Free Online Law Courses

A free law course usually introduces how a legal system works: sources of law, courts and procedure, and the main fields such as contract, tort, criminal, constitutional and property law. Beyond the introduction, courses specialise in topics like human rights, international law, intellectual property, business law, or law and technology, and there is a growing set of courses on legal reasoning and the American or English legal traditions for international audiences. Universities supply almost all of them. Law school lecture courses are published under open licences, free in full with reading lists and no certificate. University law courses on edX are usually free to audit, with lectures and readings open while graded work and the certificate are paid, and audit access may be time-limited.

Some legal aid organisations and bar associations publish free public education without credentials. Non-profit platforms have self-paced law courses free in full with an optional paid certificate. When reading a syllabus, look for the jurisdiction the course assumes, since law differs by country and by state, for cases and statutes as reading rather than summaries alone, and for a statement that the course is education rather than legal advice. Law suits prospective law students, business owners and managers who deal with contracts and regulation, journalists and activists working with rights and public policy, and general readers. No free course qualifies anyone to practise law, which requires accredited study and admission to the bar or its equivalent.