University of Pretoria Faculty of Law

The University of Pretoria Faculty of Law was established in 1908. It consists of six academic departments, six centres, two law clinics and the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP). This faculty has Departments of Jurisprudence, Mercantile Law, Private Law, Procedural Law, Public Law and Centre for Human Rights. The faculty offers the undergraduate LLB degree, and postgraduate LLM/MPhil and LLD/PhD degrees.

The Oliver R Tambo Law Library houses the faculty's collection of legal materials and the Law of Africa collection.

The faculty organises the annual African and World Human Rights Moot Court Competitions. In 2006, the faculty's Centre for Human Rights received the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education. Since 1997, the university has produced more research output every year than any other institution in South Africa, as measured by the Department of Education's accreditation benchmark.

History
The proposal for a university for the capital, first mooted in the Volksraad in 1889, was interrupted by the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War in 1899. In 1902, after the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging, the Normal College for teacher training was established in Groenkloof, Pretoria, and in 1904, the Transvaal Technical Institute, with an emphasis on mining education, opened in Johannesburg. In 1906, the Transvaal Technical Institute changed its name to the Transvaal University College (TUC). On 4 March 1908, when Transvaal University College (TUC) transferred its arts and science courses to its newly established Pretoria Campus, the precursor to the university was established, initially offering courses in languages, sciences, and law.

In November 2019, Elsabe Schoeman became Dean of UP Law. Since August 2020, the Deputy Dean for Teaching and Learning has been Professor Charles Maimela, the youngest and first black Deputy Dean at UP Law.

UP Law currently employs approximately 70 dedicated full-time academics.

Global ranking
UP Law got a global 78th-placed ranking in 2023 and 60th in 2022, making it the highest ranked Faculty of Law on the African continent.

The faculty conferred 179 masters' and 35 doctoral graduates in 2017, 173 master's and 27 doctoral graduates in 2018, and 18 doctoral and 246 master's degrees in 2019.



Centres and institutes
Centres and institutes in the faculty include the Centre for Advanced Corporate & Insolvency Law, Centre for Child Law, Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Intellectual Property Law, Centre for Medicine & Law, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa and Sports Law Centre in Africa.

Centre for Human Rights
The Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, founded in 1986, is an organisation promoting human rights on the continent of Africa through educational outreach, including multinational conferences, seminars and publications such as Human Rights Law in Africa, the African Human Rights Law Journal, the African Human Rights Law Reports and The Constitutional Law of South Africa. The centre, which was founded during Apartheid, helped adapt a Bill of Rights for South Africa and contributed to creating the South African Constitution. In 2006, the centre received the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education.

Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa
The Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (ICLA), established at the beginning of 2011, is a research institute in the Faculty of Law with Professors Erika de Wet and Christof Heyns (the United Nations Special Rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions) being appointed as co-directors.

The ICLA coordinates the Oxford Constitutions Online African country reports and collaborates with the Centre for Human Rights to coordinate the Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts (ILDC) Online African case law.

Centre for Child Law
The Centre for Child was established in 1998 and is recognized as a law clinic by the Law Society. Established in 2003, the centre's Children's Litigation Project acts as amicus curiae in litigation in relation to children's rights by appearing in several cases before the North and South Gauteng High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court.

Pretoria University Law Press
The Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), within the Faculty of Law, publishes and distributes scholarly legal texts in English, Afrikaans, French, Arabic and Portuguese. PULP publishes a series of collections of legal documents related to African public law and legal textbooks from other African countries and is a member of the Publishers' association of South Africa.

Student activities
Law students participate in the following activities:
 * The Constitutional Tribunal is the judicial body of student governance and adjudicates disputes primarily between student organisations, and its judges sit on the panel of student disciplinary hearings.
 * The Pretoria Student Law Review (PSLR), published by PULP, is a student-driven and administered initiative providing an interactive student platform to discuss topical legal matters.
 * Law House provides a platform for social engagement, community outreach and student engagement with the faculty.
 * Several internal and external moot court competitions through the Moot and Debating Society.
 * The Student Disciplinary Advisory Panel (SDAP) may give advice to students appearing in front of student disciplinary hearings regarding the procedure of student disciplinary hearings.

Alumni
Well-known alumni include:

Politicians

 * Pik Botha, Minister of Foreign Affairs and later Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs
 * Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services (since May 2019)
 * Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa (1994–1999), honorary doctorate
 * Andries Nel, Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and now Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
 * J. G. Strijdom, Prime Minister of South Africa (1954–1958)

Justices/Judges

 * W. G. Boshoff, former Transvaal Judge President
 * Frikkie Eloff, former Transvaal Judge President
 * Brian Galgut, retired Deputy Judge President, KwaZulu-Natal High Court
 * Louis Harms, retired Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal
 * Mabel Jansen, former Judge of the Gauteng High Court
 * Johann Kriegler, retired Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa (1994–2002)
 * Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff, Chief Justice of South Africa (1972–1982)
 * Dikgang Moseneke, retired Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa (2005–2016), honorary doctorate
 * Piet Streicher, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal
 * Johann van der Westhuizen, Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

Other

 * George Bizos, honorary doctorate (died 9 September 2020)
 * Christof Heyns, former Director (1999–2006) of the Centre for Human Rights (died 28 March 2021)
 * Dire Tladi, Principal State Law Adviser for International Law for the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation and South Africa Mission to the United Nations
 * Anna-Marie de Vos
 * Wim Trengove
 * Leonora van den Heever