Naumai, Haere Mai ki Te Piringa, te wāhanga ture o Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato.
Welcome to Te Piringa Faculty of Law at the University of Waikato.
Te Piringa translates as the coming together of peoples and cultures. Our name was gifted by the late Te Arikinui, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the Māori Queen (further details about our name). True to our name, Te Piringa Faculty of Law brings together leading international and local scholars, members of the judiciary and legal profession, illustrious alumni, leaders of industry and business to provide our students with a transformative learning experience.
Founded in 1991, Te Piringa Faculty of Law is now one of Aotearoa New Zealand's leading law schools, and is consistently ranked highly internationally and nationally. The Faculty was established upon three core principles: professionalism, biculturalism, and the study of law in context. These founding principles continue to be deeply embedded throughout all our Law programmes, and equip our graduates with a unique and powerful set of skills and strengths. Our students are given the very best grounding in the law, along with a deep understanding of professionalism, biculturalism, and a study of how the law operates in the wider context. Our highly sought after graduates are fully prepared for the complete range of legal and other opportunities – both in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as abroad.
The Law Faculty building at the University of Waikato is located on the ancestral lands of iwi that affiliate to Tainui waka: Waikato, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Wairere, and Ngāti Koroki Kahukura. The Law Faculty is proud to be a leader in Māori and Indigenous legal education in Aotearoa New Zealand, having the highest enrolment of Māori law students in the country. Māori and Indigenous legal traditions are a vital area of legal innovation, and we are strongly committed to fostering a deep understanding and appreciation of Indigenous issues under the principle of partnership in the Treaty of Waitangi, and creating an environment in which tikanga Māori, te reo Māori, and mana Māori are preserved and promoted.
We have a diverse and talented community of staff and students, each of whom bring their unique perspectives and experiences to the study and understanding of the law. Along with our high number of Māori students, we also have the highest number of Pacific law students in the country. This diversity allows for an extraordinarily rich learning environment.
We have an extensive network of international partners on every continent in the globe, connecting us to leading scholars and law schools in Asia, the Pacific and Australasia, the UK and Europe, North America, South America, and Africa. We prepare our students to be global citizens, and they are able to undertake exchange programmes, study, and work around the world.
Since our very beginnings, we have always looked to push the boundaries of legal professionalism, legal biculturalism, and legal contextualism. It is this spirit of innovation that has resulted in Te Piringa’s remarkable legacy of achievement built by our alumni.
Our graduates have become leaders in the legal profession, in business and industry, in government, in civil society – across the nation, and around the world. We are enormously proud of our graduates, and are grateful for their on-going involvement and commitment to our Te Piringa whanau (extended family and community).
This website will provide you with detailed information about our Law programmes, career opportunities, our excellent facilities, and the extensive resources offered to our students. I hope you will take the opportunity to explore this website and learn more about Te Piringa Faculty of Law, and I warmly invite you to contact us.
Professor Alpana Roy
Dean
Te Piringa Faculty of Law
University of Waikato