ABSTRACT

Benchmarking represents a key moment in the increasing autonomy of the academic degree in law or legal studies in relation to professional requirements. The setting of standards in law is not a new activity. Professional bodies have long set criteria for what they will treat as a 'qualifying law degree' permitting students to embark on vocational training. Among legal educators, the idea of benchmark standards fitted into the same approach as Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct in focusing on generic outcomes, rather than predominantly on specific content. The actual nomination process for the benchmarking took some considerable time, such that the first proper meeting did not take place until July with a different composition and full representation of the professions and academics in the three jurisdictions. A benchmark statement is meant to indicate what students can do at the end of their degree-level education and this serves to justify the public expenditure involved in that process.