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To view the Spring 2025 Academic Calendar, go to www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/2025/spring.

School of Criminology | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Simon Fraser University Calendar | Summer 2025

Legal Studies

Certificate

This certificate is primarily for individuals who are interested in working within the justice system and students who wish to focus their criminology undergraduate studies on courses that relate to the law and legal studies.

Units applied toward a certificate may not be applied toward any other Simon Fraser University certificate or diploma, but may be applied toward major program or minor program requirements, or toward a bachelor’s degree under the normal regulations governing those programs.

Program Declaration

Students are eligible to apply for entry to the legal studies certificate program if

  • they have been admitted to Simon Fraser University (or are in the process of being admitted); and
  • they have completed and received grades for ONE of the following courses, with a final grade of C- or better

CRIM 335 - Human Rights and Civil Liberties (3)
CRIM 338 - Philosophy of Law (3)

Admission, Program Declaration, and Continuation

Applicants must meet university undergraduate admission deadlines as shown in this Calendar. Application forms and official documents must be submitted to Student Services. In addition to applying for university admission, students apply in writing to the School of Criminology's advisor for certificate program declaration.

To continue in the program, students must maintain a 2.25 cumulative grade point average (CGPA)*. Students whose CGPA falls below 2.25 cannot enroll in any upper division CRIM courses.

*transfer students who meet the criminology program declaration requirements upon admission to SFU may use their admission CGPA for declaration purposes

Program Requirements

Students complete a total of six courses (18 units), including one of

CRIM 335 - Human Rights and Civil Liberties (3)
CRIM 338 - Philosophy of Law (3)

and five courses chosen from the list below.

Note: Students who have completed both CRIM 335 and 338 need only complete four courses (12 units) from the list below.

BUS 393 - Commercial Law (3)
CRIM 314 - Mental Disorder, Criminality and the Law (3)
CRIM 317 - Sex, Work, and the Law (3)
CRIM 330 - Criminal Procedure and Evidence (3)
CRIM 331 - Advanced Criminal Law (3)
CRIM 332 - Sociology of Law (3)
CRIM 344 - Sentencing: Theory, Law and Practice (3)
CRIM 416 - Current Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3) *
CRIM 417 - Current Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3) *
CRIM 418 - Current Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3) *
CRIM 429 - Indigenous Peoples and International Law (3) or INDG 429 - Indigenous Peoples and International Law (3)
CRIM 438 - Wrongful Convictions and Other Miscarriages of Justice (3)
ECON 427W - Industrial Organization: Law and Economics (3)
EDUC 445 - Legal Context of Teaching (4)
EDUC 446 - Law for the Classroom Teacher (4)
EDUC 448 - Teaching about Justice, Law and Citizenship (4)
GEOG 440 - Property, Land, Society (4)
GSWS 411 - Special Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (4) **
INDG 443W - Aboriginal Peoples, History and the Law (4) or HIST 443W - Aboriginal Peoples, History and the Law (4)
PHIL 320 - Social and Political Philosophy (3)
PHIL 321 - Topics in Moral Philosophy (3)
PHIL 326 - Topics in Law and Philosophy (3)
PHIL 329 - Law and Justice (3)
POL 324 - The Canadian Constitution (4)
POL 344 - International Law (4)
POL 346 - International Organization (4)
POL 351 - Immigration, Integration, and Public Policy in Canada (4)
POL 417 - Human Rights Theories (4)
POL 459 - Selected Topics in Governance (4) *
PSYC 379 - Clinical Forensic Psychology (3)
REM 319 - Environmental and Planning Law (3)

Additional relevant courses may be added to the list of optional courses as they become available. Students are responsible for satisfying the prerequisites for all required courses. Courses must be completed at Simon Fraser University unless permission of the undergraduate chair is granted upon admission to this program. See the school's academic advisor for further information.

* when offered as a legal studies topic

** when offered as the topic Women and the Law

Upper Division Course Access

Students with a minimum 2.25 CGPA are eligible to enroll in upper division criminology courses upon successful completion of 60 units and certificate declaration. Students pursuing the certificate independent of a degree program will be eligible to access these courses without completion of 60 units; in these cases, completion of lower division prerequisite courses may be required.

Graduation Requirements

Students must obtain a minimum grade of C- in all required courses. In addition to normal university grade point average requirements, the School of Criminology requires the following: for graduation, students must obtain a minimum 2.25 CGPA, 2.25 UDGPA, 2.25 criminology course CGPA (calculated on all CRIM courses completed at SFU), and 2.25 criminology course UDGPA (calculated on all upper division CRIM courses completed at SFU).