University of Namibia (UNAM) Faculty of Law

University of Namibia (UNAM) Faculty of Law

University of Namibia (UNAM) Faculty of Law

About UNAM Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law consists of three departments namely: Commercial law; Public law and Jurisprudence and Private and Procedural Law. In addition, two centres fall under the Faculty, viz the Human Rights and Documentation Centre (HRDC) and the Justice Training Centre (JTC).

As part of its community engagement programme, the Faculty also runs a legal aid clinic which has two important aims, namely to provide clinical or practical legal education to all of our final year LLB students and also to provide legal services to the indigent members of our community. The one year service in the legal aid clinic is compulsory for all our final year students.

The Faculty is staffed by 15 full –time legal academics, the bulk of whom have the minimum qualification of a Masters degree in law. Also many of these staff members have been admitted to practice in the Republic of Namibia and other jurisdictions.

The Faculty currently has two full professors and two associate professors. Out of the total academic staff compliment, there are five staff members who have doctoral degrees in law. In addition there is a total number of five academic staff members who are currently pursuing various stages of their doctoral programmes. There are also 5 administrative members of staff

The Faculty has since 2012, embarked on a programme of phasing out its two undergraduate degrees namely the Baccalaureus Juris (B.Juris) and the Bachelor of laws (LL.B). In the same year, the Faculty commenced phasing in the new four year undergraduate LL.B degree.

Two undergraduate diploma qualifications namely the Diploma in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution and the Diploma in Para- legal Studies were launched in 2012. The first batch of the two programmes graduated during the May 2014 University graduation ceremony.

The Faculty has also continued to offer two postgraduate qualifications namely Master of laws (LLM) by thesis and Doctor of Philosophy in law.( PHD). There are currently about 14 postgraduate students who are registered for either for their Masters or Doctoral qualifications in the Faculty.

At the end of the 2013 academic year, three of the faculty’s research students completed their research projects and submitted their theses/ dissertations for examinations. These included two LLM theses and one PHD dissertation. This is the first time in the history of the Faculty of Law that a doctoral dissertation has been produced for examination purposes.

It is hoped that both the numbers of both postgraduate students by research and course work will increase as its supervision capacity increases with the recruitment of more staff with doctoral qualifications in law.

UNAM Faculty of Law Departments

• Commercial Law
• Private and Procedural Law
• Public Law and Jurisprudence

Courses offered by the University of Namibia Faculty of Law

UNAM FACULTY OF LAW UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

Criminal Justice, Constitutionalism And Human Rights

Certificate in Criminal Justice, Constitutionalism And Human Rights

Customary Law

Certificate in Law

Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Laws (Full time & Distance)

Bachelor of Laws degree (LL B) (Honours)

Paralegal Studies (16dpar) (Phased-Out)

Diploma in Law

Parliamentarian Practice And Conduct (16cppc)

Certificate in Law

UNAM FACULTY OF LAW UNDERGRADUATE REQUIREMENTS

a. Criminal Justice, Constitutionalism And Human Rights

Certificate in Criminal Justice, Constitutionalism And Human Rights

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

For admission to the Certificate in Criminal Justice, Constitutionalism and Human Rights the candidate:

• should be in possession of a minimum Grade 10 certificate or any other equivalent qualification and should have five (5)
  years related working experience

OR

• be in possession of a Grade 12 certificate, with a minimum of 17 points in five subjects according to UNAM rating with at
  least an E symbol in English as a Second Language or higher.

b. Customary Law

Certificate in Law

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

The Specialised Certificate in Customary Law extents over a period of at least one (1) academic year.

The Specialised Certificate in Customary Law must be completed within two (2) years of study.

The said periods may only be exceeded with the authority of Senate.

Duration of Studies:

Admission to the Specialised Certificate in Customary Law shall be open to all students who have successfully completed the degree of B Juris.

c. Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution

Introduction:

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is becoming increasingly important locally and worldwide. In recognition of this, the Law Faculty of the University of Namibia will, from 2012, offer a Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution.

The Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution is an academic programme for persons seeking specialised education in alternative dispute resolution theory and practice.

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

For admission to the Diploma Arbitration and Dispute Resolution the general UNAM requirements apply, namely that the
the applicant holds a School Leaving Certificate i.e. Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) Ordinary or Higher Level or a recognized equivalent qualification.

A student must obtain a minimum of 25 point in five subjects according to UNAM rating with at least an C symbol in English as a Second Language or higher.

Duration of Studies:

The Diploma Arbitration and Dispute Resolution will be offered over a minimum study period of two (2) years and a maximum
study period of four (4) years.

d. Laws (Full time & Distance)

Bachelor of Laws degree (LL B) (Honours)

Introduction:

The Bachelor of Law (LLB) offers predominantly subjects with substantive law content and prepares the students for specialized legal careers. The only practical subject is the Legal Aid Clinic. Including it in the final year, the faculty follows the trend worldwide where final year students are exposed to clients and prepare for litigation under supervision. The programme also has research and dissertation components. The main objectives of the programme are to inculcate in the students the capacity and ability to implement both basic theoretical and practical skills and knowledge acquired during the period of studies and to think for themselves.

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

A student is eligible to register for the full time programme of the LL B (Honours) if he/she was awarded the degree of B Juris of
the University of Namibia, or at the end of his/her third year of studies for the degree of B Juris on full time at UNAM, passed 88
credits out of the prescribed 136 credits prescribed for full time studies, provided that all outstanding first and second year
Course s have been passed OR passed 32 credits out of the prescribed 80 credits prescribed for the fourth year of registration
on part time, provided that all outstanding Course s prescribed for the first year of registration, second year of registration and
third year of registration on part time studies have been passed.

Subject to the general rules for admission, applicants for admission to the LL B (Honours) programme and holding the degree
of B Juris or equivalent from Universities other than the University of Namibia may be admitted to the LL B (Honours)
programme by Senate on the recommendation of the Faculty Board. Such applicants may be required to register additionally to
the first year LL B Course s, for Course s of the B Juris programme not covered in their previous studies. The number of such
Course s shall not exceed three (3) or 48 credits.

Should the Faculty decide that the student has to register for more than three (3) Course s i.e 48 credits, as prescribed in rule
above, from the Course is prescribed for the degree of B Juris, such a student shall be allowed to register only for the said
Course s after the completion of which he/she shall be admitted to the programmes of the LL B (Honours).

NB: Students are advised that the LL B (Honours) degree is the qualification for admission to the JTC for the purpose of
pursuing the training programme stipulated under the Legal Practitioners Act, 15 of 1995 as one of the requirements to practice
law in Namibia.

A student who registered for full time studies cannot change to part time studies during the course of the year of registration.
The same rule applies (a fortiori) to a student who registered for part time studies

Duration of Studies:

The full time LL B (Honours) programme extends over a period of at least two (2) years.

The maximum period of study for the full time LL B (Honours) programme is four (4) years.

The said periods may only be exceeded with the authority of Senate.

e. Paralegal Studies (16dpar) (Phased-Out)

Diploma in Law

Introduction:

The financial cost of legal proceedings in Namibia remains a significant barrier to realising access to justice. In an effort to address this state of affairs, individuals and organisations, without the requisite legal background, took it upon themselves to provide paralegal services to their communities, thus creating a need for thorough training in this field. The National Diploma in Law/Paralegal Studies offered by the faculty of law of the University of Namibia seeks to fill this critical void.

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

For admission to the Diploma in Paralegal Studies the applicant must hold a School Leaving Certificate i.e. Namibian Senior
Secondary Certificate (NSSC) Ordinary or Higher Level or a recognized equivalent qualification. A student must obtain a
minimum of 25 points in five subjects according to UNAM rating with at least a C symbol in English as a Second Language.

OR

Applicants seeking admission to the Diploma in Paralegal Studies programme as mature students must satisfy the mature age
entry requirements as prescribed in the General Information and Regulations Prospectus of the University of Namibia. In
additional, the student should pass the mature age entry examination with a minimum of 60%.

Duration of Studies:

The Diploma in Paralegal Studies will be offered over a minimum study period of two (2) years and a maximum study period of
four (4) years.

f. Parliamentarian Practice And Conduct (16cppc)

Certificate in Law

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

For admission to the Certificate in Parliamentarian Practice and Conduct, the candidate:
p>

• ?should be in possession of a minimum Grade 10 certificate or any other equivalent qualification and should have five (5)
  years related working experience
• be in possession of a Grade 12 certificate, with a minimum of 17 points in five subjects according to UNAM rating with at
  least an E symbol in English as a Second Language or higher.

Duration of Studies:

The Certificate in Parliamentarian Practice and Conduct will extent over a period of 11 weeks with four hours of teaching in
English for Certificate Purposes and three hours of teaching in each of the other five (5) Course s.

UNAM FACULTY OF LAW – POSTGRADUATE QUALIFICATIONS

Laws

Masters of Laws

Introduction:

The Faculty of Law offers a Master of Laws degree which shall be examined by research only in any field of law approved by the Faculty. It is imperative that the information pertaining to the LL M (by thesis) be read in conjunction with the General Information and Regulations Prospectus

Offered at:

• Main Campus

Requirements:

A person may be considered for admission as a candidate for the degree of Master of Laws if

• s/he has a good law degree with at least a C-grade average (i.e. 60-69%) of the University of Namibia or an equivalent degree
  of another University/institution recognized by the Senate, on the recommendation of the Faculty of Law, for the purpose; or
• s/he has in any other manner attained a level of competence, which in the opinion of Senate, on the recommendation of the
  Faculty of Law, is adequate for the purpose of admission as a candidate for the degree.

Duration of Studies:

A full-time candidate shall complete the approved thesis for the degree within one (1) academic year; a part time candidate
within two (2) academic years.

The Faculty Board may, in justified cases, extend the duration of studies of a full-time candidate up to two (2) academic years
and a part-time candidate up to three (3) academic years.

Modules:

WHY STUDY AT THE UNAM FACULTY OF LAW?

The Faculty of Law welcomes and invites you to study at the Faculty as it promises you a unique and worthwhile experience in legal education. The faculty’s programmes offer a very challenging and intellectually stimulating experience. The UNAM Law Faculty treasures excellences and strives to attain this standard in its teaching, research and community areas.

Through these activities, it has monumentally contributed to the building of a sound legal system and a constitutional and democratic culture in the Republic of Namibia. Many graduates of the Faculty are to be found in private law firms, the Ministry of Justice and other related ministries parastatal organizations, the Office of the Prosecutor – General, the magistracy etc.

During the 2014 academic year, the Faculty of law produced the second ever Namibian Rhodes scholar who will be proceeding to the University of Oxford to study for his Master’s degree. All parents in the country and within the SADC region who send us their wards for a legal education would have made a very sound decision as they would have assured them a promising future as shown by the broad range of careers which await them.

POSSIBLE CAREERS AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE FACULTY OF LAW

The field of law is very dynamic and covers a wide range of careers options. The LLB is the basic degree for any person who wishes to enter the legal profession in Namibia. If a person wishes to become a legal practitioner in a private law firm then they must attend a qualifying course at the justice training centre at UNAM as well as sit for the accompanying qualifying examination.

Alternatively, they can enter the profession by working as a magistrate, public prosecutor, legal aid counsel or a Legal Officer. The Public Service designation for legally qualified staff members in the ministry of justice is referred to as legal officer, but for better understanding of their respective functions, they are also categorized according to their statutory designations and the directorates they are attached to.

The following are basic entry level legal careers in the Ministry of Justice:

• Public Prosecutor
• Legal Researcher
• Legal Drafter
• Defense Counsel
• Legal Advisor
• Government Attorney
• Legal Officer

Contact Us’

For assistance and support, use the contact details provided below;

Phone;

+264 61 206 3998

+264 61 206 3703

Email;

dsampson@unam.na