About the Faculty of Law, University of Otago

About the Faculty of Law at Otago

The Faculty of Law

Law is one of the University's longest established disciplines, lectures having started in July 1873, just two years after the University itself opened. Today the Faculty of Law has 26 full-time teaching staff, drawn from seven different countries, 12 part-time teaching staff, and the equivalent of nearly 700 full-time students, the majority from outside the immediate region.

From the beginning, the Faculty has been home to many prominent New Zealanders, including Ethel Benjamin, the first women to be admitted (in 1896) to the Bar in New Zealand and the Commonwealth. In the past decade alone, Otago has produced nine Rhodes Scholars, more than any other faculty or school in any discipline in any other university in New Zealand.

The Law Faculty is a leader in legal research in New Zealand. It ranked first in the recent New Zealand Government ranking of research performance in New Zealand universities.

Academics at the Law Faculty include prominent scholars of legal history, philosophy, health law and bioethics, environmental law, international law, and many other fields. They have worked and studied at – and have close connections with – many prestigious institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, the National University of Singapore, and Toronto. The Faculty also hosts a number of visitors each year: members of the judiciary, practising lawyers, and guest lecturers from many parts of the world. In recent years, distinguished visitors have included: Professor Stanley Fish of the University of Florida; Justice Michael Kirby (High Court of Australia); Professor Trudo Lemmens (University of Toronto); the Right Honourable Chief Justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin (Supreme Court of Canada); Lord Rodger of Earlsferry of the House of Lords; and Professor Jeremy Waldron (New York University).

The Faculty of Law is host to a number of research projects and centres: the Human Genome Research Project; and the University of Otago Legal Issues Centre; the New Zealand Law Foundation Chair in Emerging Technologies.

The Faculty and the Sir Robert Stout Law Library are housed in the Richardson Building at the heart of the University's campus.

The University of Otago and Dunedin

The University of Otago was established in 1869 and is New Zealand’s oldest university. It is also New Zealand’s top ranked university for research quality. It is home to ground-breaking research in a wide range of fields including medical, Antarctic studies, ecology, genetics, and much more. The campus itself is located in the heart of the city, within walking distance to most social, retail, recreational, cultural, and sporting events and activities.

Dunedin is a genuine student city with a population of 120,000 (of whom 25,000 are students). It is also New Zealand’s oldest city. It has a proud Scottish heritage and has a variety of cultural and architectural offerings. It is home to a renowned Art Gallery, museums, professional theatre, and symphony orchestra. Each year, the Otago Festival of the Arts offers music, opera, dance, theatre and literary performances from New Zealand and around the world. Set among bush and sea, Dunedin also has much to offer for those who love sports and the outdoors. Right on the city’s doorstep, the Otago Peninsula is home to internationally recognized wildlife reserves, while only three hours drive away are New Zealand’s top ski fields – Coronet Peak, Treble Cone, Cardrona, and the Remarkables.