Summary

The Universities Act passed in 1995 provides that the main method of ensuring the quality of higher education is the accreditation of institutions of higher education and of their programmes. Accreditation of programmes is relevant from the legal point of view since only documents certifying higher education which is completed on the basis of accredited programmes are recognised by the state.
In spring 1998, the Higher Education Accreditation Board decided on the accreditation of the law programmes of several Estonian universities. After having evaluated the law programmes of private universities and that of the Law Faculty of the University of Tartu, the board accredited, without reservations, only the programme of the University of Tartu. A number of private universities did not submit their programmes for accreditation at all.
This article focuses on the nature and legal bases of accreditation. Further, the article addresses the main positions and information put forward in the self-analysis prepared by the Law Faculty of the University of Tartu.