History
The Faculty of Law at Masaryk University is one of the highly prestigious institutions involved in legal education in the Czech Republic.
The Faculty of Law was one of the four founding faculties of Masaryk University in 1919. First students enrolled in the academic year 1919/1920 and their teachers included prominent figures such as Bohumil Baxa, Jaroslav Kallab, Karel Engliš (the first MU Rector) nebo František Weyr who became the first Dean of the Faculty of Law. In the period between the First and Second World wars, five Law Faculty professors acted as Rectors of Masaryk University.
At first, classes were held on the premises nearer to Brno town centre. The present building was opened in 1932. Originally, it was meant to be a part of an academic campus with its own square. Unfortunately, the plans had to be abandoned because of the 1930s economic recession.
Following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the teaching at Masaryk University, which also included the Faculty of Law, had to be stopped in 1939. A number of students and teachers of the Faculty joined the resistance, and some of them lost their lives as a consequence. The building of the Faculty of Law was claimed by the Gestapo during the war and classrooms were used as cells and interrogation rooms.
When the Second World War was over, after some negotiations with the Red Army, teaching was resumed. The Communist takeover in 1948 led to expulsion of a number of professors, including František Weyr. Despite this fact, the tradition of Weyr normative school continued, which resulted in closing of the Faculty of Law in 1950. The building was then passed to the Military Academy that used it till 1989.
In 1969, in the period which briefly allowed more political freedom, the Faculty of Law was re-established. The teaching was resumed and classes were held at the temporary premises at Zelný trh in the centre of Brno. The whole university was forced to drop the name of Masaryk from its title and was renamed Jan Evangelista Purkyně University.
Masaryk University regained its original name after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. In the same year, the Faculty of Law returned to its own building.
- November 15, 1918
A bill proposing the establishment of a university in Brno was submitted by the writer Alois Jirásek and prof. Karel Engliš in the Parliament.
- January 28, 1918
Masaryk University founded; it included four faculties (Faculty of Law, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Science).
- 1919/1920
Academic work commenced, the key members of the academic staff included Bohumil Baxa, professor of Czech history, Josef Vacek, professor of comparative legal science, Jaroslav Kallab of criminal law, Rudolf Dominik of commercial law, professors František Weyr, Karel Engliš and Jaromír Sedláček; Karel Engliš became the first dean of the Faculty of Law.
- 1922
Public tenders were invited for a project to build an academic campus.
- 1925
Public tenders were invited for a project to design an academic square.
- June 9, 1928
Laying the foundation stone.
- 1931
The building was passed on to the Faculty of Law
- Interwar period
The following professors held the positions of deans: František Weyr 1919 - 1920, 1927 - 1928, 1935 - 1936, Jaroslav Kallab 1920 - 1921, 1929 - 1930, 1937 - 1938, Karel Engliš 1921 - 1922, 1925 - 1926, Josef Vacek 1922 - 1923, Bohumil Baxa 1923 - 1924, 1933 - 1934, Dobroslav Krejčí 1924 - 1925, 1931 - 1932, Jaromír Sedláček 1926 - 1927, 1934 - 1935, Jan Loevenstein 1928 - 1929, Rudolf Dominik 1930 - 1931, 1939 - 1940, Jan Vážný 1932 - 1933, František Čáda 1936 - 1937 and František Rouček 1938 – 1939; as a rule the dean became a vice-dean the following year. Professors Karel Engliš 1919 - 1920, František Weyr 1923 - 1924, Jaroslav Kallab 1927 - 1928, Bohumil Baxa 1931 - 1932 and Dobroslav Krejčí 1935 - 1936 became rectors of Masaryk University.
- November 17, 1939
The Nazi troops seized both the university buildings and student dormitories.
- 1945
Prof. Fr. Čáda became the first post-war dean at the Faculty of Law.
- June 11, 1945
The dean commenced the lectures by a ceremonial address in the Auditorium Maximum.
- 1945
The following institutes were opened: Philosophy of Law (head V. Kubeš); History of Central European Public and Private Law (Fr. Čáda); Czechoslovak History of Law (Fr. Čáda); Civil Law (V. Kubeš); Commercial Law and Bill of Exchange Law (F. Rouček, the institute remained without a head after his departure); Administrative Law (J. Pošvář); International Law (B. Kučera); Research and Financial Law (Vl. Vybral); National Economy and Statistics (V. Chytil); Constitutional law (Fr. Weyr)
- 1948
A number of negative changes in the life of the Faculty.
- 1950
Seven new departments were set up. These were, however, never allowed to start working; the deans were Jaroslav Pošvář 1948 – 1949 and Jaromír Blažke 1949 – 1950.
- June 27, 1950
A decree issued by the Government meant the closing of Faculty of Law. Soon after, the building was passed on to the Military Academy which used it until 1990.
- March 15, 1969
The Government re-established the Faculty of Law by its regulation No. 35/1969 Coll. as one of the faculties of Jana Evangelista Purkyně University in Brno. Vladimír Klokočka, a Constitutional Law Professor, became the first dean.
- 1989
The Faculty was moved back to its original seat in Veveří street. The restorations of the building returned it to its original appearance. The deans of the Faculty after 1989: Jiří Kroupa (1990–1994), Zdeňka Gregorová (1994–1995), Josef Bejček (1995–2001), Jan Svatoň (2001–2007), Naděžda Rozehnalová (2007–2015) and Markéta Selucká (2015 – 2019) amd Martin Škop (2019 – till now).