In 1836, Joseph Bedeus von Scharberg forwarded a petition to the Evangelical Consistory requesting the establishment of a law academy in Sibiu. Two years later, on May 21, 1838, the petition was accepted by the majority of the Saxon "Nationsuniversität" districts' representatives. After numerous requests, Emperor Ferdinand I will approve the establishment of the Saxon Law Academy (Rechtsakademie) in July 1843. The opening ceremony took place in November 2, 1844 in the Great Hall of the Evangelical Gymnasium. In its short history, the Academy has gone through three phases: 1. Saxon (1844-1851); 2. Austrian (1851-1870); 3. Hungarian (1870-1887).

At the beginning, the law academy only had two one-year courses under the Superior Consistory of the Evangelical Church. The first rector was Johann Gottfried Müller. The Academy's library also started to grow and eventually reached 6,000 volumes by the end of its existence, in 1887. On 1 October 1851, the Academy was taken over by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Vienna. The studying period was extended to three years and in 1861 the academy received the right to introduce four-year courses for lawyers. Upon graduation, students receive diplomas, but to become doctors of law, they had to attend another 4 semesters at a university in Europe.

Among the professors from this period, it's worth mentioning Friedrich Schuler von Libloy, Joseph Kreintz, Ferdinnand von Zieglauer, Leopold Pfaff and Alois Sentz. During the liberal period (1860-1867) the number of Romanian students is rising fast. In 1860-1861, there were 51 students and in 1862-1863 their number exceeded 80. After 1867, the law academy has declined, as a result of its magyarization.
The new name of the institution was Royal Hungarian Academy of Law (Rechtsakademie k.u.). In 1870, the Hungarian became the teaching language and the academy declines by the departure of many teachers and Saxon students at other universities. Under these circumstances, the Hungarian government decided in 1883 the gradual abolition of the Law Academy in Sibiu.
The official closing took place in 15 June 1887.