The Law Department of Universidade Portucalense Infante D. Henrique was created when the University was founded in 1986 as the second private university in the city of Porto, Portugal. On this website, it is possible to find the Department’s structure and academic offer, as well as further useful information about the University. The Law Department offers the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cycles of Studies, also providing several training courses in the Legal area, enabling lifelong training and satisfying the candidates' specialization and knowledge needs.

In the 1st Cycle of Studies, in addition to the traditional, recognized and charismatic Law Degree, the Department also bets on vocational training, offering the Degree in Law for Solicitors. Recently, the Department has a policy of opening up new professional opportunities and areas of knowledge, offering a Degree in International Relations, whose curricular program provides the candidates with the possibility of attending disciplines from other areas to complete a specialization in Diplomacy and Area Studies or to obtain a Minor in Law, Management, Economy or Tourism.

In the 2nd cycle of Studies, the Department has three Master's degrees in the scientific area of Law. The traditional Master's in Law that aims to deepen the knowledge obtained in the 1st cycle of studies, as well as the study of more specific legal issues, constituting a thoughtful response to the new demands of a competitive and internationalised labour market, with a triple strand of specialization: In Legal-Administrative and Tax Sciences, in Legal-Business Sciences and in Legal-Political Sciences.

In addition to this, two new Master's degrees in Law have recently been created: the Master’s in Forensic Legal Science and the Master’s in European and Comparative Law. The first one aims to enable the student with the necessary instruments for the practical application of Law, whose theoretical component was taught in the Degree, being supported by the procedural dynamics and enabling a more detailed and specific study of the corporal damage (Forensic Traumatology), more and more an essential factor in the performance of forensic professions.

The second allows the development of human resources to participate in advanced scientific research projects in European, International and Comparative Law, conferring the instruments, methods and techniques adequate and indispensable for international scientific research in Legal Science.

The Department of Law, in partnership with other departments and areas of expertise offered by Universidade Portucalense, also offers a Master’s in Globalization, Economics and Law, which focuses on topics of great economic and social relevance, with a multidisciplinary character, being taught in collaboration with the University of Maribor (Slovenia) and benefiting from research carried out at the Portucalense Institute for Legal Research through its "Capital, Labour, Tax and Trade" research group.

Concerning the 3rd Cycle of Studies, the Department offers the PhD in Legal Sciences with two specialties: Civil Legal Sciences and Criminal Legal Sciences. The course of study has the general objective of promoting the creation of knowledge in Legal Science, developing human resources to design, implement and coordinate scientific research projects advanced level.

In the context of continuing training, the Law Department annually organizes various training courses and specialisations. Among the Preparation Courses, the Law Department is recognized for its preparation course for admission to the Centre for Judicial Studies, as well as the preparation course for the Examination of Admission to the Order of Solicitors and Execution Agents.

The specialized training courses are divided by the different areas of Law, whose continuous updating becomes vital for the practice of forensic professions. It should also be noted that the academic functioning of the Law Department is fully adapted to the Bologna Process, which began in 1998 with the Declaration of the Sorbonne, to which the University is adapted.

The Law Department of Universidade Portucalense has been able to gain a prominent place in the legal professions over the years, through its recipients - the students. In Law, Judiciary, Politics, Registries and Notary, banking, legal consulting and, in general, in all legal professions, UPT is a recognized presence in the city of Porto. Universidade Portucalense leaves in each person an inheritance that goes beyond the academic aspect; its students keep the conviction of a human and academic environment that prepares them for life in its fullness, transcending and complementing the academic dimension. In its excellent facilities, students find spaces and activities that fill them beyond their teaching time, creating an environment of study and research.

The Law Department is dedicated to providing its students with skills for an increasingly global and competitive world through the acquisition of professional, social and personal skills and competences that enable them to autonomously build their learning, entrepreneurial spirit, as well as sense of responsibility. In this sense, the Department has developed partnerships with several Law Firms, Solicitors, companies, and public entities, and offers various extracurricular activities, namely the possibility of internships that allow contact with the professional environment. Check it: http://www.upt.pt//page.php?p=627

The Law Department has fostered research through the Portucalense Institute for Legal Research, which integrates researchers of various nationalities and was accredited by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Foundation for Science (ESFA). Check it: http://www.ijp.upt.pt/.

It is also a mission of the Law Department to foster relations with foreign universities, and for this reason it has been permanently carrying out various partnerships, namely with the Universities of Warsaw, Parma, Terramo, Salamanca, Vigo, Santiago de Compostela, Madrid , Seville, Oviedo, Catalonia, Cordova, Osnabruck, Varna, Tallinn, Grenoble, Maribor, Bucharest, Adana, Católica de S. Salvador da Baia, Federal of Mato Grosso do Sul, Mackenzie University , among others.

In the field of mobility programs, every year the Law Department sends and receives faculty staff and students from universities in other countries. Check in: http://www.upt.pt/page.php?p=138

Universidade Portucalense also implemented the "Tutorado" program, in which the new students are accompanied and supported by a Tutor, who enlightens the students about the functioning and structure of the University, assists and guides them towards a good adaptation to the academic world, since their admission until the end of the course.