Doctor of Laws
doctoral degree in law
A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for Legum Doctor, with the double "L" in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law and civil law (doctor of both laws). In some jurisdictions such as the United States, it is an honorary degree.
Other doctorates in law include Doctor of Juridical Science, Juris Doctor, and Doctor of Philosophy.
European and Commonwealth usage
In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and a number of European countries, the LL.D. is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of exceptionally insightful and distinctive publications that contain significant and original contributions to the study of law. In South Africa, the LL.D. is awarded by many university law faculties as the highest degree in law, also based upon research and completion of a Ph.D. equivalent dissertation as in most European countries; see Doctor of Law in South Africa. The LL.D. may also be awarded as an honorary degree based upon a person's contributions to society.
Canada
In Canada, there are several academic law-related doctorates: the Doctor of Laws (LL.D.); Doctor of Juridical Science or Doctor of Legal Science (J.S.D./S.J.D); Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.); and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The Doctor of Jurisprudence (Juris Doctor or J.D.) is the professional doctoral degree that is usually required for admissions to post-graduate studies in law.
The first law degree was known until recently as the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Doctor of Laws” is doctoral degree in law. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Doctor, Laws and doctoral, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q959320. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Doctor of Laws” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.