Programs

The Debre Markos University School of Law currently runs both LLB and LLM in regular, extension and summer programs. The school provides these two programs through its full time, part time  and guest lecturers.

Bachelor of Laws

Graduate Profile

As it is clearly stated in the National Revised Curriculum of the LL.B Program (2021) which is prepared by the Ethiopian Law Schools’ Consortium, after completing the program of study, LL.B graduates will acquire knowledge and competence which would enable them:

• work as judges and prosecutors at various levels of the Federal and State court structures in Ethiopia;
• serve as public defenders for persons accused of committing crimes;
• practice law individually or along with other legal professionals at any level of the court structures in the country, depending on the class of license issued;
• provide services as legal advisors to business organizations, governmental agencies or non-governmental organizations;
• render high-quality research service to organizations as consultants or permanent employees;
• engage in teaching at Law Schools in higher education institutions across the nation; and
• work individually or in establishments with a view to enhancing individual and group rights, the rule of law, good governance, and the deepening of constitutionalism and democratic values through research, education, advocacy and awareness-raising enterprises.

Objectives of the Program

The general objective of the undergraduate program is to provide basic legal training to the students. More specifically, the program aspires: –

• to equip students with basic knowledge of major national legislations and procedures, along with the skills of legal interpretation required to solve legal problems;
• to train professionals who will be able to undertake the technical aspects of drafting and revising laws;
• to enhance the critical thinking abilities of students so that they can understand and implement laws as judges, practicing lawyers, prosecutors, public defenders or academicians
• to train professionals who can deliver legal advice in public and business laws either by working for particular firms or individuals seeking such advice;
• to educate individuals who will be able to speak to and advise clients with professionalism, understanding and responsibility;
• to prepare dedicated persons who can research and publish, and hence reinforce Ethiopian legal jurisprudence; and
• to produce legal professionals who serve society with the highest heed to ethical values, who strive to defend rights and liberties and uphold the fundamentals of rule of law.

ADMISSION AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENT

REQUIRMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO LAW SCHOOL

Students who have completed the national preparatory/high school education and freshman first semester courses and wish to join law schools will be selected from a list of students assigned to the social sciences streams on a competitive basis. To this end the following minimum admission criteria are set:

1 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

1. Freshman first semester GPA: 2.75 and above for Female, Students with Disabilities, and students from emerging regions, and 3.0 and above for Male Students.
2. National Higher Education Entrance Exam result Score 50% and above.

 2 WEIGHT (Admission point score)

1. First Semester GPA———-50%
2. Comprehensive Law School Entrance Exam; ————30%
3. National Higher Education Entrance Exam result —–20%
4. Affirmative Action—————————————-5% (from the total score)

 All law schools shall have an Admissions Committee which will undertake the admission process. Notwithstanding to the above admission requirements, law schools will reduce eligibility criteria where the number of applicants is below one section based on applicable standards of respective law school. However, under no circumstance the eligibility criteria for male and female/students with disabilities /emerging region students shall be less than 2.8 and 2.6, respectively.

 The respective laws schools, due to capacity constraints, reserve the right to limit the number of students admitted into the schools. This is to mean that, prospective students who comply with the minimum requirements may not necessarily be admitted to the law schools.

 The admission requirements for the continuing education program are set by the Admission Committees of each School of Law, with due regard to gender compositions and regular program admission requirements to the extent of its applicability.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENT

Students, who have successfully completed both the core and elective courses listed under the LL.B Curriculum, earn passing grades in the National Exit Examination and fulfill the Externship program with a passing score – all with a minimum CGPA of 2.00 and no unremoved  “F” grade – shall be eligible for graduation.

The National Exit Examination carries 5 credit hours ; the Externship Program carries 12 credit hours for a work performance extending over a 3 months period during the second semester of Year-V. The grades for the National Exit Exam and Externship Program are only noted in the academic record of students.

Under the new LL. B Curriculum, students are required to fulfill a total of 182 credit hours or 298 ECTS study works to be eligible for graduation.

SEQUENCING AND SEMESTER BREAKDOWN

1. COURSE SEQUENCING

1/Major Courses

No	Major Courses	Credit Hour
1.	Communicative English Language Skills I	3
2.	Introduction to Economics	3
3.	General Psychology	3

4.	Mathematics for Social Sciences	3
5.	Critical Thinking	3
6.	Physical Fitness	P/F
7.	Geography of Ethiopia and the Horn	3
8.	Communicative English Language Skills II	3
9.	Social Anthropology	2
10.	Entrepreneurship	3
11.	Inclusiveness	2
12.	Introduction to Emerging Technologies	3
13.	Global Trends	2
14.	Moral and Civic Education	2
15.	Law of Persons	2
16.	Introduction to Law and Ethiopian Legal System	3
17.	Family Law	3
18.	Succession Law	3
19.	General Property Law	4
20.	Contract I	3
21.	Contract II	3
22.	Law of Special Contracts	4
23.	Law of Extra Contractual Liability	3

24.	Land Law	2
25.	Law of Intellectual Property	3
26.	Law of Traders and Business Organization	5
27.	Banking, Insurance and Negotiable Instrument	4
28.	Legal History and Customary Law	3
29.	Jurisprudence	3
30.	Gender and the Law	2
31.	Pre-trial, Trial and Appellate Advocacy/Moot Court	2
32.	Legal Ethics	2
33.	Law of Civil Procedure I	3
34.	Law of Civil Procedure II	3
35.	Law of Criminal Procedure	3
36.	Conflicts of Laws	3
37.	Evidence Law	3
38.	Alternative Dispute Resolution	2
39.	Introduction to Information Technology Law	2
40.	Legislative Drafting	2
41.	Legal Research Methodology	3
42.	Environmental and Natural Resources Law	3
43.	Criminal Law I	3

44.	Criminal Law II	3
45.	Tax Law	5
46.	Administrative Law	3
47.	Public International Law	5
48.	International Human Rights Law	4
49.	International Trade Law	3
50.	Investment Law	3
51.	Employment Law	3
52.	International Humanitarian Law	2
53.	Federalism	2
54.	Constitutional Law	4
55.	Senior Thesis	3
56.	Externship	12
57.	Exit Exam	5
Total		176

            2/Elective Courses

No.	Elective Courses	Credit Hour
1.	Construction Law	2
2.	Administrative Contract	2
3.	Law of Non-Profit Organization	2
4.	Micro-Finance and Public Enterprise	2
5.	Criminology	2
6.	Islamic Law	2
7.	Law and Development	2
8.	Military Law	2
9.	Media Law	2
10.	Electoral Law	2
11.	Refugee Law	2
12.	Maritime Law	2
Total		24

COURSE BREAKDOWN

Year I; Semester I

No	Semester I	Course Code	CrHr	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1	Communicative English Language Skills I*	FLEn 1011	3	5	Parallel
2	Introduction to Economics	Econ-1011	3	5	Parallel
3	General Psychology	Psyc 1011	3	5	Parallel
4	Mathematics for Social Sciences	Math 1011	3	5	Parallel
5	Critical Thinking	LoCT 1011	3	5	Parallel

6	Physical Fitness	SpSc 1011	P/F	P/F	Parallel
7	Geography of Ethiopia and the Horn	GeES 1011	3	5	Parallel
Total			18	30

* Pre requisite for Communicative English Language Skills II

Year I; Semester II

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1	Communicative English Language Skills II	FLEn1012	3	5	Parallel
2	Social Anthropology	Anth1012	2	3	Parallel
3.	Entrepreneurship	MGMT1012	3	5	Parallel
4	Introduction to law and Ethiopian legal system	Laws1012	3	5	Parallel
5.	Introduction to Emerging Technologies	EmTe1012	3	5	Parallel
6	Global Trends	GITr1012	2	3	Parallel
7	Moral and Civic Education	MCiE1012	2	3	Parallel
Total			18	29

 Year II; Semester I

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1	Law of Persons*	Laws2011	2	3	Block
2	Legal History and Customary Law	Laws2012	3	5	Parallel
3.	Jurisprudence	Laws2013	3	5	Parallel
4	Law of Contracts I**	Laws2014	3	5	Parallel
5.	Constitutional Law	Laws2015	4	7	Parallel
7.	Inclusiveness	SNIE 1012	2	3	Parallel
Total			17	28

* Concentrated Delivery, Pre-requisite for Law of Contracts I, Family Law and Succession Law.

** Pre-requisite for Law of Contract II and Law of Special Contracts

Year II; Semester II

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Family Law	Laws2021	3	5	Parallel
2.	Succession law	Laws2022	3	5	Parallel
3.	Contracts Law II*	Laws2023	3	5	Parallel
4.	Criminal Law I	Laws2024	3	5	Parallel
5.	Property Law	Laws2025	4	7	Parallel
6.	Legal Research Methodology	Laws2026	3	5	Parallel

Total

19

32

• Pre-requisite for Criminal Law II

Year III; Semester I

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Land Law	Laws3031	2	3	Parallel
2.	Law of Extra Contractual Liability	Laws3032	3	5	Parallel
3.	Law of Special Contracts	Laws3033	4	7	Parallel
4.	Criminal Law II	Laws3034	3	5	Parallel
5.	Civil Procedure I*	Laws3035	3	5	Parallel
6.	Law of Traders and Business Organization	Laws3036	5	8	Parallel
Total			20	33

• Pre-requisite for Civil Procedure

Year III; Semester II

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Civil Procedure II	Laws3041	3	5	Parallel
2.	Criminal Procedure	Laws3042	3	5	Parallel
3.	Law of Evidence	Laws3043	3	5	Parallel

4.	Public International Law	Laws3044	5	8	Parallel
5.	Law of Banking, Insurance and Negotiable	Laws3045	4	7	Parallel
6.	Federalism	Laws3046	2	3	Parallel
Total			20	33

Year IV; Semester I

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Conflict of Laws	Laws4021	3	5	Parallel
2.	Tax Law	Laws4022	5	8	Parallel
3.	Intellectual Property Law	Laws4023	3	5	Parallel
4.	International Human Rights Law	Laws4024	4	7	Parallel
5.	International Humanitarian Law	Laws4025	2	3	Parallel
6.	Gender and the Law	Laws4026	2	3	Parallel
Total			19	31

 Year IV; Semester II

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Investment Law	Laws4031	3	5	Parallel
2.	International Trade Law	Laws4032	3	5	Parallel

3.	Employment Law	Laws4033	3	5	Parallel
4.	Senior Thesis	Laws4034	3	5	Parallel
5.	Environmental and Natural Resource Law	Laws4035	3	5	Parallel
6.	Introduction to Information Technology Law	Laws4036	2	3	Parallel
7.	Elective Course (E)*	Laws4037	2	3	Parallel
Total			19	31

*Elective Course (E)

• Construction Law, Administrative Contract, Law of Non- Profit Organizations, Law of Micro-Finance and Public Enterprise.

Year V; Semester I

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Alternative Dispute Resolution	Laws5021	2	3	Parallel
2.	Legal Ethics	Laws5022	2	3	Parallel
3.	Pretrial, Trial and Appellate Advocacy	Laws5023	2	3	Parallel
4.	Legal Clinics *	Laws5024	2	3	Parallel
5.	Legislative Drafting	Laws5025	2	3	Parallel
6.	Administrative Law	Laws5026	3	5	Parallel
7.	Elective Course (E)**	Laws5027	2	3	Parallel
Total			15	23

• Legal Clinics (E) *
  • Clinical Program on Domestic Violence, Clinical Program on Child Rights, Clinical Program on Restorative Justice, Clinical Program on Rights of Prisoners
• Elective Course ( E)**
  • Criminology, Islamic Law, Law and Development, Military Law, Refugees, Electoral Law, Media Law, Maritime Law

Year V; Semester II

No	Course Title	Course Code	Credit	ECTS	Mode of Delivery
1.	Exit Exam	Laws5031	5	8	Tutorial
2.	Externship	Laws5031	12	20	3 months Practice
Total			17	28

LL.M. PROGRAMS

The School of Law currently runs two LL.M. Programs which are LL.M. in Business and Investment Law and Human Rights Law. In addition, the school is in the process of opening new LL.M programs.

LLM in Business and Investment Law

Admission Requirements

A candidate who applies to join the program must have LL.B. degree from a recognized university, fulfill the general admission requirements for Graduate Studies of the Debre Markos University and pass the graduate entrance examination of the school.

Objective of the Program

The program aims at satisfying the national demand for highly trained specialist lawyers who have undergone specialized training in business and investment law. In particular, it aims at satisfying the demand for business and investment law experts who can understand and implement the policies of the country, extend consultancy services in the formulation of legal policy and engage in research and teaching at higher education institutions.

 Graduate Profile

Given the objectives of the program, it is expected that the graduates will be highly trained specialist lawyers equipped with up-to-date knowledge in business and investment law able to analyze and formulate legal policy, to undertake high-level professional research, legal practice, teaching and consultancy. Graduates are expected to:

• foster the national effort to develop the domestic economy under the free market principle;
• engage with and enhance the dynamism in the public life of Ethiopians which is being progressively intensified following the implementation of decentralized form of government and a new set of constitutional and administrative values;
• ensure that national interests are articulated, developed, asserted and defended effectively and sufficiently as the country enters the global world more forcefully;
• help entrench the efforts to promote, protect, and enforce human rights not only in Ethiopia but also at regional and international levels; and
• undertake high level research and legal practice and conduct teaching and consultancy services at higher education institutions.

COURSES

• Advanced Legal Research Methods
• Theoretical Foundations of Business Law
• Laws on Comparative Corporate Governance and Finance
• International Investment Law and Policy
• Advanced Issues on International and African Economic Law
• Laws on Financial Market Development and Regulation
• Advanced Tax Law and Policy
• Business and Investment Dispute Resolution
• Law on Competition and Consumer protection(E)/
• Seminar on Contemporary Issues of Business and Investment Law(E)
• Ethiopian Investment Law and Policy

Course Breakdown

The list of courses offered in the program is indicated in the table below by the year and the semester in which they are offered.

Year I, Semester I

Code	Course title	Credit hour	ECTS
Laws- 6101	Advanced Legal Research Methods	3	5
Laws- 6102	Theoretical foundations of business law	3	5
Laws- 6308	Laws on comparative Corporate governance  and finance	4	7
	Total	10	17

Year I, Semester II

Code	Course Title	Credit hrs	ECTS credits
Laws- 6203	International Investment Law and Policy	3	5
Laws-6204	Advanced issues on international and African economic law	3	5
Laws -6209	laws on financial  market development and regulation	3	5
Total		9	15

Year II, Semester 1I

Code	Course Title	Credit hrs	ECTS credits
Laws- 6311	Advanced Tax Law and Policy	3	5
Laws- 6206	Business and Investment Dispute Resolution	3	5
Laws-6207 Laws- 6312	Law on competition and consumer protection(E)/ Seminar on Contemporary issues of Business and investment law(E)	2	3
Laws- 6205	Ethiopian investment law and policy	3	5
Total		11	18

Year 2 semester 2 – Thesis

Course Code	Course Title	Credit hrs	ECTS credits
	Thesis	6	10
Total		6	10

LLM in Human Rights Law

Admission Requirements

A candidate who applies to join the program must have LL.B. degree from a recognized university, fulfill the general admission requirements for Graduate Studies of the Debre Markos University and pass the graduate entrance examination of the School.

Program Objectives

The program aims at satisfying the national and individual demand for highly trained specialist human rights lawyers. The program aims at satisfying the demand for human rights law experts who are able to contribute towards the realization of human rights through formulation and implementation of policies, interpretation and execution of laws, provision of consultancy services, and through education and research.

Graduate Profile

Given the objectives of the program, it is expected that the graduates will be highly trained specialist lawyers equipped with up-to-date knowledge and skills in human rights law able to analyze and formulate policy, to undertake high-level professional research, legal practice, teaching and consultancy. Graduates are expected to:

• design and implement legislative, administrative and other measures necessary for the realization of human rights; enhance the promotion and protection of human rights at national and international levels; and
• undertake high level research and conduct teaching at higher education institutions and provide consultancy services.

COURSES

• Philosophy and Politics of Human Rights
• International Human Rights Law
• African Human Rights Law
• Ethiopian Human Rights Law
• Human Rights and Criminal Justice
• Rights of Vulnerable Individuals
• Human Rights, Business and Development
• International Criminal Law
• Project Development, Planning and Implementation
• Seminar on Contemporary Issues of Human Rights
• Advanced Legal Research Methods

Course Breakdown

The list of courses offered in the program is indicated in the table below by the year and the semester in which they are offered.

Regular-Year I: Semester I

Course Code	Course Title	Cr.Hr	ECTS
HRL-6111	Philosophy and Politics of Human Rights	3	8
HRL-6121	International Human Rights Law System	3	8
HRL-6511	Advanced Legal Research Methods	3	8
	Total	9	24

Regular-Year I: Semester II

Course Code	Course Title	Cr.Hr	ECTS
HRL-6121	African Human Rights Law System	2	5
HRL-6142	Ethiopian Human Rights Law System	3	8
HRL-6222	Rights of Vulnerable Individuals	4	11
HRL-6412	International Criminal Law	2	5
	Total	11	29

Regular-Year II: Semester I

Course Code	Course Title	Cr.Hr	ECTS
HRL-7311	Human Rights, Business and Development	2	5
HRL-7211	Human Rights and Criminal Justice	3	8
HRL-7421	Project Development, Planning and Implementation (PDPI)	3	8
HRL-7431	Seminar on Contemporary Issues of Human Rights	2	5
HRL-7521	Thesis Part I	6	30
	Total without thesis	10	23

Regular-Year II: Semester II

Course Code	Course Title	Cr.Hr	ECTS
HRL-7521	Thesis Part II	6	30
	Total Course work	30	79
	Total Course work and thesis	35	109

Centers

• Free Legal Aid Center

About the Center

The right to equal access to justice is one of the basic principles of rule of law. In the absence of equal access to justice, persons are unable to have their voice heard, exercise their rights, challenge discrimination or hold decision makers accountable. The proper realization of access to justice requires extending the reach of formal institutions by removing different social and economic barriers. The provision of free legal aid services is one of the effective tool in increasing access to justice  for vulnerable and needy segments of the society—particularly women, children, people with disabilities, prison inmates and people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Debre Markos University School of law is proud in giving legal aid service as part of its responsibility for the community. The Free Legal Aid Center established in 2010 with the support of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. Currently, this legal aid service is actively given through the school’s salaried full time lawyers, voluntary instructors and law school students almost in more than eight legal aid centers of the university.

Objectives of the Center

• Serving the cause of justice to the needy free of charge
• Ensuring clinical legal education by exposing our students to real life situations.
• Legal penetration through Community legal education program. E
• Ensuring that the Law School has effectively discharged its responsibility to provide community service.

The Services Provided

The legal aid center provides various kinds of legal aid services for the needy. These includes:-

• legal Counseling;
• Writing Various Pleadings;
• Legal Representations;
• Legal Awareness creation/education through Debre Markos F.M. and;
• ADR

 Areas of operation and Number of Branch Centers

The legal aid center currently operates in the two zones of Gojjam: East and West Gojjam and has about a total of eight sub branch centers, namely Debre Markos town(where it has two branches i.e., a branch at the town (for both the high court and wereda courts) and another branch at D/M Prison)), Denbecha, Lumame, Dejene, Rebu-gebeya, Amber and Amanuel . Each of the centers has lawyers/legal professionals and secretaries who are employed to provide legal and secretarial services respectively. Besides these personnel, the school of law instructors and students actively engage in the rendering of the legal aid service.  

Unique experiences

• The School used the legal aid centers as education forum too and especially clinical legal education courses are being run taking real cases from the centers.
• The School has hired some legal professionals and made community service day arrangement that helped instructors and students to reduce its impact on classes.
• Secretaries in the centers are made to have the best mode of communication to the law school. They fix days of the law school service and if the service is going to be made promptly they send us the document/or persons.
• Staff members have special license to run court representation.
• There is a fixed day for legal awareness creation through Debre Markos F.M