Faculties of law education in the Czech Republic – how to become a lawyer
How a foreigner can become a lawyer in the Czech Republic. The specialty “Law and Jurisprudence” in the Czech Republic provides a comprehensive legal education and prepares students for work in legal specialties (judge, prosecutor, lawyer, notary, bankruptcy administrator, bailiff, arbitrator). The curriculum has a theoretical basis supplemented by practice. As part of the training, international students can specialize in a specific legal field.
Tips for a foreign student in Prague – the first semester
What does a comprehensive legal education in the Czech Republic mean?
Within the framework of compulsory subjects, students study all the main disciplines in the field of law, namely:
- Theory of law
- Roman law
- History of law
- Science of the state
- Civil law
- Constitutional law
- European law
- Civil procedural law
- Private international law and international trade law
- International State law
- Commercial law
- Criminal law
- Administrative law
- Labor law
- Financial law
- Environmental law
- Social security law
How many years to study law in the Czech Republic
5 years before the title of master. The peculiarity of studying in the specialty “Law and Jurisprudence” in the Czech Republic is that the training is not divided into bachelor’s and master’s degrees. School graduates enroll in a 5-year continuing education program and study until they receive the title of Master of Law in the Czech Republic.
Legal education in the Czech Republic is prestigious. There are very high requirements for its quality in the Czech Republic, so the specialty “Law and Jurisprudence” can be obtained only at four state universities (Lawyer training is free in Czech). These are Charles University in Prague, Masaryk University in Brno, Palacki University in Olomouc and West Bohemian University in Pilsen. Law studies at private universities in the Czech Republic are always paid.
There is always a high competition for law faculties in the Czech Republic. Only 27% of applicants go to Charles University for “Law”, about 40% go to Masarikov and Palatsky. The easiest way is to enroll in law at West Bohemian University – last year 70% of applicants accepted there. Here are the programs of Czech law universities.
Charles University – Univerzita Karlova (UK)
Faculty of Law https://www.prf.cuni.cz/
The Prague Faculty of Law is one of the four faculties that were opened together with the foundation of Charles University in 1348.
For more than six centuries, the Faculty of Law of Charles University has reflected the political, cultural and social development of Czech and European society and has had a direct impact on its development. The history of the Faculty of Law of Charles University reflects the development of law and legal education in Central Europe.
It is one of the largest law faculties in Europe. Today there are more than 4,000 students studying here. The faculty cooperates with dozens of foreign law faculties from all over the world – as part of the exchange of students and teachers, as well as joint academic research.
How to become a lawyer in the Czech Republic. Naturally, students of the Faculty of Law of Charles University have many opportunities to study for an exchange. Within the framework of Erasmus, 150 foreign students come to Prague every year to get acquainted with the basics of Czech law in a European context at the Faculty of Law. The same number of Czech students go to foreign universities, the majority (about 3/5) study in English in the UK, Ireland, Holland and the Nordic countries. A fifth of the students go to German-speaking countries. The rest – to France, Italy or Spain. Within the framework of inter–faculty agreements, 10 students annually travel to non-European countries – to universities in Japan, China, Canada, the USA or Australia.
The next advantage of studying law at Charles University is a large number of additional subjects in the field of law – health law, sports law, Chinese language and introduction to Chinese law, mooting skills, lawyering skills, Latin for lawyers. Students also have the opportunity to study legal subjects in foreign languages.
Students of the Faculty of Law in the Czech Republic can enroll in their curriculum any subjects from the other 16 faculties of Charles University. Students can also choose teachers who are more suitable for them.
How to enroll in the Faculty of Law of Charles University
The Faculty of Law of Charles University does not conduct its entrance exams. Admission of students is based on the National Comparative Examinations of the organization SCIO. Applicants must pass two national comparative exams – General Prerequisites for Learning (abbreviation – OSP) and Fundamentals of Social Sciences (ZSV). At the same time, the OSP result weighs more, it is multiplied by a factor of 1.25. The result of ZSV is multiplied by a factor of 0.75. The test result is the so–called percentile (the percentage of applicants who scored less or the same number of points). OSP and ZSV can be taken 6 times throughout the year, the faculty will accept the best result.
Law training in the Czech Republic. Applicants can get additional points by providing certificates of knowledge of foreign languages (English, German, French, Spanish) at the B2 level or higher. You can provide a maximum of two certificates and get 10 points. Czech applicants can receive additional points for excellent results in final exams or participation in Olympiads, unfortunately, this opportunity does not apply to foreign applicants.
There is a huge interest in studying at the Faculty of Law of Charles University every year. Last year, 2,579 applicants were admitted, 650 were accepted.
Charles university Сzech language course
Masaryk University – Masarykova univerzita (MU)
Faculty of Law https://www.law.muni.cz/content/en/
There is no compulsory practice at the Faculty of Law at Charles University in Prague. And at Masaryk University in Brno – there is. During their studies, students practice for a minimum of 40 days, for example, in a court, a lawyer’s office, a notary office, a ministry or a tax inspectorate. The faculty helps students with the choice and organization of practice. Specialty lawyer in the Czech Republic. Also, so-called legal clinics work at the faculty to develop students’ practical skills. As part of the elective courses, students can take part in legal clinics where, with the help of expert practitioners, they will deal with real cases.
Review of lawyer training in the Czech Republic
“I am happy to remember my studies at the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University. I have gained excellent knowledge of private law, international law and other legal specializations. In combination with studying in the Netherlands and Canada, Masaryk University has prepared me perfectly for work in international advocacy. A third of my colleagues from the Prague office graduated from Masaryk University and many of them were able to prove themselves well during internships in the foreign offices of White & Case – both in London and in New York.”
How to enroll in the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University
Information for applicants of the Faculty of Law https://www.law.muni.cz/content/cs/pro-uchazece/
At the Faculty of Law, as well as at all other faculties of Masaryk University (with the exception of medical), a test for prerequisites for training is taken – TSP. This is Masarikov University’s own test – it can be called an analogue of OSP SCIO. The TSP exam takes place at the end of April. The TSP test consists of 60 questions divided into 6 tests. Verbal abilities, critical, analytical, logical, spatial thinking, general knowledge in the field of culture are tested. In the test testing critical thinking, 6 questions are asked in a foreign language (you can choose English, German, Spanish or French). The criterion for the success of the test, as in the case of the SCIO tests, is the percentage of applicants who scored less or the same number of points.
How to prepare for admission to the Faculty of Law in the Czech Republic? There is no literature for preparation. You just need to work through the tests of previous years and train. Tests, keys with answers and basic statistical characteristics are on the page http://www.muni.cz/tsp /.
Faculty of Economics and Management https://www.econ.muni.cz/
Masaryk University. Bachelor course:
- Finance and Law — a 3-year Bachelor of Law degree program in the Czech Republic.
Palacki University / Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci (UPOL)
Faculty of Law https://www.pf.upol.cz/
His legal studies in the Czech Republic are among the best in Europe. The Faculty is a laureate of the State Security Council Award for significant contribution to the security policy of the Czech Republic for 2020. The University of Law in the Czech Republic offers two academic programs — a Master of Law degree (5 years) and a Bachelor of Law degree in Public Administration (3 years). The competition is 2 people per place.
Master’s degree (post—bachelor’s degree) – 2 years of study. Two programs:
- European studies with a focus on European law
- International and European law in the Czech Republic
Law exams in Czech universities: The national comparative exams are a general test for the preliminary prerequisites for learning and a test on the basics of social sciences.
Faculties of law education in the Czech Republic. Olomouc is a small city and, of course, there are fewer international law offices there than in Prague or Brno. But graduates of the Law Faculty of the Palacki University in Olomouc are also in demand. There are 170 lawyers working in Olomouc, and there are branches of large law firms in the city. The faculty in Olomouc attracts students by the fact that of all Czech law faculties it offers the most elaborate system of practical education. Practice begins from the 1st year.
Student visa interview for Czech Republic
How to enroll in the Faculty of Law of the University of Palatsky
Admission is also based on the results of national comparative exams – General Prerequisites for Learning (abbreviation – OSP) and Fundamentals of Social Sciences (ZSV). At the same time, the results of the verbal department (coefficient 0.7) weigh more in OSP than the analytical department (coefficient 0.3). And in ZSV, the part about the state and law is multiplied by a factor of 0.5, about the economy and the world – 0.3, and about man and society – 0.2.
The faculty annually accepts 280 students. Last year, the faculty accepted applications from 1,320 applicants, 511 were accepted, 284 were recorded. (That is, many accepted applicants chose another faculty). The last applicant accepted last year had a percentile of 119 out of a maximum of 200.
Law education in the Czech Republic – West Bohemian University
Zapadočeská univerzita v Plzni (ZČU). Law education in the Czech Republic for foreigners. Faculty of Law https://fpr.zcu.cz/
- Law — a 5-year training program, at the end of which the graduate is awarded the title of master. The competition is 1.5 people per place.
- Bachelor’s degree in legal specialization “Public Administration” – 3 years.
Entrance exams for a lawyer to a Czech university:
Admission to the Master’s, Bachelor’s and subsequent Master’s programs is based on the results of tests within the framework of the National Comparative examinations (NSZ) organized by SCIO — these are tests on general educational requirements (OSP) and fundamentals of social sciences (ZSV) for the master’s program, a test on general preliminary requirements (OSP) for the bachelor’s program and a test on the basics Social Sciences (ZSV) for the subsequent Master’s program.
The Faculty of Law of the West Bohemian University was founded in 1993 on the initiative of Pilsen lawyers and with the support of the Pilsen City Administration. The faculty has proven itself from an academic point of view. Since 2017, the faculty has been publishing its own scientific journal Právnické listy.
Enrollment in students of the Czech Republic
How to enroll in the Faculty of Law of the Western Czech University
Exams to a law school in the Czech Republic. The faculty also accepts OSP and ZSV SCIO results. Different parts of the tests here also weigh differently. For OSP, the verbal part (coefficient 0.6) is more important than the analytical part (coefficient 0.4). ZSV has the state and law (0.5), man and society (0.3), economy and the world (0.2).
Plus an additional 80 points can be obtained for successfully completing the course “Fundamentals of Law” at the faculty.
Last year, out of the maximum 2000 points, it was necessary to score at least 1030.
Out of 893 applicants, 604 were accepted last year (314 of them became students).
Information for admission to the West Bohemian University as a lawyer
https://fpr.zcu.cz/study/applicants/bachelor/
Admission in the direction of Law and jurisprudence in Czech universities
How to prepare for admission to a lawyer in the Czech Republic
Law faculties in the Czech Republic for international students. No matter which law school you enter in the Czech Republic, you need to train to solve tests for general prerequisites for learning. Plus, all universities, except Masarikov, will need to study social sciences. You need to pay a lot of attention to social studies, study some topics yourself. Plus, you will need knowledge of modern European history.
To prepare for general learning ability tests – OSP or TSP – you need to train on older versions of the tests. The speed of responses is very important. The tasks themselves are simple and if there were no time limits, many applicants would answer all the questions correctly. But there are a lot of tasks, and each one takes only a minute.
To prepare for a lawyer in the Czech Republic, you need to solve the tasks of the past years as much as possible. Over time, you will learn how to deal with them quickly, find your own ways to solve certain types of tasks.
Unlike TSP, OSP does not have publicly available versions of previous years, there is only one test sample on the SCIO website. However, since the difference between OSP and TSP is minimal, it can be recommended to use TSP tests to prepare for OSP. You can also purchase a special collection of OSP tests from the SCIO organization for preparation.
You can learn how to solve all parts of the test, the main thing is training. There are preparatory courses where they specifically teach how to solve problems quickly. The test questions are typical, the principles are constantly repeated, you just need to train a lot. It is also important to use all 6 SCIO test attempts whenever possible.
Pros and cons of studying in the Czech Republic for foreigners
Review of admission to the Faculty of Law in the Czech Republic
“When I entered the Czech Law Faculty, I was very worried that no one would accept me. But it turned out that I just have the best classmates who help me a lot with the language, with the placement of semantic accents, with minimizing my accent. Everyone understands that it is difficult, especially to move from another country, to retrain in another language. Everyone supported me – not only classmates, but also teachers. The Faculty of Law accepts everyone. There are students from all over the world – and from Japan or Korea – and they speak Czech. Everyone supports each other. This is a very friendly faculty.”
A fallback option is the “zero year” at the Faculty of Law in the Czech Republic
Law education in the Czech Republic. The OSP and ZSV national comparative exams are not designed to be written by a foreigner. There are a lot of voluminous texts in OSP, there are questions on lexical subtleties. In ZSV, many questions imply a good knowledge of Czech realities.
It is possible to prepare and pass OSP and ZSV for passing points. But since “Law” at the Faculty of Law of Charles University is a very popular specialty, applicants with very high scores (from 90 on each test) come here.
For foreign applicants, a paid “zero year” can become an opportunity to get to the Faculty of Law. Participants of the “zero course” pass the 1st year program – attend lectures and seminars, take tests and exams. In case of successful completion of the “zero course”, they become full–time students.
- The cost of studying at the “zero course” of the Faculty of Law is 49,000 crowns.
- Basically, the “zero course” training takes place on Thursdays (after lunch), on Fridays and Saturdays (all day).
- A graduate of the “zero course” of the Faculty of Law, who has completed all academic duties, received 60 credits, has an academic record of 2.25 and has applied to the admissions committee, will be accepted for the 1st year without entrance exams.
Only applicants who participated in the entrance tests can submit an application for the course (Czech. Kurzy celoživotního vzdělávání). Invitations are accepted until September 15. Detailed information about the course is available in Czech on the faculty’s website
https://www.prf.cuni.cz/program-czv/program-czv-2022-2023
How realistic it is to get 60 credits in a year is a big question. Not to mention the fact that the law school of Karlov is a closed community where outsiders are very disliked. Therefore, it is not easy to become a lawyer in the Czech Republic.
Law education in the Czech Republic for foreigners – private universities
Jan Amos Komensky University. Univerzita Jana Amose Komenského (UJAK) ujak.cz
How can a foreigner get a law degree at a Czech university. Bachelor course UJAK
- “Business Law” at the Czech university
Without entrance exams, the tuition fee starts from CZK 25,000.
Skoda Auto University. ŠKODA AUTO Vysoká škola (SAVS) savs.cz
Škoda Auto University (ŠAVŠ) is one of the best private companies in the Czech Republic. This is indicated by student reviews. It is also possible because graduates are employed at auto enterprises or dealerships immediately after receiving a diploma. The university is a subsidiary of a global carmaker, so already during their studies they undergo a paid internship at Skoda itself, Bentley Motors Ltd, Volkswagen concern, etc.
Master’s degree (after bachelor’s degree) — 2 years:
- International Entrepreneurship and Law (training in English or Czech)
Become a lawyer in the Czech Republic. Exams: OSP – test for prerequisites for learning.
The cost of studying for a lawyer at a Czech university: 32,000 CZK. The university is accepted without entrance exams, based on the nostrification of a certificate or diploma, the Czech language is B2, in individual cases B1 will be enough. If the applicant does not have a language certificate, then you can write a distribution test for admission to the university itself. The training is conducted in both Czech and English. The main thing is to submit and pay for the application to the university on time.
Higher School of Entrepreneurship and Law | VŠPP (private university)
https://www.vspp.cz/en/
Bachelor course VŠPP :
• Law in business
• Law in public administration
Magistracy :
• Business Law
Without exams, legal training in Prague costs from 30,000 crowns, in Ostrava — from 18,000 crowns.
Anglo-American University. Anglo-American Universitz (AAU)
https://www.aauni.edu/
Training as a lawyer in the Czech republic for foreigners. Bachelor course AAU:
About the program on the website – https://www.aauni.edu/admissions/law/
• John H. Carey II Law School offers two undergraduate programs: a Certificate of Higher Education in General Law and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), as well as a Master of Laws (LLM) degree.
Exams: Certificate in English, since the training is only in English, motivation letter.
The cost of studying at the Faculty of Law in the Czech Republic:
Bachelor’s degree: CZK 538,800 (English).
How to study at Charles University – review
Law training in the Czech Republic for foreigners
Rating of Czech Law faculties
Last year, the law faculty of Masaryk University unfairly found itself behind even Palatsky. In fact, there are two full-fledged law faculties in the Czech Republic: at Charles and Masaryk Universities. The faculties of the Palace and West Bohemian Universities only train specialists and are not engaged in research work, there is no doctoral degree as such.
law training in Czech universities for foreigners. It is worth paying tribute to Masaryk University, the Faculty of Law in Brno is very strong, because the history of its foundation dates back to the creation of Masaryk University in the early XX century. Then a group of leading lawyers created a faculty in Brno, and then shifted the focus of the legal life of young Czechoslovakia in Brno. So soon after the country gained independence, the Supreme Court was moved to Brno, it is still there today, and some time later the Constitutional Court moved to Brno.
The law in Brno is a serious competitor to Prague, but even according to the list of specialties, it is clear that in Prague they concentrate on training lawyers in a 5-year program and then in doctoral studies, but in Brno there are also related and only indirectly related law programs for legal advisers, public administration programs.
Benefits of studying in the Czech Republic for foreigners
Law doctoral studies at a Czech university
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Law:
Právní dějiny a çímské právo (History of Law, Roman law, in Czech in daily and combined forms)
Obchodní právo (Law in Entrepreneurship, in Czech in full-time and combined forms)
Mezinárodní právo soukromé a právo mezinárodního obchodu (Private international law and International Trade Law, in Czech in daily and combined forms)
Pracovní právo a právo sociálního zabezpečení (Labor and social law, in Czech in daily and combined forms)
Teorie, filozofie a sociologie práva (Theory, philosophy and sociology of Law)
Evropské právo (European Law, in Czech or English, in daily and combined forms)
Trestní právo, kriminologie a kriminalistika (Judicial law, criminology and criminalistics, in Czech in daytime and combined forms)
Ústavní právo a státověda (Constitutional Law and theory of the State, in Czech in daytime and combined forms)
Finanční právo a finanční věda (Financial Law, in Czech, in daily and combined forms)
Mezinárodní právo (International law, in Czech or English, in daily and combined forms)
Občanské právo (včetně civilního procesu, rodinného práva a práv k nehmotným statkúm) (Civil law, including civil procedure, family law and the right to intangible assets, in Czech in daily and combined forms)
Správní právo a správní věda (Administrative law, in Czech in daytime and combined forms)
Právo životního prostředí (Environmental Law, in Czech and English in daily and combined forms).
The cost of legal education in the Czech Republic – free of charge in Czech at state universities.
Work as a lawyer in the Czech Republic after graduation
Most graduates of Czech law faculties start their careers as judicial assistants. Three years after receiving the practice required by law, they pass the bar exams. An entry in the Bar Association allows you to climb the career ladder – get a job in a law office or open your own.
Charles University – the cost of studying in the Czech Republic in English
Extending a student visa in the Czech Republic – residence permit
