The Law Department is a cornerstone of UAL's educational project, having been able to provide itself, over more than two decades of existence, with high standards of scientific quality, with a staff of academically qualified professors, and with ample and diversified Professional Experiences. The Department of Law is deeply committed to its own cultural and scientific enrichment and that of those who wish to make use of it.

Quickly adapted to the Bologna process, with a view to its better insertion in the world of work and in the European space, the Department of Law structured its courses.

The first cycle, corresponding to the degree, comprises 240 ECTS and takes place over four years. The main objective of the Law Degree at Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa is to provide students with solid legal training in all areas of Law that interfere with the main values of life in society, guided by quality criteria and scientific rigor, which prepare them for the professional exercise of legal activities.

However, the law is increasingly vast, varied and complex and the knowledge acquired in the degree calls for deepening and specialization, especially when facing more demanding professions, due to the responsibilities they involve, the risks they incur, the power they exercise , so the 1st cycle must be completed by a 2nd cycle of studies – the Master.

Fully aware of this need, the Department of Law created a second cycle, with specialized master's courses in three scientific areas (Legal Sciences, Legal-Political Sciences; Legal-Criminal Sciences). Each course consists of 120 ECTS and takes place over 2 years.

The third cycle, of 180 ECTS, corresponds to the Doctoral Course in Law in three specialties (Legal Sciences; Legal-Political Sciences and Legal-Procedural Sciences). The Doctoral Course lasts for six semesters, the first two being academic, the third for the preparation of the thesis project and the rest for the preparation of the thesis.

Order no. 9957-AF/2007, of 18 April, accredited by A3ES, on 17/06/2015.

Mission

A good theoretical training is essential in the training of any jurist, but it is not, however, sufficient. Therefore, the Law degree course at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa seeks to provide undergraduate students with a solid theoretical preparation, without neglecting the practical aspect, so that students master the main beams of the application of Law.

This central objective of the articulation between the theoretical and practical dimensions of the teaching of Law is achieved through two specific and complementary objectives: scientific training, through the teaching of reasoning schemes and dogmatic constructions typical of legal science, and training oriented towards the praxis of legal science, through participatory learning of the main subjects of positive law.

On the other hand, the aim is to develop students' individual skills by encouraging the application of theoretical knowledge to the resolution of practical cases, integrating this domain into the different disciplines of the degree, through practical classes and assessment exams.

Indeed, legal science only has reason to exist if it is at the service of solving the concrete problems of legal regulation. In order to encourage students to be sensitive to legal practice, the Law Department of the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa has always sought to include in its teaching staff people linked to the universe of applying the law to situations of social life, namely judicial magistrates.

And, in a general way, its teachers try to temper the expository teaching with participatory classes, the realization of guided works and the resolution of practical cases, which allow a continuous evaluation of the students' academic performance. Thus, the aim is to go beyond a predominantly theoretical teaching and introduce students to the world of the praxis of Law.