Bar examination
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 either undertaken on a full-time basis for one year or on a part-time basis over two years. 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).
Magistrate (England and Wales)
Following reforms in 1999, all legal advisers were required to be legally qualified. Any existing legal advisers under the age of 40 in 1999 were required to gain a legal qualification within 10 years. The Assistants to Justices’ Clerks Regulations 2006, in regulation 3, set out the qualifications for assistants to justices’ clerks who could be employed as clerks in court. They provided that people who have qualified as barristers or solicitors and had passed the exams for either of those professions or had been granted an exemption were qualified to be assistants to justices’ clerks which meant that they can carry out matters on behalf of the justices’ clerk. The 2006 Regulations also enabled the Lord Chancellor to make temporary appointments of people to act as clerks in court where he was satisfied that they were, in the circumstances, suitable and that no other arrangement can reasonably be made.