• Home

Tertiary college to offer law degree in Dubai

DUBAI — The first tertiary college to offer four-year law degree (Bachelor of Law) programme in Dubai will open its doors to students at the Dubai Academic City this September.

The college, to be known as University of St. Joseph — Dubai College of Law, will be is an offshore campus of the University of St. Joseph of Beirut (USJB).

The college will start accepting admission applications throughout July and August and will be open to both men and women of all nationalities, it was announced by Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director-General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

Addressing the media yesterday, Dr Al Karam said the opening of USJ-Dubai was aimed at meeting the important requirements of the Dubai Strategic Plan of training a highly skilled legal workforce, of which there is currently a shortage in the country.

He said, "Our role at KHDA is to ensure that the workforce in Dubai meets the needs of the Dubai Strategic Plan, and an important part of that is the area of security and justice, which needs the best-trained lawyers."

On the occasion, USJ-Beirut President Professor Renechamussy Chamussy said, "This will be our first campus outside of Lebanon so this is an ambitious and exciting prospect for all of us at USJ. We'll be bringing staff to Dubai and aim to give students here the very best legal education they can get. We look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with Dubai."

The USJ in Dubai will offer programmes that will incorporate Shariah, French, Arabic and European Law. It will include constitutional law, the law of international relations, contracts and torts, civil law, labour law, human rights, tax laws and more.

The curriculum will be mostly taught in Arabic and interested applicants have to pass an Arabic proficiency test. Applicants will need to submit an official UAE high school/secondary school certificate and an official school transcript for the past three academic years.

In some subjects, the admitted students will also be taught in English and are required to prove proficiency in the language before graduating. The annual tuition fees will be Dh55,200, and a limited amount of scholarships will also be available.

The USJ in Dubai will also establish an academic research centre and will begin publishing a legal journal thrice a year covering the legal system of Dubai.

St. Joseph University is a private university founded in 1875 and is based in Lebanon with a Faculty of Law which is highly regarded throughout the region.

The university has more than 11,000 students and 1,800 professors. It has links with 82 universities in France, and has established cooperation agreements with universities in 20 different countries, like Georgetown and Fordham University in the US.

• UAE