The Faculty of Law is one the professional schools at the University of Otago

University of Otago

The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...

. Otago is New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's oldest law school, lectures in law having begun in 1873. The Faculty of Law is currently located in the Richardson Building at Otago's main campus in the city of Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

.

The Faculty of Law awards the degrees

Academic degree

An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

 of Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 (LL.B.), Master of Laws

Master of Laws

The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...

 (LL.M.), and Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 (Ph.D.). A Bachelor of Laws Honours program also exists and is reserved for approximately the top 10% of LL.B. students. In 2007, the Law Faculty had approximately 800 equivalent full-time students. Approximately 200 students are in each of second, third, and fourth-year law, and over 700 students are enrolled in the first-year LAWS 101 course, which is a prerequisite to being admitted into full-time legal studies as a second year law student. Approximately 60% of the law students are female.

The first law lecturer at Otago was Sir

Sir

Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

 Robert Stout

Robert Stout

Sir Robert Stout, KCMG was the 13th Premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold both these offices...

, who went on to serve as Attorney-General

Attorney-General (New Zealand)

The Attorney-General is a political office in New Zealand. It is simultaneously a ministerial position and an administrative office, and has responsibility for supervising New Zealand law and advising the government on legal matters...

, Prime Minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

, and Chief Justice of New Zealand

Chief Justice of New Zealand

The Chief Justice of New Zealand is the head of the New Zealand judiciary, and presides over the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Before the establishment of the latter court in 2004 the Chief Justice was the presiding judge in the High Court of New Zealand and was also ex officio a member of the...

. Otago's law library is named the Sir Robert Stout Law Library

Sir Robert Stout Law Library

The Sir Robert Stout Law Library is the law library of the University of Otago. It is named in honour of Sir Robert Stout, the first lecturer in law at Otago...

.

Mark Henaghan

Mark Henaghan

Raymond Mark Henaghan is the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. His research interests include family law, especially law relating to children, law regarding the human genome, and judiciary law....

 is the current Dean

Dean (education)

In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...

 of the Faculty of Law. The Faculty is composed of 27 full-time academic staff members, with 10 full professors, 3 associate professors, 10 senior lecturers, and 4 lecturers.
The faculty leads the Human Genome Research Project, sponsored by the New Zealand Law Society

New Zealand Law Society

The New Zealand Law Society is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand...

, which considers issues in the regulation of human genome-based technologies in New Zealand, on a legal and ethical basis.