The School of Law of “ADA” University, which was founded on the premises of the former Law Program of “ADA” University in 2022, offers the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), an undergraduate degree in law. Since its inauguration in 2018, the Law Program, and presently, the Law School has successfully become one of the fastest growing and leading academic institutions at “ADA” University, drawing in a large number of the highest caliber students who are dedicated to becoming modern lawyers of the global future.
The necessity for establishing a brand-new School of Law at “ADA” University emanates from certain historical, political, and legal factors, which have existed for decades in Azerbaijan. The process of democratic reformation of the existing legal system in Azerbaijan started after regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, which necessitated reshaping the philosophy of public institutions, strengthening respect for fundamental human rights of individuals, providing effective legal protection mechanisms, and establishing fair terms of market competition for private enterprises. Therefore, developing a modern and competitive law school capable of accommodating global legal challenges while also serving domestic needs has become a crucial commitment.
Aims and Goals
Following the best international academic standards, incorporated in modern legal education, the Law School is primarily missioned at training a new generation of lawyers, who shall be equipped with the set of necessary knowledge and skills that will assist them to operate in domestic legal markets and to face the challenges of the global legal system. We have a solid perception that this holistic mission may be accomplished by adhering to the main goals of the Law School, which are outlined below:
Structure of Legal Education
The “ADA” University requires acquiring at least 240 ECTS credits for graduating from an undergraduate program. In this regard, the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) is offered as a full-time undergraduate degree program and partially taught in English (24 courses out of 47 total courses are offered in English). In the last year of education, the law “specialization” is offered in three directions: "Law and Government", "Law and Business” and "Law and Technology ".
Furthermore, the Law School places a strong emphasis on clinical and practical legal education. Therefore, it requires students to complete two summer externships (offered in the First Instant Courts, the Prosecutor’s Offices, and Law Firms), a “Legal Clinic” course, and 2 additional courses on “Legal Writing and Research”.
The ADA University enjoys wide academic cooperation and student exchange agreements with more than 133 (one hundred thirty-three) foreign universities from 44 (fourty-four) countries. In this regard, the Law Program has exchange agreements with more than 80 (eighty) Schools of Law, representing different international universities, including American University (USA), University of Glasgow (UK), Tel-Aviv University (Israel), University of Bologna (Italy), University of Geneva (Switzerland), Martin Luther University (Germany) and Catholic University of Lille (France), Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania). See the list of all partner universities here.
In the national context, the Law School has already established close cooperation with the main legal actors, namely, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Head Prosecutors’ Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Bar Association of Lawyers of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As legal education has been acquiring transnational character in the modern world, the School of Law offers courses both in Azerbaijani and English. In this regard, while some courses, which are strictly affiliated with national jurisprudence are offered in Azerbaijani (e.g., “Constitutional Law”, “Criminal Law”, “Law of Obligations” or “Criminal Procedural Law”), other courses with international or theoretical dimensions (e.g., “International Public Law”, “EU Law”, or Jurisprudence) are taught in English.
Education offered at ADA University is not only aimed at providing students with those capacities, which will enable them to be masters of their fate and to think critically about any permissible conceptions of the good, but also introducing them to civic virtues, which will lead them to be good citizens.
The faculty recruitment strategy (full-time and adjunct faculties) in the Law School involves hiring high-caliber professors and experienced practicing lawyers. Our professors have either obtained academic degrees from or spent enough research time at the top international universities.
Furthermore, the Law School has also been privileged to host several adjunct lecturers who are prominent barristers or serve as Judges at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Appeal Courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
