Department of Common and Islamic Law

Philosophy

The Common and Islamic Law programme is designed to ensure that the graduate of Law will have good general knowledge of Law, including a clear understanding of the place and importance of Law in society. All human activities social, economic, and political take place within the legal framework. It is therefore necessary that the student of Law should also have a broad general knowledge and exposure to other disciplines in the process of acquiring legal education. The programme should introduce students to the general knowledge of Law, acquaint them with principles of the judicial process and legal development, and equip them with the basic tools of legal analysis and methods. Legal education should act first, as a stimulus to stir the student into critical analysis and examination of the prevailing social, economic and political systems of his community and, secondly, as an intellectual exercise aimed at studying and assessing the operation, efficacy and relevance of various rules of Law in the society. The curriculum must also ensure that Law is taught as it exists at any given moment, and that every Law student will be comparative in his approach to legal studies bearing in mind that there are many systems of Law (Statutory Law, Common law, Customary Law and Islamic Law) currently in operation