54°46′30″N1°34′29″W / 54.775082°N 1.574678°W /54.775082; -1.574678
 Entrance to Durham Law School | |
| Type | Law school |
|---|---|
| Established | 1969 |
Parent institution | Durham University |
| Dean | Volker Roeben |
| Address | Durham University ,,Palatine Centre Stockton Road Durham DH1 3LE |
| Website | www |
 | |
Durham Law School is the law school ofDurham University inDurham, England. It has research centres inbiolaw andmedical law,Chinese law,commercial andcorporate law,criminal law,European law,human rights andpublic law,international law, andsustainable development.
Law degrees have been awarded at Durham University since the university's inception in the 1830s, mainly to graduates working in law, and there was areader in law from 1833 to 1872 who gave occasional lectures on the subject. Regular law lectures began in 1907 atArmstrong College in Newcastle (nowNewcastle University) and the first formal law school was established there in 1923. After Newcastle became independent of Durham in 1963, law teaching was introduced in Durham in 1964.[1] Durham Law School as a formal institution within the university was founded in 1969. It was congratulated on its 50th anniversary in aHouse of Commonsearly day motion in 2018.[2]
Durham Law School is housed in theBREEAM excellent-rated Palatine Centre, on Durham University's Lower Mountjoy site. This was named as the most impressive law school building in the world byBest Choice Schools in 2014.[3][4] The building includes amoot court and the 90-seat Harvard-styleHogan Lovells lecture theatre.[5][6]
Undergraduate teaching is delivered through lectures, seminars and small group tutorials. Extra-curricula opportunities includemooting andpro bono legal work.[7]
Durham Law School offers a three-yearLLB degree and a four-year LLB with Year Abroad degree.[8] They are both Qualifying Law Degree programmes for the purpose of practicing as a barrister or solicitor in England and Wales. The course includes modules onChinese law, launched in response to the needs of City firms.[9] The law school also runs a Chinese law summer school – the first in the UK and first in English outside Asia – in a move described bythe Times as offering "great career prospects" for Durham Law School graduates beyond what is offered at other UK law schools.[10]
Taught postgraduateLLM degree programmes include a general Master of Laws LLM, LLM in Corporate Law, LLM in European Trade and Commercial Law, LLM in International Trade and Commercial Law, LLM in International Law and Governance, LLM in International Environmental Law, and LLM in Medical Law and Ethics.[11]
Research postgraduate degree programmes include a one-year Master of JurisprudenceMJur andPhD in Law.[12]
| National rankings | |
|---|---|
| Complete (2026)[13] | 3 |
| Guardian (2026)[14] | 4 |
| Times / Sunday Times (2026)[15] | 4= |
| Global rankings | |
| ARWU (2025)[16] | 151-200 |
| QS (2026)[17] | 57 |
| THE (2026)[18] | 55 |
For 2026, Durham Law School was ranked third in the UK by theComplete University Guide, behind onlyCambridge andUCL,[19] fourth bythe Guardian University Guide,[20] and joint fourth by theTimes Good University Guide.[21] Internationally, Durham Law School was ranked 55th in the world for law in the 2025 Times Higher Education ranking,[22] 57th in the world for law by the 2024 QS ranking.[23] and in the 151–200 range by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.[24]
In 2015, the Chambers Student triennial survey of which universities law firm trainees had attended ranked Durham third behindOxford andCambridge, supplying 7.6 per cent of law trainees in the UK (up from 4th in 2012). The survey also placed Durham second in supplying national firms (up from 11th in 2012) and third in supplying US firms in London (up from 5th in 2012).[25][26]
.jpg)
Emma Cave chaired aNuffield Council on Bioethics working group on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models in 2024, setting out governance proposals.[27][28] She also chaired theGeneral Medical Council Good Medical Practice Advisory Forum, resulting in new good medical practice guidance in 2024.[29]
Clare McGlynn has partnered withGLAMOUR magazine, the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Not Your Porn to campaign for legislation against image-based abuse.[30] This led to the creation ofdeepfake pornography being criminalised under theData (Use and Access) Act 2025.[31][32][33]
Thom Brooks wrote the reportThe Life in the United Kingdom Citizenship Test: Is It Unfit for Purpose? in 2013.[34] His recommendations were subsequently backed by the House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Participation, the House of Lords Liaison Committee and the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.[35]
Tufyal Choudhury was director of research for the Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice, which reported in 2025.[36]
Durham Law School supports a range of research institutes, centres and groups. As of 2025,[update] these include: the centre for Chinese law and policy, the centre for criminal law and criminal justice, the centre for ethics and law in the life sciences, the centre for sustainable development law and policy, the Durham centre for Indian law and policy, the Durham centre for law and philosophy, the Durham European law institute, the Durham international dispute resolution institute, the human rights and public law centre, the institute of commercial and corporate law, and law and global justice at Durham.[37]
Durham's centre for Chinese law and policy was among the largest in Europe as of 2019[update].[38]
The Durham centre for ethics and law in the life sciences (Durham CELLS) is a cross-departmental research centre based in the law school with members from anthropology, biology, law, medicine, philosophy, sociology and theology.[39][40] It was founded in December 2011 byShaun Pattinson and focuses onbiolaw andbioethics – the legal and ethical issues raised by biological science, medicine and regulation – where it is an established expert centre.[41][42][43]Emma Cave is its director, and its activities include running a research blog on issues relating to the ethical, social and regulatory issues raised by the life sciences,[44][45] running a blog on obstetric violence, supported by conferences and seminars,[46][47][48] engaging school students with biomedicine and bioethics,[49][50][51] and supporting ethics advisory committees.[52][53]
The following notable individuals are academics in Durham Law School:
The following notable individuals have been academics in Durham Law School:
| People |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Colleges | ||
| Departments and research institutes | ||
| Student life | ||
| Sports |
| |
| Places | ||
| History | ||
| Chairs | ||
| Other | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
