Centre for Human Rights

The Faculty also hosts the University’s Centre for Human Rights, which was established in 2000 with a take-off grant from the Ford Foundation.

The objectives of the Centre for Human Rights include: providing opportunities for the development of skills and knowledge in all areas of human rights study and work; promotion of constant interaction and exchange of ideas in the area of human rights through workshops, conferences, seminars and similar programmes; encouraging the development of academic exchanges and linkages between the Faculty and other faculties at individual as well as institutional levels, within and outside Nigeria;
promotion of the recognition of and respect for human rights among the populace, through the development and implementation of programmes of formal and informal education resources, through publications and the development of audio-visual materials to support human rights training, research and advocacy, among others.

Recently, the Centre entered into a formal relationship with Amnesty International in Nigeria under a Memorandum of Understanding between the University and Amnesty International. Under the agreement, the Centre runs a Human Rights Clinic with student membership.

The Student Body

A democratic student government, through the Law Students Society, was reinstated during the 2009/2010 Session. Some innovations were introduced in the nurturing of student-staff relations, through an event tagged “Bridge Time,” which allows students to interact freely with Academic Faculty, and discuss academic matters such as student academic performance and career prospects. Alumni of the Faculty who have achieved notable success sometimes participate in this forum. Students’ extra-curricular activities have been robust and productive. There are 4 Student Law Chambers namely: Taslim Elias Chambers, Kayode Eso Chambers, Oputa Chambers, and Gani Fawehinmi Chambers. Other student co-curricular associations which enable students to deepen their practical knowledge of legal fields and hone their law skills include the Mooting Society (established to handle all the various Mooting competitions involving the Faculty), the Maritime Forum, The Tax Club, the Oil and Gas Club and the ADR Society.

Following our Faculty’s observation of the poor attendance of our graduating students at the Convocation ceremonies, due to their enrolment at the Nigerian Law School, the Faculty inaugurated the formal Graduating Students’ Dinner, which takes place annually after the final examinations. It enables graduating students to celebrate with themselves and be celebrated by their junior colleagues and the Faculty before their departure.

National and International Activities for Students

The Faculty regularly participates in the Commonwealth Law Moot Court Competition, the Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the Oxford Media Moot Competition and other national mooting and debate competitions. It hosted the 18th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, organized by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa from the 3rd-10lh August, 2009 and has consistently participated in all the subsequent editions of the competition. At the 25th edition of the competition held in October 2016, the Faculty won the best team from West Africa sub-region and its Memorials ranked 3rd. The Faculty was the first and only West African University to qualify for the finals of the University of Oxford Price Media Law Moot Court Competition and in February 2017, it successfully hosted the first ever edition of the West African Rounds of the Price Media Law Moot Competition. It also won various awards at the National Model United Nations Conference, New York held in March 2016 including Distinguished Delegation and Outstanding Position Paper. In August 2016, it hosted the first Lagos Model United Nations (LMUN) being the first
ever organized Model United Nations bringing together Nigerian university students taking on global issues in a simulation of the United Nations system.

The Faculty and its Departments regularly organize public lectures. In 2016, the Department of Public Law commenced its Annual Public Law Lecture on the topic, “The Future of Public Law”. The Department of Commercial and Industrial Law also commenced its annual lecture series in 2016 with Maritime Law as its focus. The Faculty regularly organises seminars, roundtable and conferences on current national and global issues. In December 2015, the Department of Private and Property Law organized the Workshop on Lagos State Lands Registration Law while the Faculty organised the Consumer Protection Seminar, the Business and Human Rights Conference, the Law and Religion symposia which were held in conjunction with International Consortium of Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) country in the recent one is the boundary disputes between Nigeria and Cameroon on Bakassi Peninsula. The Faculty has the track record of producing not less than 45 Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Presently, three Senior Advocates of Nigeria are among the Faculty academic staff.

Partnership/Collaborations

The Faculty, through the University’s Office of International Relations and Partnerships, headed by Professor Akin Oyebode, and the School of Foundation Studies under the supervision of the office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics & Research), entered into relationships with other Universities for co-operation at different levels of academic activities. The Faculty and the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding which has been approved by the Senate of each University, for partnership and collaboration at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The academic Exchange Programme between the Faculty and Faculty of Law of the University of Sussex took off in 2016 with a student of the Faculty participating in an 8-week Junior Research Associate Programme and a member of the Faculty, Dr. Dayo Ayoade, in the All Research project.