| École et collège de droit d'Assas | |
| Established: | (University of Paris Law Faculty) |
| Type: | Public law school |
| Parent: | Paris-Panthéon-Assas University |
| City: | Paris |
| State: | Île-de-France |
| Country: | France |
| Dean: | Pierre-Yves Gautier |
| Students: | 1,000 (2024) |
Assas Law School (École de droit d'Assas) is the law school of the Paris-Panthéon-Assas University (Paris-II), a French public university, often described as the top law school of France.[1] It is one of the successors to the Faculty of Law of Paris, and is located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on the Place du Panthéon. Assas delivers a graduate degree, and its College of Law (Collège de droit) delivers an undergraduate degree.
Most of its courses are taught in the same building as its historic predecessor the Faculty of Law of Paris.
It has a reputation for being one of the best law schools in France.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] It is also ranked as the 1st non-English speaking law faculty worldwide by QS World University Rankings. Assas is largely talked about in the French press, which consider its programs as constituting a "prestigious" "way of excellence" for "top-level lawyers".[8] [9]
In 1970, the Edgar Faure Act divided the law faculty of the University of Paris into the new universities of Paris-I, Paris-II, Paris-IX, Paris-X, Paris-XII and Paris-XIII.[10]
While the majority of economists in the law faculty (35 out of 41) chose Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne, the majority of lawyers (88 out of 108),[11] including privatists, legal historians and a significant number of publicists, had decided to create a specialised university: Paris II Panthéon-Assas. They subsequently created the Assas Law School within the new university, which also taught economics and journalism.[12]
There is therefore a historical rivalry between the Sorbonne Law School (part of the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University) and the Assas Law School (part of the Paris-Panthéon-Assas University).[13] This is made further relevant today due to disparity in political opinion between the two universities. Assas is regarded as the bastion of the right within Parisian academic institutions,[14] with right wing to far-right organisations such as the Groupe Union Défense and other protests being based there. Additionally, Assas counts members of the Le Pen family which has led the far-right National Rally party in its alumni (Jean-Marie le Pen, Marine Le Pen, Marion Maréchal). Conversely, the Sorbonne Law School (and Paris I) retains a more left-wing reputation.In 2008, Panthéon-Assas University created a special school for selecting its best students, the Collège de droit (3-year undergraduate diploma). Several universities rapidly followed this practice.[15] [16] It has been criticised by some left-wing students' union, including UNEF.[17] [18]
In 2011, the Assas Law School was created when the first class of the College of Law had its degree.[19] Each class is composed of around 100 students, now selected among the whole of France each year.[20]
The Assas Law School offers three main courses, known as "séminaires", the first covering the main concepts of private law, the second the fundamental principles of public law, and the last private economic law.[21] An additional year abroad is mandatory to obtain the Assas Law School degree.[22]
The Assas Law School is the natural next step for students graduating from the three-year Assas Law College (Collège de droit d'Assas). It is considered to be one of the university's courses of excellence.[23]