SOAS School of Law

SOAS School of Law
Established 1947
Dean Carol Tan
Administrative staff
 50
Undergraduates 210
Postgraduates 130
Location Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom
Website www.soas.ac.uk/law/

The SOAS School of Law is the law school of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. It is based in Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom. The SOAS School of Law is the sole law school in the world dedicated to the study of legal systems in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.[1]

The School of Law has over 400 students. It offers programmes at the LL.B., LL.M. and MPhil/PhD level. International students have been the majority at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level for many years.

It publishes a number of journals, including the Journal of African Law, the Journal of Comparative Law and the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law. Along with the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC), it produces the Law, Environment and Development Journal (LEAD Journal). An independent student law journal is also published by undergraduate and graduate students, the SOAS Law Journal, and includes unique scholarship from faculty, students and alumni.

Notable alumni of the school of law include David Lammy MP, former President of Ghana John Atta Mills, Supreme Court justices from Nigeria and Sri Lanka, and Iranian human rights activist Ghoncheh Ghavami.

History

The SOAS School of Law was established in 1947 with Vesey-Fitzgerald as its first head, and as such is one of the 20 oldest law schools in England. Initially, the School of Law only hosted post-graduate students. In 1975, under the leadership of Antony Nicholas Allott, the school developed a uniquely comparative undergraduate LL.B. Honours programme that thrives to this day.[2] In 2012, the Head of the Law School, Mashood Baderin, was appointed as Special Independent Expert to Sudan by the United Nations Human Rights Council.[3] In 2013, Paul Kohler assumed the role as Head of the SOAS School of Law following the retirement of Baderin.

Academics

The SOAS School of Law Honours Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) programme is recognised as a Qualifying Law Degree by the Law Society of England and Wales and the Bar Council for the purposes of completing legal training. As such, the SOAS LL.B. satisfies all professional requirements for the Common Professional Examination. Admission is highly competitive with fewer than 80 available spaces each academic year.

Although many modules at SOAS embody a substantial element of English common law, all modules are taught as far as possible in a comparative or international manner with an emphasis in the way in which law functions in society. Thus, law studies at SOAS are broad and comparative in their orientation. All students study a significant amount of non-English law, start in the first year of the LL.B. course, where 'Legal Systems of Asia and Africa' is compulsory. Specialised modules in the laws and legal systems of particular countries and regions is also encouraged and faculty experts conduct modules in these subjects every year.

Several combination BA degrees also allow students to combine law courses with another faculty, including history and politics. The SOAS School of Law also has a Master of Laws (LL.M.) which provides many advanced courses on comparative, international and transnational commercial law- all focused on Asian and African legal issues. The SOAS School of Law also offers a PhD programme.

In addition to academic programmes, SOAS School of Law students also have access to several Pro Bono law clinics.[4] These Pro Bono law clinics offer students the opportunity to work alongside practising lawyers on actual cases involving human rights and civil rights which are taken on free of charge to the clients.

Research

The SOAS School of Law has expertise in the laws of Asian and African countries, human rights, transnational commercial law, environmental law, and comparative law.

It is home to the following research centres:

  • Centre for East Asian Laws (CEAL)
  • Centre for Law and Conflict
  • Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies (CEMS)
  • Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (CIMEL).

Faculty members routinely contribute to journals and publish volumes of leading research annually. The school has close ties with the internationally renowned Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, which is also part of the federal University of London.

Publications

The SOAS School of Law and faculty members are involved in the publication of the following legal research journals:

  • Journal of African Law,
  • Journal of Comparative Law,
  • Law Reports of the Commonwealth,[5]
  • Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law,
  • Law, Environment and Development Journal (LEAD Journal),
  • SOAS Law Journal (Co-founded by five SOAS law students, it is a student led and edited journal featuring submissions by students, alumni and faculty.)[6]

Rankings

Rankings
Global rankings
QS[7]
(2019) 		101-150
Complete[8]
(2019)		 23[9]
The Guardian[10]
(2019)		 25[11]

The SOAS School of Law was ranked 25th out of all British law schools by The Guardian League Table in 2018.[12] The QS World University Rankings placed SOAS in the 101-150 bracket in 2018.[13] However, it should be noted that due to the highly specialised orientation and academic niche that the SOAS School of Law serves, a true comparison to other generalist institutions is impossible.

SOAS Law Society

The SOAS Law Society promotes opportunities to learn about the study of law and career options to student members at SOAS. The Law Society hosts meetings, intercollegiate exchanges, mooting tournaments and other educational events. Although there was formerly a separate SOAS Bar Society that conducted bar-related programming and organised moot teams and tournaments, it merged with the Law Society in 2013. Past moot teams fielded by the SOAS Law Society or SOAS Bar Society have participated in the annual English Law Students Association (ELSA) Moot Tournament and the prestigious London Universities Mooting Shield, which was founded by SOAS Law School alumnus, barrister and present New York attorney Daniel Jackson.

Amal Clooney was a special lecturer on international criminal law.

Teaching

Faculty at the SOAS School of Law are routinely rated highly on national student satisfaction surveys, with the satisfaction rate reaching 91% in 2015.[14]

The SOAS School of Law has more than 30 full-time academic staff, 20 professors, many visiting professors and distinguished judicial and other visiting academic staff.

Visiting Professors

Notable alumni

Heads of State

John Atta Mills, former President of Ghana
Shirani Bandaranayake: 43rd Chief Justice of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court
David Lammy MP

Judiciary

Academics

  • Muhammad Mohar Ali - Bangladeshi Islamic Law scholar.
  • Antony Nicholas Allott - comparative law theorist, Professor of Asian Laws at SOAS
  • Mohammad Hashim Kamali - Leading expert on Islamic law, noted Afghan academic.
  • Chibli Mallat - International lawyer, a law professor, and a former candidate for presidency in Lebanon.
  • M. Ershadul Bari - Leading Bangladeshi Constitutional Law expert. He did his PhD in Constitutional Law from SOAS, University of London on a Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship in 1985. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka from 1991 to 2001. Subsequently, Professor Bari was appointed the Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh Open University- a position which he held for nearly 6 years. He, later, served the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a Professor of Law.[16][17]

Lawyers: Solicitors and Barristers

Politicians and Diplomats

Activists

See also

References

  1. ↑ "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016 - Law". 17 March 2016.
  2. ↑ SOAS School of Law Student Handbook: 2009
  3. ↑ "Professor Mashood Baderin appointed UN Independent Expert on human rights in the Sudan - SOAS University of London". www.soas.ac.uk.
  4. ↑ "SOAS law students establish international human rights advocacy network - Lawyer 2B". l2b.thelawyer.com.
  5. ↑ https://store.lexisnexis.co.uk/categories/products/law-reports-of-the-commonwealth-set-skuuksku9780406998422LRCMW29858/details
  6. ↑ "SOAS Law Journal -". SOAS Law Journal.
  7. ↑ "QS World University Rankings 2019". Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "University League Table 2019". The Complete University Guide. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Law - Top UK University Subject Tables and Rankings 2018". www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  10. ↑ "University league tables 2019". The Guardian. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "league table for law". The Guardian. 2017-09-21. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  12. ↑ "league table for law". The Guardian. 2017-09-21. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  13. ↑ https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2018/law-legal-studies
  14. ↑ "SOAS student satisfaction remains at highest level since NSS began". www.soas.ac.uk.
  15. ↑ http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/barristers/profile-pdf/amal-clooney/185
  16. ↑ Bari, M. Ershadul (1 June 2015). "The Establishment of the Judicial Appointments Commission in Malaysia to Improve the Constitutional Method of Appointing the Judges of the Superior Courts: A Critical Study". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 41 (2): 231–252. doi:10.1080/03050718.2015.1049634.
  17. ↑ "Acting Ameer expresses deep condolence over the death of Dr. Ershadul Bari". Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.