Legal Education In North Cyprus

Abstract

Legal education is like learning a new language, which is a hard process. Besides, legal education in North Cyprus is a more complicated issue as the Turkish Cypriot legal system has a sui generis character which is neither pure common law nor pure civil law. This article investigates the weaknesses of legal education in North Cyprus. The study mainly depended on instructor evaluation surveys in Eastern Mediterranean University and questionnaire surveys taken among attorneys. Within this framework, the qualifications of law professors, teaching techniques and materials used in legal education are considered and proposals are made on how to eliminate the weaknesses in legal education. In addition to these issues, this study also focuses on the fact that it is insufficient to teach only national law while educating the lawyers of the future and the fact that foreign languages are necessary as globalisation increases the importance of international law and European Union law.