Law Schools Around the World

The oldest law schools, on one timeline

Every school in this guide founded before 1650, oldest first. The year is when the school, or the university it belongs to, was founded; for the earliest ones the dates are traditional.

1. 859 University of al-Qarawiyyin, Faculty of Sharia, Fez, Morocco · Africa

   Founded in 859 as a mosque-school; its standing as the oldest university is traditional and debated. It taught Islamic law from the beginning.

2. 970 Al-Azhar University, Faculty of Sharia and Law, Cairo, Egypt · Africa

   The mosque-school of al-Azhar dates from 970; its faculty of Islamic law and law is much later.

3. 1088 University of Bologna, Department of Legal Studies, Bologna, Italy · Europe

   Often called the oldest university in continuous operation; its law teaching began the revival of Roman law in Europe.

4. 1096 University of Oxford, Faculty of Law, Oxford, United Kingdom · Europe

   Teaching at Oxford is recorded from about 1096; the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

5. 1209 University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law, Cambridge, United Kingdom · Europe

6. 1218 University of Salamanca, Faculty of Law, Salamanca, Spain · Europe

   The oldest university in Spain.

7. 1222 University of Padua, Law School, Padua, Italy · Europe

8. 1289 University of Montpellier, Faculty of Law, Montpellier, France · Europe

   Law was taught at Montpellier from the twelfth century.

9. 1290 University of Coimbra, Faculty of Law, Coimbra, Portugal · Europe

   The oldest university in Portugal.

10. 1303 Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Law, Rome, Italy · Europe

11. 1348 Charles University, Faculty of Law, Prague, Czechia · Europe

12. 1364 Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Law and Administration, Kraków, Poland · Europe

13. 1365 University of Vienna, Faculty of Law, Vienna, Austria · Europe

14. 1386 Heidelberg University, Faculty of Law, Heidelberg, Germany · Europe

    The oldest university in present-day Germany.

15. 1409 Leipzig University, Faculty of Law, Leipzig, Germany · Europe

16. 1425 KU Leuven, Faculty of Law, Leuven, Belgium · Europe

17. 1450 University of Barcelona, Faculty of Law, Barcelona, Spain · Europe

18. 1451 University of Glasgow, School of Law, Glasgow, United Kingdom · Europe

    A Scottish law school: Scots law is a separate system.

19. 1460 University of Basel, Faculty of Law, Basel, Switzerland · Europe

20. 1472 Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Faculty of Law, Munich, Germany · Europe

21. 1477 Uppsala University, Faculty of Law, Uppsala, Sweden · Europe

22. 1479 University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law, Copenhagen, Denmark · Europe

23. 1499 Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Law, Madrid, Spain · Europe

    Founded at Alcalá de Henares in 1499, moved to Madrid in 1836.

24. 1538 Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Faculty of Law, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic · North and Central America and the Caribbean

    The oldest university in the Americas.

25. 1541 The Honorable Society of King's Inns, Dublin, Ireland · Europe

    The professional training school for barristers, founded 1541.

26. 1551 National University of San Marcos, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Lima, Peru · South America

27. 1559 University of Geneva, Faculty of Law, Geneva, Switzerland · Europe

28. 1575 Leiden University, Faculty of Law, Leiden, Netherlands · Europe

29. 1579 Vilnius University, Faculty of Law, Vilnius, Lithuania · Europe

30. 1585 University of Graz, Faculty of Law, Graz, Austria · Europe

31. 1592 Trinity College Dublin, School of Law, Dublin, Ireland · Europe

32. 1592 University of Malta, Faculty of Laws, Msida, Malta · Europe

33. 1613 National University of Córdoba, Faculty of Law, Córdoba, Argentina · South America

34. 1624 Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, Faculty of Law, Sucre, Bolivia · South America

    A famous seat of legal learning in colonial South America.

35. 1632 University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law, Amsterdam, Netherlands · Europe

36. 1632 University of Tartu, School of Law, Tartu, Estonia · Europe

37. 1635 Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Law, Budapest, Hungary · Europe

38. 1636 Utrecht University, Faculty of Law, Utrecht, Netherlands · Europe

39. 1640 University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law, Helsinki, Finland · Europe

    Founded in Turku in 1640 and moved to Helsinki in 1828.

What to remember anywhere