The Faculty of Laws' achievements

I would like to reply to the letter by Mark Sciriha (April 14).

The faculty is no disgrace. To call it a disgrace simply because some lectures have been missed or the staff was not sufficiently alert to advise students of cancellations which may have taken place is to misconstrue the whole ethos of the Faculty of Laws.

The faculty is proud to be performing its function and duty in educating graduates in law and providing for research in the legal area. It is true that the faculty caters for a large number of students, a good portion of whom come from the four corners of the world. This is no mean attestation of the level at which it performs. The faculty does not only cater for undergraduate studies but successfully holds a number of courses at postgraduate and doctoral level.

The faculty attempts to provide all its students with the necessary facilities and opportunities to advance their studies to the best of their abilities. It has set up a law reading room for those students who are eager to acquire knowledge. A missed lecture may be a good opportunity for the student to make use of the reading facilities afforded. Studies in law demand not only the attendance at lectures but also an effort on the part of the student to do some amount of minimal research.

The faculty publishes a journal on human rights to which scholars of international repute contribute.

The faculty is also proud that most of those students who proceed to further advance their studies in other universities come out with flying colours and obtain excellent results in the degrees they pursue. Again, this is clear evidence of the level at which the faculty is performing and is also a measure of its achievement.

Having said all that, it is legitimate to grouse when lectures are cancelled. This is sometimes inevitable when persons of the highest calibre in their profession are employed on a part-time basis and lecturing commitments may sometimes clash with other commitments which may be equally important. When this happens the faculty always attempts to give timely notice to all students and to have the missed lectures made up for. The faculty makes ample use of the good service provided by KSU in communicating such information to all students. This is, unfortunately, not always possible when a lecturing commitment is cancelled at the last moment because of some emergency. Still, the faculty always sees to it that the topics in the syllabus are adequately covered in the lectures given.

On a personal basis I am proud to be assisted by a staff in the faculty which is courteous and always ready to help students with all their difficulties. It is unfortunate that this student did not address his problems to the staff at the faculty, whom I am sure would have done their best to help him.