The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) School of Law was established in 1996–1997. Notwithstanding the Law School’s very short history, various sociological surveys and expert evaluations conducted between 2001 and 2005 ranked it among the ten best law schools in Ukraine.

The NaUKMA School of Law presently offers courses of study leading to three degrees: a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B), a Master of Laws degree (LL.M), and the professional diploma of a Specialist. The Bachelor of Laws program produced its first graduates in 2000 and the Specialist of laws program produced its first graduates in 2001. In 2003/2004 the School of Law launched a Master of Laws Program which allowed students to specialize in “Theory and Practice of Lawmaking” and “Civil Law.” Beginning in the 2006/07 academic year the Master of Laws Program will offer an English language certification program in European Law. In 2005 the School began to offer Ph.D. programs (aspirantura) in “Theory and History of State and Law; History of Political and Legal Studies” and “Civil Law and Process; Family Law; International Private Law.”

A distinguishing feature of the NaUKMA School of Law is that the curriculum combines traditional methods of Ukrainian legal training with an approach to legal education adapted from the models of both European and American law schools. This methodology, which is unique among Ukrainian law schools, has two distinct benefits. First, it ensures that NaUKMA students are endowed with a comprehensive understanding of Ukrainian law and the Ukrainian legal system. Second, because the curriculum incorporates a Western approach to legal education NaUKMA graduates are well prepared to pursue a Master of Laws degree at either European or American law schools.

The NaUKMA School of Law is divided into the following departments:

• Department of Interdisciplinary Legal Studies
• Department of Constitutional Law
• Department of Applied Legal Studies

The NaUKMA School of Law also boasts a well-equipped Moot Court Room where students enhance their education by simulating courtroom proceedings and by participating in instructional group activities. These simulated courtroom proceedings and group activities cover a wide range of legal disciplines including civil law, criminal law, property law, administrative law, constitutional law and procedural law of Ukraine.

To ensure that NaUKMA students receive the best education possible the School of Law strives to maintain a highly qualified academic staff. To help realize this goal, NaUKMA recruits prominent academics as well as distinguished legal practitioners to become faculty members. Some of the most noteworthy current and former faculty members include M. Kozyubra – Doctor of Legal Studies, Professor, Merited Lawyer of Ukraine, Justice of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court (retired); M. Savenko – Candidate of Legal Studies, Professor, Merited Lawyer of Ukraine, Justice of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court (retired); V. Musiyaka – Candidate of Legal Studies, Professor, former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament; V. Stretovych – Candidate of Legal Studies, Associate Professor, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament; Y. Klyuchkovskyi – Candidate of Physics and Mathematics, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament; O. Kopylenko – Doctor of Legal Studies, Professor, Academician of the Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine, Director of the Institute of Lawmaking of the Ukrainian Parliament; Z. Romovska – Doctor of Legal Studies, Professor, Merited Lawyer of Ukraine, former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament (1998-2000), author of the Family Law Code of Ukraine, co-author of the Civil Law Code of Ukraine ; V. Malyarenko – Doctor of Legal Studies, Professor, Head Justice of the Supreme Court of Ukraine; I. Koliushko – Head of the Center for Political and Legal Reform, former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament (1994-2000); Adviser to the President of Ukraine; V. Stefanyuk – Candidate of Legal Studies, Associate Professor, First Deputy to the Head Justice of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, R. Knyazevych, Candidate of Legal Studies, Associate Professor, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

In recent years Professors at the NaUKMA School of Law have published over 300 monographs, textbooks and scholarly journal articles in a variety of countries. The faculty is also in the process of publishing a series of textbooks entitled “Assistance to Law Students.” The School of Law has a Legal Clinic where students acquire practical skills in providing legal assistance to both natural and juridical persons. Building on the success of NaUKMA’s Legal Clinic, in the 2003/04 academic year the Information-Training Center for Legal Clinical Education in Ukraine was formed. This center makes significant contributions to legal education in Ukraine by hosting seminars; offering continuing legal education courses; and by organizing research and practical conferences for students, consultants and teachers of legal clinics from a large number of Ukrainian universities. During the 2005/06 academic year the NaUKMA Legal Clinic organized and hosted several workshops and seminars for legal clinics operating in the Ukrainian higher education system. For example, one of the workshops addressed the theoretical application of the Administrative Code of Ukraine and another dealt with the regulation and protection of patients’ rights in the medical sphere.

The School of Law also has a Center for the Innovation of Legal Education. The Center serves a number of critical functions including analyzing current teaching methods in order to improve them, training law faculty and staff in the methods developed by the Center, and publishing textbooks on issue that pertain to legal education. In 2002, the NaUKMA School of Law created a Criminal Law and Criminalistics Clinic specifically designed to prepare interested students for careers in criminal law or criminalistics. By training with state of the art equipment students hone the practical knowledge, skills and tactics needed to effectively conduct a criminal investigation.

The School of Law has a continuously updated Law Library with a catalogue presently holding over 27,000 volumes. A significant portion of the books in the law library were donated by generous foreign partners such as the University of Baltimore School of Law (U.S.A) and the College of Law of England and Whales (U.K.). Several NaUKMA faculty members including Professors L. Koval and O. Kopylenko as well as Associate Professor V. Sushchenko have also contributed to the Law Library’s growth by donating books from their private collections.

In cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Charitable Fund «Ukrainian Legal Foundation», the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the publishing organization «Justinian» the NaUKMA School of Law co-founded the professional journal “Ukrainian Law.” In 2005/06 the NaUKMA School of Law co-organized the international conference “The Rule of Law: Questions in Theory and Practice” (together with the OSCE) as well as a conference on the subject of “Problems in the Codification of the Ukrainian Labor Law”.

Students of the School of Law have the opportunity to take part in a number of international Moot Court competitions such as the annual “Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition” and “The Telders International Law Moot Court Competition.” Students also participate in national competitions in property law, All-Ukrainian Student Academic Olympics in Legal Studies, and Kyiv “Top Student” competitions organized by the Kyiv St. Andrew Charitable Fund. During the 2005/06 academic year NaUKMA School of Law students earned several individual honors for their performances in the All-Ukrainian Student Academic Olympics in Legal Studies, the national rounds of “The Philip C. Jessup Moot Court” competition and “The Telders Moot Court,” etc. Most notably, NaUKMA School of Law student Olya Burlyuk earned the “Best Speaker” award for her outstanding performance during the national round of “The Philip C. Jessup Moot Court” competition. In order to better familiarize students with the nuances of foreign legal systems and comparative legal studies the Law School invites distinguished legal professionals and professors from foreign nations to work with the NaUKMA School of Law. Visiting Fulbright scholars from the United States also make valuable contributions to the NaUKMA academic community. In recent years NaUKMA has hosted Judge Bohdan Futey – Justice of the United States Court of Federal Claims (U.S.A.); Jane Schukoske – Associate Professor of Law, University of Baltimore University School of law; Richard Grimes - Director of Pro Bono Services and Clinical Education, College of Law England and Wales (U.K.); Aldo Berlinguer – Professor of Law, University of Cagliari (Italy), James Hunt – Associate Professor of Law, Mercer University (USA).

In order to provide its students with a wide range of academic services the NaUKMA School of Law frequently cooperates with the Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine, the Koretsky Institute of State and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Committees of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the Higher Property Court of Ukraine, Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine, the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv School of Law, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the National Academy of State Tax Administration of Ukraine, the Union of Advocates of Ukraine, The Union of Jurists of Ukraine, the World Congress of Ukrainian Lawyers, the Center for Commercial Law, and the Ukrainian Union of American Lawyers. In addition, the NaUKMA School of Law is a member of the Association of Ukrainian Law Schools, the Ukrainian Association of Law Students, the Association of Banking and Finance Law of Ukraine, and is also one of the founding partners of the Young Ukrainian Lawyers Association.

The demanding academic standards set by the NaUKMA School of Law ensure that graduates enter the workforce prepared to furnish highly professional legal services in a wide range of career paths. Some School of Law graduates choose careers in the public or the private sectors of the economy while others work for or manage private law firms. Other NaUKMA graduates take positions in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, or within local self-governing authorities. Still others choose to use the excellent education they received while at the NaUKMA School of Law to begin successful careers as teachers, analysts or journalists. For example, by the November 10th, 2005 Order of the President of Ukraine, 25 year old Dmytro Kotlyar, a NaUKMA School of Law graduate, was appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. On the third Friday of every September law students celebrate Law School Day.