NCA Grad Tips: Excelling in the Canadian Criminal Law Exam
Greetings to all current and prospective NCA students! In this blog, I will share my experience and offer valuable tips for acing the Canadian Criminal Law exam, a core exam for all NCA candidates. Regardless of any previous Criminal Law studies, completing this NCA is necessary for obtaining your certificate. Please note that my criminal exam was written before the most recent January 2019 syllabus was implemented, but from recent conversations with exam takers, the nature of the exam remains largely unchanged.
Initial Insights
If you have previously studied Criminal Law in another common law jurisdiction, you are unlikely to find this course conceptually challenging. Canada's existence of a consolidated criminal code makes things easier compared to other jurisdictions. The core elements of an offense, such as Mens Rea, Actus Reus, and Causation, remain fundamentally the same. Nevertheless, there is a substantial amount of material to cover in the syllabus, so even those with a common law background should not underestimate the basics.
Difficulty and Key Focuses
Defining a specific key focus for the Criminal Law NCA exam is difficult as everything on the syllabus is fair game. Nonetheless, the syllabus provides descriptive paragraphs under each topic heading, which are worth reading as they help identify key elements and cases for each section. Take ample time to prepare for this exam and ensure you comprehend all the key concepts listed on the syllabus.
You can skim through detailed rules around evidence as they are less likely to be the main focus of any question (that's what the evidence exam is for). However, understanding the rules broadly is still important, as evidentiary problems might appear as "bonus marks" on problem questions focused on larger topics.
On the exam, problem questions may not always ask you to prove all the elements of an offense, as is often the case in law school. The issues are generally more focused, asking you to address specific elements of the crime or particular types of offenses. It is crucial to have a firm grasp of defenses, especially automatism and involuntary acts, as they frequently appear in problem questions.
Things to Look Out For
Bringing the Criminal Code to the exam is essential. There is a good chance that a question on a statutory offense not covered in the syllabus will be included. The purpose of these questions is to assess your ability to read the Criminal Code and apply it to a fact pattern. These questions are not overly challenging, provided you have a copy of the code with you, as everything you need to answer well will be contained in the statute.
A full copy of the Criminal Code is necessary; bringing a print-out of the code sections specifically outlined in the syllabus will not be sufficient for these often high-point questions.
Resources
For my exam preparation, I used the NCA Tutor™️ notes, which have recently been updated to match the January 2019 exam, containing everything you need in an easily understandable format. Additionally, Peter Sankoff’s criminal law videos are highly beneficial for gaining orientation and clarifying tricky areas.
Wishing you successful and productive studying!
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