University of the Free State UFS Department of Public Law

The Department of Public Law represents an amalgamation of the faculty’s previous three departments of Criminal and Medical Law, Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law, as well as Law of Procedure and Law of Evidence.

As of 1 January 2015, the Department of Public Law is responsible for teaching in excess of 50% of the LLB-degree modules at UFS. These include foundational, practice-orientated, formal, and substantive law modules. The postgraduate and research expertise within the department ranges on a wide front, including, among other things, legal forensics, human trafficking, educational law, medical law, constitutional law, human rights law, international law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and environmental law against the background of skills modules such as community engagement and advocacy.
The department’s mission in teaching is to deliver graduates that will be professionally versed in the demands of the many fields of legal practice, including the demands for lifelong scholarship and responsible citizenship. In research, the department strives to contribute towards the development of the legal science consonant within the demands of the constantly transforming national and international environment. The department is inextricably guided by the values contained in the South African Constitution.

Contact Us

Head of Department
Prof Shaun De Freitas
T: +27 51 401 3004
E: DeFreitas@ufs.ac.za