Students' Poor Showing ForceLaw School Shift
In a significant policyshift, students at the Cayman Islands Law School (CILS) will nowbe required to write mid-term examinations in December beforetaking the test at the end of the academic year as now obtains.
Acting Director of the CILSand Senior Lecturer, John Epp, has said that this change is intendedto better monitor performances of the students and to providethem with feedback on their work at an earlier time in the yearso they can gauge their progress and know which areas need moreattention.
Mr Epp revealed this changeto Cayman Net News in the wake of nine law students failing toachieve passing grades in the four subject areas of this year'sProfessional Practice Course (PPC) Qualifying Examination in whichit is required that a 50 per cent passing grade is gained in eachtest.
They were required to writepapers in Criminal and Civil Procedure in the Cayman Courts; Conveyancingof interest in land in the Cayman Islands; Legal Accounts andCayman Statute Law (including topics in Immigration, Labour, Family,Probate, Arbitration, Company, Planning and Confidentiality laws).
Two students failed onepaper, another two failed two papers, two others failed threepapers and three students failed all four examination papers.
One of them subsequentlycomplained to Minister of Education Hon Roy Bodden about the markingof exam papers and their processing, saying that the papers appearedto have been graded locally rather than by independent examinersat Queens University, Belfast, Ireland.
This complaint spurred CILSto comment and express its concern for the students.
"We at the Law Schoolare very concerned for the well being of our students and we wantthem to succeed. We must maintain standards. If we don't it willnot be beneficial to the community and certainly not to the profession,"Mr. Epp said Friday.
The complaining studentalso charged that in an unprecedented move, the exam scripts werereturned to students; that marks did not always appear to correspondwith totals on the paper and that CILS was not currently regulatedlike other educational institutions in the Cayman Islands andwas not subject to inspections.
In its defence, the CILSsaid the results demonstrate the degree of difficulty in obtaininga certificate to practice law in the Cayman Islands as well asthe hard work put in by those students who have successfully completedthe exams in past years. It suggested that students this yearmight have been distracted by having to work full time in additionto their PPC commitments or might have taken a more casual approachto the course.
"It is possible thatstudents who held jobs while studying did not make time to studysatisfactorily. For other students, there may have been an elementof underestimation or undercommitment which contributed to thisoutcome," the CILS said.
According to the CILS, ithas always done the first marking of the examination scripts inStatute Law and Legal Accounts.
This, it said, was becausesome of the topics covered in the two courses were unique to theCayman Islands. The CILS contends that both the students and thefinal marker in Belfast would benefit if a tutor with local knowledgefirst marks the papers. The other exams are first marked by Queen'sUniversity, Belfast, and in each case the final mark is awardedby Queens, the CILS said.
The Law school also describedas 'curious', the complaint that exam scripts were returned tounsuccessful candidates. The intention, was simply to give thebenefit of the examiner's comments which would better preparethem for the re-sit exams, it said.
With reference to the apparentdiscrepancy in totals, the CILS said this has been explained tothe satisfaction of that affected student.
It also dismissed as incorrect,the charge that it was not subject to inspections. The CILS saidthe University of Liverpool regulates and inspects the undergraduatelaw degree programmes and that the Queen's University, Belfast,regulates and approves the PPC. It argued that since the CILSis already inspected biannually by the University of Liverpooland its lecturers are all approved teachers, it would be an unnecessaryduplication to insist on a further inspection by Queen's.
The CILS said its administrationas well as the Attorney General, as head of the legal portfolio,was concerned about the complaints. It insisted however that itsstandard, which is high, was no higher this year than in the pastand given that its teaching standard has also been maintainedthere was no reason for complaint.
The PPC course offered bythe CILS is the second step towards earning the privilege to practicelaw in Cayman, the first being successful completion of a lawdegree. At the end of the course, a student may attempt to passthe 'qualifying exam'.
Having passed those exams, the student is permitted to enter aperiod of articles and upon successful completion of articles,the student is awarded the Attorney-at-law certificate and maypractice law.