Law

Fellows:
Mr Angus Johnston
Professor John Gardner
Dr Andrew Higgins (Career Development Fellow)

Student Profiles:
Kim Mai Nguyen (2nd year)
Paddy Law (Graduated 2008)

Law has long been one of Univ’s strengths. Each year we admit at least eight undergraduates for the three-year course (BA in Jurisprudence) and often one or two more for Law with Law Studies in Europe, a four-year course. Usually another two or more graduates are admitted to take the BA in Jurisprudence alongside the undergraduates (but in two years), as well as up to three or four other graduates to read for higher degrees. So there are always forty or more Law students in the College, from many backgrounds. They have the use of a good Law Library in the heart of the College.

No particular subjects are preferred for an application for Law. In admissions, the Law tutors look for the ability to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant, and to write and speak clearly. Many universities in England, including Oxford, now use a uniform test (LNAT) for admission to their undergraduate Law degrees. The test is taken by candidates in schools and colleges across the country, usually in October of the year before entry. No particular knowledge is required: it is designed to test a candidate’s potential for a law degree. At interview you may be asked to discuss a legal text which you will have time to read and consider first. It is, of course, not expected that you should know any law at all at the application stage.

One of several historical reasons for Univ’s strength in Law is the College’s long association with the established Professorship in Jurisprudence (legal philosophy or theory). The holder of this chair, Professor John Gardner, does not tutor undergraduates, but his presence is one of the College’s attractions to able graduate students from around the world.

Mr Johnston’s main interests lie in the field of European Union Law and private law. He tutors undergraduates in EU Law, Tort Law and Constitutional Law.