University Of Fort Hare Law, the success of our academic programs depends on a strong and engaged school community. The Nelson R. Mandela School of Law is committed to providing excellent world class legal education and professional training that combines academic rigor with hands-on, practical experience that will equip our students with the skills needed for success in legal and law-related careers. Clinical education is therefore fundamental to the mission of the Nelson R Mandela School of Law. Our legal Clinic affords every student the opportunity to gain real world class legal experience and contacts needed to be competitive. Our Law School’s location close to courts, government departments, companies, and law firms makes it easy for our students to balance course work with practice through Legal Aid Clinic (LAC) Internship.
We believe that the law degree is a most valuable professional degree. The study of law provides a range of knowledge and skills that are highly valued not only in the legal profession but in business, government as well as non-governmental organisations. You will find our alumni all over the world and in every job on the market. They show that a Fort Hare law graduate can choose to be a Director of a non- profit organisation, Director of a company, a Judge, law researcher, prosecutor, legal adviser, a partner in a law firm, a legal and risk compliance specialist, a professor or a senior manager in the public sector. Whichever career path you choose, the educational training opportunities at our law school will prepare you.
The Faculty of Law values research as a priority activity for the enhancement of both its research profile and for the enrichment of its teaching and learning programmes. Faculty scholarship is well known for its quality and interdisciplinary character. Through our Oliver Tambo Chair of Human Rights, we offer the MPhil degree studies in human rights to students from other disciplines. In addition to the LLB and, B Com Law, the Law School also offers a Diploma in Local Government Law and Administration. We have also expanded our curriculum offerings into the cutting edge areas of Cyber Law, Competition Law and Forensic Law. The Nelson R Mandela School of Law is proud to house the Speculum Juris, a peer reviewed journal accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training. This journal continues to provide the intellectual space and stimulus for critical dialogue and the dissemination of research findings by legal scholars at large.
VISION
The vision of the Faculty is to be a centre of excellence in legal education renowned for outstanding teaching and research driven by an uncompromising commitment to the pursuit of justice and service to humanity in South Africa in general and the Eastern Cape in particular.
MISSION
In pursuit of the above vision, the Faculty’s mission is to produce law graduates who are both excellent in their technical competence and passionate about participating in socio-economic development pro-cesses. It will design and deliver social justice promotion training programmes aimed at facilitating social service delivery and undertake research that is comparable with the best.