About the School of Law


Overview
Established in 2003 as Jimma University Faculty of Law and started its programs with advanced diploma which was a three years program. The faculty admitted its first LL.B students in 2004. Though young, the school is one of the strongest law schools of the country and a winner of several national moot competitions and participated in many international moot court competitions as well. In addition to the LL.B program, the school has offers LL.M program in Commercial and Investment Law and LL.M in Human rights and Criminal Law. In the near future, it will commence additional graduate programs.
Objectives 
    • Producing competent and quality educated manpower in the programs the school run
    • Engaging in researches and projects based on the thematic areas of the university
    • Reaching the community through the provision of free legal aid services and other community based programs
    • Empowering different institutions in the justice system of the region as well as South western part of the country
Mission and Vision
    • Training and graduating quality and adequate manpower at different levels to meet the ever increasing need of the Ethiopian society in the field of law;
    • Contributing to the national effort to strengthen the proper administration of justice and prevalence of rule of law;
    • Enhancing good governance, equality, tolerance, respect for and realization of human rights and other vital values in our emerging democracy;
    • Inculcating the basic values of the FDRE Constitution in the minds of our graduates and creating the sense of duty to work towards its observance and enforcement;
    • Creating vibrant research community so as to generate knowledge through research and publication;
    • Promoting community based activities;
    • Networking with international and local organizations for the realization of justice;

Strategic Direction
Our school aspires to attain a status of College of Laws under the umbrella of Jimma University and through a continuous upgrading of the human and resource capacities, the school of law has a strategic direction of becoming leading school in the country and reputable to the rest of the world.
Management Structure
The chief executive of the school is the school head and followed by the vice head (a defacto position). The free legal aid office has a director and two vice directors having separate responsibilities.
Admission Criteria 
The admission criteria to the undergraduate program are the criteria set by the ministry of education. Candidates to the LL.M program are recruited based on a cumulative assessment of their academic performance on their undergraduate program, results from entrance exam prepared by the school, interview if needed and for female applicants some points are allotted as an affirmative action.
Services offered by the school
The school offers a free legal aid service to those who do not afford legal representation and vulnerable groups of the region. In addition to the offices in Jimma town, the center runs six legal aid offices in different districts of the area (Zone). Every year, the center gives free legal aid services for over a thousand and five hundred indigents.