Ranking and situation of the investigation in the faculties of law in Colombia

Abstract

This article discusses characteristics and the state of legal and socio-legal research undertaken in the framework of law degree programs in Colombia, focusing on key issues concerning the quality of the country´s present legal education programs. For this purpose, based on the results of the 2017 Colciencias nationwide call to recognize and categorize research groups in Colombia, a ranking of law degree programs is undertaken. The output of this ranking offers insights about the role of private and public universities in research, the regional distribution of research production, the correlations between research and PhD programs, the relationships between research and high-quality accreditation of law degree programs, as well as the connections between research and obtaining the qualified register of academic programs. Conclusions focus on aspects concerning higher education policies and their effects on practices and the status of legal research in Colombia.