LAW Preparing for National Committee on Accreditation Exams
NCA
This guide is intended to help applicants for the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) studying for examinations in Canadian law and lead to Canadian information sources that they may find useful. The tabs found on the left hand menu will open pages that will assist in finding books to use for study in various areas of Canadian law and other resources. Legal databases may be restricted to University of Calgary users or to Faculty of Law users.
The NCA of the Federation of Law of Societies of Canada governs the process of evaluation of legal credentials and experience. Lawyers preparing for NCA exams often come to consult the law school library and ask to look at past law school examination papers. The Bennett Jones Law Library does not collect past NCA exams and, because the examinations are administered by the NCA with the individual provincial law societies, there are no study guides. Individual professors in the Faculty of Law create their own examination papers for each class that they teach and do not publish them or make them available to the law library.
- Federation of Law Societies of CanadaThe National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.
- NCA AdvisoriesSubscribe to the NCA RSS feed, and receive Advisories by email when they are issued.
Finding study materials
The best place to find books and journals in our collection is the library's search box. Note the call number and location (e.g., Law-1st Floor) of each book. Items located in the Reference area do not circulate and items located in the Special Collections Room/Course Reserves may only be signed out by University of Calgary students, faculty and staff for a shortened loan period and are not available to be borrowed by members of the public. Earlier editions of textbooks in reference or reserve may be located on the Law-1st Floor and available to borrow.
The law library has textbooks and materials in our collection on a variety of topics which are examined by the NCA. Here are some examples:
- Essentials of Canadian Law SeriesThe Essentials of Canadian Law produced by the publisher Irwin Law produces a series of books on topics including Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Income Tax, etc..
- LESAThe Legal Education Society of Alberta (LESA) publishes materials for lawyers and we have paper versions of these in our collection. LESA has publications available on Business, Criminal Law, Family, Wills, Civil Litigation and Real Estate law. This link is to the LESA Practice Manuals. This material is also available through a subscription to the LESA Library. Many of these publications can be helpful for those studying for the Alberta Bar exam.
- Library Search BoxThis search box can help you find books, theses, book chapters for electronic books, primary sources, journals, journal articles, microformats titles, and more. from the University of Calgary's collections.
Legal Encyclopedias
Legal Encyclopedias are often a good starting point. There are two Canadian legal encyclopedias:
- Canadian Encyclopedic DigestElectronic access available through WestlawNext Canada. Available in print in the Reference area at KE 173 .C54.
Alberta Law Libraries
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada governs the NCA process. It may be helpful to contact the Alberta Law Library in Calgary for further information or assistance.
Calgary Courts Centre
Suite 501-N
601 - 5 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2P 5P7
Tel: 403.297.6148
Toll Free: 866.448.6148
Fax: 403.297.5171
E-mail: all.cal@gov.ab.ca
Local general law bookstores
- University of Calgary BookstoreThe University Bookstore has law textbooks, dictionaries and citation manuals for purchase.