Law

Law at the University of Edinburgh is studied within the Scottish legal tradition, which is distinct from the English common law system and is influenced by both Roman law and continental European legal thought. This gives the Edinburgh law degree a comparative and theoretical richness that is unusual in UK legal education, and it produces graduates who understand law not merely as a body of rules but as a system of ideas with deep historical and philosophical roots. The degree is one of the oldest and most academically demanding in the country, set within a research university with a global reputation.

This three-year full-time programme covers the core areas of Scots law, including private law, constitutional law, criminal law, property law, contract, delict and the law of obligations, alongside public law, jurisprudence and legal theory. You will develop the analytical skills to read and interpret legal texts, the argumentative skills to construct and critique legal reasoning, and the depth of legal knowledge to understand how law functions as a social institution. The Scottish system, with its mixed civil law heritage, provides a valuable comparative perspective on legal problems that a purely common law training would not offer.

Graduation from Edinburgh law leads naturally into the legal profession in Scotland, where the qualification requirements differ from those in England and Wales. Many graduates proceed to the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, which is the gateway to qualifying as a Scottish solicitor or advocate. Others qualify in England or another common law jurisdiction after conversion training.

Legal careers span private practice, the public sector, the judiciary, in-house legal roles, finance and commerce, and many graduates also move into non-legal careers in the civil service, business, policy, journalism and academia, where the analytical and argumentative skills of a law degree are highly valued.