Students wishing to pursue a law course at the university are unable to choose the newly introduced ‘legal studies’ due to a clash between the general and special entry requirements for University, Pulse representatives told a news conference today.

The conference, in front of the Junior College, was addressed by Pulse special spokesman on the matter Paul Caruana Turner and Matthew Zerafa and Clive Gerada, presidents of Pulse and the Law Students Organisation, respectively.

They said that the College’s Look Before You Leap handbook said legal studies “introduces the concept of legislation and its effect on human society with a particular focus on the implementation of law and the organisation of the Maltese court system”.

But legal studies was not being made an entry requirement for the law course. The subject would also end up not being chosen by prospective law students, due to a clash between the general and special entry requirements for University.

This defied the logical aim of the subject, which had the possibility of potentially helping hundreds of students prepare for their University course, the students' representatives said.

They said that while they were in favour of the introduction of such subjects, Pulse was concerned at how post-secondary subjects were being introduced without any consultation and communication between all major stakeholders, including students and their representatives.

“We, therefore, call upon the Ministry for Education, responsible for post-secondary institutions, the MATSEC Board, and the University of Malta, to follow up on this urgent issue, and open consultations so that prospective Law students would have the logical opportunity to choose a subject that was created to help them prepare for the University course,” they said.