Degree Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) Programme

Juris Doctor Programme (JD) students must complete a total minimum of 120-124 units in the 3-Year JD and a total minimum of 91-96 units in the 2-Year JD (for Cohort AY2021/2022) and a total minimum of 84-86 units in the 2-Year JD (for Cohort AY2022/2023 onwards).

Please refer to the JD Curriculum below.

For Cohort AY2021/2022:

Courses	3-Year JD	2-Year JD
Compulsory Courses	84 units (Core*) + 4-5 units (Civil Law)	72 units (Core*) Common Law: Exempt case-by-case Civil Law: Exempt case-by-case
Elective Courses	32-35 units	Varies depending on exemptions
Total unitss	120-124 units	91-96 units

For Cohort AY2022/2023 onwards:

Courses	3-Year JD	2-Year JD
Compulsory Courses	84 units (Core*) + 4-5 units (Civil Law)	76 units (Core*) Common Law: Exempt case-by-case Civil Law: Exempt case-by-case
Elective Courses	32-35 units	Varies depending on exemptions
Total unitss	120-124 units	84-86 units

* All JD students must complete 20 hours of mandatory pro bono work for the compulsory course, LCJ5009 Pro Bono Service as a graduation requirement.

For the 3-Year JD, the total units of 120-124 units will have to be completed.

For the 3-Year JD, students will read the same compulsory courses as the LLB students except for Legal Systems of Asia (LSA) which will be optional. They will have 32-35 units of electives (which is between 6-7 courses) that they can choose from specialisation clusters (e.g. Asian Legal Studies, Corporate & Financial Services Law, Intellectual Property & Technology Law, International & Comparative Law, International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution and Maritime Law and Private Law).

Typical Schedule of 3-Year JD Programme


For Cohort AY2021/2022:

For the 2-Year JD, the total units of 91-96 units will have to be completed.

For the 2-Year JD, students with a law degree from a common law jurisdiction can apply for exemptions from compulsory courses on a case-by-case basis. Minimally they will have 19-24 units of elective course space (at least four electives).

Typical Schedule of 2-Year JD Programme (with Common Law LLB)
Typical Schedule of 2-Year JD Programme (with Civil Law LLB)


For Cohort AY2022/2023 onwards:

For the 2-Year JD, the total units of 84-86 units will have to be completed.

For the 2-Year JD, students with a law degree from a common law jurisdiction can apply for exemptions from compulsory courses on a case-by-case basis. They should email to lawgrad@nus.edu.sg after they have completed Registration (Part One).

Typical Schedule of 2-Year JD Programme (with Common Law LLB)
Typical Schedule of 2-Year JD Programme (with Civil Law LLB)