page_title: Maastricht University
section_title: Faculty of Law
hierarchical_section_title: Maastricht University / Organisation / Faculties / Faculty of Law
caption_attribution_description: English: Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Inner courtyard of former Nieuwenhof beguinage, now used by University College Maastricht.
context_page_description: Maastricht University is a public university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities.
  In 2018, 18,000 students studied at Maastricht University, 53% of whom were foreign students, with over 4,000 employees. About half of the bachelor's programmes are fully offered in English, while the other half is taught wholly or partly in Dutch. Most of the master's and doctoral programmes are in English. Besides traditional programmes, Maastricht University also has an honours liberal arts college: University College Maastricht and a Maastricht Science Programme in the same liberal arts tradition. The satellite University College Venlo opened in 2015.
  Maastricht University regularly ranks as one of Europe's leading universities. The University has been placed in the top 300 universities in the world by five major ranking tables. Maastricht University was at 88th place in the Times Higher Education World Ranking in 2016, and 4th among Young Universities.
context_section_description: Maastricht University's Faculty of Law (FL) was founded in 1981. Times Higher Education (THE) ranks the University's Law programme at 40th in the world in 2020. It started with a programme in Dutch law, designed in line with UM's problem-based learning principles. Ninety students enrolled in the first year. In the 1990s, the faculty introduced a new programme entitled the European Law School (ELS), which focused on European, comparative and international law. The programme was taught partly in English. A fully English-language ELS programme was established in 2007. It was the first English-language bachelor's programme in law in the Netherlands. The faculty currently consists of about 2,500 students and 150 members of staff. It offers four bachelor's (LL.B.) programmes: Dutch law, tax law, the Dutch-language ELS and the English-language ELS. In addition, the faculty offers seven master's (LL.M.) programmes and three advanced master's programmes, most of which are taught in English.
  In research, the faculty's Graduate School of Law has built a reputation in the areas of international, European and comparative law. 
  The faculty participates in two national research schools, the School of Human Rights and the Ius Commune Research School, and is home to several research institutes: the Institute for Transnational Legal Research (METRO), the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, the Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation (IGIR), the Montesquieu Institute Maastricht, the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies (ICGI), and the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI).
  The faculty was initially located at the Nieuwenhof béguinage, currently home to University College Maastricht. With the number of students growing quickly, the faculty moved to its current location in 1990. This building, the former seat of the provincial government of Limburg, consists of tutorial rooms, lecture halls as well as staff offices. The building underwent major renovation works around 2009, which included a new common room and lunch counter for students, a garden terrace, and an additional lecture hall in the former ballroom.
caption: Former Nieuwenhof nunnery, University College Maastricht
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