Bangor University admitted to European School of Law Network

Bangor University has become a member of the prestigious European School of Law, a network of only 16 universities worldwide.

It joins leading universities from nine countries – including the United States, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece and Ireland – in a collaborative initiative which strives to improve students’ understanding of EU legal systems and the various legal traditions within Europe.

Established by Toulouse 1 Capitole University, the European School of Law (or Ecole Europeenne De Droit) promotes the teaching of cultural, linguistic and legal diversity as part of a law degree, with the view of producing law graduates who recognise and understand how both national and European laws operate across national borders.

It does this by encouraging student mobility through exchange partnerships, and developing double degrees which see the students split their studies equally between two member universities. Bangor already delivers one such degree in partnership with Toulouse – the LLB English Law and French Law – which has been very well-received, and enables graduates to attain both an LLB from Bangor and a Masters 1 in Law from its French partner.

Students start the programme in Toulouse, where they study major Civil Law subjects for two years, followed by a two further years of Common Law studies at Bangor. This enables them to move comfortably between the Civil and Common Law worlds, thereby preparing them as international commercial lawyers of the future.

Welcoming Bangor’s admission to the European School of Law, Professor Dermot Cahill, Head of Bangor Law School, said: “Participating in the network gives us access to some of Europe’s great universities, such as the University of Barcelona, the University of Milan, the University of Thessaloniki, and the Universities of Passau and Mannheim in Germany. We are delighted with the quality of the graduates that have already come to us from Toulouse, and I know that they have found it very enriching to study both the Civil and Common Law traditions here.

He added: “Creating innovative programmes like our joint degree with Toulouse takes a lot of effort and attention, but it is one of the reasons why we are now listed as one of the best law schools in the United Kingdom. We were recently ranked as the top law school in Wales in the latest Guardian league tables, and we achieve consistently high scores in the annual National Students’ Survey. Clearly, students can see that our method of instruction and our intellectual formation as being suitable for their future employment prospects”.

This ‘method of instruction’ includes an emphasis on enhancing students’ employability through practical experience. “Our internship programme has been highly praised – at the moment, we are unable to satisfy demand amongst employers who are specifically seeking Bangor graduates to undertake their internship placements.

“When I asked one big American law firm recently why they like to take our graduates on internships, they replied that they “like taking Bangor graduates because they know what to do”. This was high praise indeed, and great to hear.” 

Students interested in finding out more about the LLB English Law and French Law should contact Julien DeLord at Toulouse 1 Capitole University at Julien.Delord@ut-capitole.fr

Publication date: 12 January 2016