In Year 1 of the program, students follow the normal JD program. Students in the English JD program must enroll in the Public International Law course open to first year students in the Winter term (CML 1109).  (Currently, international law is not available to first year students in the French JD program). 

Students meeting all mark and unit requirements associated with the first year of the JD program proceed to Year 2.

As law students, combined program students in Years 1 (as well as those in Years 3 and 4) are eligible for the various forms of funding available to law students.

During Year 1, students should also look ahead to the NPSIA year by applying for the various external graduate funding possibilities open to them.  Deadlines for these scholarships, such as Ontario Graduate Scholarships and SSHRC, are often early in the year, and students should be attentive to deadlines.  Assistance to combined program students applying for external graduate funding for their NPSIA year is available from the Law School’s graduate studies office.

Where they have not yet satisfied this requirement in their previous courses of study, students should ensure completion of their Introductory Economics prerequisite for the NPSIA program (ECON 1000 at Carleton, ECO 1104 and 1102 at uOttawa, or equivalent) before the Fall of their second year, and may also want to use the summer between first and second year to make progress towards meeting their NPSIA language requirement . Students may arrange for a language test at Carleton during their first year.

In Year 2, students transfer to Carleton University. Students choose at this time whether to pursue a coursework-only MA option, or one with either a Thesis or Research Essay.  In practice, combined program students rarely (if ever) pursue the Thesis option, and students interested in doing so should make an appointment to discuss their plans with the Associate Director of NPSIA and the combined program Faculty Coordinator at the Law School.

During this year, students are full-fledged graduate students at Carleton University and are thus eligible for the various forms of funding available to graduate students (but, as noted, they generally must apply for any external funding in Year 1, while at the University of Ottawa – e.g. deadlines for the Ontario Graduate Scholarships are typically in early fall of Year 1).

Students use Year 2 to pursue their course of study at NPSIA.  As part of this course of study, all students in the English JD program must complete INAF 5509: Law, Politics and Economics in International Affairs, a course taught jointly by faculty at NPSIA and the Law School, during Year 2.  All students in the French JD program must complete CML 3531: Public International Law (French) at the University of Ottawa, as “transfer students” from NPSIA, during Year 2.

In order to proceed to Year 3, students must meet NPSIA graduate mark and unit requirements in Year 2. In practice, this obliges students to score no lower than B- (as measured on the Carleton scale) in each of the courses pursued at Carleton (and no lower than B as measured on the University of Ottawa scale in the course International Law that at present is still taken as a transfer course at the University of Ottawa for French program).

Students electing to complete the NPSIA degree by coursework must complete 4 Carleton units (generally, 8 courses) during Year 2, including all required courses.  Students need not take all 4 units during the fall/winter semesters of Year 2, but may do so and must take at least 3 courses per semester. If students do not complete all 4 units during the fall/winter terms, they must complete the remaining credits during the summer(s) following Years 2 or 3.  Students should be aware that taking courses in the summer months will affect other opportunities that they may wish to pursue, such as summer law employment, and should be sure to plan their year at NPSIA with an eye to this fact.  Students may consult with the Associate Director of NPSIA about the possibility of taking some courses in the summer of Year 1, following their first year law studies.

Students electing to complete the NPSIA degree with a Research Essay must complete 3 Carleton units (generally, 6 courses) during Year 2, including all required courses.

All students must complete the NPSIA language requirements, which in some instances may require that the students take an additional 1 Carleton unit (2 classes) in second language training should students fail to receive the requisite grade on the second language exam.  (Second language training courses satisfying this requirement may be taken at uOttawa during the period in which the student is enrolled full-time as a law student.)

In years 3 and 4, students return to the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law. During these years, students are considered law students at the University of Ottawa and not graduate students at Carleton University.

Years 3 and 4 are devoted to completing upper year JD course work and to the preparation and defence of the Research Essay or Thesis required for completion of the NPSIA Master of Arts program, if the student has opted to pursue one of these options to graduate from the MA program.

During each of Years 3 and 4 students are required to take a half-year course at NPSIA. This half-year course in each of Years 3 and 4 counts for both Carleton and University of Ottawa unit (3 unit at the University of Ottawa, 0.5 units at Carleton). Eligible courses must be approved by NPSIA.

All students in the French JD program must complete INAF 5509: Law, Politics and Economics in International Affairs, a course taught jointly by faculty at NPSIA and the Law School, during Year 3.

Combined program students opting for the Research Essay or Thesis path to graduation must complete either a Research Essay or Thesis in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts degree requirements. Professors at NPSIA and the University of Ottawa supervise research Essays and Theses. NPSIA, in association with the Law School, ensures that students are assigned faculty supervision from both institutions.

Receiving uOttawa Unit for the Research Essay/Thesis

All students in the program with a Law School co-supervisor are entitled to receive 6 University of Ottawa units for their Research Essay or Thesis, in addition to the Carleton credit received for this project. These uOttawa units are recorded as a special Law School “Directed Research”. Students wishing to take advantage of this credit “double counting” must enroll in Directed Research CML 4203 during two terms of the year during which the Research Essay will be completed.  To receive unit for CML 4203, there is no requirement that the Research Essay or Thesis have been actually defended at NPSIA.  Note, however, to receive any of these units, the uOttawa co-supervisor must certify that the Research Essay or Thesis is at least suitable for defence.  No units are awarded for works in progress that fall short of this standard. 

Research Essays do not satisfy the separate JD requirement that students complete at least one “major paper” in the course of their law school studies.  In most instances, students complete this “major paper” in a law seminar class in which evaluation is conducted by paper.

Timing of Research Essay or Thesis

The Timing of the Research Essay/Thesis in Relation to Law Studies

Because students may receive uOttawa unit for this Research Essay or Thesis, they may reduce their classroom course load relative to regular law students during the uOttawa portions of the program.  Accordingly, students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this situation and begin preparing for their Research Essays or Theses during Year 2 and to complete their project by the end of Year 3.  An ideal scenario for Year 3 would be for a student to make significant progress on their project in the summer of Year 2, enroll in the CML 4203 in January term and Winter term of Year 3, and register in defend their Research Essay or Thesis at Carleton (see below) early on in the summer of Year 3. Students who prolong or delay their Research Essays or Theses to Year 4 sometimes experience difficulties in completing their project before Law School graduation date. Further, those who begin projects in Year 2 often find their material out-dated by Year 4, a development that may necessitate substantial revisions. 

However, in deciding when to enroll or CML 4203, students are cautioned about enrolling in CML 4203 in Year 3 and then failing to complete the Research Essay or Thesis in that year.  Since unit is assigned from CML 4203 until the Research Essay or Thesis is certified ready for defence, a failure to complete the Research Essay in Year 3 will mean that the student has insufficient uOttawa units to be promoted to a third year law school student in Year 4 of the program.

The Timing of the Research Essay/Thesis in Relation to the NPSIA Requirements

NPSIA rules require students who opt for the Research Essay (or Thesis) to enroll in the applicable Carleton Research Essay/Thesis course (i.e., INAF 5906/5919) for the academic period in which they will defend their paper, in order to be eligible to defend their NPSIA Research Essay, receive unit, and complete the MA program. 

Generally, students should  enroll in the applicable Research Essay/Thesis course in the summer of Year 3. This registration permits the student to defend their project by the first week of May in Year 4.

Students who fail to defend the research essay by that date must enroll in the applicable Research Essay/Thesis course code at Carleton in the summer of Year 4 and maintain this registration for every academic semester until they successfully defend their paper.

Note that it is not permissible for a student to receive unit at NPSIA for their research essay or thesis without enrolling in that option for at least one summer term, and paying the registration fees. 

Completion of Research Essay or Thesis

Full completion of the Research Essay or Thesis is a requirement for receiving the Master of Arts degree (International Affairs) for all students who do not opt for the course-work option. Students who fail to fulfill this requirement by Law School graduation may still receive their JD, assuming they have fulfilled all JD degree requirements. However, students who do not have a Research Essay or Thesis that their uOttawa supervisor is prepared to certify is ready for defence by the end of Year 4 will be ineligible to receive law school unit through Directed Research CML 4203.  Students who fail to receive these units by the end of Year 4 may, therefore, find themselves up to 6 uOttawa JD units short of degree requirements, depending on how many other law courses they have taken.

As noted, students who have completed the JD portion of the program, but not the M.A., will be required to enroll in their Research Essay or Thesis at Carleton each term until it is completed.

All students in the combined program complete a mandatory joint course, INAF 5509: Law, Politics and Economics in International Affairs.  Students in the English JD program complete this course during Year 2, and students in the French JD program complete this course during Year 3.  This joint course is co-taught by professors from NPSIA and the law school and is as follows:
Law, Politics and Economics in International Affairs

To consider the linkages and differences between the disciplines of law, political science and economics as they relate to international affairs. Students will study the underlying assumptions of each discipline and then analyze how these assumptions affect the way different issues in international affairs are considered. Students, who will be drawn from both graduate students at the law school and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, will be expected to research and prepare a paper on one of the substantive topics and present that research at one of the seminars.

YEAR 1 - 33 units (8 courses)

The student is affiliated with the Faculty of Law

• CML1506 Introduction à la résolution des différends et au professionnalisme (3 units)
• CML 1508 Droits des biens (3 units)
• CML 1511 Compétences et habiletés juridiques (3 units)
• CML1613 Droit constitutionnel I (3 units)
• CML1704 Législation (3 units)
• CML1602 Les contrats (6 units)
• CML1603 Droit pénal et procédure (6 units)
• CML1607 Délits civils (6 units)

YEAR2

* Students register at Carleton University and completeNPSIA coursework, including CML3531 Droit international public, taken at the University of Ottawa as a transfer student.

YEAR 3- 30 units (typically 10 courses) (see note 1)

The student is affiliated with the Faculty of Law

• CML2713 Droit constitutionnel II (3 units)
• CML2702 Droit des sociétés (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 units)
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 units)
• CML2712 Droit administratif (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 units)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 units)
• Optional CML courses (15-24 units, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

YEAR 4 - 30 units (typically 10 courses)1

The student is affiliated with the Faculty of Law

• CML2702 Droit des sociétés (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 units)
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 units)
• CML2712 Droit administratif (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 units)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 units)
• Optional CML courses (18-27 units, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses)2

note 1 - Students must distribute their courses as follows:
Fall Term: 13-17 units; January Intensive Term: 3-4 units; Winter Term: 10-14 units

note 2 - Please note that the Major Paper and Oral Advocacy Requirement should be completed in the second or third year. By the end of YEAR 4, students must complete one course which satisfies the oral advocacy requirement and one course in which the major paper requirement is fulfilled.

3 * Note:The major paper is a JD Program requirement and must be completed in a Common Law course. The major paper cannot be completed in a NPSIA course.The NPSIA Research Essay does not satisfy the JD major paper requirement.*

YEAR 1 - 34 credits (8 courses)

• CML1502 Recherche juridique (1 crédits)
• CML1506 Introduction à la résolution des différends et au professionnalisme (3 crédits)
• CML1613 Droit constitutionnel I (3 crédits)
• CML1704 Législation (3 crédits)
• CML1602 Les contrats (6 crédits)
• CML1603 Droit pénal et procédure (6 crédits)
• CML1607 Délits civils (6 crédits)
• CML1608 Droit des biens I (6 crédits)

YEAR 2

* Students register at Carleton University and complete NPSIA coursework, including CML3531 Droit international public, taken at the University of Ottawa as a transfer student.

YEAR 3 - 30 credits (typically 10 courses) (see note 1)

• CML2713 Droit constitutionnel II (3 crédits)
• CML2702 Droit des sociétés (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• CML2712 Droit administratif (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 credits)
• Optional CML courses  (15-24 credits, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

YEAR 4 - 30 credits (typically 10 courses) (see note 2)

• CML2702 Droit des sociétés (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• CML2712 Droit administratif (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 credits)
• Optional CML courses (18-27 credits, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

note 1 - Students must distribute their courses as follows: 
   Fall Term: 13-17 credits; January Intensive Term: 3-4 credits; Winter Term: 10-14 credits

note 2 - Please note that the Major Paper and Oral Advocacy Requirement should be completed in the second or third year. By the end of YEAR 4, students must complete one course which satisfies the oral advocacy requirement and one course in which the major paper requirement is fulfilled.

3 * Note: The major paper is a JD Program requirement and must be completed in a Common Law course.  The major paper cannot be completed in a NPSIA course. The NPSIA Research Essay does not satisfy the JD major paper requirement.*

YEAR 1 - 35 credits (8 courses)

• CML1502 Recherche juridique (1 crédits)
• CML1506 Introduction à la résolution des différends et au professionnalisme (3 crédits)
• CML1613 Droit constitutionnel I (3 crédits)
• CML1704 Législation (3 crédits)
• CML1602 Les contrats (6 crédits)
• CML1603 Droit pénal et procédure (6 crédits)
• CML1608 Droit des biens I (6 crédits)
• CML1637 Délits civils (7 crédits)

YEAR 2

* Students register at Carleton University and complete NPSIA coursework, including CML3531 Droit international public, taken at the University of Ottawa as a transfer student.

YEAR 3 - 30 credits (typically 10 courses) (see note 1)

• CML2713 Droit constitutionnel II (3 crédits)
• CML2702 Droit des sociétés (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• CML2712 Droit administratif (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 credits)
• Optional CML courses  (15-24 credits, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

YEAR 4 - 30 credits (typically 10 courses) (see note 1)

• CML2702 Droit des sociétés (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• CML2712 Droit administratif (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 credits)
• Optional CML courses (18-27 credits, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

note 1 - Students must distribute their courses as follows: 
    
   Fall Term: 13-17 credits; January Intensive Term: 3-4 credits; Winter Term: 10-14 credits

note 2 - Please note that the Major Paperand Oral Advocacy Requirement should be completed in the second or third year. By the end of YEAR 4, students must complete one course which satisfies the oral advocacy requirement and one course in which the major paper requirement is fulfilled.

3 * Note: The major paper is a JD Program requirement and must be completed in a Common Law course.  The major paper cannot be completed in a NPSIA course. The NPSIA Research Essay does not satisfy the JD major paper requirement.*

YEAR 1 - 35 credits (8 courses)

• CML1502 Recherche juridique (1 crédits)
• CML1506 Introduction à la résolution des différends et au professionnalisme (3 crédits)
• CML1613 Droit constitutionnel I (3 crédits)
• CML1704 Législation (3 crédits)
• CML1602 Les contrats (6 crédits)
• CML1603 Droit pénal et procédure (6 crédits)
• CML1608 Droit des biens I (6 crédits)
• CML1637 Délits civils (7 crédits)

YEAR 2

* Students register at Carleton University and complete NPSIA coursework, including CML3531 Droit international public, taken at the University of Ottawa as a transfer student.

YEAR 3 - 30 credits (typically 10 courses) (see note 1)

• CML2713 Droit constitutionnel II (3 crédits) 
• CML2709 Procédure civile I (may be completed in YEAR 3 or YEAR 4) (3 crédits)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 credits)
• Optional CML courses  (21-24 credits, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

YEAR 4 - 30 credits (typically 10 courses) (see note 1)

• CML2709 Procédure civile I (if not completed in YEAR 3) (3 crédits)
• Half-year NPSIA course (3 credits)
• Optional CML courses (21-27 credits, depending on registration in upper-year compulsory courses) (see note 2)

note 1 - Students must distribute their courses as follows: 
    
   Fall Term: 13-17 credits; January Intensive Term: 3-4 credits; Winter Term: 10-14 credits

note 2 - Please note that the Major Paper and Oral Advocacy Requirement should be completed in the second or third year. By the end of YEAR 4, students must complete one course which satisfies the oral advocacy requirement and one course in which the major paper requirement is fulfilled.

3  * Note: The major paper is a JD Program requirement and must be completed in a Common Law course.  The major paper cannot be completed in a NPSIA course. The NPSIA Research Essay does not satisfy the JD major paper requirement.*