PROGRAM AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

INTRODUCTION

This eighteen months program gives you the basic knowledge of law without necessarily becoming a legal practitioner. The desire for legal knowledge should not be driven by the need to become a legal practitioner. Law drives the order of society and hence, legal knowledge becomes important for personal and societal good. Because law cuts across so many aspects of social life, the acquisition of legal knowledge without necessarily having a need to practice law, cannot be overemphasised. Basic legal knowledge is important for politicians especially the law makers and those who aspire to be law makers. As entrepreneurs, understanding commercial transactions and contractual documents is key to avoiding unnecessary legal costs that would be incurred due to a lack of knowledge of what may otherwise be simple legal documents. Issues of corporate governance are increasingly become an important phenomenon especially in promoting the sustainability of business entities. Knowledge of company law without necessary being a legal practitioner, becomes necessary. Medical negligence is slowly becoming a common occurrence in health institutions. Knowledge on how to understand the liabilities or avoiding them, for both the victim of medical negligence and the tortfeasor, is vital.

In democratic societies, issues of human rights and how they can be enforced, is cardinal. For persons working with NGOs to promote access to justice in the criminal justice system, understanding what constitute crimes and how criminal liability arise, is very important if they are to properly assist their clients who may be accused of committing criminal acts. Child rights and protection agencies and advocates in areas of matrimonial issues, need to acquire the basic knowledge of law that deals with the rights of children and women’s rights, without necessary being practitioners of law. Additionally, persons acquiring a certificate in law would have the opportunity to work as legal assistants in law firms or other institutions, private, government and quasi-government institutions including NGOs.

The Program can also be a bridging program for people who would want to eventually do a Bachelor of Laws Degree but do not have the requisite entry level qualifications for admission at Degree level. Once admitted to pursue the certificate program, one can then pursue their secondary school level studies to bridge on the entry level qualifications for entry onto the Degree programme. Once admitted to the Degree level, they would then be granted exemptions on the Degree program, in all the courses they did and cleared at certificate level ‘at Lusaka Goldsmiths University’. In the selected courses making the certificate in law program, the knowledge and competences that a certificate holder will have will be equivalent to the competences and knowledge a Bachelor of Laws Degree holder will have as, the students of Bachelor’s Degree programme and those for certificate in Law program,
will be taught together and subjected to the same assessment criteria in the selected courses making the certificate program.

For none core courses, students may design their certificate program by selecting courses they would want to do that may be relevant to their area of professional interest.

Rationale

The Certificate in Law program is an important qualification in society today particularly in rural places where there are few or no fully trained legal practitioners. The absence of qualified legal practitioners in rural areas of the country has left a lot of people without access to justice or even access to basic legal services which in turn, make people resort to taking the law into their own hands for lack of knowledge on how to deal with simple but technical matters of law. The importance of this program cannot therefore be overemphasized as it seeks to bridge the gap between urban and rural societies on matters pertaining to access to justice in the country. The Certificate in Law program therefore is necessary in any society and its relevance, does not necessarily arise for economic gain, but for knowledge as, the more knowledgeable people in society are of the law, the better a society shall be.

The training of more people with knowledge of law even at the basic level, will therefore assist government in its quest to decongest prisons as there are a lot of people in prisons who should not be there but due to ignorance of the law and lack of people to advise them on issues of law. Individuals trained with Certificate in Law would work with NGOs that have dedicated their time to ensuring access to justice especially in the rural areas.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM

The aims of the Lusaka Goldsmiths University Certificate in Law are to equip the learners with the relevant knowledge requisite for addressing the social, political and cultural challenges that today societies the world over are faced with. From civil wrongs, public order and human rights etc., the program ensures that learners graduating with the Certificate in Law from Lusaka Goldsmiths University, are properly equipped to deal with various social challenges and vices affecting societies.

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the program, learners shall be able to:

• Know the various areas of the law in their society.
• Interpret and apply the law to various situations in their society.
• Advice on legal issues arising from various situations in their society.
• Know issues of governance, politics and international relations.
• Advice on legal issues arising from international agreements; etc.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The assessment criteria for Lusaka Goldsmiths University School of Law consists of one assignment carrying 30 marks and an examination at the end of each semester carrying 70 marks as follows:

• Assignments 30 marks
• Final Examination 70 marks
• Total: 100marks

Note: Progression rules set by the university Senate allows only students who do and submit both their Continuous Assessments (Assignments), to proceed and sit for their final semester examinations.