History

The Faculty of Law is both a young and old faculty. Young because it became a separate faculty in 1993 after being part of the Faculty of Social Sciences from 1970. Old because the Faculty of Law was actually one of the original four faculties at the university's founding in 1479 and was subsequently independent until 1848.

From 1479 and for about the next 250 years, the faculty’s research and teaching was exclusively oriented towards international law, specifically canon law and Roman law. National law did not develop until around 1700 – when it played a key role in the introduction, by royal decree, of a university degree in law in 1736. In this way, law was turned into a so-called professional degree programme. A pass in a legal exam was needed to be employed in specific types of jobs within the legal profession, e.g. as a judge or lawyer. This was the beginning of close relations between the University and the legal sector – relations that exist to this very day. 

You can read more about the history of the faculty in The Faculty of Law. The Teaching of Law at the University of Copenhagen since 1479 by Ditlev Tamm, University of Copenhagen, 2010. 

The faculty’s employer panel for the legal study programmes advises faculty management on the best possible strategic development of the full-time and part-time law programmes, as well as of other relevant continuing and further education programmes.