GhSL recognises that the current climate surrounding the issue of retention or otherwise of the Doctor title requires profound clarification.
The Organisation recognises that the University of Malta’s Faculty of Laws has most recently made an effort to assimilate the courses offered by it and make them compliant with the Bologna Process. This means that the new courses offered by the Faculty are inter alia; LL.B (Honours) (4 years) followed by a Masters in Advocacy/Notarial Studies (1 year). This, as opposed to LL.B (Honours) (4 years) followed by an LL.M (1 year) and an LL.D (1 year) and a 35 thousand word Doctoral thesis.
The Faculty of Laws and postgraduates maintain that the latter course structure (6 years) is archaic and non compliant with the Bologna Process. Moreover, it is unnecessarily lengthy and prolongs a student’s possibility of acquiring a warrant by an extra year, bringing the total amount of years before becoming a warranted lawyer to 7. Additionally, it is common understanding that a “doctor” title usually connotes a PhD qualification and absence of such would be a hollow title to bear.
The compliance with the Bologna Process brings the course duration to a total of 5 years (including LL. B and Ma. Adv.) with students having the possibility of sitting for their warrant exam on them finishing their final Ma. Adv year. Moreover, the 35-thousand-word thesis has been done away with alongwith the extra year of prattika and year of LL.D.
However, this comes with a necessary evil. The new graduates shall be graduating without the conventional “doctor” title. Instead they shall be graduating simply with an Avv. Title, as is the norm.
In light of this, the student body has qualmed that the compliance with the Bologna Process and consequential removal of the “doctor” title, has prejudiced their position as future practising lawyers. Moreover, the students maintain that the difference in title shall serve as a prejudice to their potential employability and especially how they are regarded by the lay person.
GhSL emphasises that its main priority if the student and the student’s interests. It is our top priority that conformity with the Bologna Process takes place without unnecessary prejudice to the employability and quality of law graduates from the University of Malta.
Moreover, it is the organisations belief that the new duration of the course (5 years) and in turn the eligibility of the graduate students to immediately sit for their warrant exam will give the new lawyers an indispensable edge of 2 years over their peers and colleagues. The organisation furthermore invites the concerned parties to explore and exhaust all possibilities of retention of the “Doctor” title.