The Government of Tamil Nadu by an Act of State Legislature [Act No.43 of 1997] established the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University for the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in learning, teaching and research in the field of law.
His Excellency Shri. K.R. Narayanan, former President of India inaugurated it on September 20, 1997, and the University started from October 3, 1997 onwards. The University was named after the architect of the Indian Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The University is recognized by the Bar Council of India (BCI) and University Grants Commission (UGC) (Sec. 2f and 12b of the UGC Act.). The University is also a member of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Common Wealth Universities, U.K. and Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. This University functioning as nodal agency to uplift the legal education in the State of Tamil Nadu.
The University is the first full-fledged sui generis Law University in the country; it is unique among all the Law Universities in the Country. The University is the first full-fledged Law University that offers Legal Education only through this University and its affiliated colleges in the State and the University is the first of its kind not only in the country but also in South Asia.
The University offers legal education at its campus as well as through eight affiliated colleges in the state of Tamil Nadu located at Chennai, Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Chengalpattu, Vellore and Salem. The School of Excellence in Law established by the University at its campus since 2002 has been modeled on the lines of other National Law Schools in the country and offers three year as well as five year integrated undergraduate courses in Law. The University has a Postgraduate and Research Centre, which offers Master of Law Degree Courses in eight different specializations, doctoral programme as well as organizing research in diverse areas of law. Apart from these, there is also a Distance Education Unit as well as a few evening college programmes for various postgraduate diploma courses.