Justice System Administration

All Programs

Location	Email Address	Program Website
120 McLaughlin College	jewan@yorku.ca	yorku.ca/gradstudies/ppal/programs/diploma/

The Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration’s program of study allows students in appropriate graduate programmes at York University to specialize formally in the area of Justice System Administration, and to be awarded a Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration. The graduate diploma is awarded concurrently with the master’s or doctoral degree for which the student is registered. For those students who successfully complete
both the graduate degree and graduate diploma, the graduate diploma is noted on the student’s transcript and awarded at the subsequent convocation. Students can only receive the graduate diploma if they successfully complete their graduate degree program. The graduate diploma aims to equip students with both the analytical and practical insights needed to help administer justice system programmes fairly, responsively and effectively. The graduate diploma’s program of study is geared to students who aspire to leadership positions in the justice system.

Each student is exposed to an in-depth analysis of the literature on judicial administration in Canada, with relevant comparisons to other related jurisdictions. In addition, students are exposed to a related body of literature on law and public administration, and students without substantial managerial experience in the justice system complete a twelve-week work placement that involves at least 100 hours of work.

Admission Requirements

Candidates for the graduate diploma must first be admitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies as candidates for a master’s or doctoral degree in one of the participating graduate programmes. Candidates formally register their intention to complete the graduate diploma with the graduate diploma coordinator following registration for their degree programme, at the time they define their program of study.

The Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration is interdisciplinary, open to students in any relevant graduate programme including, for example, Law, Public Policy Administration & Law, Political Science, Business Administration, International Business Administration, Socio-Legal Studies, and Sociology.

Diploma Requirements

Students must complete the programme requirements of the degree for which they are registered. In order to receive a Graduate Diploma
in Justice System Administration, each student must also satisfy the following requirements:

1. Successfully complete Public Policy, Administration & Law 6140 3.0/Law 6719 3.0: Court Organization and Management. Where available, the course may be taken by videostream either live, or by watching the videostream of the class within six days of each weekly class, and participating in a moodle forum discussion.

For all students except those master’s students registered with the Schulich School of Business or the Faculty of Urban & Environmental Change, Public Policy, Administration & Law 6140 3.0: Court Organization and Management is an additional requirement, over and above regular degree requirements, and may not be counted toward the course requirements for the master’s or doctoral degrees. For graduate diploma students registered in graduate programs in the Schulich School of Business or the Graduate Program in Environmental Studies, graduate diploma students must write a research paper beyond the normal degree requirements on a topic related to justice system administration approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator.

2. Successfully complete one of the following courses: Public Policy, Administration & Law 6100 3.0: Canadian Public Law, or Political Science 5601 3.0: Systems of Justice, or Political Science 5110 3.0: Judicial Administration in Canada, or Public Administration 6200 3.0/Political Science 6120 3.0: Canadian Public Law or Public Administration 6210 3.0/Law 3570 3.0: Public Administration and the Law, or another graduate course related to the study of law and the justice system approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator. For graduate students in the Faculty of Law, any of their degree courses count toward this requirement.

3. Students pursuing the Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration while pursuing a master’s degree program that requires a major research paper must choose a topic for their major research paper that is related to justice system administration and approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator. Students pursuing the Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration while pursuing a master’s requiring a thesis or a PhD must choose a topic for their thesis or dissertation that is related to justice system administration and approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator. Students pursuing the Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration while pursuing a coursework master’s degree must ensure that they take two three-credit courses, in addition to the six credits of Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration courses outlined in sections 1 and 2 above, that are approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator as being relevant to justice system administration. Students pursuing the Graduate Diploma in Justice System Administration while pursuing an MBA or International MBA must choose a topic for their Public Administration 6100 3.0 or Management 6100 3.0 course that is related to justice system administration and is approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator.

4. Work Placement: the work placement consists of a minimum 12 week, full-time, non- credit internship in an organization in the justice system or in an organization where management skills relevant to justice system administration may be developed. Students must work at least 100 hours in their internship. Students who have worked in the justice system for 12 weeks or more are exempt from this requirement. All placements must be approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator. All students are required to write a concise report on their placement experience and this report must be approved by the Graduate Diploma Coordinator. In exceptional circumstances, suitably qualified students may substitute an original research paper for the work placement with the permission of the Graduate Diploma Coordinator. In this case, the research paper would not count for credit toward the graduate diploma, but would replace the work placement requirement for the graduate diploma. Such an exception might, for example, be granted in the case of a student who already has experience working in a managerial capacity in the justice system. Students are required to locate their own work placement site.

Contact the Graduate Diploma Coordinator: Soren Frederiksen at sdfred@yorku.ca.

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