, theologian and logician before the existence of the faculty of law, who gave to the Sorbonne a recognition for its expertise in law in the early 20th century
c. 1100 – 1223: Law School of Paris Pierre Abélard, teacher at the great
cathedral school of
Notre-Dame de Paris (that would eventually become the
Sorbonne), writing with the influence of his wife
Héloïse, stressed that subjective intention determines the moral value of human action and therefore that the legal consequence of an action is related to the person that commits it and not merely to the action. With this doctrine, Abelard created in the Middle Ages the idea of the individual subject central to modern law. This gave to School of Notre-Dame de Paris (later the University of Paris) a recognition of its expertise in the area of Law, even before the faculty of Law existed and the school even recognized as an "universitas" and even if Abelard was primarily a logician and a theologian. The law grew afterwards to be a discipline in its own rights (rather than only a subject within theology and philosophy), and a faculty of law was founded. , alumnus, declared saint by the Church in 1347, patron of the lawyers, "Advocate of the Poor". His day is still celebrated by the lawyers, at least in France. In this painting, he is bringing justice between a rich and a poor person
1223–1679: Faculty of Canon Law The Pope forbade Roman law in Paris in 1223 with the
decretal Super Specula. Afterwards, the Paris Law Faculty was called "
Faculté de décret" or "
Consultissima decretorum facultas", meaning Faculty of Canon Law. During this period, people who wanted to learn civil law (Roman Law) and become lawyers would usually go to the nearby faculty of law of the
University of Orléans. Hence,
Molière,
Calvin,
Perrault,
Cujas,
Rabelais,
Fermat,
La Boétie and others went to this faculty.
1679–1793: Faculty of civil and canon law , alumnus and architect of the Panthéon building of the Faculty of Law of Paris, opened in 1774 After the Edict of Saint-Germain of April 1679 by
Louis XIV reestablished the teaching of Roman law in Paris, the faculty was known as the "faculty of civil and
canon law". Louis XIV also introduced French Customary Law into the programs. The faculty was closed alongside other faculties on September 15, 1793, by the
French Revolution.
1802–1970: Faculty of Law of Paris In 1802, the faculty of law was re-opened, and was called "the School of Law of Paris" (''l'École de droit de Paris)''. In 1896, the law faculty and the henceforth four other Parisian faculties were grouped together to recreate the
University of Paris. In the late 1950s, it became a "faculty of law and economics". The
Code Civil was taught after its creation in 1804. The programs were reformed at the end of the 19th century. Originally, the faculty of law was not organized around research centers and professors were pursuing their research as part of faculty of law in general. Hence, only newly emerging fields of research would have newly created institutes, whereas traditional subjects such as Roman Law and Legal History, Private Law in general and Public law in general, would not necessarily have ones. "Doctorate courses" existed in legal studies at that time until they were replaced in 1925 by the "Diplôme d'études supérieures". The Decree of the 2 May 1925 created in each faculty of Law 4 DES: DES in Roman Law and Legal history, DES in Private Law, DES in public Law and DES in Politics and Economics. It required students to obtain two of them undergraduate studies to be able to begin a doctorate (PhD). In 1964, the undergraduate studies took 4 years (4-year
licence, and eventually 3-year
licence and a one-year
maîtrise) and only one DES was necessary to begin a doctorate. 2 additional DES are created in each faculty: DES in Criminal Law and Politics and Economics are separated in two DES.
1970: Dissolution Following the
events of May 1968, the faculties of the University of Paris became independent universities Most law professors (88 out of 108) decided to perpetuate the faculty of law and economics Panthéon-Assas inherited the teaching programs and research centers from the Faculty of Law. Some joined interdisciplinary universities in Paris, like
Panthéon-Sorbonne University,
Paris Descartes University,
Paris-East Créteil University (these names were formed later), or outside
Paris. Likewise, most of its professors in economics (35 out of 41) preferred to join the multidisciplinary university, Paris I, later called
Panthéon-Sorbonne University while others joined
Panthéon-Assas University,
Paris Dauphine University,
Paris Descartes University (currently
Paris Cité University) and
Paris-East Créteil University. == Campuses ==