BAR EXAM - Bar Council of the Maldives

Introduction of bar examinations in the Maldives

The Legal Profession Act 2019 (“LPA”) introduced two essential requirements for becoming licensed to practice as a lawyer in the Maldives:

completion of a 1-year training programme (“Licensing Training”) under the supervision of a licensed lawyer; and
passing a bar examination (“the Bar Exam”) administered by the Bar Council.

Information regarding the Licensing Training may be found here: Licensing Training – Bar Council of the Maldives (maldivesbarcouncil.org)

Objectives of the Bar Exam

The objective of the Bar Exam is to examine a law graduate’s capacity to practice law in the Maldives. The exam will assess skills at a basic level by addressing a candidate’s analytical abilities and understanding of the law and is intended to set a minimum benchmark for admission to practice.

The Bar Exam will be administered once every calendar year.

Eligibility requirements for the Bar Exam

Candidates wishing to sit the Bar Exam must:

be a Maldivian citizen;
have obtained a qualifying law degree from an accredited institution (foreign graduates must have a degree which is accepted as a qualifying law degree for the purposes of licensing in the jurisdiction in which it was issued);
have fulfilled all applicable registration requirements; and
have paid the examination fees.

Further details on these will be published closer to the exam date.

Bar Exam 2023 (BE2023)

Information regarding to 2023 Bar Exam Date, Syllabus, location and fee and will be updated on this page as soon as will be announced in due course, closer to the date.

Structure of the Bar Exam

The Bar Exam will be a multiple-choice exam, testing the knowledge to practice in the following areas:

Tort Law
Criminal Law and Procedure
Constitutional and Administrative Law
Contract Law and Practice
Land Law and Practice
Maldivian Legal System

Exam dates

BE2023 is scheduled to October/November 2023. The exact date and time will be announced in due course.

Practice Questions

The following sample questions illustrate the kind of questions that appear on BE2022. Each question is followed by 4 suggested answers of which candidates should select the single best answer. The answer key is at the bottom of the PDF document.

The sample questions do not represent all the material that is covered by BE2022 and may cover material about which there are no questions in BE2022.

To model the pacing required for BE2022 these questions should be answered in 40 minutes.

Bar-Exam-Practice-Questions

Registration

Registration for the BE2023 will be opened in due course..

You will need to upload the following documents when submitting the registration form.
1. National ID card
2. Passport photo
3. Law degree certificate or completion letter issued by the graduating institution (stamped)
4. Full transcript

Location

Exact locations for the exam will be determined after the completion of the exam registration process and will depend on the total number of applicants seeking to take the exam in a particular location, and the feasibility of administering the exam in that location.

Updates and queries

Please keep referring to this page for updated information related to BE2023.

All Bar Exam-related queries should be sent to bar-exam@maldivesbarcouncil.org

If you are a Maldivian law student or law graduate, the Bar Council invites you to join the Aspiring Lawyers Forum, the dedicated communications platform for all those seeking to join the legal profession to communicate directly with the Bar Council regarding all aspects of legal education in the Maldives, Licensing Training, the Bar Exam, and Admission to the Bar.

The Bar Council will be using the Aspiring Lawyers Forum as its primary communications platform to disseminate information to all those seeking admission to the Maldivian Bar, so all Maldivian law students and law graduates are urged to sign up to this platform.