UCL Faculty of Laws

UCL Faculty of Laws

Established	1826
Dean	Dame Hazel Genn
Administrative staff	150
Undergraduates	650
Postgraduates	390
Location	Bentham House, London, United Kingdom
Website	www.ucl.ac.uk/laws

The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL). It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom.^[1] It is one of the world’s leading law schools, ranking 11th globally in the 2015 QS World University Rankings by Subject for Law.^[2][3][4] Established in 1826, the Faculty was the first law school in England to admit students regardless of their religion, and the first to admit women on equal terms with men.

The Faculty has a student body comprising around 650 undergraduates, 350 taught graduates and around 40 research (MPhil/PhD) students and offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate degrees.^[5] It publishes a number of journals, including Current Legal Problems, Current Legal Issues, and the UCL Jurisprudence Review.

Notable alumni of the Faculty include Mahatma Gandhi (leader of the Indian independence movement), Chaim Herzog (President of Israel 1983–1993), Sir Ellis Clarke (President of Trinidad and Tobago 1976-1986), Lord Woolf (Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales 2000-2005), Lord Goldsmith QC (Attorney General for England and Wales 2001-2007), Terry Davis (Secretary General of the Council of Europe 2004–2009) and Chao Hick Tin (Judge of Appeal in Singapore 2008-2015).

History

Bentham House, the main building of the UCL Faculty of Laws. The Gideon Schreier Wing can be seen to the right.

The Faculty was established in 1826 and is one of the oldest law schools in England. It was the first law school in England to offer a systematic university education to men and women, irrespective of religious beliefs and social backgrounds. The Faculty’s first professor was the noted legal philosopher, John Austin (Professor of Jurisprudence). Andrew Amos, a successful barrister, became the first Professor of English Law (and later Professor of Medical Jurisprudence).

Hazel Genn was appointed as dean of the Faculty in September 2008.^[6]

In November 2010 the Faculty launched the UCL Judicial Institute, the first specialist academic centre for research and teaching about the judiciary to be established in the UK.^[7]

Building

The Faculty is based at Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, a few minutes’ walk from the main UCL campus. The building is named after philosopher, jurist and reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), who is closely associated with UCL. The main building was originally constructed in 1954–8 as a headquarters for the National Union of General and Municipal Workers: the exterior decoration includes at fifth-floor level five relief sculptures of industrial workers by Esmond Burton.^[8] It was acquired by UCL and occupied by the Faculty in 1965.^[9] In the mid-2000s, the Faculty expanded into the adjacent 1970s building in Endsleigh Street, formerly the B'nai B'rith Hillel House (a social and residential centre for Jewish students), now renamed the Gideon Schreier Wing.

Facilities at Bentham House include teaching rooms, lecture halls, a courtroom for moots, a student lounge, a coffee bar and two computer cluster rooms.^[5]

In November 2014 an £18.5 million redevelopment of Bentham House received planning permission.^[10] Levitt Bernstein are the architects for the project.^[10]

Academics

Research

The main portico of University College London

The Faculty was placed joint first in the UK for the proportion of its research activity in the top two star categories (75% 4*/3*) in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.^[3] It is home to a number of associated research centres and institutes:^[11]

• Centre for Commercial Law
• Centre for Criminal Law
• Centre for Empirical Legal Studies
• Centre for Ethics & Law
• Centre for International Courts & Tribunals
• Centre for Law & Economics
• Centre for Law and the Environment
• Centre for Law and Governance in Europe
• Institute of Brand and Innovation Law
• Institute of Global Law
• Institute for Human Rights
• Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics
• Judicial Institute

Teaching

Undergraduate

The Faculty receives an average of around 2,500 applications for approximately 140 undergraduate places each year.^[12] The minimum entry requirements are A*AA grades at A-level, plus a pass in a fourth subject at AS level and a high LNAT score.^[13] All candidates to whom an offer is contemplated being made who are identified as requiring particular consideration are interviewed.^[13] There are no places available through the UCAS clearing process.^[12]

Graduate

The Faculty admits approximately 350 students to its graduate LLM course each year.^[5]

The minimum entry requirements for the MPhil and PhD are a bachelor's degree with a first or high upper second honours together with an LLM with an average grade of 65% (ideally with evidence of first class ability).^[14]

Publications

The Faculty publishes a number of journals, including Current Legal Problems, Current Legal Issues, and the UCL Jurisprudence Review.

Public lectures

The Faculty hosts a number of free public lectures each week (including the Current Legal Problems series) on a wide range of legal topics. These lectures are delivered by eminent academics from major universities around the world, senior members of the judiciary and leading legal practitioners.

Rankings

The Faculty is regarded by many to be "the best law faculty in the UK".^[15] In 2009 the Independent University Guide ranked the quality of teaching at the Faculty joint first in the UK alongside the University of Oxford.^[16] During a recent peer-review assessment conducted by The Sunday Times, the Faculty recorded perfect scores for teaching and research quality, confirming its reputation as one of UCL’s most outstanding departments.^[17]

In 2009, the Faculty enjoyed a 100% graduate employment rate, compared to 99.7% at the University of Oxford, 98% at the University of Cambridge and 97% at the London School of Economics.^[16] Many graduates go on to pursue legal careers at 'Magic Circle' law firms and leading barristers’ chambers.^[16]

In the 2014 QS World University Rankings by Subject UCL is ranked 12th in the world (and 4th in Europe) for Law.^[18] In domestic rankings UCL is ranked first for Law in the 2014 Guardian University Guide,^[19] third in the 2014 and 2017 Complete University Guide^{[20] [21]} and 6th in the Times and Sunday Times League Table.^[22]

UCL Law Society

The UCL Law Society has existed for more than 70 years and is regarded as one of the most prestigious student law societies in the UK.^[23] The vast majority of LLB students become members of the Law Society upon matriculation. LLM and non-law students are able to join as affiliate members.^[24]

The Law Society is led by the President and 17 other officers who are (apart from the First Year Representative) elected in March towards the end of the academic year. Election into the UCL Law Society is highly competitive and only LLB students are allowed to be nominated for positions. LLM and non-law students are not allowed to run for elections or vote. The campaigning period lasts for five days, and the voting period lasts for three days.^[25] Following a year of service, the President's name is engraved on a board in the Law Faculty.

The Law Society holds around one activity per day during the academic year and regularly hosts top judges, academics and lawyers around the world. ^[26] The Law Society organises a wide range of competitions in mooting, debating, negotiation and client interviewing, and has multiple legal publications including Silk v Brief.^[27] The Law Society also provides the most comprehensive legal careers programme at UCL and is supported by a range of barristers' chambers, City and national law firms, and overseas law firms.^[28]

There is a separate LLM Society which caters solely to LLM students. The UCL Law Society and the LLM Society are independent of each other.

Notable academic staff

The Faculty has more than 50 full-time academic staff, including 29 professors, many visiting professors and distinguished judicial and other visiting academic staff. The current list of professors include:

Professor Philippe Sands QC in a hearing at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

• Eric Barendt - Emeritus Professor of Media Law
• Ian Dennis - Professor of English Law
• Dame Hazel Genn DBE QC - Professor of Empirical Legal Studies
• Stephen Guest - Professor of Legal Philosophy
• Sir Hugh Laddie QC - late Professor of Intellectual Property Law
• Riz Mokal - Professor of Law and Legal Theory
• Philippe Sands QC - Professor of Law
• Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf - former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Visiting Professors

• Winston Chu - lawyer and activist
• Eileen Denza^[29]
• Elizabeth Wilmshurst

Notable alumni

Sir Alfred Wills

Judiciary

• Samuel Eson Johnson Ecoma – former Chief Judge of Cross River State (1990–1995)
• A.S. Anand – Chief Justice of India (1998–2001)
• Dame Margaret Booth – High Court Judge
• Herbert Cozens-Hardy, 1st Baron Cozens-Hardy – Master of the Rolls (1907–1918)
• Samuel Azu Crabbe – Chief Justice of Ghana (1973–1977)
• Sudhi Ranjan Das – Chief Justice of India (1955–1959)
• Taslim Elias – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (1972–1975); Judge of the International Court of Justice (1976–1991); President of the International Court of Justice (1982–1985)
• Joseph Fok – Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (2013–present)
• Lord Goldsmith QC – Attorney General for England and Wales (2001–2007)
• Hassan Bubacar Jallow – current Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (2003–present); former Attorney-General, Minister of Justice and Judge of the Supreme Court of Gambia
• Sir George Jessel – first Jewish Solicitor General for England and Wales (1871–1873); first Jewish regular member of the Privy Council; first Jewish judge in UK; Master of the Rolls (1873–1883)
• Dame Bernice Lake QC – first Eastern Caribbean woman to be appointed Queen's Counsel^[30]
• Sir Gavin Lightman QC – High Court Judge (Chancery Division), England
• Sir John Salmond KC – legal scholar; Judge of the High Court of New Zealand
• Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal PC QC – Attorney General for England and Wales (2007–2010); first black woman to be appointed Queen's Counsel
• Sir Thomas Scrutton – Lord Justice of Appeal (1916–1934)
• Thirugnana Sampanthar Sinnathuray – Former Judge of the High Court of Singapore (1978–1997)
• Chao Hick Tin – Incumbent Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of Singapore; Former Attorney-General of Singapore (2006–2008)
• Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912) – High Court Judge who presided over the trial of Oscar Wilde
• Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf – Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (2000–2005)
• Sir Yang Ti-liang GBM – Chief Justice of Hong Kong (1988–1996)

Other

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

• Ghazi Abdul Rahman Algosaibi – Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Bahrain (1984 to 1992); Saudi Arabian Ambassador to United Kingdom and Ireland (1992–2002)
• Sir John Baker QC FBA – legal historian; Downing Professor of the Laws of England, University of Cambridge
• Peter Birks QC FBA – Regius Professor of Civil Law, University of Oxford
• Andrew Cayley – International Co-Prosecutor, Khmer Rouge Tribunal (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia)
• Sir Ellis Clarke – Governor-General of Trinidad and Tobago (1973–1976); President of Trinidad and Tobago (1976–1986)
• Terry Davis – Secretary General of the Council of Europe
• Geoffrey Dear, Baron Dear – Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary (1990–1997)
• Shreela Flather, Baroness Flather – first Asian woman to receive a peerage
• Mahatma Gandhi – Indian Nationalist and Spiritual Leader
• Garry Hart, Baron Hart of Chilton – former Special Adviser to the Lord Chancellor (1998–2007)
• Chaim Herzog – President of Israel (1983–1993)
• J. B. Jeyaretnam – Singapore politician and former leader of the Workers' Party of Singapore
• Sylvia Lim – Member of Parliament in Singapore and Chairman of the Workers' Party of Singapore
• Digby Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham – British politician and businessman; Minister of State for Trade
• Julie Maxton – Registrar of the University of Oxford (first woman in 550 years)
• Leonard Sainer – Solicitor and retailer
• L. J. K. Setright – Motoring author and journalist
• Rabindranath Tagore (did not graduate) – Bengali poet; Nobel Prize in Literature (1913); first Asian Nobel Laureate
• Carol Thatcher – Journalist, author and media personality
• David Ivor Young, Baron Young of Graffham – Secretary of State for Employment (1985-1987); Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1987-1989)
• Wu Ting Fang (1842–1923) – the first ethnic Chinese person to be called to the Bar in England

See also

• Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
• List of University College London people in the Law

References

External links

• UCL Faculty of Laws
• University College London

Law schools in the United Kingdom
Law school Legal education in the United Kingdom Law of the United Kingdom
England	London BPP Law School City Law School (Inns of Court School of Law) University of East London School of Law Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Kaplan Law School King's College London School of Law SOAS School of Law UCL Faculty of Laws University of Law Other BPP Law School UWE Bristol Law School Faculty of Law, Cambridge Durham Law School University of East Anglia Law School University of Law Leeds Law School Manchester Law School Nottingham Law School School of Law, Oxford Brookes University University of Oxford Faculty of Law
Northern Ireland	Ulster University School of Law
Scotland	University of Aberdeen School of Law University of Dundee School of Law University of Edinburgh School of Law University of Glasgow School of Law Strathclyde Law School
Wales	Cardiff Law School
Defunct	Oxford Institute of Legal Practice
Category