Coffee with the Dean / Coffee with a Student: Top 5 Reasons to Enter the Faculty of Law
We continue our traditional column. Today we are having coffee and talking about the benefits of entering the Faculty of Law with the dean Yaroslav Lazur and a student Ivan Anfyorov.
Ivan Anfyorov, the head of the Student Council of the Faculty:
1. Legal profession has been and will be in demand at all times. There is also a great need for highly qualified lawyers in the modern labour market of Ukraine.The Faculty of Law of Uzhhorod National University has relevant material and technical resources and, what’s more important, qualifed teaching staff to provide the professional training of the highest quality. From the first year teachers make students fall in love with the legal profession, acquaint them with all the nuances and aspects of lawyer’s work.
2. It is very important that students can successfully combine the theoretical component of their study with the practical one, which makes learning extremely interesting. Students can gain some practical skills in the premises of the faculty, being given access to the classroom, which is equipped as a courtroom, and a forensic laboratory, etc. Practical training in law enforcement agencies, courts and public authorities is also very interesting for students. That is, the faculty does everything possible to make its graduates ready for being efficient in their workplace from the first days.
3. Law students take an active part in Erasmus+ programme, which provides internships in the best universities of Europe and encourages them to learn foreign languages. If a student has a desire and persistence, studying abroad is not a problem. And which student does not like traveling, new acquaintances and impressions? All this is provided by the Faculty of Law.
4. From the first days of study at the faculty you feel that teachers treat you as a personality, help to develop your best qualities, form a worldview, and give advice. Such close interaction between students and teachers allows you to reveal new personal qualities and talents. The faculty encourages sports, arts, cultural and tourist events and ativities, because a successful professional lawyer is a well-rounded individual and we are instilled this idea from the first year of study.
5. The last point I can not but mention is the student self-governance, because I am the head of the Student Council at the faculty. Self-governance is an important aspect of the faculty life and acts as a link between students and teachers. Students have a feeling of having a certain influence on something, of their initiatives being heard, and it’s very pleasant to study and develop in such a democratic environment. Therefore, if you want to become a lawyer and are choosing the university, we invite you to join the family of the Law Faculty of Uzhhorod National University.
Yaroslav Lazur, the Dean of the Faculty:
1. Acquisition of knowledge and formation of a strong personality.
A full range of the latest technologies is used in the educational process at the Faculty of Law: from multimedia support at seminars and tutorials to Internet technologies for distance learning. The first 2.5 years of study, students of law acquire the basic knowledge needed by every lawyer in any field. And from the second semester of the third year young people can independently form 25% of their curriculum, thus determining in which area of law they want to major. This is a positive European practice, when students do not just follow the curriculum, but can also make this plan themselves.
In addition to the classes, which are part of the curriculum, during the academic year, students have the opportunity to attend lectures on selected topics delivered by invited reputable legal professionals (barristers, judges, legal advisers, etc.) in Ukraine and abroad. Such lectures are delivered both in the classrooms of the faculty and online.
We are currently training lawyers, specialists in international law, and last year we started training spacialists in "Law Enforcement". International law is a unique specialty that, on the one hand, gives access to legal professions, and on the other hand, allows you to work in the diplomatic field. We launched "Law Enforcement" to train effective law enforcement officers, because we all see that there is a great need for qualified personnel in the police.
In total, our faculty has seven departments, including the Departments of Administrative, Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Economic, International Law and the Department of Theory and History of State and Law. When it comes to the faculty, I am pleased and proud to talk about our teachers. There are many experienced professionals among us who have extensive experience in the field of law.
At the same time, extracurricular work with students, in my opinion, is not less important than the process of studying. Our task is to educate not just professionals with the relevant knowledge, skills and abilities. We want our graduates to be individuals who, in addition to understanding legal values, are also well-rounded citizens with a broad worldview and human values based on ethical and moral values.
2. Employment.
The legal system is constantly being reformed and this requires frequent updating of curricula and lectures. Therefore, there is a need for a new generation of lawyers who will take into account the experience of predecessors and have modern theoretical knowledge.
Every year, with the help of the university administration, we update the database of our alumni. I am pleased to state that all of our alumni exercise the profession of a lawyer! They work in public authorities and local self-governance authorities and the demand for lawyers in this area is growing every year. Another large social segment that needs lawyers is business. It is no secret that in recent years, many businesses in Ukraine have been legalized, and they need legal support for their activity.
Modern education must be innovative, filled with the latest knowledge and meet the demands of the day. That is why in the process of training specialists for various legal institutions and sectors of the economy, we take into account the demands and needs of future employers and adjust the curriculum of our special courses, deepen the knowledge of our graduates according to their major.
The legal profession is in demand in the labour market. Especially now, during the period of dynamic reforms of the legal system of the state, which require renewal o professional staff. Currently, there are a lot of vacancies in any field of law (in the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, etc.), public authorities at all levels need legal support for their activities. Recently, there has been a great demand for lawyers in the field of economics, i.e. in business, commercial sphere. Lawyers of a new generation are needed everywhere.
3. Practice.
Science cannot exist without a practical component. Therefore, the faculty learned to successfully combine scientific research and practice, and pay considerable attention to the practical implementation of knowledge acquired by students. We divide the practical work into two blocks. The first one involves tutorials in classrooms. We try not just to conduct surveys and thus control the level of students’ knowledge. I mean such form as court trial modeling, the so-called cases. That is, students apply the theoretical knowledge in a specific life example, where they analyze specific legal cases. This removes the problems that our graduates may face in practice. The second block involves sending our students to various institutions after classes, where they can undergo practical training. We are approached by law enforcement, judicial authorities, and various enterprises with the request to send students. We do this to help our students organize and spend their afternoons productively in particular workplaces. They often get paid for it.
The university also has a successfully functioning legal clinic, a structural unit, where students can practice by giving free legal advice to citizens, especially the socially vulnerable ones, who can not afford paying for such services. We also cooperate with free legal aid centers. Thus, students, on the one hand, acquire practical skills, and on the other hand, perform a certain social function. Our priority is to teach students to think independently, learn independently, work on their self-development, using the theoretical knowledge gained at the faculty.
4. International internship.
The Law Faculty of Uzhhorod National University has very good relations with the leading law schools both in Ukraine and abroad. We cooperate with the universities in Slovakia, Italy, Austria and Poland. The Department of Criminal Law has close ties with the famous Charles University in Prague, and lots of our graduate and undergraduate students have had the opportunity to visit it. Cooperation with the Association of Twin Cities "Korvallis-Uzhhorod" is also very important for us. Students and teachers of the faculty are actively involved in Erasmus+ programme.
It is difficult to list all the international programmes we join. I can say that for motivated students who speak foreign languages, it is not a problem to participate in one or another programme. The world is getting globalized and legal systems are getting globalized too. The role of international law is increasing, and lots of people are now talking about the standardization of legal systems. Therefore, there are many opportunities for the development of education.
5. The Faculty of Law is a family.
We pay great attention to the development of artistic talents, sports, the ability to make friends and support each other, to value our health. Trips to the countryside are important for us, we encourage our students to spend more time outdoors with respect for the environment. There is a principle at our faculty: "The one who works deserves a rest". We celebrate Lawyer's Day with a bang, hold beauty contests among freshers. Much attention is paid to sporting events; we arrange Dean’s Cups in various kinds of sports. Everyone has some talent and should be given a chance to reveal it.
You can graduate from the Faculty of Law, but you can't say goodbye to it. The doors of the faculty are always open for our alumni, we continue to keep in touch with them, we try to help them in different situations. I am very pleased that our family becomes bigger and stronger every year.
