The Faculty of Law of the University of Free State is one of the foremost law faculties in the country and strives also to become a global faculty to be reckoned with, in Africa and across the world. There are three departments within the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State: Mercantile Law, Private Law, and Public Law. Additionally, the Faculty of Law is home to the School of Financial Planning Law, the UFS Law Clinic, and the Free State Centre for Human Rights. The faculty has a physical location as the only law faculty in the Free State province. The faculty has put in place global best practices that help students achieve their desired success during their studies. Both our LLB and Postgraduate programs provide a pathway to a wide variety of careers that necessitate the application of law, in addition to litigation careers.
Our success is grounded in the capacity of the faculty to take account of up-to-date legal developments in the country and across the world and to synchronise this knowledge into the teaching processes of the faculty. This also allows our curricula to gain local, national, and international relevance. Our undergraduate programme further recognises the diversity available in the country and is designed around that, to enable our students to develop a diversity consciousness that would allow them to relate well with people beyond the institution. It is also intended to impart a range of entrepreneurial skills, to enable students for a range of different career choices within and outside the legal sector.
Similar developments are evident in the faculty’s postgraduate offering, with a variety of options available at each level, including master’s degrees, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor of Laws (LLD). Postgraduate study is offered at the faculty in a wide range of fields, including corporate practices, finances, investments, labour, human rights, constitutional law and other programmes that have become relevant in contemporary African society and the world in general.
Informed by the Vision 130 of the university, the faculty, building on its past excellence, is making strides in expanding its research. Our research output has increased steadily over the past several years, both in scope and in reach. We are proud to count in our ranks prominent scholars in a variety of fields, including several NRF rated researchers. The faculty proudly hosts the respected Journal of Juridical Science and regularly hosts and presents prominent international conferences, symposia and seminars, including the annual Right to Development Conference and the Mercantile Law conference.
Among others, the Law Clinic and the impact litigation programme of the Free State Centre for Human Rights, the faculty engages with the Bloemfontein and broader Free State community. We also present several moot court programmes, externships, and other engagements.
I welcome you to the Faculty of Law, University of Free State.