In the fields of Law and Politics, courses were offered as early as 1974 for the first two years of studies in La Rochelle. This department was an extension of the Faculty of Law and social sciences of Poitiers: the classes were held in Villa Fort Louis and in the Chapelle Fromentin. With the creation of the University of La Rochelle by the 93-77 decree of January 20, 1993, a law department was created and built in the Minimes area along the sea and in front of Fort Boyard. This department will soon become the Faculty of Law.
In September 1993, three diplomas are offered: Capacity of Law, a two-year law degree and Bachelor of law. The next year the Master’s degree is opened and at the same time the Centre for Legal Studies (which will become the Institute for Legal studies) is created with the support of the legal and judicial professions. In the next years, the Centre of Preparation for Administrative Entrance Exams (CPCA) and the Centre for French-speaking Legal Studies are created as well as Post graduate degrees such as the degree in Administrative, Criminal and Civil Proceedings thanks to the close co-operation with the regional Chamber of Bailiffs. The syllabus will then be modified to match the national reform of diplomas - Bachelor’s – Master’s – PhD. Hence, today our students are offered a complete legal training from year one to PhD.

The development of the Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management was also linked to the creation of research structures in the fields that are carried out here. The first laboratory, the Institute for Economic and Social Legal Analysis (IAJES) will contribute to giving birth to three research teams nowadays: The Centre for Legal and Political Studies (CEJEP/EA 3170) and the Centre for International Studies on Romanity (CEIR / EA 4227). European law, environmental law, legal proceedings, insurance law and law of Antiquity are the main fields of our present research.

Situated on the Atlantic coast and opened to the world, La Rochelle Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management is also engaged in close-knit co-operations with other universities at the national as well as at the international level.

Within the framework of the Higher Education and Research Pole, involving several regions, a public establishment of scientific co-operation, the students who prepare a PHd in Law and Political Science have benefited since 2008¨from the doctorate training of the Doctorate School Pierre Couvrat (ED n°88), a joint school of five universities among which La Rochelle University. In the field of insurance, La Rochelle Faculty of Law and Poitiers Faculty of Law jointly offer a Master’s degree in “Insurance and Saving schemes” located in Niort University Centre. At the beginning of 2012, a new Master’s degree in history of law and institutions will open and is jointly headed by the three universities of Poitiers, Limoges and La Rochelle, with a speciality concerning Romanity and Antiquity taught by the historians of the CEIR.

Over the years, La Rochelle Faculty of law has created strong links with many foreign universities which aim at developing student exchanges and international higher education research. Thus, within the Erasmus / Socrates programme, La Rochelle Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management co-operates with the following universities: Salzburg University in Austria (Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg), Ferrara University in Italy (Università degli studi di Ferrara), Leuven Catholic University in Belgium, Barcelona University in Catalonia (Universidat Autonòma de Barcelona), Cordoba University (Universidad de Cordoba), Seville University (Universidad Pablo de Olavide - Sevilla), University Castilla de la Mancha in Spain, Democritus University of Thrace (Demokritos University of Thrace - Komotini), Panteion University in Athens in Greece, Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania (Mykolas Romeris University - Vilnius), Palackého University in the Czech Republic (Univerzita Palackého - Olomouci), Cluj University in Romania ((Universitatea Babes-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca), Oslo University (UiO) and Bergen University (UiB) in Norway

The Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management counted 1800 students, 1000 of them at the Faculty of Law and Political Science alone. Enrolment for the bachelor’s degree has sharply risen by 20% over the last two years and is now stable. This evolution which proves the vitality and the educational and scientific attractiveness of our faculty does not modify its primary characteristics as they were defined by its founders: like the rest of La Rochelle University, it is a faculty with a human size situated in an exceptional environment.