NCA Grad Tips: Criminal Exam Tips & Notes
Hello current and prospective NCA students! In today’s blog I’ll outline my experience with and tips for taking the Canadian Criminal Law exam which is a core exam for all NCA candidates. This means that even if you’ve already done Criminal Law in previous studies you will still need to complete this NCA to obtain your certificate. Please note that I wrote my criminal exam before the most recent January 2019 syllabus was put into place, but based on conversations I’ve had with recent exam takers the nature of the exam hasn’t changed.
Initial Thoughts
If you took Criminal Law in another common law jurisdiction you likely won’t find this course very conceptually difficult. The only real novelty in Canada compared to England, for instance, is the existence of a consolidated criminal code which actually makes things a lot easier. All of the core elements of an offence like Mens Rea, Actus Reus and Causation remain fundamentally the same. There is quite a bit of material to get through in the syllabus however, and even those with common law background should not skim through the basics.
Difficulty and Key Focuses
It is really hard to define a key focus on the Criminal Law NCA exam. While not terribly helpful advice, everything on the syllabus is fair game for the exam. That said, the syllabus has descriptive paragraphs under each topic heading which are worth reading as they help you define the key elements and cases for each section. Take your time preparing for this one and ensure you understand all the key concepts listed on the syllabus.
The only thing you can really skim through are detailed rules around evidence as they won’t likely be the focus of any question (that’s what the evidence exam is for); still you should understand the rules in broad strokes as evidentiary problems may be “bonus marks” on problem question focused on a larger topic.
On the exam, problem questions won’t always ask you to prove all the elements of an offence as they often do in law school. The issues are generally quite focused, asking you to deal with a specific element of the crime or a specific type of offence. Also ensure you have a firm grasp on defences, especially automatism and involuntary acts as this is a popular problem question.
Things to Look Out For
Bringing the Criminal Code with you to the exam is essential. Very likely there will be a question on a statutory offence that you will not have studied on the syllabus. The goal of these questions is to ensure that you’ve learned how to read the Criminal Code and apply it to a fact pattern. These aren’t hard questions though, as long as you have a copy of the code with you, because everything you need to answer well will be contained in the statute.
If you don’t have a full copy of the Criminal Code with you, you will struggle with these often high-point questions. It is not enough to bring a print-out of the code sections specifically outlined in the syllabus.
Resources
I personally used the NCA Tutor™️ notes to pass my exam; they have recently been updated to match the January 2019 exam, contain everything you need, and are easy to understand. Additionally, Peter Sankoff’s criminal law videos are super helpful for orientating yourself or getting some clarity on tricky areas.
Happy Studying!
- Tiffany
Tiffany is an LLM candidate at NYU Law. and a regular blogger for NCA Tutor™.