faculty of sciences
About the Faculty
General Overview
Shaping the Frontiers of Jurisprudence, Learning, and Character
The Faculty of Law at the University of Lagos is one of Nigeria’s most prestigious centres of legal education and scholarship. Established in 1962, the Faculty is one of the foundation teaching units of the University and has since developed a strong reputation for academic excellence, rigorous legal training, and impactful scholarship.
From its inception, the Faculty has been committed to providing a sound university education in law that responds to the changing social, political, and economic realities of society. Over the decades, the Faculty has produced generations of distinguished alumni who have made significant contributions to the judiciary, legal practice, academia, public service, and international institutions.
The Faculty of Law is organised into four major academic departments:
- Department of Commercial and Industrial Law
- Department of Jurisprudence and International Law
- Department of Private and Property Law
- Department of Public Law
The Faculty has benefited from the leadership of eminent jurists and scholars since its establishment. Its founding Dean was Professor L. C. B. Gower, a distinguished company law scholar whose work significantly influenced modern corporate law. He was succeeded by Professor T. O. Elias, Nigeria’s first indigenous Attorney-General and later Chief Justice of Nigeria and President of the International Court of Justice. Successive deans and faculty members have continued to build on this legacy, strengthening the Faculty’s reputation as a centre of excellence in legal education.
The Faculty maintains a strong relationship with its alumni and the broader legal community. Many alumni occupy leadership positions in the judiciary, government, academia, and private legal practice. The Faculty also engages actively with contemporary legal issues through seminars, research initiatives, and public lectures that contribute to national and global legal discourse.
Research Publication
THE FACULTY publishes two (2) periodicals, namely: Nigerian Journal of Contemporary Law and the UNILAG Journal of Human Rights Law.
Each of the four (4) Departments hosts a journal:
- The Journal of Private and Property Law
- Nigerian Journal of Public Law
- Commercial and Industrial Law Review
- Journal of International Law and Diplomacy
The Department of Private and Property Law also publishes the International Journal of Peace and Environment.
Dean’s Message
THE INCOMPARABLE FACULTY OF LAW was established in 1962 as one of the foundation teaching units of the University of Lagos. Teaching in the Faculty began in October 1962 with an academic staff of five persons (two Nigerians and three Englishmen); and twenty-six pioneer full-time students registered for a three-year Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree programme. A five-year part-time LL.B, degree programme was introduced in January 1963. with thirty students but the programme was terminated in 2006.
The Faculty considers its role as that of providing sound University legal education in line with the UNESCO Advisory Commission’s Report which proposed the establishment of the University of Lagos. Although Lagos is no longer the political capital of Nigeria, it remains the commercial nerve centre and an ever expanding industrial metropolis. The following observation in the UNESCO Report remains very valid.
Lagos is the judicial, commercial and international centre of the Federation and holds the largest concentration of practitioners. It is also the most rapidly developing industrial centre. Moreover, it is the centre of the Federal and constitutional development of law practice of the greatest significance for all members of the profession in the future. Finally, its general cultural advantages and its specific professional opportunities for association with the members of the bench, the bar and the federal legal services, both public and private, are self-evident.
Since its inception, the Faculty has been going through experimental stages involving several changes in the curriculum. In particular, the changes have taken into consideration the growing need to teach law in the light of social, political and economic changes and the need to inculcate the idea of understanding law not for its own sake but with reference to its relevance to society, locally and internationally.
The Faculty was divided into four Departments on 1st October, 1977. They are: Department of Commercial and Industrial Law, Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Department of Private and Property Law, and Department of Public Law.
Professor Abiola Sanni, SAN
FACULTY DEAN
Our Vision
To be the pace-setting and incomparable Faculty of Law in Nigeria and beyond, renowned for producing graduates distinguished by excellence in research, learning, and character.
Our Mission
To provide a platform of the highest academic standards in legal education and research, fostering rigorous scholarship, ethical values, and intellectual development for the advancement of law and society.
