BDU School of Law holds validation workshop to Launch PhD program in Law

Bahir Dar University School of Law has held a one day international curriculum validation workshop to launch PhD program in Law today at Peda Campus, old Senate Hall.  In his introductory remark to the workshop, Ato Alebachew Birhanu, Director of the Law School, noted that because of the ever increasing demand for qualified legal professionals with high level training, the school has decided to expand its horizon of training into doctoral program in law, particularly in public international law and business law.  In the occasion, Ato Alebachew has also made a brief explanation about the law school and the activities it’s been undertaking to become a center of excellence in law and other related fields. The school is among the nation’s leading law schools in areas, such as the quality of education and training it provides and in the innovative postgraduate programs it run, according to Ato Alebachew. The school is also exemplary in terms of having a sustainable and reputable bi-annual legal journal, which has been serving as a forum for legal scholars and practitioners to publish quality manuscripts, he added.   Speaking about the community engagement of the Law School, Ato Alebachew pointed out that the school has been providing free legal aid service to the vulnerable members of the society here in Bahir Dar and the surrounding woredas by involving its teaching staff as well as students.  In his opening remark to the workshop BDU’s Vice President for academic affairs, Dr. Matebe Tafere said that the lunching of the PhD program by the Law School is in line with the university’s vision of becoming one of a premier research university in Africa by 2025.  Given the critical need for highly trained legal professionals in the country, it is imperative for the School of Law to launch PhD program. This is specially necessary to ensure continuity in the knowledge building, keeping up-to-date with newly emerging rudiments in the legal system of the country as well as the global system.  BDU School of Law is going to be the Second law School in Ethiopia in launching PhD program in law preceded by Addis Ababa University School of Law just by one year.   In the workshop, external reviewers from Addis Ababa University; Ghent University, Belgium; Kutztown University USA, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK have participated.  In addition, the School will also hold a curriculum review workshop tomorrow (25th of August, 2017) in order to launch additional two new masters programs (LLM in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, and MA in Governance and Development Studies).