“Welcome to The University of the West Indies and the Faculty of Law! You have made an excellent choice, and we are pleased to say that you join the Faculty of Law at an exciting stage in its development.
Your decision to study law at the University of the West Indies is the first step of the journey of inquiry into legal matrix that undergirds all aspects of Caribbean society. At the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill, we will provide you with an intellectually stimulating environment within which to excel. Our academics are among the best in their fields with leading monographs and textbooks on diverse areas of Caribbean law. The skills you will develop during your stay with us will enrich your lives and prepare you for a career not only in the legal profession, but in business, finance, journalism, and many others.
We teach law at Cave Hill within the context of the Caribbean society in which we live. This is reflected in the teaching by members of the Faculty of Law, many of whom are trained in the West Indian legal tradition, and by our emphasis on using Caribbean case law and materials in our teaching. The Faculty of Law Library, where these rich legal resources are housed, is second to none in the entire Commonwealth Caribbean. The research of the members of the Faculty of Law seek to explore and find solutions to the legal problems that confront our Caribbean society. You will be exposed to these issues among many others during your Lectures and Tutorials.
The Faculty of Law at Cave Hill, the oldest Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies, modelled on the Faculties of Law of great English Universities uses the tutorial system as one of the foundational pillars on which our legal education is grounded. This method of teaching will develop and strengthen your communication, analytical, research and writing skills. You will be encouraged to engage in stimulating debates with your lecturers and tutors, not only on the current state of the law but the way in which the law should develop to better our Caribbean society. As you will come to appreciate, law should, and must be an agent of social change and we will, through our teaching and course offerings, facilitate this appreciation.
It is not surprising therefore that those skills developed and nurtured at the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill have created a cadre of distinguished alumni whose influence in the Caribbean, the region and the world is unmatched. One does not need to look far to see the direct influence of the Faculty of Law in politics across the Caribbean region given the significant number of Prime Ministers and Presidents it has produced. Similarly, many of our alumni hold prominent positions in the justice system such as Chief Justices, Chancellors, Attorneys General, and Ministers of Justice. In the business and finance arenas too, you see former graduates of the Faculty of Law. Our graduates are everywhere and so will you, equipped with the skills harnessed at the Faculty of Law to allow you to thrive in any environment, be it legal practice (private and public), business, finance, accounting, journalism, politics, and management, to name a few.
Your journey with us no doubt will prepare you for the world you will encounter when you leave Cave Hill. We provide you with a comprehensive range of courses within a stimulating environment where the finer traditions of the legal profession will be harnessed. We encourage you to make the most of that experience during your time with us by participating in the activities of the student’s Law Society, mooting competitions, mentorship activities, internships, sporting competitions, island associations among many others. Your experience at Cave Hill will be a dynamic and rewarding one.
Not only are our graduates penetrating most areas of endeavor in our Caribbean society and elsewhere, but they also hail from across the countries and territories served by The University of the West Indies. We boast not only of a diverse and strong team of academic staff at the Faculty of Law, but our student body is perhaps the most diverse across the Faculties of Law in The University of the West Indies and located on the most diverse Campus at the University of the West Indies. This experience, the true “UWI” experience, assists in encouraging and fostering integration among our people. We welcome you and thank you for choosing Cave Hill Law where excellence in legal education and research continues to burn bright.