The Department of Law was established in the year 1973 with the continuous efforts of Prof. A. A. Wani and Prof. Riyaz Punjabi. The Department started functioning in the Gandhi Bhawan with Prof. M.R. Zaffer as its first Head. Subsequently, it was shifted to wooden barracks at Naseem Bagh. The Department, initially came into existence with scanty meagre resources in terms of the faculty and infrastructure, but with the passage of time, it made a significant progress in the academic domain as well as in other aspects. The Department started its Masters Programme (LL.M.) in the year 1982 and B.A.LL.B. (5 year) integrated course in the year 2007. 

The courses run by the Department are in great demand in the society, as a result of which some private law colleges have also emerged in the Valley. In response to this demand, the Department also started second shift of the LL.B. 3-year course. The School of Law has progressed and grown into a prestigious Institute of legal study and research in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. It is the largest Department in terms of students intake in the University. The Department, at present, has a building comprising of nine class rooms and eighteen chambers for the faculty besides offices of the Head/Dean. The building has been extended to accommodate Computer Lab, Library, Moot Court, examination Hall and a Conference Room. The Department has a rich library with modern facilities.

The course curriculum is in line with CDC report and satisfies the requirements of the Bar Council of India. It has a well equipped computer laboratory with Internet facility. All the members of the faculty have computers with Internet facility. The Department is publishing annually Kashmir University Law Review which is a refereed journal, indexed by the Indian Law Institute and carries ISSN 0975-6639.

Faculty Publications

 I) Kashmir University Law Review (KULR): The Faculty of Law has been successfully pursuing higher standards of academic excellence. The Faculty is publishing a Refereed Research Journal, Kashmir University Law Review (KULR) which is acclaimed across the country and appreciated by academia, eminent lawyers and judges. Research papers on topics of contemporary relevance, case comments and book reviews by teachers and scholars from across the country are published in the Journal. Teachers and scholars of the Faculty also get their papers published in various national and international journals. The Journal is published on regular intervals. Prof. Mohammad Hussain, Head and Dean, School of Law  is the Chief Editor of the Journal and Dr. Fareed Ahmad Rafiqi and Dr. Mir Junaid Alam are editors of the Journal.

II)  Newsletter:  The School of Law also publishes a Newsletter titled "School of Law, University of Kashmir Newsletter". Its volume II was published in 2017. Prof. Mohammad Hussain, Head and Dean, School of Law is the Editor of the Journal and Dr. Mir Junaid Alam is the Assistant Editor of the Newsletter. The newsletter features the various events of the department including seminars, workshops, moot court competitions etc. and articles of the faculty members and scholars about major recent legal developments in the country.

 

Law Society

 “Law Society” was a dream of the founders of the Department of Law at Kashmir University. The patrons of the Department started Law Society long back in late 70’s but later due to the circumstantial compulsions it remained dormant for a long time. However, in April 2008, Law Society organised a mega charity event “Ehsas” to help leper patients. In April 2011, Law Society was resurrected in its new form during 2011 and placed it under the guidance of Prof M. Ayub Dar. The ad-hoc body of the “Law Society” has been constituted with Mr. Faizan-i-Nazar, Mr. Sheikh Rizwan Javeed and Mr. Majid Farooq Mir as President, General Secretary and Treasurer respectively. The basic “Motto” of the Society is to prefer and put up with a few suitable things than to burden mankind with many useless things.

The Law Society organised debates and round table discussions on Right to Information, Environmental Protection, Capital Punishment, and many other burning topics. The Society organised a “GO-GREEN Drive-Phase I” where-in about 70 trees were planted around the departmental precincts. In addition, the society  organized 2nd Shah i Hamdan Inter College Mega Quiz Competition on 06-07-2017 in which teams of from the School of Law  and various colleges  of the valley participated. Recently a big plantation drive was also organized by the Law Society in collaboration with J&k Forest Department.  In the coming months Law Society will be hosting a National Moot Court Competition.