Skip to content

Studies & Degrees in Anglo-American Law Program

An Anglo-American law programme teaches the legal tradition of England and the United States to students who are training in a different one. That tradition is the common law, which Cornell Law School's legal encyclopedia defines as law developed through judicial decisions rather than enacted statutes. Spain, the rest of continental Europe and Latin America belong to the civil law tradition, a framework based primarily on written codes and statutes. The same source calls civil law the most widely adopted legal system in the world.

Students of such a programme therefore learn to work in two ways: with codes, as their home degree requires, and with precedents and case analysis, as lawyers in common law countries do. Legal English is part of the training, because the courses are normally taught in English.

Qualifications and levels

An Anglo-American law programme is not a separate degree. It is a set of courses taken alongside a law degree, which the Universidad de Navarra calls a diploma. The qualification its pages describe as official is the law degree; ask the university what recognition the diploma itself has. In Spain an official bachelor's degree (grado) has 240 ECTS credits.

The Universidad de Navarra, in Pamplona, is the example in this directory. Its Grado en Derecho is an official degree of 240 credits over 4 years, taught on campus in Spanish, with 300 places. The Faculty of Law's website still uses the name Anglo American Law Program in a student profile. The current degree pages present the track as the Diploma en Global Law Program, which studies comparative law with special attention to the common law and to US law. According to the university:

  • all subjects of the diploma are taught in English by international lecturers
  • the diploma subjects are electives of 3 ECTS credits each in the third and fourth years: Common Law System, Comparative Legal Systems, International Business Compliance, Global Contract Law and Global Corporate Law in the third year, and others such as International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in the fourth
  • the programme includes a stay in London and the option of an exchange in the fourth year at universities in the United States and Europe
  • students can do extracurricular internships in international law firms and companies

After a law degree, the usual way to go deeper into common law is a Master of Laws (LL.M.) at a law school in a common law country.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists one active school for this subject, the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. Admission to its law degree is open from every branch of the Spanish Bachillerato. The faculty weighs the marks of the first Bachillerato year (60%) and its own admission test (40%). The test includes an English test and, for international students, a Spanish level test. The degree itself is taught in Spanish, so international students need both languages. Ask the faculty which exchange universities are available.

Careers

The university addresses the diploma to students who want to work in international law firms or practise abroad. Typical destinations are international firms, the legal departments of companies that trade across borders, arbitration and international organisations.

A diploma of this kind does not by itself give the right to practise in a common law country. Each jurisdiction sets its own rules:

  • England and Wales. According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, qualifying as a solicitor requires a degree in any subject or an equivalent qualification, passing both parts of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE1 and SQE2), two years of full-time qualifying work experience or the equivalent, and meeting its suitability requirements.
  • New York. Applicants who studied law in a foreign country must ask the New York State Board of Law Examiners for an advance evaluation of their eligibility before applying for the bar examination. Some must first complete an LL.M. degree at an approved law school in the United States.

Frequently asked questions

Is an Anglo-American law programme a degree?

No. At the Universidad de Navarra it is a diploma made up of elective subjects taken with the official Grado en Derecho, which has 240 credits and lasts 4 years.

In which language is it taught?

The Universidad de Navarra states that all subjects of its Diploma en Global Law Program are taught in English. The law degree itself is taught in Spanish.

Can I practise law in the United States or England with it?

Not directly. New York requires foreign-educated applicants to have their eligibility evaluated before the bar examination, and England and Wales require the SQE and two years of qualifying work experience.

What is the difference between common law and civil law?

Common law is developed through judicial decisions; civil law systems are based primarily on written codes and statutes.