LLM (Master of Laws)

LLM (Master of Laws)

Duration: One calendar year (full-time) Two, three or four years (part-time, daytime only) We recommend that part-time students have between two-and-a-half and three days a week free to pursue their course of study.

Minimum Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honors degree (or equivalent) in Law

Start of programme: September intake only

The LLM (Master in Laws) allows students to create their own programme structure, choosing courses from a wide range of subjects and perspectives, including comparative regional law, trade law, law and development, commercial law (including banking, copyright, and patent law), human rights, environmental law, Islamic law, dispute resolution, and international law.

The LLM programme is a single subject law programme that may be taken over a period of one year (full-time), or part-time over a period of two, three or four years. Every student will be required to take taught modules equivalent to four full units. The dissertation will be worth an additional two full units and complete the LLM programme.

With permission of the LLM tutor, students will be entitled to select one complementary subject or the equivalent from comparable Master’s module at SOAS including appropriate language module. A complementary subject may be chosen in substitution for either a full or a half-subject.

Examinations for all taught modules will be held in May/June of each year and the dissertation will be due for submission during September of the final year of registration. The assessment for each module may vary according to the extent to which the research component of each module is to be stressed.

It is expected that all students will graduate with an LLM in law. It is possible, however, for students wishing to graduate with a ‘specialist’ degree, to do so by way of opting to take three or more modules from the relevant subject groupings below. In each case, the student must undertake a dissertation in that subject grouping.

Structure

Students must take modules to a total value of 180, consisting of a dissertation (60 credits) and 120 credits of taught modules. Taught modules are worth either 15 or 30 credits.

Students who wish to graduate with an LLM (Master of Laws) are required to take at least 90 credits from the School of Law (General Law Postgraduate Taught Module List), and a final 30 unit which can either be taken within the School of Law or from the Postgraduate Module Open Option List with the LLM Programme Convenor’s permission. The dissertation topic will be connected to one of the taught LLM modules studied.