Top Russian Law Schools
(c) Moscow law students' journal "Jurfak" ("Lawschool"), www.lawschool.hotmail.ru, 1998-2003.
1. Brief Introduction to the Russian Legal Education System
3.2 Top Law Schools and Academic Institutions (which offer only postgraduate programs)
3.3. Top Law Schools of Regional Universities.
4. List of most Russian Law Schools (!)
1. Brief Introduction to the Russian Legal Education System.
The Russian legal education sytem is based on European undergraduate traditions. Students enter law schools, as a rule, after leaving secondary school. At law schools, which are often referred to as law faculties or law academies, among law courses are also taught such subjects as humanities, economics and mathematics. Law students usually start to specialise in certain field of law in their fourth year. The standard set of specialisation is civil law, public international law, criminal law, administrative and financial law. However, this combination can vary in case of each school. Most wide-used method of tuition are lectures combined with seminars. The study year is divided into two terms. In the end of each term, students pass oral examinations, which take place in January and June. They are also required to pass so-called practicum in courts, prosecutor and notary offices, state agencies and law firms.
Law graduates are qualified only to general legal practice after passing state examinations and upon receiving their Diplomas of Higher Education (Bachelor or "Specialist" Degree in Law). Until the middle of 2002, bar admissions were required only for defence attorneys who specialised in criminal law. A new Federal Law Federal Law on advocate activity and advocacy in the Russian Federation, which entered into force as from 01 July 2002, provides that only advocates and in-house lawyers can represent the interests of companies in civil and administrative trials. A new Code of Arbitrzah Procedure also requires that persons representing companies in Russian commercial (so called “arbitrazh”) courts to be either advocates (i.e. lawyers admitted to the Bar) or in-house lawyers of a concerned undertaking. Candidates for judge positions should have at least a five-year experience in legal field.
Russian law schools are divided into two major types: (a) old recognised schools and (b) new, usually commercial schools. Practically all top Russian law schools were established before 1991. There are also a number of specialised law schools such as institutes of Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, institutes of the General Prosecutor Office, Academy of Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, Academy of Tax Police, Academy of Tax Service, Customs Academy, All-Russian Academy of Foreign Commerce, military academies and etc.
| № |
Degree in Law (English equivalent) |
Degree in Law (Russian transliteration) | Duration of study | Awarded by the following law schools |
| 1. |
Bachelor in Law LL.B
| “Bakalavr jurisprudentsyi” | 4 years of full-time study | MGIMO, RUDN & etc. |
| 2. |
“Specialist” in Law
(the most widespread Russian Degree in Law, can be compared with the US J.D law degree) | "Spetsialist pravovedenya" | 5 years of full-time study | Practically by all law schools. |
| 3. |
Master of Laws LL.M
| “Magistr jurisprudentsyi” | 2 years of full-time study | MGIMO, RUDN, RSPL, MSSES, Academic University, MGU (only for foreigners), Perm State University |
| 4. |
PhD in Law (Research degree) | “Kandidat yuridicheskih nauk” | 3 years of full-time study | Practically by all top law schools and academic institutions such as IZiSP and IGP RAN |
| 5. |
Doctor of the Science of Law US SJD or UK LLD
| "Doctor yuridicheskih nauk" | - |
By top law schools and academic institutions. |
3. Top Russian Law Schools (of)
NB: If you want to visit the web-ste of a certain law school just click on its name.
| № | Name | Russian acronym | Year of establishment of law school | Location/City |
| 1. | Moscow State University | MGU | est. 1755 | Moscow |
| 2. | Moscow Institute of International Relations (University) | MGIMO | est. 1944 | Moscow |
| 3. | Moscow State Law Academy | MGUA | est. 1931 | Moscow |
| 4. | Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia | RUDN | est. 1960 | Moscow |
| 5. | Sankt-Petersburg State University | SPbGU | est. 1724 | Sankt-Petersburg |
| 6. | Ural State Law Academy | UrGUA | est. 1931 | Ekaterinburg |
| 7. | Saratov State Academy of Law | SGAP | est. 1931. | Saratov |
3.2 Top Law Schools and Academic Institutions (which offer only postgraduate programs)
| № | Name | Russian acronym | Location/City | Degrees Awarded |
| 8. | Russian
School of Private Law (This School is attached to the Private Law Research Center under the President of Russian Federation). | RSPL |
Moscow/ Ekaterinburg | Master of Private Law |
| 9. | The Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSSES) | MSVShN | Moscow | LL.M. of Manchester University |
| 10. | The Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of Russian Federation | IZiSP | Moscow | PhD in Law, Doctor of the Science of Law |
| 11. | The Institute of State and Law of Academy of the Sciences of Russia | IGP RAN | Moscow | PhD in Law, Doctor of the Science of Law |
3.3. Top Law Schools of Regional Universities.
| № | Name | Russian acronym | Year of establishment of law school | Location/City |
| 12. | Tomsk State University | TGU | est. 1898 | Tomsk |
| 13. | Kazan State University | KazGU | est. 1804 | Kazan |
| 14. | Irkutsk State University | IGU | est. 1918 | Irkutsk |
| 15. | Perm State University | PGU | est. 1916 | Perm |
| 16. | Far East State University | DvGU | est. 1899 | Vladivostok |
| 17. | Rostov State University | RGU | est. 1915 | Rostov-on-Don |
4. List of most Russian Law Schools
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