Home | Faculty of Law

UCT postgrad Law applications for 2026 - deadline extended to 30 November 2025

No late applications - so the time to apply to Africa's top university would be right now! If you're interested in studying psotgraduate Law at UCT, we have loads of information to make the process easier.

UCT Student Entrepreneurship Week

Join this great series of events about entrepreneurship, opportunities, how-to's and what it takes. UCT Student Entrepreneurship Week (SEW) is a series of virtual talks that encourage entrepreneurship as a mindset and career option!

Strategy 2030: Shaping UCT’s Future Together

Strategy 2030 builds on our excellence, diversity, and resilience and hopes to shape UCT's future. Feedback from the UCT community is now being consolidated and considered, and further updates will be shared in the coming months.

Learn more

student smiles at camera in front of laptop

Are you a Law student with questions? Ask us!

If you have questions, but don't know who to ask, email us on lawcares@uct.ac.za. #LawCares is an email-based service for students to help navigate academic administration, student services, and life as a law student!

Email us now

South African Survey of Student Engagement (SASSE)

UCT students, this is your opportunity to share your UCT experience with us!

Take the survey

Postgraduate applications for 2026 due end September 2025

UCT offers 18 specialist options at LLM and MPhil level, along with a number of Postgraduate Diplomas that focus on specific areas of law (deadline 30 September). Deadline for research-only degrees is 31 August.

FAQs

For quick access to key information about the Faculty of Law, we have developed an easy FAQ for you. If you have questions that are not answered here, let us know on lawcares@uct.ac.za.

Find out more

At the intersection of regional integration, trade governance, and development

For Dr Yakubu Nagu, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is not just a flagship continental project — it is a test of how law, policy, and development can work together to shape Africa’s economic future.

The complexities of overlapping regional commitments and global partnerships

Regional integration in Africa is often discussed in broad terms, but for Dr Raisa Nyirongo, it is the everyday complexity of overlapping regional commitments and global partnerships that shapes the continent’s developmental trajectory.

Where law, language and democratic life intersect

Postdoctoral fellow Dr Thapelo Teele works in a space where law, language and democratic life intersect. Dr Teele is based in Rhetoric Studies in the Department of Private Law, supervised by Professor Jaco Barnard-Naudé.

Rhodes Scholarship – Celebrating Excellence

Once again, the Faculty has cause to celebrate excellence amongst our Law students and graduates - reflected this time in their success as part of the Southern African Rhodes Scholarship cohort.

Regulatory frameworks shaping financial institutions and markets

Financial stability isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when talking about legal research, but for Commercial Law postdoctoral fellow Dr Sebastian Krafzik, it’s exactly where law, governance and global development meet.

UCT Law alum (LLB and LLM) with a passion for aviation

Not many law graduates clock over 500 flying hours before turning 25, but UCT Law alum Ah Young Kim has always taken a slightly unconventional route.

In Memoriam: Sarah Christie

Sarah Christie sadly passed away on 5 October 2025 at the age of 79, the shock of her loss continues to consume her family and friends deeply.

Harnessing copyright to strengthen the role of creative and cultural industries

Can effective copyright management contribute to sustainable development in developing countries? Dr Ghati Nyehita shares her insights into her PhD research and her postdoc work in the Faculty's Department of Commercial Law.

Procedural environmental rights in regional trade agreements

The Faculty hosted a bitter-sweet celebration of Dr Vyonna Bondi at its recognition event for our recent research graduates (Master’s and PhD).

Excellence

As the smallest Faculty at UCT, with close to 1,200 undergraduate and postgraduate students annually, the rigour of our degree programmes leads to UCT Law graduates being highly sought after, not only in South Africa but also internationally.

Democracy and Social Justice

We are committed to furthering the goals of the Constitution. Our aim is to develop the next generation of skilled legal professionals who will ensure the maintenance and strengthening of an open, free and democratic South Africa. Our core objective remains teaching and research, but we are committed to maintaining a clear awareness of the social and global context in which our graduates will find their place.

Theory and Practice

The Faculty’s Law graduates are known for their capacity not only in legal theory, and its application, but also in their achievement of practical experience in law. This is a result of our community service opportunities for students, our superb moot court facility and our local and international academic & professional networks which ensure that we secure the best opportunities for students to gain experience elsewhere during their student years.

Why Law at UCT?

Excellence

Democracy and Social Justice

Theory and Practice