The Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb is the law school of the University of Zagreb. Founded in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa as part of her comprehensive reforms in the system of education in the Habsburg Monarchy, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in Croatia and all of Southeast Europe. Zagreb Faculty of Law offers BA, MA and Ph.D degrees in law, social work, social policy, public administration and taxation.
History
After the dissolution of the Society of Jesus, Empress Maria Theresa took the sweeping reforms in the educational system of the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1776 she issued a decree establishing the Royal Academy of Sciences as the highest educational institution in Kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia. The Academy consisted of faculties of Philosophy, Theology, and Law with former including political-cameral studies for the education of the Croatian administrative personnel which was founded in 1769 in Varaždin, the former Croatian capital. At the first formal meeting of the Royal Academy, it was determined that classes would begin on November 4, 1776. The first teachers were selected on the basis of public tenders. Empress personally confirmed the selection. At the time, the Faculty had four departments: canon law, general international public law, civil and law theory and political-cameral sciences. Classes were held mainly in Latin. The school system in the Monarchy was reorganized in 1850. Zagreb Academy was abolished, while the Faculty of Law was renamed into the Royal Academy of Legal Science, which thus became the only institution of higher education in Croatia until 1874. Since 1850, classes were held in the Croatian language. On 19 October 1874, the Royal University of Franz Joseph I was officially opened. The university consisted of three faculties; Theology, Philosophy, Legal and Administrative Sciences. All lectures were held in Croatian. Faculty worked under the name Royal Academy of Legal Science until 1926 when it was renamed to its present name - Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb. In the period between the two world wars, Faculty managed to retain its identity and attribute of the leading in the country despite many difficulties. The Faculty of Law merged with the College of Administration in 1968 and in 1983 the College of Administration and Interfaculty Studies for Social Workers. This resulted in the organization of the two-year administrative studies for administrative lawyers and the four-year social studies for social workers. Tax study was introduced in the year 1996. Education programs at the university lasted for three years until 1868 when they were extended to four. With the introduction of the Bologna process in 2005 integrated study for a graduate lawyer was extended to five years. In its first 75 years, the Faculty of Law had cca. 2,000 students. Between 1850 and 1874T, the Academy of Legal Science enrolled about 70 students annually, a total of about 1700. Today, there are more than 6000 students which makes the Faculty the second largest in the country, after Zagreb Faculty of Economics and Business.
Studies
Programs performed at the Faculty are: Faculty of Law:
