Courses

Professor Hamar Foster teaches Legal Process, Property, Criminal Law, the Law of Evidence, Legal History and Aboriginal Law

Course Descriptions

The course descriptions below were provided by the academic calendar on the registrar's office. If you are a current student and are looking for course descriptions provided by your professor, please see the course description page on the current student section of the law web site.

First Year Courses

The first year of law school provides the foundation of knowledge and skills for the upper years and beyond. Students are enrolled for the first two weeks in UVic's pioneering introductory course entitled Legal Process, which provides an introduction to legal institutions, skills and theories. At this time students also begin their Legal Research and Writing course. As in other Canadian law schools, the remainder of the first-year curriculum, which is described below, is mandatory. The courses in first year cover both private and public law subjects, offering much variety in terms of orientation and focus.

Full-time students must take all of these courses. Part-time students must enrol in courses worth at least 7.0 units, including Legal Process (1.0 unit), The Law, Legislation and Policy (1.5 units), and Legal Research and Writing (1.5 units). All first-year courses except The Legal Process and Law, Legislation and Policy are full-year courses.

Upper Year Courses

After the first year, the choice of courses is largely optional, although students are required to complete Civil Procedure with Drafting (Law 307B) and Evidence (Law 309). At some time during these two years, students must also complete a major research paper. Students must take a minimum of 29.0 units of upper-year credits to complete the program. Students should consult the course registration materials at the Faculty website for Faculty to determine the mandatory and recommended pre-requisites and co-requisites for particular courses prior to selecting upper level courses.

The Faculty of Law offers a large number of courses in both traditional legal subjects and in new and emerging areas of the law. Not all courses are offered every year, but the curriculum provides both variety and depth. Many upper-year courses have a maximum enrolment limit. In addition to the courses listed below, regular and visiting faculty will occasionally offer new courses in areas of special interest or significance. In addition, with the permission of the Associate Dean of the Law Faculty, students may enrol for a maximum of 3.0 units in other University of Victoria departments. They may also pursue specialized interests through various directed studies programs, including individual and group research projects.