Graduate Policies and Handbook

We offer two options for the LLM program. The first is a combination of a thesis plus three courses. The second is a program of six courses, all of which require substantial research papers.

You may choose to do either of these options on a full-time (usually one year) or a part-time (usually two or more years) basis.  

Thesis option

Students usually complete the program's three courses during the first and second terms (September to April) of the academic year before completing a supervised thesis over the course of the summer. As a standard suggested timeline, students and supervisors should consider the following:

Coursework option

The coursework LLM option includes six courses that each conclude with a substantial paper. This version of our LLM normally runs from September to May.  

Before deciding on the thesis or coursework option, candidates who are contemplating future doctoral studies should note that some doctoral programs require the completion of a Master of Laws degree which includes a thesis.

Graduate Seminar on Legal Education and Legal Scholarship

The Graduate Seminar on Legal Education and Legal Scholarship (LAWS 3000) is a required class for all LLM students. This seminar is given in the fall term and early part of the winter term and requires from the student a comprehensive class presentation based on a substantial paper.

Thesis option

If the degree is taken by thesis and coursework, a candidate is also required to:

(a) complete at least two additional one-term classes from the course offerings of the Schulich School of Law and
(b) present a well-researched substantial thesis of scholarly quality produced under the supervision of a member (or members) of the law faculty.  Such a thesis would normally be 125-150 typescript pages in length (double-spaced).

Coursework option

If the degree is taken by coursework alone, candidates are also required to take at least an additional five one-term classes. Of those five classes, at least three must be designated as "major paper courses" by the Schulich School of Law, or be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee as having a sufficiently substantial written component.

Course Selection

Choice of classes must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. The Graduate Studies Committee may approve the substitution of not more than two seminars or graduate-level classes in a discipline other than law, which may be highly relevant to the candidate's area of specialization, provided that any such substituted course or seminar has, in the opinion of the Committee, equivalence to the law classes being substituted.

Courses and Grades

Courses may be full or half year (six or three credit hours respectively). Some academic units cross-list graduate courses with senior undergraduate courses: in which case the requirements for graduate students are more demanding than those for undergraduates.

If a student is permitted to take an undergraduate course (with an appropriate additional work requirement as approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies Academic Programs and Curriculum Committee) as part of their graduate coursework, the minimum B- grade also applies.

Audits

Students may take one audit (equivalent of six credit hours) in each residency year of their formal program. Audits must be listed as program requirements in GSIS, must be relevant to the student's program of study, and must have academic unit and the Faculty of Graduate Studies approval.

Audits not approved as part of a student's program of study will be subject to additional tuition on the student's account.  Audits cannot be taken on a Letter of Permission and will not be approved as part of a Qualifying program.

Withdrawal from Courses

The last dates for adding and deleting courses are published in the schedule of Academic Course Add/Drop Dates at the front of this calendar.

Students may not transfer from full to part-time status by withdrawing from courses after the deadlines listed in the schedule of Academic Course Add/Drop Dates.

All regularly scheduled courses may be added or dropped on the web at www.dal.ca/online by the deadline listed in Academic Course Add/Drop Dates. Special dates and processes apply to courses involving open learning.

Please note that dropping or changing courses may affect your eligibility for student aid.

Non-attendance does not, in itself, constitute withdrawal. Withdrawals are effective when a student withdraws from courses on the web at www.dal.ca/online or written notification is received at the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Incomplete Courses

A student who fails to complete the required work for a particular course during the normal period of the course will receive a grade of “F”. However, where circumstances warrant, a grade of “Incomplete” (INC) may be assigned. Subsequent completion of the work following the end of the course may result in a change of grade by the course instructor, as long as the work is completed before the following deadlines:

MBA(FS) - Please consult the academic unit entry.

For GPA purposes a grade of INC holds a credit value of 0.0.

After these deadlines, an “INC” cannot be changed without permission of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Where the formal deadline for completion of work is beyond the INC deadline, the course instructor can request the Faculty of Graduate Studies extend the INC for an approved period of time.

All outstanding grades, including ILL or INC, must be addressed before registration for the next term.

Incomplete due to Illness

Students must have a plan to complete, repeat or replace any course with an outstanding grade, including ILL or INC, before registration for the next term. If grades are still outstanding into the next term and no arrangements have been made, students may be required to re-register in the course.

In Progress Courses

The grade of “In Progress” (IP) may be used only to report thesis courses, research project courses, courses designated as “open to independent completion of study”, and seminars requiring continuous registration until degree completion. Students must continue to register for the course each term until a final grade has been assigned.

Academic Standards

When the work of a student becomes unsatisfactory, (including insufficient progress), or a student’s attendance is irregular without sufficient reason, the Faculty of Graduate Studies may require withdrawal from one or more courses, or academic dismissal from the Faculty.

Performance during program

All coursework undertaken for the LLM must be completed with an average of not less than B and with no grade below B-.

Length of program

The degree may be taken on the basis of either one academic year (September 1 to August 31) of full-time studies, or two academic years of part-time studies.

A. Paper requirements

Coursework students must do three “longer papers” and two “shorter papers”, in addition to the graduate seminar.

Thesis students must do two “shorter papers”, in addition to the graduate seminar.

The philosophy behind these requirements is that the minimum “production standards” for students in both streams are comparable. Three “longer papers” (3 x 40 = 120) plus two “shorter papers” (2 x 25) equals 170 pages for coursework students, or, at 50 pages per “longer paper”, 200 pages. A thesis is expected to be around 150 pages; with two “shorter papers” that amounts to about 200 pages for thesis students.

B. “Longer paper”/”Shorter paper” declaration forms

Students taking the Coursework LLM must complete a “Longer paper”/ “Shorter paper” Declaration Form for each course being taken. A copy of each form must be provided to the course instructor and submitted to the Grad. Studies office (Rm. 441) by September 30 for fall courses and January 31 for winter courses.

C. Modes of evaluation

Graduate students must write substantial papers in all courses in which they are enrolled, regardless of the form of evaluation used for JD students in the same course. Instructors may include other elements in their evaluation of graduate students, such as class participation marks, marks for class presentations, reaction papers and the like, but the aggregate of such elements is not to exceed 25% of the final mark. In other words, the paper must count for at least 75% of the evaluation in the course. Instructors seeking to depart from this weighting must seek the permission of the Graduate Studies Committee.

Please note that there is no requirement that instructors offer additional elements of evaluation for graduate students. A 100% paper is fine. The policy is only setting a ceiling, not a floor, with regard to non-paper elements of the evaluation.

D. Length of papers

“Longer papers” are normally 40-50 pages in length. “Shorter papers” are normally 25-30 pages in length. Note that while the 40 and 25 page indicators are minimum requirements, the 50 and 30 page indicators are not meant to be maximum limits, though an instructor may impose maximum limits in an individual course.

E. Standards for papers

All papers (whether “longer” or “shorter”) written by graduate students are to be marked in accordance with the “Major Paper Guidelines”. The qualitative standard is the same for “shorter” and “longer” papers. A purely descriptive paper with little or inadequate analysis no more meets the minimum standard for a “shorter paper” than for a “longer paper”. Obviously the depth of research effort need not be quite as extensive for a “shorter paper” as for a “longer paper”, and issues cannot be explored quite as thoroughly as in a “longer paper”. But high quality analysis and reflection is the expected performance standard for both “shorter” and “longer papers”. All papers are to be written in accordance with the standards of intellectual honesty common to the rest of the University.

F. Marking Scale

In all courses, graduate students must receive a minimum mark of "B-" in order to pass. No more than 3 courses in which a student receives a B- grade will count towards the degree requirements.

Faculty of Graduate Studies will only accept the following as designating marks for graduate Students: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, and F. While only letter grades are submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, it may be necessary to provide numerical equivalents for the purpose of calculating averages. It is also helpful to have a uniform system of numerical equivalents for ensuring comparability of graduate students and undergraduates where both categories of student are taking the same Law School class. Instructors should utilize the following system of numerical equivalents to letter grades for graduate students in the Law School to achieve the aforementioned objectives.

A+ 90 and above
A 85-89
A- 80-84
B+ 77-79
B 73-76
B- 70-72
F Below 70

G. Paper Deadlines

In courses where JD and LLM students are all writing papers, the deadline need not be the same for both sets of students. In particular, the deadline for LLM students can be later than for JD students. The deadline is at the discretion of the course instructor.

The LLM candidate is required to present "a well researched, substantial thesis of scholarly quality".  An LLM thesis should be 125-150 pages (double-spaced including references, but not bibliography) unless otherwise approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.

1.                  LLM Thesis Committees

 (1)         LLM Thesis Supervisory Committee

The Graduate Studies Committee of the Law School shall appoint a Supervisory Committee for each LLM student in the thesis programme from among instructors in the Faculty of Law who are members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Normally this Supervisory Committee will be composed of two members one of whom is designated as the supervisor and the other as a reader. Where the circumstances seem appropriate, the two committee members will be designated as co-supervisors. The supervisor will normally chair the committee, although the Graduate Studies Committee may appoint a third Supervisory Committee member as Chair. Practitioners or qualified persons outside the Faculty of Law who are not members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies may be appointed as additional committee members where their expertise makes this appropriate.

(2)          Examination Committee

The Graduate Studies Committee shall appoint a Master's Thesis Examination Committee for each student comprised of:

• a Chair appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee who is not a member of the Supervisory Committee and whose duties shall be to organize the examination of the thesis, and to report to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies the membership of the Examination Committee, the comments (if any) of members of the Examination Committee on the thesis, and the results or outcome of the examination (including any conditions imposed). Normally the Chair will be the Faculty of Law’s Associate Dean, Graduate Studies. The Chair shall not be required to read or sign the thesis itself unless he or she is of the opinion that the circumstances of the examination process so warrant.
• the members of the Supervisory Committee; and
• an examiner who is a member of the Faculty of Law, is also a member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and has not been a member of the Supervisory Committee nor involved in the supervision and/or direction of the thesis.

Examination of LLM theses shall be by submission of a final examination copy of the thesis to the Chair of the Master's Thesis Examination Committee. The Chair of the Master's Thesis Examination Committee shall circulate it to members of the Committee, if they have not already read it and given their final comments on it. Candidates shall be given an opportunity to make written response to the comments, criticisms or recommendations of the Master's Thesis Examination Committee and to make revisions deemed appropriate by the Committee. Members of the Master's Thesis Examination Committee shall submit written reports (dated and signed on forms available from the Administrative Secretary of the Graduate Studies Committee) which shall become part of the candidate's Law School file. Members of the Masters Thesis Examination Committee, other than the Chair, must sign the signature page of a thesis which has received final approval.

The Chair shall report the results of the examination in accordance with one of the following categories:

• approved as submitted;
• approved upon specified corrections being made (in accordance with a timetable to be presented to the student - normally to ensure completed revisions within a month of the results being made known to the student);
• failed, but with permission to resubmit a revised thesis for re-examination (in accordance with a timetable to be presented to the student - normally to ensure re-submission within one year); or
• failed outright.

2.                  Responsibilities of Supervisors

When faculty members accept the supervision of graduate students, they assume several responsibilities:

• to provide reasonable access to their student(s) and to be available for consultation at relatively short notice;
• to be as helpful as possible in suggesting research topics and in assisting students to define their theses;
• to tell students approximately how long it will be before written work, such as drafts of chapters, can be returned with comments;
• to be thorough in their examination of thesis chapters, supplying, where appropriate, detailed comments on such matters as literary form, structure, use of evidence, relation of the thesis to published work on the subject, footnoting, and bibliographical techniques, and making constructive suggestions for rewriting and improving the draft;
• to provide feedback to the student on their detailed description of their thesis topic, research plan, and preliminary thesis outline;
• to indicate clearly when a draft is in a satisfactory final form or, if it is clear to the supervisor that the thesis cannot be successfully completed, to advise the student accordingly;
• to know the Faculty and University regulations and standards to which the writer of a thesis is required to conform, and to make sure that the student is aware of them;
• to continue supervision when on leave, possibly with arrangements also being made for members of the supervisory committee to assist the student for the leave period;
• to advise and help the student to approach other faculty members for assistance with specific problems or even to request the reading of a chapter or section of the thesis; and
• to see that all ethics approvals, as appropriate, are secured.

3.                  Rights of Supervisors

Supervisors have the following rights:

• to expect students to give serious and considered attention to their advice concerning what they regard as essential changes in the research and thesis;
• to terminate supervision and advise the student to find another supervisor if the student does not heed advice and ignores recommendations for changes in the research and thesis, or if the student is not putting forth a reasonable effort;
• to receive a copy of the methodological prospectus submitted for the Graduate Seminar
• to have their thesis supervision properly credited by the department as an intrinsic part of their workload so that, in the assignment of duties, they are not overburdened to the point of having their effectiveness impaired as supervisors;
• to have the thesis-writer acknowledge, by footnoting, all portions of the supervisor’s own research over which the supervisor wants to retain future rights of authorship; and
• to have thesis-writers give permission for the results of their research to be used for the benefit of a larger project when they are working as assistants with their supervisor on research that is part of such a project — this is always with the understanding that students will retain scholarly credit for their own work and be given acknowledgment of their contribution to the larger project.

4.                  Responsibilities of Students

When graduate students undertake the writing of a thesis, they assume several responsibilities:

• to choose a topic (with the supervisor’s aid and advice) and to produce a thesis that is essentially their own work;
• to produce a detailed description of their thesis topic, a research plan and a preliminary thesis outline as soon as each of these are elaborated by the grad students in conjunction with their supervisor (the form of these to be determined by the supervisor) and to provide these documents to their Reader in a timely fashion.
• to provide a copy of the methodological prospectus submitted for the Graduate Seminar to their supervisor (students are encouraged to discuss their methodological prospectus throughout the process of its development with their supervisor).
• to produce a thesis which meets the standards of scholarship required by the University and the Faculty, including demonstration of their capacity for independent scholarship and research in their field;
• to familiarize themselves with and meet the standards of intellectual honesty and integrity adopted by the University. (http://www.dal.ca/dept/university_secretariat/academic-integrity/academic-policies.html)
• to realize that the supervisor has undergraduate or other duties which may at times delay the student’s access to the supervisor at short notice;
• to give serious and considered attention to advice and direction from the supervisor;
• to submit their work to the judgment of the department and to abide by its decision when any rights of appeal, if exercised, have been exhausted;
• to know the Faculty and University regulations and standards to which the writer of a thesis is required to conform; and
• to comply with all ethics requirements.

5.                  Rights of Students

Students have the following rights:

• To have a clear understanding of what is expected in thesis-writing (expected length, acceptable methodology, validity of topic, notification of progress);
• to expect help from their supervisor in establishing a feasible topic and in solving problems and assessing progress as the thesis is being written;
• to receive a fair assessment of the completed thesis and explanations of negative criticism;
• to be allowed to have a new supervisor when they can offer convincing reasons to the Graduate Studies Committee of the Law School for the change and the change can be reasonably accommodated by the Faculty;
• to be protected from exploitation by their supervisor or other faculty members if the latter should:
  • intrude upon the student’s right of authorship or fail to give a student authorship credit for team research (where applicable, the Faculty’s protocols on authorship should be provided to students before they embark on research), or
  • divert the student’s efforts from the timely completion of the thesis; and
• to submit a thesis even if the supervisor is not satisfied, although such action should be taken only in extreme cases and after full consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee of the Law School.

6.                  Responsibilities of the Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law has certain responsibilities in supporting and maintaining its graduate programs:

• to provide necessary facilities and supervision for each student admitted, and not to accept more candidates than can be offered effective supervision;
• to consider carefully such matters as faculty retirements, sabbatical leaves, teaching loads, and library resources before admitting each student;
• to uphold a high academic standard for theses;
• to provide adequate supervision at all times, so that, when a supervisor leaves the University for another permanent position, substitute arrangements are made as soon as possible;
• to allow students to change supervisors if their research interests shift or develop in a new direction and a change of supervisor will not deprive them of financial support and if the change can be reasonably accommodated by the Faculty of Law;
• to provide procedures which assist and encourage students to complete the thesis, such as early review and approval of topic and methodology, guidelines on access and appeals, oversight of the students’ schedule, and a clearly stated system of thesis review and evaluation;
• to regard supervision of graduate students as a major consideration in making replacement appointments for faculty;
• to encourage students to give papers as they proceed, so that they can test their ideas on a wider audience than the supervisory committee;
• to ensure that the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies acts as a general overseer of student progress;
• to instruct all students (or see that they attend Faculty-level workshops) on research ethics; and
• to explain to students the University’s policies on intellectual property rights.

7.                  Rights and Responsibilities of Thesis Readers

• Readers shall be appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee of the Law School, in consultation with the supervisor and the graduate student concerned.
• A reader may be appointed immediately after the elaboration of a detailed thesis topic by the graduate student and the supervisor.  At a minimum, readers shall be appointed at a reasonable period before the agreed upon thesis deadline, in order that a reader may have an opportunity to read the thesis and provide his or her assessment and comments in good time.
• A reader ought to be provided with a detailed description of the thesis topic, a research plan and, eventually, a preliminary thesis outline, as soon as each of these are elaborated by the graduate student in conjunction with the supervisor (the form of these to be determined by the supervisor).
• A reader may be provided with preliminary drafts of the thesis or parts thereof whenever the supervisor or the graduate student deem this to be advisable.
• A reader has a duty to read and comment upon the material described in (3) and (4) within a reasonable period of time, and must promptly inform the supervisor and the graduate student of any matter arising therefrom which might lead the reader to withhold final approval of the thesis.
• A reader shall make himself or herself available on a reasonable basis for meetings with the student and/or supervisor where either of the latter so request.

8.                  Role of Examiners

The role of the examiner is to approve or reject the thesis in final form and to complete the LLM Thesis Examination Committee Member’s Report.

In exceptional cases, a student already registered in the thesis-based LLM program at the Schulich School of Law may be allowed to transfer into the PhD program without first completing his or her LLM. Such applications will be considered where the applicant:

a) has completed all course work associated with the LLM and has received no grade lower than A-;

b) has demonstrated the ability to produce work of publishable quality, which will normally require that he or she has had more than one paper published or accepted for publication in a reputable journal; and

c) complies with all other requirements for applying for entry into the PhD program, including submission of a suitable thesis proposal.

Any such application must be made within the first five terms after initial registration, and must be made prior to the term in which the transfer is to take effect. Transfer into the PhD program is not automatic upon meeting these criteria, but the Graduate Studies Committee will consider applications where they are met.

A candidate must demonstrate the ability to carry out research of high quality leading to an advance of knowledge in a specific area of study. The candidate’s course of study will be initiated with the advice and direction of a supervisory committee. See section 9.3 for supervisory committee structure.

The course of study may include courses, seminars, comprehensive examinations, qualifying examinations, preparation of fields of study, demonstrations of foreign language proficiency, and any other requirements considered necessary for the clear demonstration of post-Master’s-level comprehension, scholarship, and ability in the candidate’s particular area of study. Comprehensive exams are only taken after all coursework is completed.

Maximum Time for Degree Completion and Extensions

Under exceptional and well documented circumstances, such as an approved Leave of Absence or Parental Leave extensions can be granted. However, under no circumstances can a student be registered in a program beyond 10 years, including leaves, from their initial registration in the program.

Residency

Applicants must spend at least one full academic year (12 months) in full-time residence at Dalhousie after registration for the PhD program. The Graduate Studies Committee of the Schulich School of Law reserves the right in certain cases to require the completion of a second year of residency. It is to be noted, however, that consistent with other doctoral programs at Dalhousie University, PhD candidates must pay fees at the full-time rate for two years regardless of whether they have been required to spend a second year in residence at Dalhousie.

Candidates in the PhD program must complete the following requirements:

1.  One directed reading course

The directed reading course is normally a one-on-one engagement with a faculty member, but may involve more than one faculty member. The area studied must be quite broad, e.g., 'modern legal theory' or 'international legal relations' or 'equality theory'. The syllabus is developed jointly by the student and the faculty member(s). The faculty member(s) and the student meet together once every two weeks for one term. The Directed Reading focuses on the broad understanding of the thesis area, it would allow the student to gain greater understanding of the subject area, and all writings would be geared towards internalization, understanding and reflection on the topics. There could be opportunity here for learning or preparing of empirical work/research. The form of evaluation (either one longer paper or several shorter papers) is to be determined between the supervisor and the candidate at the start of the semester, and should have a total length of no more than 50 pages. The purpose of the paper is not so much a test of knowledge acquired as an opportunity to engage critically with the field.

2.  One area exam

The area exam is a rather more self-directed exercise. It does not involve regular meetings between the faculty member and the student, though episodic meetings are encouraged. The student and the faculty member (who may or may not be the supervisor) agree on a syllabus, and the student independently analyzes the materials. The purpose of the area exam is to ensure mastery of a certain body of knowledge; it may be a body of theory, but it may also be a body of law or a combination of the two. The evaluation of the area exam takes the form of a (40-50 page) critical literature review with a narrow focus meant to gear up to the actual area of research and form the start of the student’s proposal.

Failure to pass will result in academic dismissal. However, on the recommendation of the Faculty of Law a student may be reinstated and permitted to repeat the examination (once) within twelve months of reinstatement. The Faculty of Graduate Studies must be notified immediately upon the successful completion of the examination process, and the result becomes part of the student’s official record.

3.  Thesis proposal defence

The purpose of the thesis proposal defence is to evaluate whether the proposal discloses a feasible doctoral project. It consists of a written proposal and an oral defence.  The main concerns are the definition of the issues to be addressed, the theoretical perspectives, the methodology, and a detailed outline of the structure of the thesis. The thesis proposal defence should normally take place at the end of the first year of studies, and not less than one year before submitting the thesis. Failure to successfully defend the thesis proposal may result in dismissal from the program. However, the student may be permitted to repeat the defence within the subsequent twelve months.

4.  Course work and other examinations as required by the Graduate Studies Committee

The reference to course work and other examinations is meant principally to cover the graduate seminar, which will be required of any PhD student who has not taken a similar course previously. It is possible that other courses in law or in other faculties may also be required to facilitate the proper execution of a thesis. Where necessary there will be time consideration given for the completion of these courses as they may affect the completion time of the program of study.

All requirements must be completed with no grade below B-. A student who fails to meet this requirement is automatically dropped from the program, but may apply for readmission.

5.  Program Timeline

To ensure a focused and reasonable completion of the program, a standard expectation of completion of the pre-thesis requirements would follow:

During the two first years of the program, a mandatory annual meeting will be held with the supervisor and the committee to discuss the progress made to date and the timeline until completion of the thesis; the Associate Dean may take part in the meeting if deemed appropriate. If, at the first or second annual meeting, it appears to the committee that insufficient progress has been made, the student would be given 6 months to correct the situation and satisfy the committee. Failure to make satisfactory progress would lead to a withdrawal from the program.

After an applicant has been accepted, a thesis committee consisting of a supervisor and two advisors will be appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee of the Schulich School of Law. All candidates are required to comply with the decisions of their thesis committees.

The primary requirement for the PhD degree is the completion of a substantial thesis which should not only display original scholarship of a high standard, but also represent a significant contribution to the literature of the chosen subject. Normally, a PhD thesis should be between 300 and 400 typescript pages in length (double-spaced).

The Faculty of Graduate Studies requires that the completed PhD thesis be submitted to the Graduate Studies Committee within six years of the date of original registration in the program. Submission of the thesis must follow the rules and regulations laid down by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Each PhD candidate is required to defend the completed thesis in an oral examination. This defence shall be conducted in accordance with the Faculty of Graduate Studies Regulations for Oral Examination of a Doctoral Candidate.

1.                  Responsibilities of Supervisors

When faculty members accept the supervision of graduate students, they assume several responsibilities:

• to provide reasonable access to their student(s) and to be available for consultation at relatively short notice;
• to provide feedback to the student on their detailed description of their thesis topic, research plan, and preliminary thesis outline;
• to tell students approximately how long it will be before written work, such as drafts of chapters, can be returned with comments;
• to be thorough in their examination of thesis chapters, supplying, where appropriate, detailed comments on such matters as literary form, structure, use of evidence, relation of the thesis to published work on the subject, footnoting, and bibliographical techniques, and making constructive suggestions for rewriting and improving the draft;
• to indicate clearly when a draft is in a satisfactory final form or, if it is clear to the supervisor that the thesis cannot be successfully completed, to advise the student accordingly;
• to know the Faculty and University regulations and standards to which the writer of a thesis is required to conform, and to make sure that the student is aware of them;
• to continue supervision when on leave, possibly with arrangements also being made for members of the supervisory committee to assist the student for the leave period;
• to advise and help the student to approach other faculty members for assistance with specific problems or even to request the reading of a chapter or section of the thesis;
  
• to encourage them, and offer opportunity if available, to guest lecture and gain valuable teaching experience; and
• to see that all ethics approvals, as appropriate, are secured.

2.                  Rights of Supervisors

Supervisors have the following rights:

• to expect students to give serious and considered attention to their advice concerning what they regard as essential changes in the research and thesis;
• to terminate supervision and advise the student to find another supervisor if the student does not heed advice and ignores recommendations for changes in the research and thesis, or if the student is not putting forth a reasonable effort;
• to have their thesis supervision properly credited by the department as an intrinsic part of their workload so that, in the assignment of duties, they are not overburdened to the point of having their effectiveness impaired as supervisors; and

3.                  Responsibilities of Students

When graduate students undertake the writing of a thesis, they assume several responsibilities:

• to choose a topic (with the supervisor’s aid and advice) and to produce a thesis that is essentially their own work;
• to produce a detailed description of their thesis topic, a research plan and a preliminary thesis outline as soon as each of these are elaborated by the grad students in conjunction with their supervisor (the form of these to be determined by the supervisor) and to provide these documents to their thesis committee in a timely fashion;
• to provide a copy of the methodological prospectus submitted for the Graduate Seminar to their supervisor and thesis committee (students are encouraged to discuss their methodological prospectus throughout the process of its development with their supervisor);
• to produce a thesis which meets the standards of scholarship required by the University and the Faculty, including demonstration of their capacity for independent scholarship and research in their field;
• to familiarize themselves with and meet the standards of intellectual honesty and integrity adopted by the University. (http://www.dal.ca/dept/university_secretariat/academic-integrity/academic-policies.html)
• to realize that the supervisor has undergraduate or other duties which may at times delay the student’s access to the supervisor at short notice;
• to give serious and considered attention to advice and direction from the supervisor and the thesis committee;
• to submit their work to the judgment of the department and to abide by its decision when any rights of appeal, if exercised, have been exhausted;
• to know the Faculty and University regulations and standards to which the writer of a thesis is required to conform; and
• to comply with all ethics requirements.

4.                  Rights of Students

Students have the following rights:

• To have a clear understanding of what is expected in thesis-writing (expected length, acceptable methodology, validity of topic, notification of progress);
• to expect help from their supervisor in establishing a feasible topic and in solving problems and assessing progress as the thesis is being written;
• to receive a fair assessment of the completed thesis and explanations of negative criticism;
• to be allowed to have a new supervisor when they can offer convincing reasons to the Graduate Studies Committee of the Law School for the change and the change can be reasonably accommodated by the Faculty;
• to be protected from exploitation by their supervisor or other faculty members if the latter should:
  • intrude upon the student’s right of authorship or fail to give a student authorship credit for team research (where applicable, the Faculty’s protocols on authorship should be provided to students before they embark on research), or
  • divert the student’s efforts from the timely completion of the thesis; and

5.                  Responsibilities of the Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law has certain responsibilities in supporting and maintaining its graduate programs:

• to provide necessary facilities and supervision for each student admitted, and not to accept more candidates than can be offered effective supervision;
• to consider carefully such matters as faculty retirements, sabbatical leaves, teaching loads, and library resources before admitting each student;
• to uphold a high academic standard for theses;
• to provide adequate supervision at all times, so that, when a supervisor leaves the University for another permanent position, substitute arrangements are made as soon as possible;
• to allow students to change supervisors if their research interests shift or develop in a new direction and a change of supervisor will not deprive them of financial support and if the change can be reasonably accommodated by the Faculty of Law;
• to provide procedures which assist and encourage students to complete the thesis, such as early review and approval of topic and methodology, guidelines on access and appeals, oversight of the students’ schedule, and a clearly stated system of thesis review and evaluation;
• to regard supervision of graduate students as a major consideration in making replacement appointments for faculty;
• to encourage students to give papers as they proceed, so that they can test their ideas on a wider audience than the thesis committee;
• to ensure that the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies acts as a general overseer of student progress;
• to instruct all students (or see that they attend Faculty-level workshops) on research ethics; and
• to explain to students the University’s policies on intellectual property rights.