The Tomsk State University Faculty of Law, opened in 1898, was the first faculty of this kind from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean and the ninth in the Russian Empire. In 1994, the Faculty of Law was reorganized into the Institute of Law.

Since the time it was established, the Faculty (Institute) has become one of the largest centres qualifyinghighly accomplished lawyers in the East of Russia and has graduated more than 15 thousand professionals. Today, more than 2500 students are enrolled in the Institute programmes.

The TSU law education generally highly reputed, graduates enjoy every opportunity to be successfully employed. They work in different areas of the state, economic and socio-cultural sectors, and in national and CIS law-enforcement bodies. A large number of the Institute alumni have achieved considerable success in research, head university departments and faculties, and are recognized leaders in their respective fields of law.

By the assessment of the professional education experts’ guild, the TSU Institute of Law programme in Jurisprudence (030500.62) ranks among the best RF programmes.

On November 12, 2010, RIA Novosti reported the Institute of Law to have entered the top five national law universities, according to the Superjob.ru recruiting portal survey. 

The Institute of Law includes 11 departments, two research laboratories, a training criminalistics laboratory, a number of computer laboratories, a linguistic laboratory, a centre for clinical training (the Student Legal Clinic)as well as a specially equipped training courtroom.

The TSU Institute of Law runs a thesis defence committee.

At present, the TSU Law Institute is headed by Olga Ivanovna Andreeva.

Research Groups and Scholars (the TSU LI)

The LI highly qualified staff ensure the standard and quality of training. The Institute has long been the largest TSU division in staff number. Among its 15 Advanced Doctors of Sciences and 51 PhD holders, the LI members prominent scholars and highly qualified professionals: professor Nikolay Vasilyevich Vitruk, Counsellor of the RF Constitutional Court;  professor Nikolay Trofimovich Vedernikov, Retired Judge of the RF Constitutional Court; professor Vladimir Grigoryevich Bessarabov, Vice Director of the Institute of the RF Prosecutor General’s Office; and others.

The Institute of Law has been running the following research projects:

• System approaches labour education development
• Studies of the legal environment conditions to facilitate formation of socio-economic and organizational structure of the RF and its subjects innovation development;
• Development and improvement of the legal basis relating to R&D activity in the region; and others.