Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL, Chinese: 西南政法大学 Pinyin: xīnán zhèngfǎ dàxué) is a national public university located in Chongqing, China.
It was founded in 1953 with the original name Southwest College of Political Science and Law. It was one of the oldest Faculty of Political Science and Law after the People's Republic of China was established. Its law school ranks 4th among all the law schools in China. Notable alumni include Liang Huixing, Liang Zhiping, He Weifang, and Zhang Xinbao.
Zhou Qiang, grade 1978 graduate from the Law Department of SWUPL, was elected president of the Supreme People's Court of China at the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 15, 2013.
As one of the oldest political science and law universities in China, Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL) developed from the Department of Political Science and Law at Southwest University of People’s Revolution which was founded in 1950, with Marshal Liu Bocheng as the university president.
In 1953, SWUPL was officially established through merging the Political Science and Law departments of Chongqing University and Sichuan University, the Law departments of Chongqing Finance and Economy College, and of Guizhou University and Yunnan University.
In 1978, the University was accredited as a key university by the State Council. In 2000, the administration of the University was transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Chongqing municipality, thus creating a system of co-administration between the central and local government.
In 2003, it was approved as one of the first universities to grant doctoral degree of first-level legal discipline. In 2004, it established one post-doctorate mobile station of Law. In 2007, SWUPL was awarded as “excellent undergraduate education” by Ministry of Education.
In 2008, SWUPL became the key university co-administrated by Ministry of Education and Chongqing Municipality.
SWUPL became the first University in Chongqing co-administrated by the Ministry and Municipality. On October 24, 2012.
The University has three campuses, the main in Yubei, the other two in Shapingba and Baoshenghu, covering a total area of 3136.17 mu. There are 14 schools, including School of Civil and Commercial law, School of Economic Law, Law School, School of Administrative Law, School of International Law, School of Criminal investigation, School of Marxism, School of Juris Master, School of Management, School of Politics and Public Administration, School of Journalism and Communication, School of Foreign Languages, School of Applied Law, and School of Economics.