General

The standard period of study for law degrees is nine semesters including all exam assessments. The course ends with the “first examination”, which consists in a university examination in an area of focus (30 % of the overall grade) and the state examination in the compulsory subject (70% of the overall grade) (§§ 2 para. 1, 29 JWG NW 2003 [Juristenausbildungsgesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen – North Rhine-Westphalia Act on legal education]). For the examination in an area of focus the requirements for admission to examinations and exam assessments that need to be completed derive from Schwerpunktbereichsordnung Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf [Regulations relating to areas of focus of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf] (SchwPO) and for the state examination in the compulsory subject from the North Rhine-Westphalia Act on legal education] (JWG NW) in the currently applicable version.

Law studies in Düsseldorf are structured so that students may enrol for a university examination in an area of focus by the end of the lecture period of the sixth specialist semester and for the state examination in the compulsory subject by the end of the lecture period of the eighth specialist semester (“Fachsemester”).

Whoever adheres to this schedule has the advantage of sitting these examinations as special-status resittable exams (§ 18 SchwPO [Schwerpunktbereichsordnung Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf – Regulations relating to areas of focus of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf], § 25 JWG NW): a failed examination counts as not having been taken. Besides this, there is the option of retaking it to improve the grade. If the requirements for a special-status resittable exam have been fulfilled anyone who has passed an examination in an area of focus or a state examination in a compulsory subject may once retake the examination with a view to improving the grade.