The faculty of law

Rostov State University divides its law training into two parts: the first three years are devoted to basic education of a rather general and fundamental nature, and the last two years to specific research work, together with the preparation of a diploma paper. The Faculty of Law tries, moreover, to give its students a civic and social formation which will enable them to be aware of the problems facing the society and have a wish to solve them.

Law is a system of norms, binding the community as a whole, which are prescribed by the state. Law protects and directs the actions of all people equally. The sphere in which law operates is quite extensive and so the study of law embraces various legal branches. For example, State Law and Administrative Law fix the norms of administration and the constitutional system. They determine the legal status of citizens and the activity of the state mechanism. Civil Law and Labour Law fix existing property relations and regulate the distribution of labour and its products between the members of the society. Criminal Law lays down the measures for combating encroachment on the state system and the existing order of social relations. There exist some other branches of law regulating social relationships and dealing with economic, political and cultural development of the state. It is quite natural that Russia needs a lot of law specialists to ensure the proper performance of legal work in all theses spheres.

The Faculty of Law at Rostov State University trains highly qualified lawyers for the needs of state administration and the national economy. It is composed of nine departments:

• the Department of Theory and History State and Law;

• the Department of International and State Law;

• the Department of Civil Law;

• the Department of Civil Procedure;

• the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology;

• the Department of Municipal Law;

• the Department of the Foundations of State and Law;

• the Department of Economic Law.

In the senior years, students specialize in legal studies. They are provided with special courses, thus, considerable deepening their knowledge for their future work in accordance with the chosen specialization.

Senior students are engaged in practical training at various state bodies. For example, they work as investigators in the Prosecurator’s Office. They are present during the examination of witnesses. They also attend the presentation of the indictment against the accused, when the accused is being presented with the ruling on his crime and is handed his punishment. They are required to investigate actions on their own: they have to read the experts’ findings and give their opinion on the validity of these findings. Sometimes they are asked to prepare questions to be put to witnesses during the trial. They take part in the search for evidence. Instructors also require students to describe some details of the crime under investigation.

Graduates can work in various state and private bodies such as:

• the Court and Prosecurator’s Office;

• the organs of internal affairs;

• the legal departments of industrial, supplies-sale and trade organizations;

• the Bar Association;

• military tribunals and the military Prosecurator’s Office.

In no country, regardless of its political or economic system, has the problem of crime been solved, nevertheless people and their governments continue to search for ways to create a safe and more just society. One thing is certain, whatever is done to try to decrease criminal activity, it will be done within the strict rules provided by the Constitution and watched over carefully by the system of courts.