Bahir Dar University School of Law has been established within the context of the broader objectives of the University. The Department of Law was officially established by the decision of the University Senate in August 2001, and subsequently developed into a full-fledged Faculty in February 2004, renamed in 2009 as Law School.
The School of Law has as its mission of serving the basic purpose of playing a major role in producing adequately trained legal professionals who will be prepared to serve their community with legal skills, ethical and intellectual guidance, and to strengthen the qualification and man power of the personnel in the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, counselling and advisory departments, and other institutions engaged in law related activities at various levels. Conducting legal research and giving community services are also within the mission of the School. The School has also taken a share of responsibility in guaranteeing the proper dissemination of basic ideals of law, protection of universally acknowledged human rights and implementation of democratic governance.
With this short span of time, the School has contributed a lot to the justice sector of the country. It has trained, educated and graduated a mass of regular students drawn from all over the country in its regular Advanced Diploma and Degree Programs. It has trained a lot of people living in and around Bahir Dar in its diploma and LLB extension programs. It has also given tailor-made trainings to many people working in the various justice institutions of regional states in the country in its diploma as well as Degree summer and Distance (with face-to-face component) programs. In this regard the unique contribution of the School to the justice institutions of the Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Afar and Gambella regional states of Federal Ethiopia has been so remarkable.
Currently, in the field of law, the School is giving training in Regular LLB, Continuing Education LLB and Distance LLB programs. Because of the ever increasing demand for qualified legal professionals with high level of training, the School has already started expanding its horizon of training into master of laws programs. There are three specialized LLM Programs launched by the school. Regular Students have been admitted in all the three LLM programs. Moreover, we have broadened students’ and stakeholders’ access to our LLM through summer program. In this respect, the EFDRE Ministry of Defense and the Justice Bureau of Gambella Regional State send students to our LLM in Criminal Justice and Human Rights program in the summer arrangement. We also have admitted into our LLM Programs (on summer) personnel from the Amhara National Regional State Bureau of Justice, Supreme Court, and Justice System Reform and Research Institute. We are willing and ready to broaden this opportunity on project basis to other governmental and non governmental institutions.
