四川大学法学院有着悠久的历史。她创始于1903年，初称“课吏馆”，又称仕学馆。1905年四川总督锡良在原仕学馆的基础上创办四川法政学堂。1912年四川法政学堂发展成为四川法政学校，1914年更名为四川公立法政专门学校，1927年四川公立法政专门学校连同四川公立外国语专门学校、四川公立农业专门学校、四川公立工业专门学校、四川公立国学专门学校五大专门学校组建成为公立四川大学，四川公立法政专门学校即成为公立四川大学的法政学院。1931年公立四川大学、国立成都大学和国立成都师范大学三校合并组建国立四川大学。1933年国立四川大学下设文学院、理学院和法学院，法学院包括法律系、政治系和经济系。其间法学院学生包括当时司法行政部为专门培训法官而委托筹办的司法组在内，共达一千人。此时的法律系拥有一大批留学日本和欧美的教授，如刑法的谢盛堂、赵念非；民商法的袭千昌、朱显祯、胡元义、宁柏青；宪法行政法的胡恭先；国际法的刘世传；土地法的余群宗；诉讼法的龙守荣；法院组织法的杨兰荪等，并在原有的法律课程基础上增设了亲属法、海商法、继承法、公司法、票据法、强制执行法、破产法、土地法等新课程，出版了一系列有影响的法学论著。
新中国成立之初，四川大学法律系的学生被分别派往司法部门参加司法改革和司法工作。1952年下半年院系调整，经西南军政委员会政法委员会和文教部决定，四川大学法律系、政治系连同重庆大学、云南大学、贵州大学等校的法律系和政治系并入西南革命大学总校，组建为革命大学一部政法系，1953年成立西南政法学院，四川大学自身的法学教育因之中断。
1983年经国家教委批准，四川大学任命郭炳和、秦大雕、赵炳寿组成四川大学法律系恢复建系筹备组。1984年四川大学法律系正式恢复，同年开始重招本科生。1985年由国家教委批准设立刑法学专业硕士点，开始招收刑法硕士研究生。1994年四川大学和成都科技大学两校合并，成立四川联合大学，同时法学院恢复建院，下设法律系和哲学系。1998年底，国家教育部决定将四川联合大学更名为四川大学，四川大学法学院这一名称又重新恢复。法学院现任院党委书记为古立峰、副书记王斌、院长唐磊、副院长李平、里赞。
四川大学法学院现下设法律系与人口研究所。根据教学需要，设有法理、宪法与行政法、刑法、民商法、经济法、诉讼法和国际法教研室。本科为法学专业，研究生有刑法学、诉讼法学、民商法学、人口学、宪法学与行政法学。经济法学、法理学硕士学位授予点及法律硕士专业学位授予点，诉讼法学博士点。学院现有教授15人，副教授26人，硕士生导师27人，博士生导师4人。现在法学院既有全国著名的刑事侦查学周应德教授等老专家，又有一批青年学者如左卫民教授、龙宗智教授、唐磊教授、王建平教授、杨遂全教授、向朝阳教授、里赞教授、李平教授、金明教授、周伟教授、汪太贤教授、程燎原教授、魏东教授、徐继敏教授、喻中教授、王建军教授。
法学院坚持教学与科研并重，基础与应用并重的办学传统，是四川省法学人才培养基地。本科以培养系统掌握法学理论和知识，熟悉我国法律和党的相关政策，具有运用法学知识分析和解决问题能力的复合型高级人才为目标。本科学生主要学习法学的基本理论和基础知识，受到法学思维和法律实务的基本训练，具有运用法学理论和方法分析问题与解决问题、处理法律事务的基本能力。本科毕业生应获得以下几方面的知识和能力：掌握法学各学科的基本理论与基本知识；掌握法学的基本分析方法和技术；熟悉我国法律和党的相关政策；了解法学的理论前沿和我国法制建设的趋势；具有运用法学知识分析问题和处理问题的实际工作能力；掌握文献检索、资料查询的基本方法，具有一定的理论研究能力。在教学上，除教育部门规定的十四门法学核心课程外，学院还开设了三十余门的选修课，从2001级开始，试行学分制，并充分利用四川大学作为综合性大学的多学科优势，指导学生在全校范围内选修课程，拓展学生的视野；聘请有丰富司法实践经验和精深法学专业知识的司法干部为学院兼职教授，加强理论与实践的联系；组织和开展观摩审判、模拟审判、法律咨询、社会调查、专业实习等教学实践活动。
法学院现有在校全日制学生1700余人，其中硕士研究生856人，自1983年法律系恢复以来，法学院共培养本科毕业生2200余人，专科毕业生1000余人，其中，考上硕士生100余人，硕士研究生200余人；从事律师、法官、检察官、法律顾问、政府工作、法学教学工作的毕业生占90%以上。从1994年起开办在职研究生课程进修班，迄今已有1300余人结业。此外，还长期为司法机关的在职干部进行再教育培训。从2001年开始，开展网络远程教育。
在科研方面，2001年以来，学院老师承担了40项国家、省级和学校的科研课题（含横向课题），发表论文500余篇，出版著作60余部。
法学院重视国内国际学术交流活动，先后与美国华盛顿大学、哥伦比亚大学、圣路易斯大学及日本、俄罗斯的大学建立了长期的校际交流关系。每年有外国专家来院讲学、访问和接待外籍学生来院实习，并多次组织区域性学术会议和开展合作研究。曾先后派出教师十多人次到美国、德国、英国、日本、俄罗斯等国进行考察、访问、讲学和留学。法学院教师加入中国法学会及各专业法学会、四川省法学会及各专业法学会，担任副会长、秘书长、常务理事、理事、干事等职的二十余人，经常参加各种学术活动和大型国际会议，提交一大批有创见的会议论文。在基础建设方面法学院现有计算机检索系统和法律法规光盘，拥有音像、指纹、分析和司法鉴定等先进设备，为本院的教学科研服务。
展望未来，法学院将继承学风活跃、治学严谨的优良传统，团结奋斗，同心同德，充分发挥学院优势，提高人才培养的层次和质量，致力于社会主义新型高素质人才的全面塑造。法学院还将继续加强科研工作，增加科研投入，开创科研新局面，提高整体学术水平。同时，为适应培养复合型跨世纪人才的需要，创造条件和司法机关联合建设教学实习基地，开辟与社会各界联合办学的新途径，把四川大学法学院办成西南地区的一个拥有多专业层次的高水平的法学高等教育园地和复合型、研究型与应用型相结合的法律人才的培养基地。
The Law School of Sichuan University
The Law School of Sichuan University enjoys a long history. It was originally founded in 1903, known as KE LI GUAN or SHI XUE GUAN(official-training school).In 1905, the original SHI XUE GUAN was developed into Sichuan Law and Politics School by the officials in charge of education. Sichuan Law and Politics School further developed into a modern Sichuan School of Law and Politics in 1912, and was renamed in 1914 as Sichuan Public Special School of Law and Politics, with Yin Huanmen as the president. In 1927, Public Sichuan University was established with the association of the five special schools, including Sichuan Public Special School of Law and Politics, Sichuan Public Special School of Foreign Languages, Sichuan Public Special School of Agriculture, Sichuan Public Special School of Industry and Sichuan Public Special School of Sinology. Sichuan Public Special School of Law and Politics thus became the School of Law and Politics in Public Sichuan University. In 1931, Public Sichuan University, National Chengdu University and National Chengdu Normal University were amalgamated into National Sichuan University. In 1933, National Sichuan University set up the Schools of Literature, Science and Law while the School of Law in turn consisted of the Departments of Law, Politics and Economics. The total number of people in the Law Department of 1000, including the Judicial Group, which was the special judge-training program authorized by the nation’s Judicial and Administrative Department. The Law Department at the time had a large number of professors who had studied in America, Europe or Japan, such as Xie Shengtang and Zhao Nianfei of criminal law, Xi Qianchang, Zhu Xianzhen, Hu Yuanyi and Ning Boqing of civil and commercial law, Hu Gongxian of constitutional and administrative law, Liu Shichuan of international law, Yu Qunzong of land law, Long Shourong of procedural law, Yang Lansun of the organic law of the courts, etc. New courses were also offered such family law, maritime law, succession law, company law, negotiable instruments law, enforcement law, bankruptcy law, land law, etc. Number of influential works on law were published.
In the early 1950s, students from the Law School of Sichuan University were sent to judicial departments to participate in the works of judicial reform and practice. In the second half of 1952, with the decision of Southwest Military and Political Committee and the Culture and Education Department, the Departments of Law and Politics of Sichuan University, together with the law and politics departments of Chongqin University, Yunnan University and Guizhou University were merged into the Southwest Revolution University, forming its Politics and Law Department. In 1953, Southwest Politics and Law College was established, and the legal education in Sichuan University came to a cease.
In 1983, with the approval by the State Education Committee, Sichuan University appointed Guo Binghe, Qin Dadiao and Zhao Bingshou to the preparation group for the restoration of the department of law. The Department of Law was formally restored in Sichuan University in 1984, Students were enrolled in the same year for bachelor’s degree in law. Mater’s program in criminal law was approved by the State Education Committee in 1985, Professor Wu Liucun, Zhou Yingde, Zhao Bingshou, Huang Zhaojong, Chen Kangyang and Xu Jianguang worked as the supervisors in Chinese criminal law, international criminal law, legal logic, criminal detection, techniques of material evidence respectively. In 1994, Sichuan University and Chengdu Science and Technology University merged into Sichuan Union University, and the School of Law was restored simultaneously, and two departments of law and philosophy hosted in the School. At the end of 1998, Sichuan Union University was again renamed as Sichuan University, hence the restoration of the title of the School of Law, Sichuan University, which hosted the Department of Law and the Demographic Research Institute. The present Party Secretary of the School of Law is Gu Lifeng, the vice party secretary is Wang Bin, while the dean is Tang Lei, the vice deans Li Ping and Li Zan.
There are presently the following institutes in the Law School: the Department of Law, Demographic Research Institute, Chuanda Law Firm, Legal Research Institute, Comparative Law Center, IP Law Research Institute, Judicial Reform Research Center and Criminal Detection Research Center. Teaching research offices are jurisprudence, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, civil and commercial law, economic law, procedural law and international law. The Law School offers the bachelor’s program in law and the master’s programs in criminal law, procedural law, civil and commercial law, demography, constitutional and administrative law. The School is also approved to confer the title of master’s degree in economic law, master’s degree in jurisprudence, master’s degree in law, and doctor’s degree in procedural law. With 15 professors, 26 associate professors, 27 master’s supervisors and 2 doctorate supervisors, the Faculty is the home of not only the national-renowned old experts like Wu Liucun in criminal law, Zhou Yingde in criminal detection, but also the young scholars like Zuo Weimin, Long Zongzhi , Tang Lei, Wang Jianping, Yong Suiquan, Xiang Chaoyang, Li Zan, Li Ping, Jin Ming, Zhou Wei.
With the tradition to pay equal attention to teaching and research, fundamentals and applications, the Law School is the base for legal talent training in Sichuan Province. Bachelor’s program aims to provide the high-level versatile talents with the systematic mastery of legal theories and knowledge, the good mastery of our national laws and the relevant policies of the Party as well as the ability to apply legal knowledge learned in problem analyzing and solving. Students will be provided with classes in the basic theories and knowledge of law, basic training in legal reasoning and legal practice, and the basic ability to apply legal theory and legal method in analyzing and solving problems and handling legal affairs. They should have obtained the following knowledge and abilities at graduation:
Mastery of the basic theories and knowledge in different branches of law.
Mastery of the basic analytic methods and techniques of law.
Good knowledge in the national laws and the relevant policies of the Party.
Knowledge in the theoretical frontier of law and the trend of the nation’s legal construction.
Practical ability to apply the knowledge of law in problem analyzing and solving.
Mastery of the basic method of document retrieval and literature search.
Some ability to carry out theoretical research.
Other than the 14 required courses, more 30 selected courses are offered. And the credit system has been adopted since the year of 2001. The School takes good advantage of the comprehensive curriculum of the University, helping the students to broaden their vision by selecting courses from different departments and schools. Judicial officers with rich practical experiences and professional knowledge are also invited to be the part-time professors in the School. Trial auditing, moot court, legal consultation, social investigation, internship and other activities are organized for the students.
The full-time students presently enrolled in the Law School are 1700, 856 of which are post-graduates. Since the restoration of the Department of Law in 1983, over 2200 students have graduated with bachelor’s degrees and over 1000 with diplomas, over 100 of which continued their study as post-graduates, as well as more than 200 graduates with master’s degrees. Over 90% of the graduates work as lawyers, judges, procurators, legal consultants, governmental officials or teaching stall in law schools. Part-time training classes for master’s degree has been run since 1994, with more than 1300 students trained in the program. Besides, the School has been offering a reeducation training program for officers working in judicial departments. A new long-distance education program has started since 2001 through the Internet.
The Staff has undertaken 40 national and provincial research programs in the recent years, with the publication of over 500 papers and 60 books including textbooks and reference books.
The School highly values the domestic and international academic exchange, keeping long-term inter-university relationship with Washington University, Columbia University and St. Louis University in the US as well as with some Japanese and Russian universities. Every year we receive foreign experts to visit and teach, foreign students to study in the School. Number of regional academic conferences and cooperative researches have been organized. Dozen of teachers have been sent to the US, Germany, Britain, Japan and Russia to visit, study, or teach.
Staff members have joined China Law Society and its branches, Sichuan Provincial Law Society and its branches, over 20 of whom hold the positions of the vice president, the secretary general, executive director, director, secretary, etc. They often attend academic activities and big international conferences, submitting a large number of original papers. The School has the computer retrieving system, the database of laws and regulations, and the advanced equipments for video/audio, fingerprint analysis and expert testimony, which serve the teaching and research work well.
In the future, the School will carry on the tradition of the active style and the strict attitude in study, work together to make full use of the School’s advantage, to improve the level and quality of the talent training, and to foster the new and versatile high-quality socialist talents. The School will also keep on making greater efforts for academic research, to increase necessary investment and improve the general academic level. Meanwhile, in order to meet the need for the 21st century versatile talents, the School will make joint efforts with judicial departments to construct a teaching and internship base, and will cooperate with people from different circles to find new ways of running schools so that the Law School of Sichuan University could be made the high-level legal education and training base in Southwest China with different expertise and providing academic, practical as well as versatile legal talents.