University of Ottawa Faculty of Law - History

History

The law school was created in 1953 on the initiative of Gerald Fauteux, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (and who the law school's building, Fauteux Hall, built in 1973, is named after). It began as an exclusively civil law faculty, designed to train lawyers who would enter the Quebec legal system, particularly in order to practice in the Outaouais region just across the Ottawa River from Ottawa. In 1957, the faculty began training students in the common law as well; the two sections were then divided, with each keeping its own program, faculties and deans. Graduate programs were introduced that same year by the civil law section; it was not until 1981 that the common law section began offering them as well.

Although the school has had since 1970 a system in which students from either the common or civil law sections could receive further training and accreditation in the other, it was not until 1994 that this system was formalized into the National Program. In doing so, the faculty became only the second law faculty in Canada, after McGill University's law school to offer bi-juridicial training in both the common law and civil law, the two formally recognized legal systems in Canada.

During the 2006 fall semester, the university's president Gilles Patry announced that Fauteux Hall would undergo extensive renovations, slated to begin in 2009. Due to funding cutbacks, a new law building expansion was cancelled, however renovations to the interior of Fauteux Hall were completed in 2012. Updates to the building since 2009 include substantial changes to the entrance atrium and Brian Dickson Law Library as well as the addition of the state-of-the-art Norton Rose Classroom. In addition, construction has now begun on the Ian G. Scott Courtroom across the street from the main Faculty of Law Building. The new courtroom will be a fully functional courtroom and adjoining classroom where sitting judges will hear regular cases including motions, appeals, judicial reviews, and applications.