English is an essential tool for any lawyer working with international matters. It is the lingua franca of the legal profession, of business and international affairs.
Employers need to know that the legal staff they appoint have a sufficient level of English to be able to communicate with clients and professionals in other countries, and to handle information written in English. At the same time, law students and lawyers need to be able to show employers that they have these skills. ILEC (International Legal English Certificate), designed in collaboration with TransLegal – Europe’s leading firm of lawyer-linguists, was created to meet these needs.
ILEC, the world’s first internationally recognised test of legal English, is set at levels B2 (FCE) and C1 (CAE) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. (More about the CEF can be found here.)
It covers the four language skills of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
The exam assesses candidates' ability to understand spoken and written English in a number of realistic contexts of the kind legal practitioners are likely to encounter in their daily working lives.
 Spoken texts include: legal presentations, lectures, discussions, and interviews
Written texts include: contract clauses, corporate documentation, commercial statutes, legal opinions
Writing tasks are based on the kinds of skills needed in the legal workplace: the ability to write letters, memoranda, and proposals in a legal context
Speaking Test will assess speaking skills in relation to the legal workplace
There are 4 parts to the test:
Test of Reading – 1h 15 min
Test of Writing – 1h 15 min
Test of Listening – 40 min
Test of Speaking – 16 min
ILEC is for law students and practising lawyers who are
 employed in an international legal environment (commercial law context, company legal departments, government agencies
intending to study law where the course includes a significant English language content, either in their own country or abroad
learning English as part of a training programme.
Furthermore, it aids legal employers with the hiring and training of personnel, and law faculties and language schools with the selection, placement and graduation of their students
ILEC provides a stamp of quality from an English language perspective. It is already recognised by leading international associations of lawyers including:
European Company Lawyers Association
European Law Students Association
International Association of Young Lawyers
European Young Bar Association
ILEC is administered twice a year – in May and November.
Forthcoming test dates are:
16 May 2009 , Registration 2 - 13 March 2009
14 Nov 2009, Registration 28 Sept - 2 Oct
Test results are normally reported within six weeks of the test date. Depending on their performance candidates who pass the exam receive either a B2 or C1 certificate.
it is expected that preparation courses for ILEC will be offered by language schools and possibly English departments of Law faculties in many countries
Cambridge University Press has published an ILEC course book “International Legal English”, authored by Amy Krois-Lindner and TransLegal, which can be borrowed from our library.
"Success with ILEC", authored by Nick Brieger, is scheduled to be published by Summertown publishing sometime in 2007.
Online resources will also be available here
You can download the ILEC Sample Papers here
The registration must be completed until the registration deadlines – for dates click here.
In order to register click here.
The exam fee is 1680,00 kn.
You can also pay using our WEB SHOP. Please note that you need to send us the Entry form together with the proof of payment by the registration deadline.
For more information on ILEC please visit www.legalenglishtest.org or contact us at the British Council.
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