University of Glasgow School of Law

History

At the University's foundation in 1451, there were four original faculties: Arts, Divinity, Law and Medicine. Both Canon and Civil Law were taught, however by the sixteenth Century, instruction in both of these had fallen out of practice. It was during this time that James Dalrymple of Stair came to Glasgow to study for an M.A. (1633-1637) and then became a regent (1641-1647) teaching philosophy. He went on to become Lord President of the Court of Session in 1671, and published his Institutions of the Law of Scotland in 1681, the first systematic exposition of Scots Law. The Stair Building, where the School of Law is housed, is named in his honour.

In 1713, Queen Anne endowed the Regius Chair of Law at the University. The first occupant of the Chair (from 1714) was William Forbes, and subsequent notable Professors have included John Millar, William Gloag, David Walker and Joe Thomson. This revived the teaching of Law at Glasgow, and subsequent Chairs included the Chair of Conveyancing, established in 1861 by the Faculty of Procurators; the Douglas Chair of Civil Law in 1948; the Chair in Jurisprudence (1952); in Public Law (1965); and the John Millar Chair of Law in 1985, named for the previously mentioned Regius Professor of Law.

In 1984, the Faculty of Law became the Faculty of Law and Financial Studies, and in 1992, the individual legal departments were grouped together into the School. In 2005, the Faculty merged with the Faculty of Social Sciences, becoming the Faculty of Law, Business and Social Sciences. On 1 August 2010 the Faculty of Law, Business and Social Science was combined with the Adam Smith Business School, the School of Social and Political Studies, the School of Education and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies into a new College of Social Sciences.

Today

The School of Law is housed in the Stair Building (named for Viscount Stair), a row of internally connected terraced houses on The Square opposite the University Chapel. The School is associated with traditional Scots law teaching and with internationally recognised research across a wide range of subjects including Corporate Law and Financial Regulation, Intellectual Property Law, and Law and Security.

CREATe

CREATe is the RCUK research centre for copyright and new business models in the creative economy. With an ambitious programme of 40 projects delivered by an interdisciplinary team of academics (law, cultural economics, management, computer science, sociology, psychology, ethnography and critical studies), the centre is a pioneering academic initiative designed to help the UK cultural and creative industries thrive and become innovation leaders within the global digital economy. CREATe will examine the business, regulatory and cultural infrastructure of the cultural and creative industries by exploring cutting-edge questions around digitisation, copyright, and innovation in the arts and technology. The University of Glasgow, leads a consortium of 7 Universities which also comprises the University of East Anglia, the University of Edinburgh, Goldsmiths (University of London), University of Nottingham, University of St Andrews and the University of Strathclyde. CREATe is supported by £5m of funding over four years (2012-2016) from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Chairs

The following Chairs of the University have provinces within the School of Law:

Courses Offered

The School of Law offers the following undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses.

Undergraduate

Applicants for all undergraduate courses, except the two-year accelerated LL.B., are required to sit the Law National Admissions Test.

Taught Postgraduate

The School of Law,in addition to the Masters courses above, also offers the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice.

Research Degrees
The School of Law awards the degrees of LL.M. by Research and Ph.D. and offers research supervision in most areas of Law.

Study Abroad

The School of Law has fostered links with universities all around the world to provide exchange and study abroad programmes. Students have 37 European and international partnerships including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the USA to choose from. Approximately 65% of the third year student cohort study abroad. In addition to being a necessary part of the Law with Languages programme it is open to all honours students in the School of Law. The School's International Officer is Professor Jim Murdoch.

Students

Students in the School of Law elect class representatives from each of their classes to represent them at meetings of committees within the School of Law. The School comes within the College of Social Science constituency on the Students' Representative Council.

Law Society

The Glasgow University Law Society organises social activities for students at the School of Law, including the annual Law Ball, held every February. The event is of a comparable size to the GUSA Ball, and because of the number of students attending it is necessary to hold the event in city centre hotels as there is no hall in the University large enough to accommodate it. The Society co-ordinate various different events, focusing around being either social, academic or charity, headed by their respective Convenor.

The Society is student-run by a committee elected in the Spring, comprising President (Alasdair McCrone), Vice-President Social (Laura Rankin) and Academic (Ciaran Harkness), Secretary (David Jeffries), Treasurer (Christopher Rae), Media Convenor (Melissa Wilson), Charities & Community Convenor (Blayre McBride), Sports Convenor (Alasdair MacDonald), a 4th Year Representative (Annie Liddle), a 3rd Year Representative (Josh Speirs), two 2nd Year Representatives (Saif Gilani and Robyn Hunter) and two 1st Year Representatives (Christopher Jackson and Niamh Speirs). Membership is open to all students of the School of Law, and the Society is affiliated to the SRC.

The Society publishes the Glasgow University Law Review, an annual publication containing legal articles written by members of the Society. The Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review sits on the Society committee.

Mooting

The School of Law has a student-run Mooting Society, which runs an internal competition, The Dean's Cup, as well as organising the Alexander Stone National Legal Debate. All Scottish universities offering the LL.B. are entitled to enter this, although the competition is generally between Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde universities. The final is held in February or March each year in the Alexander Stone Court Room on the ground floor of the Stair Building. University of Strathclyde currently holds the trophy.

The Sheriff's Cup, organised by Glasgow Sheriff Court, is an inter-varsity event held between Glasgow and Strathclyde and judged by a Senator of the College of Justice. The moot is held annually and takes place in one of the larger court rooms at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The team of Craig MacLeod and Christopher Rae led Glasgow to victory in 2016, with the moot judged by Lord Matthews.

The Society is supported by Mr Stephen Bogle, and the current President of the Mooting Society is Christopher Rae.

Alumni

There have been many distinguished alumni of the School of Law, some of whom are listed below. These include the first woman appointed to the Scottish Bench, five current judges of the Court of Session (including the present Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill), two Law Lords, six Lord Presidents, twelve Lord Advocates, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and a Lord Chancellor, as well the first First Minister of Scotland, the current First Minister, and a Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.

Law

Politics

Other professions

Staff