Abstract
This chapter examines the trend in international legal education (‘IOLE’), and finds that IOLE appears to be a natural component of legal education in Cameroon. This is mainly because of Cameroon’s colonial history, which led to the country’s bi-jural legal system. Then, as this chapter demonstrates, even if there is an absence of debate in Cameroon on this topic, there seems to be some consensus about the subject, perhaps based on the understanding that graduates must possess some fundamental internationalisation for their careers, and as such, a need for IOLE. In effect, a close look at law programmes in the country shows that most law courses are in fact somewhat ‘international’ and that there are some ‘international law programmes’. As well, there are international law departments and research centres. In fact, around 70 % of law lecturers are trained abroad, and as such, the internationalisation of the legal academy at least is a reality. This sees that law faculties in Cameroon drive IOLE in Cameroon. Furthermore, even though the Bar examination programme draws mainly on national law, Cameroonian law graduates do sometimes sit for admission in other countries. When they succeed, they may later apply for admission to the Cameroon Bar without undergoing the national examination. This means that Cameroon allows cross-jurisdictional admission, which is also a factor in the IOLE.
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Notes
- 1.
Formerly known as ‘Common Law Studies’.
- 2.
Political Science shall not be discussed here as it is not within the scope of this chapter.
- 3.
There is an unavoidable international component in this course.
- 4.
“International Criminal Law”, “Alternative Dispute Resolution” (this course is generally considered as inherently international), “Contemporary Issues in Civil Law”, and “Contemporary Issues in Criminal Law”.
- 5.
“Contemporary Issues in Social Law”.
- 6.
“International Dispute Settlement”, “Environmental Law” (this course is generally considered as inherently international) and “Contemporary Issues in Public International Law”.
- 7.
“Law of International Organisations”, “Law of Natural Resources” (this course is generally considered as inherently international), “International Humanitarian Law”, “Comparative Public Law Dispute Settlement” and “Comparative Political Institutions”.
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“Law of the Sea” and “International Human Rights Law”.
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“International Trade Law”, “Regional Integration Law”, “International Crime Combat”, “Maritime Law” and “Law of International Treaties and Interpretation of Statutes”.
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The University of Yaoundé II is made up of two faculties and three schools, namely, the Faculty of Laws and Political Science, the Faculty of Economics and Management, the Advanced School of Mass Communications and Technology, the Institute of International Relations of Cameroon and the Institute of Demographic Training and Research, which is international in that it belongs to several African States.
- 11.
This is the French Africa counterpart of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation, which is mainly comprised of African-French speaking countries while the latter is comprised of English speaking countries in the continent.
- 12.
Though the program is now named Professional Master’s in Intellectual Property, it was formerly the Professional Master’s in Intellectual Property Law, but since the 2014–2015 academic year, three profiles have been created to meet the various interests and needs. Therefore, students with a legal background undergo the legal training, scientists specialise in the technical and scientific aspects of intellectual property as they relate to patents and breeder’s rights for example and economists and accountants specialise in intellectual property economics and management. This notwithstanding, there are some fundamental courses that are compulsory for all the students. More information is available at http://www.oapi.int/Ressources/master2/2014/Catalogue_Master_2014.pdf
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The remaining seven are: Internal Public Law, Theory of Law, Fundamental Private Law, Business Law, Criminal Sciences, English Law and Political Science.
- 14.
Adoption of the LMD system in Cameroon is as a result of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community Directive N° 02/06-UEAC-019-CM-14 on the Organisation of University Studies within CEMAC as part of the LMD System adopted on 11 March 2006 in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.
- 15.
As a result of Law No 2005/007 of 27 July 2005 on the Criminal Procedure Code, which entered into force on 1 January 2007.
- 16.
However, this may also be due to the fact that there is no system of law reporting in the country that makes access to local cases a real quagmire.
- 17.
In this vein, it should be noted that the programs of the Faculty of Laws and Political Science of the University of Yaoundé II, which are used throughout this chapter as reference, were adopted by the Faculty Council in August 2014 to enter into force in the 2014–2015 academic year. At the date that this chapter was written, they were still in the process of being approved by the Ministry of Higher Education.
- 18.
An exception is the University of Buea which, as an Anglo-saxon university, had compulsory courses as well as electives since its creation back in 1993.
- 19.
As discussed above, one such elective course is International Public Law for Second Year Law students majoring in English Law.
- 20.
As earlier mentioned, in the Faculty of Laws and Political Science of the University of Yaoundé II, “General Introduction to Law and Main Legal Systems” is a compulsory course for all First Year students whether they are enrolled for Public Law, Private Law or English Law.
- 21.
There are two sessions of 3 weeks each: one in Public International Law and the other in Private International Law.
- 22.
Teaching a master’s program for 2 years is a mimetic choice by the Cameroonian Higher Education from what obtains in France whereas, under the English system a Master’s Degree is completed within 12 months.
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Essama Mekongo, P., Kamga, M.K. (2016). The Natural Trend Towards Internationalisation in Cameroon. In: Jamin, C., van Caenegem, W. (eds) The Internationalisation of Legal Education. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29125-3_4
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