Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Law historical review

Authors

  • Eduardas Monkevičius

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7220/2029-4239.21.1

Keywords:

Higher courses, university, Faculty of Law

Abstract

The article briefly reviews the history of the establishment and restoration of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) and its Faculty of Law. The article is based on an analysis of special historical literature and online sources, as well as the authors personal memories. The introduction describes the first efforts made by the Lithuanian government and the academic and public elite after the declaration of independence to establish the first university in Vilnius, but the international and domestic situation in Lithuania at that time failed to do so. Then the Lithuanian Science Society in Vilnius, headed by dr. Jonas Basanavicius created the Public Higher Education Courses. After the occupation of Vilnius region by Polish legionnaires, most of the scholars of science and society withdrew to Kaunas and made efforts to establish the first Lithuanian university in Kaunas. The first part of the article describes how prof. A commission formed by Zigmas Zemaitis, supported by the Government, in 1920. In the beginning of 1922 he first founded the public higher education courses. March 22 Kaunas University was founded in the 19th century and was later named Vytautas the Great. Initially, the University had a Department of Law, and soon in 1922, The Faculty of Law was also established on 22 April (de jure). The second part describes the pedagogical and scientific activities of the Faculty of Law from 1922 to 1939, mentioning prominent professors and lecturers and their works published in the publications of the VMU Faculty of Law and others. The close cooperation between the Faculty of Law and the Lithuanian Law Society (LTD), which was established by the professors of the Faculty, actively participated in its activities and published its articles in the Society’s periodical „Law”. The third part describes the termination of the activities of VMU and the Faculty of Law during the German and USSR occupation and the restoration of Lithuania’s independence. It briefly describes the establishment of the Department of Law, initially established, and later the Institute of Law and the Faculty of Law, and their heads. It describes the structure of the Faculty of Law, the Western model of study organization, renowned professors and scholars from the Unites States and other countries teach some legal subjects in English. It has been mentioned that since 1999 The Faculty of Law published a periodical scholarly publication entitled „Law Review”, which is dedicated to this article.

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Published

2021-01-23

How to Cite

Monkevičius, E. (2021). Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Law historical review. Teisės apžvalga / Law Review, 1(21). https://doi.org/10.7220/2029-4239.21.1