Law - First State Examination in Law (State Examination/Diploma) and Integrated Bachelor's Degree
The school of Law at Osnabrück University has earned high national and international recognition. The background to this is a clear profile in the areas of commercial and European law as well as comparative law. The three major areas of law – civil law, public law and criminal law – form the center of the course.
Facts
Standard period of study:
10 semesters
Language of instruction:
German
Admission:
admission restricted Numerus Clausus
Start:
winter semester
Degree:
First State Examination in Law (state examination/diploma) and Integrated Bachelor (LL.B.)
The school of Law at Osnabrück University has earned high national and international recognition. The background to this is a clear profile in the areas of commercial and European law as well as comparative law.
The three main areas of law – civil law, public law and criminal law – form the center of the course. Specialization and in-depth study is provided by the specialization areas. The school offers the following specializations:
- European and international private law
- Companies and capital markets
- Competition and intellectual property
- Digital Law - Law in the digital society
- State, administration, law in Europe
- Tax law
- Commercial criminal law
Three four-week internships during the semester break are also compulsory. Subject-specific foreign language courses are offered in preparation for stays abroad.
First-year students from the winter semester 2024/25 onwards will be awarded the degree "Bachelor of Laws, LL.B." during their studies as soon as the admission requirements for the state compulsory subject examination have been met and a specialization area has been passed. Separate enrolment for the Bachelor's degree is not required.
The degree concludes with the First State Examination in Law, which is divided into a compulsory state examination (70 percent) and a university specialization examination (30 percent) and provides access to the legal clerkship. In addition, under certain conditions and upon application, you can be awarded the degree of graduate lawyer.
Exemplary study plan
Exemplary study plan
taking into account the current free attempt regulation in the compulsory subject examination (§ 18 NJAG)
| Sem. | Minor subjects | Private Law | Public law | Criminal Law | |
| 1 | Basic course1 Course for Foreign-language Key qualification | ZivR I ZivR II ZivR III/A or ZivR III/B | ÖffR I ÖffR II/A ÖffR II/B or ÖffR III | Criminal Law I Criminal Law II Criminal Law III | |
| 2 | Optional: Additional certificate Economics | ||||
| 3 | Internships 4 weeks each in the lecture-free period -Administrative internship -Lawyer internship -Internship at a local court | ||||
| 4 | |||||
| Intermediate examination / course system2 | Optional: Subject-specific foreign languages training (FFA) | ||||
| 5 | Specialist area training3 Seminar paper | Exercise for advanced students Civil law 1 written exam, 1 term paper (duration: 1-2 semesters) | Exercise for advanced students Public Law 1 written exam, 1 term paper (duration: 1-2 semesters) | Exercise for advanced students Criminal Law 1 written exam, 1 term paper (duration: 1-2 semesters) | |
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | Examination in area of specialization (part of the 1st law examination) Term paper/presentation (50%) Oral examination 50% | Exam preparation (e.g. "OsnaRep") | Exam preparation (e.g. "OsnaRep") | Exam preparation (e.g. "OsnaRep") | |
| 8 | Exam preparation (e.g. "OsnaRep") | Exam preparation (e.g. "OsnaRep") | Exam preparation (e.g. "OsnaRep") | ||
| 9 | Compulsory state examination ("Examen")4 | ||||
Basic course1: European Legal History I or European Legal History II or Constitutional History or General Theory of the State
Intermediate examination2: The intermediate examination must be taken by the end of the 4th semester.
Content:
1 written exam from a foundation course
2 written examinations from the subject area of private law
1 written exam from the public law pillar
1 written exam from the Criminal Law pillar
2 assignments from different subject pillars
Course system: The course system is not time-bound. However, it is necessary to complete the course in full in order to register for the compulsory subject examination and the student research project.
Content:
3 written examinations from the private law pillar (ZivR I, ZivR II and ZivR III/A or ZivR III/B)
3 written examinations from the public law pillar (ÖffR I, ÖffR II /A and ÖffR II/B or ÖffR III)
3 written examinations from the Criminal Law pillar (StrafR I, StrafR II and StrafR III)
2 term papers from different subject pillars
3 Focus area training: 2 semesters, a total of 16 semester hours per week (SWS)
The following specialization areas are offered at Osnabrück University:
- European and international private law and its historical foundations
- Partial focus: European and international private law
- Sub-focus: History of Law
- German and European Corporate and Capital Market Law
- Partial focus: German and European corporate and capital market law
- Partial focus: German and European labor law
- German and European competition and intellectual property law
- Digital Law
- German and European public law
- German and European tax law
- German and European Business Law
At Osnabrück University, no written examinations are written as part of the specialization course and/or examination. The written part of the examination (student research project) can also be completed in the 9th semester after the compulsory subject examinations.
4 The overall examination grade (First State Examination in Law) is made up of 30 % from the specialization area examination and 70 % from the state compulsory subject examination.
General information about university admissions may be accessed at Admission Requirements. The German Higher Education Entrance Qualification (Abitur) entitles students to commence a first degree qualification at Osnabrück University. The term “first degree qualification” refers to a period of study that culminates in a student’s first professionally-relevant university degree (Bachelor’s degree or First Legal State Examination). Information about the conditions that apply for people seeking to embark on an undergraduate degree without the higher education entrance qualification may be found at Studying without Abitur.
Applicants in possession of international certification must demonstrate sufficient levels of German Language Proficiency.
This program is subject to admission restrictions.
General information on selection procedures is available under the link How Places are Awarded. For an overview of the numerus clausus in previous years, please see the link Selection Restrictions.
You can find all information on how to apply and the application deadline for the desired semester under First State Examination in Law - restricted admission.
Please note: For applicants with foreign certificates, different application conditions and deadlines may apply!
General information on the procedure can be found under Application, admission and enrolment.
The examination regulations do not prescribe an obligatory period of study abroad. However, a number of Options for Studying Abroad are available to you within a range of exchange programs. The International Office will be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Studying at Osnabrück University means you will be subject to semester fees. Depending on how much of your study credit (standard period of study plus tolerance semester) you have used up, you may also have to pay long-term study fees. Additional information on this topic may be found at How Much does Studying Cost?
Our Central Study Counseling Service will be happy to provide you with all the information you need about studying, admission requirements and the structure of your chosen program.
Each department’s Departmental Study Counselling Service will answer any questions you might have about the content of individual programs.