University of Fribourg Faculty of Law

University of Fribourg Faculty of Law
Name	University of Fribourg Faculty of Law
Native name	Faculté de droit de l'Université de Fribourg
Established	1889
Type	Faculty
Parent institution	University of Fribourg
City	Fribourg
Country	Switzerland

Contents

University of Fribourg Faculty of Law is a bilingual law faculty located in Fribourg (city), Switzerland, affiliated with the University of Fribourg. The faculty operates within the Swiss higher education framework alongside institutions such as the University of Zurich, the University of Geneva, the University of Basel, and the University of Bern. It trains jurists who go on to work at bodies including the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations.

History

Founded in the late 19th century during the era of Swiss cantonal consolidation, the faculty's origins coincide with developments at the University of Fribourg and with legal reforms influenced by codifications such as the Swiss Civil Code (1907) and the Napoleonic Code. Early faculty members engaged with comparative projects related to the German Empire, the French Third Republic, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the legal traditions of the Kingdom of Italy. In the 20th century the faculty contributed to post-World War I legal reconstruction dialogues involving jurists from the League of Nations, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Locarno Treaties, and later engaged with post-World War II institutions including the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During the Cold War era scholars at the faculty corresponded with counterparts from the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Federal Republic of Germany, and participated in conferences alongside representatives from the European Economic Community and the Council of Europe. Recent decades have seen faculty involvement in projects connected to the European Union’s legal evolution, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Court of Justice, and transnational regulatory initiatives such as those led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Labour Organization.

The faculty offers degree programs aligned with Swiss and international qualifications including the Bachelor of Arts (BA), the Master of Laws (LL.M.), and doctoral studies preparing candidates for roles in institutions such as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland), the Swiss Federal Assembly, and the European Commission. Course offerings cover areas tied to jurists’ careers at the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and arbitration venues like the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, while specialized modules address substantive regimes under the Bern Convention, the Geneva Conventions, the Paris Agreement, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Professional preparation includes moot court participation mirroring competitions such as the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, and the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition, alongside internships at firms and organizations like Lenz & Staehelin, Walder Wyss, the Swiss Federal Court, and nongovernmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Faculty members come from academic backgrounds involving doctoral studies at institutions like the University of Paris (Sorbonne), the University of Oxford, the Harvard Law School, the University of Cambridge, the Columbia Law School, the Università degli Studi di Milano, the Heidelberg University, and the Université libre de Bruxelles. Administrative structures interface with cantonal authorities in Fribourg (canton), federal entities including the Federal Department of Justice and Police (Switzerland), and university governance models similar to those at the ETH Zurich and the EPFL. Prominent scholars and visiting professors at the faculty have included researchers who have also held posts at the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and national supreme courts such as the Bundesgericht (Switzerland) and the Cour de cassation (France).

Student life at the faculty is shaped by bilingual activities in French language and German language and by student organizations and societies with links to professional networks like the Swiss Bar Association, the International Bar Association, and the Young International Council on Arbitration. Student groups organize colloquia and workshops featuring speakers from institutions such as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland), the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and international NGOs including Médecins Sans Frontières and Transparency International. Career services coordinate placements and exchanges with legal employers ranging from international law firms like Baker McKenzie to intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The faculty maintains exchange agreements and research partnerships with universities such as the University of Milan, the University of Lyon, the University of Barcelona, the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Tokyo, and the University of Toronto, and participates in Erasmus+ consortia, bilateral programs with the Swiss-European Mobility Programme, and collaborative networks involving the European University Association, the League of European Research Universities, and the Global Network for Advanced Management. These collaborations support joint degrees, visiting scholar appointments from institutions like the Max Planck Society and the Brookings Institution, and cooperative projects with judicial training bodies such as the European Judicial Training Network and the International Association of Judges.