Overseas law graduates

Overseas law graduates wishing to practise law in New Zealand should apply to the New Zealand Council of Legal Education (NZCLE) for assessment of their qualifications and experience.

The address for the NZCLE is:

New Zealand Council of Legal Education
PO Box 5671
Lambton Quay
Wellington
New Zealand
Telephone: +64 4 471 1166
Email: OverseasAdmissionsAdministrators@nzcle.org.nz
Website: NZCLE

You must apply to the NZ Council of Legal Education (NZCLE) for assessment of overseas qualifications before being granted admission to the High Court of New Zealand to practise as a legal professional in New Zealand if you are:

• an overseas practitioner (a person who is admitted as a barrister, solicitor, advocate or attorney of a superior court).
• an overseas graduate (a person holding an LLB or equivalent law qualification, but who is not admitted to practise as a barrister, solicitor, advocate, or attorney of a superior court).

The Council is solely responsible for assessing overseas qualifications and determining their comparability to New Zealand law qualifications.

The assessment process involves applying and providing supporting documents, such as academic transcripts and proof of admission to practice in another jurisdiction. The Council will then review your application and assess your qualifications to determine whether you meet the requirements for admission to the New Zealand legal profession.

Once the assessment is complete the NZCLE may recommend:

• that you need to enrol in a NZ Law School to complete certain courses from the NZ LLB degree, or
• that you sit the NZ Law and Practice Exam.

It's important to note that the assessment process can take some time, and the requirements for admission to the New Zealand legal profession can vary depending on your specific circumstances. It's therefore recommended that you read the Assessment of Overseas Law Qualifications Information and contact the Council directly if you require any further information or guidance on the application process.

Overseas law graduates whose qualifications have been assessed by the NZCLE and who are required to pass university law courses should apply to take these courses under one of the following:

The qualifying courses at the Auckland Law School may be studied under the following programmes:

• Certificate of Proficiency (COP) - if you only need to complete one or two courses.
• Graduate Certificate in Law (Grad Cert in Law) - if you need to complete UoA LLB Part II and Part III courses.
• Graduate Diploma in Law (Grad Dip in Law) - if you need to complete UoA LLB Part II, Part III and law elective courses.
• LLM - if you need to complete 120 points of electives only.

Applicants who are required to take more than one law course may wish to consider applying for the GradDipLaw or the GradCertLaw. These graduate qualifications enable law graduates to gain an academic qualification while fulfilling professional requirements required by the NZCLE, and even focus on a new area of specialisation if they wish to do so.

Applicants who have yet to complete their overseas law degree are unable to transfer. Refer to more information.

Applicants must: 

• apply for the GradCertLaw, GradDipLaw, or COP through the ‘Apply Now’ function
• provide supporting documents
• provide NZCLE letter, and
• complete the Course Selection Form.

Applicants must satisfy any prerequisite, corequisite or other conditions of admission and enrolment.

We strongly encourage you to apply no later than 1 October of the year prior to which you are applying.

Applications close 1 December preceding the academic year in which you intend to study, applications after this date will not be accepted.

LLB Part II consists of four full-year courses with limited entry. Students must apply to enrol for both A and B components (i.e. both Semester One and Two) before the second Friday of Semester One.

Entry into LLB Part II courses has limited entry and will be calculated based on your Law GPE. Law GPE calculation for Overseas Law Graduate applicants will be calculated as follows:

• 120pts equivalent of the most recent year of law study

The Law GPE required for enrolment will be determined by the Law Selection Committee in December of the year prior to admission.

The minimum Law GPE required for enrolment into LLB Part II courses can vary from year to year. In recent years, the minimum grade required has been between a GPA of 5.0–6.7 (equivalent to a grade between a B and a B+).

Students who have met the Law GPE requirement will be enrolled in January of the year of admission.

LLB Part III/IV consists of two full-year courses (LAW 301 and 306).

Students must apply to enrol for both A and B components (i.e. both Semester One and Two) before the second Friday of Semester One.

Find more information about academic dates and enrolment deadlines.

Once you have submitted your application and the requested documents, we will process your application. If your application is accepted, we will enrol you within the following timelines:

• Semester 1 - mid-February of each academic year.
• Semester 2 - early July of each academic year.

If you have any queries, please email undegradlaw@auckland.ac.nz