required).

However some controversy remains about the lack of Training Contracts and Pupillages available to graduates even after having completed the LPC/BPTC. These courses can vary in cost anywhere from £9,000 to £17,000 and are generally undertaken by students on a private basis making them incur additional costs. The final debt in student fees alone after having completed the academic and vocational training can range between £20,000-£25,000. This is set to increase to £40,000-£50,000 for students entering law school in the years 2012 due to the increased tuition fees for Law School itself.

France

In France, Law graduates must obtain a vocational degree called certificat d'aptitude à la profession d'avocat (or CAPA in everyday talk) in order to practice independently. The most common way to achieve the CAPA is by training in an école d'avocats (Lawyer's School). This training includes academical and vocational courses and mandatory internships in law firms. Entrance to Lawyer's School is obtained by competitive examination.

Hungary

In Hungary, the Bar Examination is called "Jogi Szakvizsga", can be translated as "Legal Profession Examination". This exam is composed of three parts:

   Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Law of Criminal Enforcement
   Civil Law, Civil Procedural Law and Business Law
   Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Labor Law, Social Security Law and Law of the European Union.

After passing these exams the candidate can practice law as an attorney-at-law /barrister or as a secretary/judge at the court or as a prosecutor at the public prosecutor's office or in-house legal counsel or may operate individually at any field of law.

Ireland

The bar exams in Ireland are the preserve of the Honorable Society of King's Inns, which runs a series of fourteen exams over ten weeks, from March to June each year, for those enrolled as students in its one-year Barrister-at-Law degree course. These exams cover such skills as advocacy, research and opinion writing, consulting with clients, negotiation, drafting of legal documents and knowledge of civil and criminal procedure. For those who fail to meet the requisite 50% pass mark, repeats are held in the following August and September.

Japan

The bar exams in Japan yield the least number of successful candidates worldwide. The old format of the examinations, last held in 2010 saw only 6% passing the exam. The new format, even after extensive reforms and a new mandatory duration of graduate school education of two years is 24%. Since 2014, candidates are allowed to take the examinations in five years before their right to the exam is revoked and they either have to return to law school, take the preparatory exam or give up totally. It is administered solely by the Ministry of Justice.

Malaysia

The Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) is a 9-month long post-graduate course and examination taken by foreign law graduates and graduates of Bachelor of Jurisprudence (Hons)/B.Juris (Hons) from University of Malaya and Bachelor of Legal Studies (Hons)/BLS (Hons) from Universiti Teknologi MARA, in order to become a qualified lawyer in Malaysia.

The examination is conducted by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board of Malaysia and is governed by the Legal Profession Act 1976. The Board allows degree holders from shortlisted universities in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand to sit for the examination.

Like all law graduates, CLP graduates must proceed to read in chambers or better known as chambering, which is a form of apprenticeship similar to a pupillage in England. After completing nine (9) months of chambering, the student may finally be called to the bar and become a qualified lawyer.

Philippines

The Philippine Bar Examination is administered once every year on the four Sundays of November (September before 2011). It covers eight areas of law: political law, labor law and social legislation, criminal law, civil law, commercial law, taxation law, remedial law, and legal ethics and practical exercises.

Poland

In Poland, the bar examination is taken after graduating from a law faculty at a university. It allows a person to undertake practise,[clarification needed] duration of which varies depending on the specialisation. After the practical period applicants pass the exam held by the Professional Chambers with some members of the Ministry of Justice assistance.

South Africa

In South Africa, the LL.B. is the universal legal qualification for admission and enrollment as an Advocate or Attorney; see split profession. Since 1998, LL.B. programmes may be entered directly at the undergraduate level; at the same time, the LL.B. continues to be offered postgraduate and may then be accelerated dependent on the bachelor's degree. The programme lasts between two and four years correspondingly (compare Australia, above). See Bachelor of Laws #South Africa.

Although not formally required for specialised practice, further training, e.g. in tax, is usually via postgraduate diplomas or focused, coursework-based LL.M. programmes.[13] Research degrees are the LL.M. and LL.D., or PhD depending on university. The Master’s dissertation reflects an ability to conduct independent research, whereas the Doctoral thesis will, in addition, constitute an original contribution to the field of law in question. A doctorate, generally, is required for positions in legal academia. See Master of Laws #South Africa; Doctor of law #South Africa.

Historically, the B.Proc. and B.Juris were the legal degrees offered at the undergraduate level. The four-year BProc qualified one to practice as an attorney, or become a prosecutor or magistrate in the lower courts, but did not allow for admission as an advocate. The three-year B.Juris was the basic requirement for prosecutors and magistrates in the lower courts, but on its own, did not qualify one to practice as an attorney. Both offered admission to the LLB.

For admission as an attorney, one serves "articles" as a candidate attorney with a practicing attorney for two years, and then writes a "board exam" set by the relevant provincial Law Society. See Attorneys in South Africa. The length of articles may be reduced by attending a practical legal training course or performing community service.

Attorneys may additionally qualify as Notaries and Conveyancers, via the Conveyancing and Notarial Practice Examinations; those with technical or scientific training may further qualify as patent attorneys – see Patent attorney# South Africa.

The requirements to enter private practice as advocates (Junior Counsel) are to become members of a Bar Association by undergoing a period of training (pupilage) for one year with a practicing Advocate, and to sit an admission examination. On the recommendation of the Bar Councils, an advocate "of proven experience and skill" with at least ten years experience, may be appointed by the President of South Africa as a Senior Counsel (SC; also referred to as a "silk"). See Advocates in South Africa.

The Act regulating admission to practice law ("The Qualifications of Legal Practitioners Amendment Act of 1997") is being revised.

Thailand

In Thailand, the bar examination is different from the lawyer licence. To practice law as a lawyer, i.e. to speak in the court, one must pass a lawyer licence examination and does not need to be called to the bar. People take the bar examination to be qualified to take a judge or a public prosecutor examination.

To be called to the bar, one must pass the written exams consisting of four parts as follows.

   Civil and commercial law, intellectual property law, and international trade law.
   Criminal law, employment law, constitution law, administrative law, and tax law.
   Civil procedure law, bankruptcy and business reorganization law, and the system of the court of justice. And
   Criminal procedure law, human rights, and law on the evidence.

Each part has 10 essay questions. The pass mark is 50. The parts 1-2 are usually taken in October and the rest are usually taken in March. One does not need to pass all four parts in one year. After passing all the written exams, there is an oral exam.

Around 10,000 bar students sit the exam each year. In 2013, 1,231 students are called to the bar, 111 of which did it in only one year.

Quite confusingly with international norms, students called to the bar are referred to as netibandit (เนติบัณฑิต), which gets translated into English as Barrister-at-Law. The Thai legal profession, however, is a fused one and those with a lawyers license are able to function both as barristers and solicitors in the British/Commonwealth sense. Many students called to the bar choose to become judges or public prosecutors instead of lawyers. As the Thai bar examination (administered and awarded by the Thai Bar Association) is separate from the lawyers licensing scheme (administered and awarded by the Lawyers Council of Thailand), this means that judges and public prosecutors belong to a separate licensing organization from lawyers. This is unlike in the US where judges and prosecutors most often come from the ranks of senior lawyers and belong to the same bar.


United States of America

A small minority of the thousands of people who take state bar exams each year to practice law don't have a law degree and haven't even stepped foot in a law school, The New York Times pointed out in an article Wednesday.

These lucky few complete legal apprenticeships rather than obtain costly JDs.

The apprenticeships, available as an option in only several states, are referred to as law office study and the participants called law readers. Those who choose law office study avoid the debt burdening their counterparts who pay law school tuition to receive law degrees, reports The Times. They also gain valuable experience as members of law offices, where they get to work in courtrooms and with clients rather than studying in classrooms.

But the few who take that alternative route also face their own difficulties, like searching on their own for a supervisor willing to mentor them and competing for top jobs with those who have graduated from law schools where students are ranked.

Law office study remains very rare. Law office readers comprised only 60 of the 83,986 people who took state and multistate bar exams last year, according to The New York Times. They are also less likely to pass those exams. Only 28% of the tiny minority of law office readers passed their bar exams last year, compared to 78% of students who attended American Bar Association-approved law schools, reports The Times.

In Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and California, aspiring lawyers can complete law apprenticeships, receiving on-the-job training under the guidance of mentors instead of studying law at a university for three years. New York, Maine, and Wyoming require apprenticeships to be combined with law school.

Below are the general rules they have set for these apprenticeships, according to the Sustainable Economies Law Center blog LikeLincoln:
California

Study in a law office for four years under the supervision of an attorney with at least five years of active law practice in California. The study must involve 18 hours per week, with five hours directly supervised, in addition to monthly exams and bi-annual progress reports submitted to the California State Bar.
Vermont

Four years of study in a law office under the supervision of an attorney with at least three years of experience.
Virginia

Law office study for three years, each year consisting of at least 40 weeks, with a minimum of 25 hours of study each week. At least 18 hours each week must take place in the supervising attorney's office, who must provide at least three hours of personal supervision over the law reader each week.

The supervising attorney must have at least a year of experience, and the apprentice is not allowed to be employed or compensated by the supervisor.
Washington

Here the apprentice must be employed by the supervising attorney for four years in a law office, with at least 30 hours of work/study and three hours of direct supervision each week. The supervising attorney has at least 10 years of experience. Apprentices are required to pay a $1,500 annual fee.
Maine

At least two years of study at a law school is required, and then one year of law office study.
New York

Law office study can follow at least one year of law school, with the combination of law school and law office study totaling four years.
Wyoming

A combination of one to two years of law school with one to two years of a law study program.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-become-an-attorney-without-law-school-2014-7#ixzz3KZiBaBxM


Bar examinations in the United States are administered by agencies of individual states. In 1763, Delaware created the first bar exam with other American colonies soon following suit. A state bar licensing agency is invariably associated with the judicial branch of government, because American attorneys are all officers of the court of the bar(s) to which they belong.

Sometimes the agency is an office or committee of the state's highest court or intermediate appellate court. In some states which have a unified or integrated bar association (meaning that formal membership in a public corporation controlled by the judiciary is required to practice law therein), the agency is either the state bar association or a subunit thereof. Other states split the integrated bar membership and the admissions agency into different bodies within the judiciary; in Texas, the Board of Law Examiners is appointed by the Texas Supreme Court and is independent from the integrated State Bar of Texas.

The bar examination in most U.S. states and territories is at least two days long (a few states have three-day exams) and usually consists of:

   Essay questions:
       Essentially all jurisdictions administer several such questions that test knowledge of general legal principles, and may also test knowledge of the state's own law (usually subjects such as wills, trusts and community property, which always vary from one state to another). Some jurisdictions choose to use the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), drafted by the NCBE since 1988, for this purpose. Others may draft their own questions with this goal in mind, while some states both draft their own questions and use the MEE.
       Some jurisdictions administer complicated questions that specifically test knowledge of that state's law.
   Multistate standardized examinations (below)

When exams occur

Each state controls where it administers its bar exam. Because the MBE (below) is a standardized test, it must be administered on the same day across the country. That day occurs twice a year as the last Wednesday in July and the last Wednesday in February. Two states, Delaware and North Dakota, may administer their bar exams only once, in July, if they do not have enough applicants to merit a second sitting. North Dakota requires ten applicants in order to administer the February exam. Most bar exams are administered on consecutive days. Louisiana is the exception, with the Louisiana Bar Exam being a three-day examination on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also, Louisiana's examination is the longest in the country in terms of examination time, with seven hours on Monday and Wednesday and seven and one half hours on Friday for a total of 21.5 hours of testing. Montana's bar examination also occurs over a three-day period, with a total of 18 hours of testing. The bar exams in Alabama, California, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, and Texas are also three days long.

The MEE and MPT, as uniform though not standardized tests, also must be administered on the same day across the country – specifically the day before the MBE.
Preparation for the exam

Most law schools teach students common law and how to analyze hypothetical fact patterns like a lawyer, but do not specifically prepare law students for any particular bar exam. Only a minority of law schools offer bar preparation courses.

To refresh their memory on "black-letter rules" tested on the bar, most students engage in a regimen of study (called "bar review") between graduating from law school and sitting for the bar. For bar review, most students in the United States attend a private bar review course which is provided by a third-party company and not their law school.
Multistate standardized examinations

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) is a U.S. based non-profit organization that develops national ("multistate") standardized tests for admission to the bar in individual states. The organization was founded in 1931. The best known exams developed by NCBE are the Multistate Bar Examination (1972), the Multistate Essay Examination (1988), the Multistate Performance Test (1997), and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (1980).

Uniform Bar Exam (UBE)

NCBE has developed a Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), which consists solely of the MBE, MEE, and MPT, and offers portability of scores across state lines. Missouri became the first state to adopt the UBE;[9] both that state and North Dakota were the first to administer the UBE, doing so in February 2011. Following Missouri's lead, several other jurisdictions, all of which were among the 22 that already were using all three components of the UBE, are expected to adopt that examination. However, many of the largest legal markets – California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas – have so far chosen not to adopt the UBE, although New York is presently giving a conversion to the UBE serious consideration.[10] Also, given Illinois' proximity to Missouri and shared market for St. Louis lawyers, the state is currently pondering adopting the UBE, as well, and could become the first of the "big market" states to adopt the test. Among the concerns cited with the adoption of the UBE were its absence of questions on state law and the fact that it would give the NCBE much greater power in the bar credentialing process.

As of July 2014, the Uniform Bar Examination Jurisdictions are (date of first UBE administration in parentheses):

   Alabama (July 2011)
   Alaska (July 2014)
   Arizona (July 2012)
   Colorado (February 2012)
   Idaho (February 2012)
   Minnesota (February 2014)
   Missouri (February 2011)
   Montana (July 2013)
   Nebraska (February 2013)
   New Hampshire (February 2014)
   North Dakota (February 2011)
   Utah (February 2013)
   Washington (July 2013)
   Wyoming (July 2013)

Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a standardized, multiple-choice examination created and sold to participating state bar examiners.
Description

It is administered on a single day of the bar examination in 49 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Republic of Palau. The only state that does not administer the MBE is Louisiana, which follows a civil law system very different from the law in other states. The MBE is also not administered in Puerto Rico, which, like Louisiana, has a civil law system. The MBE is given twice a year: on the last Wednesday of July in all jurisdictions that require that examination, and on the last Wednesday of February in the same jurisdictions, except for Delaware and North Dakota.

The 200 MBE questions test six subjects based upon principles of common law and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (covering sales of goods) that apply throughout the United States. The questions are not broken down into sections and the six topics are distributed more or less evenly throughout the course of the exam. Exam-takers generally receive three hours during the morning session to complete the first 100 questions, and another three hours during the afternoon session to complete the second 100 questions.

In January 2009, NCBE indicated that it was considering adding a seventh topic, civil procedure, to the examination. Civil Procedure will make its first showing on the MBE in February 2015.
Average scores

The average raw score from the summer exam historically has been about 128, or about 67% correct (only 190 of the 200 questions are scored with the remaining 10 questions being evaluated for future use), while the average scaled score was about 140. In summer 2007, the average scaled score was 143.7 with a standard deviation of 15.9. Over 50,000 applicants took the test; less than half that number took it in the winter.
Transfer of MBE scores

Taking the MBE in one jurisdiction may allow an applicant to use his or her MBE score to waive into another jurisdiction or to use the MBE score with another state's bar examination.
Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)

The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is a collection of essay questions largely concerning the common law administered as a part of the bar examination in 26 jurisdictions of the United States: Alabama, Alaska (eff. July 2014), Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

The MEE can cover any of the following areas:

   Business associations – Agency and partnership, corporations, limited liability companies
   Conflict of laws
   Constitutional law
   Contracts
   Criminal law and procedure
   Evidence
   Family law
   Federal civil procedure
   Real property
   Torts
   Trusts and estates – decedents' estates; trusts and future interests
   Uniform Commercial Code – Article 3, Negotiable Instruments; Article 4 [Bank Deposits and Collections]; Article 9, Secured Transactions

MEE questions are actually drafted by the NCBE Drafting Committee, with the assistance of outside academics and practitioners who are experts in the fields being tested. After initial drafting, the questions are pretested, analyzed by outside experts and a separate NCBE committee, reviewed by boards of bar examiners in the jurisdictions that use the test, and then revised by the Drafting Committee in accordance with the results of this process. Each MEE question is accompanied by a grading guide, and the NCBE sponsors a grading workshop on the weekend following the bar exam whose results are provided to bar examiners.

The examination is always administered on a single day of the bar examination, specifically the day before the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). Through February 2007, the MEE consisted of seven questions, with most jurisdictions selecting six of the seven questions to administer. Unlike the MBE, which is graded and scored by the NCBE, the MEE is graded exclusively by the jurisdiction that administers the bar examination. Each jurisdiction has the choice of grading MEE questions according to general U.S. common law or the jurisdiction's own law.

The MEE is generally partnered with the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), a written performance test developed by the NCBE and used in 33 U.S. jurisdictions.[24]
Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)
Main article: Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination

In almost all jurisdictions, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), an ethics exam, is also administered by the NCBE, which creates it and grades it. The MPRE is offered three times a year, in March, August and November.
Non-standardized examinations

California and Pennsylvania draft and administer their own performance tests. California performance tests are three hours in length (as California has traditionally viewed the 90-minute MPT as too short to meaningfully test anything) and are far more difficult than the MPT.

As noted above, essay questions are the most variable component of the bar exam. States emphasize different areas of law in their essay questions depending upon their respective histories and public policy priorities. For example, unlike Alta California and Texas, Louisiana did not convert to common law when it was acquired by the United States, so its essay questions require knowledge of the state's unique civil law system. Several Western states, like California, espouse a strong public policy in favor of gender equality, which means they require all bar exam applicants to demonstrate knowledge of community property law. Pennsylvania, with a history of federal tax evasion (e.g., the Whiskey Rebellion), tests federal income tax law, while New Jersey, with a history of discriminatory zoning (resulting in the controversial Mount Laurel doctrine), tests zoning and planning law. Washington and New Mexico both test Indian law, because of their relatively large populations of Native Americans and large numbers of Indian reservations. Most states test knowledge of the law of negotiable instruments and secured transactions (Articles 3 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code), but Alaska, California, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania do not; they have recognized that the vast majority of criminal, personal injury, and family lawyers will never draft a promissory note or litigate the validity of a security interest.
Controversy
Arguments against bar exams

A statement by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) articulates many criticisms[further explanation needed] of the bar exam. The SALT statement, however, does propose some alternative methods of bar admission that are partially test-based.http://www.saltlaw.org/userfiles/SALTBarExam.pdf A response to the SALT statement was made by Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhau in The Bar Examiner
Arguments in favor of bar exams

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) regularly provides articles relating to the bar examination process.
Arguments for alternatives to the bar exam

The NCBE published an article in 2005 addressing alternatives to the bar exam, including a discussion of the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program, an alternate certification program introduced at the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center) in that year.

China:

The National Judicial Exam or State Judicial Exam (Chinese: 国家司法考试) is a unified legal examination administered by the People's Republic of China for people who work in the legal industry.

Since 2002, all new members of the judiciary and legal profession will need to pass it. The SJE will push education programs for lawyers and judges to adopt more unified curricula and standards. It is also expected to increase the professionalism of the judiciary, which has been regarded as lacking.

In the past, there were different kinds of legal professional exams that were administered by different institutions: some by the courts for judges only, some by the procuratorates for prosecutors only, and the Lawyers Qualifications Exam (LQE) administered by the Ministry of Justice for those who wanted to become practicing lawyers. The exams for judges and prosecutors were internal, not open to the public.
Requirements

Under amendments to the Judges Law, Prosecutors Law and the Lawyers Law in 2001, all participants of the SJE must have a university-level education, although not necessarily in law. The only exception was the 2002 SJE, where over 50% of participants only had a college-level law diploma. These people were allowed to sit the exam with special permission from the Ministry of Justice. Another requirement is that the person must have a record of good behaviour. Those caught cheating will be issued a ban for either two years or for life.

On March 30-31, 2002, China held the first SJE. Of the 360,000 participants, about one-third were staff members of the courts, procuratorates, police departments, and other workers in the field of law and justice. Only 7% of the participants passed the exam, but this result was considered reasonable in comparison with rates in judicial exams in Japan.

The number of participants decreased significantly in 2003 to 197,000 people, due to stricter education requirements. Nearly 89% of candidates received at least four years of university education, while 74% majored in law. The only exceptions are for remote counties lacking in advanced education facilities.

In 2004, residents of Hong Kong and Macau were permitted to sit for the exam for the first time. More than 400 in Hong Kong have applied.
Structure

The SJE is a closed book exam mainly designed to test the legal knowledge of the tested persons and their ability to join the legal profession. Questions are divided into four categories:

   theoretical legal science
   applied legal science
   provisions in current laws
   legal practice and ethics

Candidates are tested on their knowledge of legal theory, economic law, international law, international private law and international economic law as well as ethics.