In 1975, when the Faculty of Law was founded, foreign languages were not part of the curriculum. When they were added to the curriculum in the 1980s, classes were held by external associates, mostly professors from the then Faculty of Education (among others, in the late 1980s they were Lidija Obad, Rade Kovačević and Slavica Juriša). The war in 1991 briefly interrupted the work of the Faculty, and when it continued in 1992, in addition to courses in law, English and German language classes were also organized for lawyers by Željko Rišner, who first worked as an external associate, until he was employed by the Faculty in February of 1994 as full-time lecturer. This formally marked the foundation of the Chair of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Law. In the same year, the Chair also employed prof. Ljubica Kordić, and the current composition of the Chair was reached in 2006, when prof. Dubravka Papa joined the team.

From the founding of the Chair until today, its members have initiated and participated in a number of activities at the Faculty, in the local community and at national and international levels. In the 1990s and early 2000s, they participated as conference interpreters in a number of conferences in the country and abroad (Augsburg, Munich, Bonn, Cologne, Vienna, etc.). They interpreted lectures given by visiting professors within various projects (e.g. ABA-CEELI, Language for Law, Regionalism in Europe…), and today they participate in translating documents of the Faculty of Law and abstracts and integral texts into English and German for faculty publications. After organizing a series of lectures by guest lecturers, the Chair, under the auspices of the Robert Bosch Foundation from Germany, launched an international collaboration with the Faculty of Law in Pécs. As part of this collaboration, Ljubica Kordić organized three conferences entitled "IurOP 2005: Recht dreidimensional", "IurOP 2006: Recht verbindet" and "IurOP 2007: Recht europäisch", where professors and students took turns in Osijek and Pécs. And had an opportunity to exchange experiences with Hungarian colleagues. These meetings provided a perfect foundation for other successful projects managed by other chairs of the Faculty of Law. The Chair also participated in the launching and work of dislocated studies, first in Požega (1993 - 1999), and then in Vukovar (from 2003 to date) and Petrinja (2005 - 2010). With their experience, the professors of the Chair of Foreign Languages helped in the development of these studies into Polytechnics and in the selection and training of foreign language teachers in Požega and Vukovar.

Members of the Chair regularly participate as authors of papers and presenters at scientific and professional conferences in the country and abroad. The results of these attendances are numerous scientific and professional papers published in prestigious world and domestic scientific journals and publications of renowned publishers (Peter Lang, Logos, etc.), in conference proceedings and other printed and online publications. Through these publications, the Chair members significantly contribute to the Faculty’s international visibility.

In order to improve themselves, but also to raise the quality of teaching, members of the Chair regularly participate in numerous workshops. Among other things, they actively participated in projects for the training of foreign language teachers at law schools in Southeast Europe, organized in 2003-2005 in Budapest by the US Government and the US Embassy in Hungary. From 2006 to 2009, members of the Chair participated in the Tempus project Foreign Languages ​​in the Field of Law, whose coordinator for Slavonia and Baranja was prof. dr. sc. Ljubica Kordić. In September 2016, the Chair participated in the 2^ndLegal English Workshop in Supraśl – the workshop was organised by the Centre for Legal English in Bialystok, Poland, for teachers and translators of legal English. In February 2021, teachers exchanged their experiences in dealing with the challenges of teaching foreign languages for specific purposes in isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic at the workshop entitled “Using Digital Tools in Teaching”. The workshop was organized by the Association of LSP Teachers at Higher Education Institutions (ALSPTHEI), which was co-founded by our Chair.

Members of the Chair of Foreign Languages have been involved as collaborators in a number of projects at the Faculty. Since 2020, Ljubica Kordić has been the manager of the Jean Monnet Module LEULEX (Language and EU Law Excellence), a project that includes the collaboration of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek.

When it comes to teaching as the Chair’s main activity, its members teach English and German in all three studies at the Faculty of Law. This includes the compulsory courses English 1, 2, 3 and 4; and German 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the 1^st and 2^nd year, and the elective course English for EU Law in the 5^th year of the Integrated University Study. At the Professional Study of Law, students take the courses English 1, 2, 3 and 4; and German 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the first and second year of study. At the Study of Social Work, students have lectures and seminars in English 1 and German 1 in the winter semester of the 1^st year, and lectures in English 2 and German 2 in the winter semester of the 2^nd year of study. In addition, students are offered the elective course Language and Multiculturalism in the summer semester of the 1st year of study.

The Chair keeps up to date with professional literature and its members contribute to the improvement of teaching through their permanent training. In addition, they are doing their best to make teaching as interesting as possible and the learning of the language of the profession as successful as possible for the students through constant innovations and through implementation of new methods and technologies. Caring for students is an ongoing process that does not end when the students win their degrees at the end of their studies, but continues through lifelong learning programmes. The Chair of Foreign Languages ​​is one of the founders of such programmes at the Faculty of Law. In 2007 and 2008, senior students, graduates, but also practicing lawyers, were given the opportunity to acquire additional knowledge through the “English for EU Law” course, which was an extension of the elective course from the final year of study. In the academic year 2012/2013, the Chair organised a course for lawyer linguists as a part of life-long learning programme. In its first year, this course was organised in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of the Zagreb University and with financial support of the EU through TEMPUS programme. After that, supported by the home Faculty, the Chair has been organising the course on its own in cooperation with the Faculty’s Chair of European Law and with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek.

Organizationally, the Chair worked independently from its foundation in 1994 until 2019. The changes in the Law on Institutions of Higher Education forced the Faculty to reorganise its Chairs. As the result, the Chair of Foreign Languages was first briefly merged with the Chair of Physical Education and Health Culture  in 2019 thus forming the Chair of Foreign Languages ​​and Kinesiology, and in 2020, after a new reorganization, it has been merged with the Chair of Sociology thus forming the present day Chair of Foreign Languages and Sociology.