Centers and Institutes

Graduate Legal Studies Institute

Established in 2012, the Graduate Legal Studies Institute (GLSI) is envisioned to serve as a center for academic research in various fields of law, particularly in the areas of human rights law, international economic law, corporate and business law, and intellectual property law. It aims to be a catalyst in nation-building by serving as a resource center for studies and other research outputs for law reform. It assists members of the Law School faculty in producing scholarly articles and research in their respective fields of interest and expertise, especially in relevant and emerging issues of domestic and international concerns. It also enhances the research capacity of the Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) students in producing quality thesis and other academic research papers.

In addition to its focus on research, GLSI manages the LL.M. Program of the Law School. It assists potential students in their application process and provides academic advice to LL.M. students. It also handles curriculum development and academic linkages between the Law School and other educational institutions, both local and foreign. It assists the LL.M. faculty to further develop their existing curriculum through readers, casebooks, and other materials, and come up with minimum requirements for research papers submitted in compliance with their course requirements.

Programs and Services

The GLSI manages the LL.M. Program of the ALS. It handles the application and admission processes for the program, provides academic advice to LL.M. students, and monitors their completion of course requirements. It also coordinates with the chairpersons of the four LL.M. tracks for curriculum development, course requirements, and related matters.

Through its Director, GLSI supervises the thesis programs for the J.D. and LL.M. It ensures that students are adequately prepared to write and defend their legal theses. It also facilitates the thesis defense and coordinates with the Ateneo Professional Schools Library for the archiving of theses.

With the University’s goal of enhancing the research capacity of faculty members and students, GLSI assists faculty members in producing scholarly legal articles and ensures that students produce quality theses. It coordinates with other units of the University to explore and undertake interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research initiatives on key issues and concerns, explore and encourage different discourse on certain topics, and supply the legal component on existing research.

GLSI assists the Office of the Dean in enhancing the J.D. and LL.M. curricula to make the curricula more responsive to the evolving needs of the legal profession. To have a fully developed curricula and standardized syllabi for the J.D. and LL.M. courses, GLSI coordinates with and assists the various academic departments of the Law School for syllabi development or updating. It also implements the J.D. Tracking System.

In line with the goal of exposing its law faculty and students to the global legal environment, GLSI facilitates the Law School’s academic relations and linkage programs with foreign and local educational institutions. These partnerships aim at fostering student and faculty exchange, research collaboration, student internships, and joint faculty or student projects. Recently concluded agreements are with the following universities: Kyushu University (Japan), University of Sydney (Australia), Coventry University (UK), University of Hawaii (US), and University of Malaga (Spain).

Thesis Center

The Thesis Program is managed by the Graduate Legal Studies Institute (GLSI). Through its Director, the GLSI supervises the thesis programs for the J.D. and LL.M. Programs. It ensures that students are adequately prepared to write and defend their legal theses. It also facilitates the thesis defense and coordinates with the APS Library for the archiving of theses.