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General Regulations

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Ref: 40-90_General_Regulations
  1. [1] 1. The University of Oxford, jointly with Oxford Brookes University, shall have power to grant Postgraduate Diplomas in Legal Practice to candidates recommended by the Legal Practice Course (LPC) Examination Committee, constituted as prescribed in clause 4 below.
  2. [2] 2. The course will be open to all persons who under the Law Society's regulations are qualified to enter the Legal Practice Course. Candidates may be admitted under such conditions as the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (OILP), a joint venture between the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, shall prescribe. Candidates will not, by virtue of their admission to the course, become members of the University.
  3. [3] 3. Any person who has been accepted as a candidate for the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice and who has satisfactorily pursued a course the character and length of which have been approved by the Board of Studies of OILP may be admitted to the examination.
  4. [4] 4. The LPC Examination Committee shall comprise:
    1. [5] (a) the Director of OILP (convenor);
    2. [6] (b) the Course Manager of the LPC;
    3. [7] (c) all full-time academic staff of OILP;
    4. [8] (d) all other staff responsible for units of the LPC;
    5. [9] (e) at least three external examiners approved by the Law Society on the recommendation of the Legal Practice Course Committee;
    6. [10] (f) one person nominated by the University of Oxford;
    7. [11] (g) one person nominated by Oxford Brookes University;
    8. [12] (h) the Chief Training Officer of the Law Society or that officer's nominee. [13] The Chairman of the Examination Committee shall be the Director of OILP or the Director's nominee.
  5. [14] 5. The Examination Committee shall:
    1. [15] (a) consider each candidate's performance in the examinations, assessed coursework, and skills assessments and make recommendations to the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, and the two institutions shall have no power to alter such recommendations;
    2. [16] (b) consider whether, under the assessment regulations, the performance of any candidate justifies a recommendation for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma with Commendation or Distinction.
  6. [17] 6. In the case of a referred or deferred examination or referred or deferred skills assessment, a recommendation for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice may be made by the Chairman of the Examination Committee after approval of the recommendation by the external examiners. A decision either to fail a candidate or to permit a candidate, who has failed a referred or deferred examination or referred or deferred skills assessment, to repeat the entire diet of assessments may be made by the Chairman of the Examination Committee after approval of the recommendation by the external examiners.
  7. [18] 7. No recommendations under clause 5 (a) or (b) above may be made by the Examination Committee unless a majority of the external examiners approves the recommendation.