Faculty of Law and Administration is the oldest unit of the Jagiellonian University. In 1364, when the University was established, 8 out of 11 chairs were devoted to legal sciences. At the beginning only courses in Canon Law and Roman Law were available. At present, the faculty is recognised as the best law faculty in Poland[1] with the best bar passage rates[2][3][4] and one of the finest in Central Europe.
In 1851 the first student scientific association in Poland was founded here (TBSP UJ).
Studies
The programme of studies is based on individual students' choices. Magister's long-cycle programme in Law contains a very limited number of obligatory courses (ex. penal law, constitutional law, civil procedure) while fundamental courses and courses of specialisation depend on students' preferences.
Study programmes
The Faculty conducts one long-cycle 5-year Master's degree programme (magister) in Law, one first-cycle 3-year Bachelor's degree programme (licencjat) in Administration and second-cycle 2-year Master's degree programmes (magister) in Administration and Local Self-Government Administration.
Several postgraduate programmes are conducted in Polish as well as in other languages, e.g. LL.M. Polnisches Wirtschaftsrecht, LL.M. in American and International Business and Trade Law organised by the Columbus School of Law (Washington), Master en Droit Privé (M2) organised by the University of Orléans or LL.M. International Studies in Intellectual Property Law organised by the Institute of Intellectual Property Law (Faculty of Management and Social Communication) in cooperation with Dresden University of Technology.
The Faculty is well known for its international approach in legal education due to the programme of study, foreign degree programmes and several schools of foreign laws in Kraków and abroad:
School of American Law - aside from the American Law Program (recognised as a part of the LL.M. programme of the Columbus School of Law) and multiple guest lectures, the School runs several special projects, e.g. workshops on negotiation, legal writing or translation, in cooperation with law offices and business institutions;
Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University hosts the International Business and Trade Summer Law Program organised by The Catholic University of America (Columbus School of Law). This summer program has been authorized by the Accreditation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education.[5]
Aside from multiple exchange agreements in the framework of the ERASMUS programme (54 universities in 2009), the Faculty enjoys an exchange program with the Faculty of Law of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine). University-wide exchange programmes are also open for the students of the Faculty.
Andrzej Zoll (born 1942), professor of penal law, former judge and president of the Constitutional Tribunal, former Ombudsman, former president of the Electoral Commission, former president of the Legislative Council, co-author of the Polish Penal Code of 1997.
At present, the faculty includes judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, as well as co-authors of the most important legal acts in contemporary Poland (such as the Constitution, the Penal Code, the Code of Commercial Partnerships and Companies or the local self-government acts).
Organisation
Larische PalaceCollegium Novum – lectureAuditorium MaximumCollegium Iuridicum
Cooperating University units organising courses for law students:
Institute of Intellectual Property Law * (Faculty of Management and Social Communication).
Chair of Forensic Medicine * (Faculty of Medicine)
Chair of Pathomorphology (Faculty of Medicine)
Jagiellonian Language Centre
Physical Education Section
Other cooperating units:
Institute of Forensic Research (Ministry of Justice)
Before graduation from the Master of Laws programme, students are obliged to complete 10 obligatory courses, 11 out of 21 fundamental courses, 2-year seminar of specialisation in a chosen Chair, 3-month apprenticeship, and a number of courses of specialisation (about 100 courses available), which should allow students to obtain 300 ECTS credits. The degree is granted after submitting Master's thesis and passing Master's Examination before a commission appointed by student's Chair of specialisation.
