Law

Applying to St Hugh’s for Law

St Hugh’s has one of the larger communities of lawyers in Oxford, students and tutors drawn from all over the world.

Law at Oxford demands the ability to think and argue, not simply to absorb material uncritically. Those students wishing to investigate the study of law may find benefit in reading some excellent introductory works such as A W B Simpson’s Invitation to Law (Blackwell, 1988) and Jeremy Waldron’s The Law (Routledge, 1990).

St Hugh’s admits around six undergraduates each year for the three-year Law course, or the four-year Law with Law Studies in Europe course. We also admit visiting students with excellent academic records. Students for the undergraduate courses are selected both from those who have studied Law at A-level as well as from those who have not previously studied the subject. The choice of A-level subjects for those wishing to read Law is an open one, but analytical skills from mathematics and the sciences, and skills of critical thinking and written articulacy from social studies and the humanities, are especially valuable.

Choosing St Hugh’s for Law

The College currently has four Law Fellows, including the statutory chair in commercial law and the university lecturer in Asian law. It has particular strengths in private law, commercial law, and legal history, and the College has more than once appointed a distinguished lawyer as its Principal. Our students and staff have moved on to commanding positions at the highest levels of the law, including in the UK Supreme court and in leading chambers and law firms across the world. The College’s present Visitor, Lady Simler, is a Justice of the Supreme Court.

“St Hugh’s has a proud tradition in Law. We have one of the largest contingents of law tutors of any college in Oxford, an ample and attractive law library, and a thriving community of undergraduate and graduate law students from many countries. We offer a welcoming, inclusive and supportive environment for law studies, and we have strong support from alumni in the profession for our students during and after their degrees.” – Professor Joshua Getzler

“I like to think that the Law Tutors at St Hugh’s distinguish themselves in their strongly held belief that law is best understood in its wider economic and political context. Though we each demand a detailed, fine-grained knowledge of the rules, we also understand that they are best appreciated by reference to the commercial and political words in which they operate. This is not to say that we teach ‘critical theory’: we don’t. But it means that our students leave, not only with a brilliant legal education, but also, importantly, with an ability to see the wood for the trees and understand the law’s functioning in a holistic way. Joshua and I also both teach with enthusiasm and passion. We try hard to project that to our students and hope to create confident, outgoing legal minds.” – Dr Julius Grower

There is no better place to study law in the UK or indeed anywhere. – Professor Joshua Getzler

 

Professor Joshua Getzler

Dr Julius Grower

Professor Horst Eidenmüller

Professor Ngoc Son Bui

Law students at St Hugh’s enjoy excellent library facilities, including its own well-stocked Law Library to supplement the Bodleian Law Library, which is the main University library for the subject.

St Hugh’s has a strong Law Society whose members include not only current undergraduates and tutors in the College, but also former students now engaged in the legal profession. The Law Society enables valuable contacts to be made between both branches of the legal profession and the College. Students have ready access to advice in planning their careers through links with alumni (former members of College). The law community regularly meets for social occasions, and distinguished guests visit regularly to speak and judge student moots or mock trials.