Law
Law
Part of the Government & Society cluster.
Law examines the role of legal systems in shaping societies, protecting rights, and navigating global challenges. You will explore how law interacts with morality, politics, and everyday life. Courses blend theory with hands-on experience, think moot courts, legal clinics and fieldtrips to legal institutions. Gain the tools you need to analyze complex legal questions and pursue a future in law, policy, or international affairs.
Opening up Law courses
The 100-level Law courses are available to anyone. If you want to take the 200 or 300-level courses, you will first have to complete the gateway course titled Law, Society & Justice.
Courses in Law
Courses in Law
Gateway
Law, Society & Justice
Law, Society & Justice
Examines law from legal, socio‑scientific and normative perspectives. Explores definitions, legal traditions and fields of law, investigates the relationship between law and society and the concept of justice, and includes case law, excursion to international legal organizations, interviews with practitioners and a moot court session.
100-level
Human Rights: Law & Philosophy
Human Rights: Law & Philosophy
This course offers a legal, historical and philosophical approach to human rights. Students will learn about human rights law, classical scholarship on Plato’s and Aquinas’ views on right and wrong and modern views on the same by Locke, the founding father of the rights paradigm. We will then investigate the rise of human rights in the 17th century and beyond, with its culmination in the US Bill of Rights (1791) and the Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (1789), and its extension and application through UN and regional human rights treaties.
200-level
Introduction to Public International Law
Introduction to Public International Law
How do countries resolve conflicts, protect refugees, or respond to war? This course introduces the rules, institutions, and politics of public international law, covering treaties, the UN, armed conflict, war crimes, refugee protection, and climate change. You will analyze real and hypothetical cases, apply legal principles, debate controversial issues, and produce a podcast that connects law to global challenges and current events.
200-level
Criminal Law & Criminal Justice
Criminal Law & Criminal Justice
At the heart of criminal law and criminal justice is the discussion and debate of moral and legal justifications for criminalization and punishment. Building on this foundation, students investigate the main guiding principles of criminal law and criminal justice. Students then apply theory to practice to gain mastery of legal reasoning skills in a simulated legal aid clinic.
200-level
Comparative Constitutional Law
Comparative Constitutional Law
Constitutions are the foundation of any state and its legal system. Constitutional law, as a field of study and practice, concerns fundamental questions that arise regarding the organization of a state, the attribution of power to public authorities, the division of power among them, and the relations between the government and individuals. This course offers insights into the features and functions of representative constitutions worldwide, as well as key principles of constitutional law.
300-level
Principles of Private Law
Principles of Private Law
Private law can play an important role in daily life. Whether enjoying life at home or stepping out the front door, intended and unintended interactions can have legal consequences for the persons involved. The rights and obligations associated with these situations are largely determined by a collection of legal fields known as private law. In this course, students closely examine general principles of property law, tort law, contract law, and other subjects, illuminated through comparisons of the legal systems in four different countries.
300-level
Foundations of European Union Law
Foundations of European Union Law
EU law is everywhere from the very strict rules on data-protection that literally pop-up with every website you open, to the right of EU nationals to work, live and provide services in other EU member states with as little hurdles as possible. This course introduces you to the EU legal order by familiarizing you first with the institutions and framework that shape the EU legal order. The course then proceeds through examining EU citizenship and the EU internal market through a series of problem-based learning exercises as well as guest lectures.
Also consider these options:
Also consider these options:
Cluster
Government & Society
Government & Society
The other fields within the Government & Society cluster.
Government & Society
Field of Study
Explore Applied Data Science!
Explore Applied Data Science!
To understand the legal implications of data collection, privacy, and algorithmic decision-making.
Applied Data Science
Field of Study
Explore Clinical Psychology!
Explore Clinical Psychology!
To understand the mental processes behind crime, justice, and rehabilitation.
Clinical Psychology
The UCR Program Builder is designed to help you easily plan your academic program. Step by step, the tool guides you through selecting courses, building a balanced curriculum, and meeting UCR’s academic requirements.
Play video
The UCR Program Builder is designed to help you easily plan your academic program. Step by step, the tool guides you through selecting courses, building a balanced curriculum, and meeting UCR’s academic requirements.