LLM in International Law

LLM in International Law

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 programme may be completed either through one year of full-time study or two, three or four years of part-time study. All students apply to the general LLM programme but have the option of pursuing a specialized LLM.

Each LLM student is required to successfully complete four (4.0) units of coursework and a 12,000-word dissertation on a topic related to his or her specialization. The dissertation must be linked to a module offered at SOAS itself, and attendance on the module will be treated as being part of the process of supervision. Year-long modules are worth 1.0 unit, while single-term modules are worth 0.5 units. A student will thus complete between four and eight taught modules during his or her LLM programme.

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.

It is expected that all students will graduate with an LLM in law. A student who wishes to graduate with a specialized LLM is required to take at least three (3.0) units and write their dissertation, which will be worth two (2.0) units, within their chosen specialization. The fourth (4.0) unit can be taken outside of the LLM specialism or, with the LLM tutor’s permission, outside of the School of Law.

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 a specialised LLM are required to take at least 60 credits associated with his or her specialised LLM, a further 30 credits within 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 Language Open Options or Non-Language Open Options pages with the LLM Programme Convenor’s permission. The dissertation topic will be undertaken within the LLM specialization.

In 2017-18 Dr. Catriona Drew will convene the programme in Term 1 and Professor. Matthew Craven in Terms 2 & 3.

Specialist Module List (at least 60 credits to be taken)

• Anatomy of a Human Rights Emergency: Case Study of Darfur 15PLAH060 (15 credits) Term 2
• Climate Change and Energy Law and Policy 15PLAC154 (30credits) Full Year
• Colonialism, Empire, and International Law 15PLAH025 (15 credits) Term 2
• Foundations of Comparative Law 15PLAH031 (15 credits) Term 1
• Foundations of International Law 15PLAH021 (15 credits) Term 1
• Gender, Sexuality, and Law: Selected Topics 15PLAH061 (15 credits) Term 2
• Gender, Sexuality, and Law: Theories and Methodologies 15PLAH062 (15 credits) Term 1
• Gender, Armed Conflict and International Law 15PGNH005 (15 credits) Term 1
• Human Rights of Women 15PLAH065 (15 credits) Term 2
• International Commercial Arbitration 15PLAC153 (30credits) Full Year
• International Criminal Law 15PLAH055 (15 credits) Term 2
• International Protection of Human Rights 15PLAC119 (30credits) Full Year
• International Investment Law and Arbitration 15PLAH063 (15 credits) Term 2
• International Refugee and Migration Law 15PLAH057 (15 credits) Term 1
• Justice, Reconciliation, and Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Societies 15PLAH040 (15 credits) Term 2
• Law, Environmental and Sustainable Development in a Global Context 15PLAC118 (30credits) Full Year
• Law and Natural Resources 15PLAC126 (30credits) Full Year
• Law and Postcolonial Theory 15PLAH050 (15 credits) Term 1
• Law and Policy of International Courts and Tribunals 15PLAH026 (15 credits) Term 2
• Law, Human Rights and Peace Building: The Israeli-Palestinian Case 15PLAC133 (30credits) Full Year
• Law and Society in Southeast Asia 15PLAH049 (15 credits) Term 1
• Law, Rights & Social Change 15PLAH064 (15 credits) Term 2
• Law, Rights, and Society in Taiwan 15PLAH058 (15 credits) Term 2
• Multinational Enterprises and The Law 15PLAC140 (30credits) Full Year
• The Law of Armed Conflict 15PLAH022 (15 credits) Term 1

General Law Postgraduate Module List

An additional 30 credits must be taken from the School of Law General Postgraduate Taught Module List or the Specialism Module List above.

Postgraduate Open Option Modules

A final 30 credits must be taken from the SOAS Open Option Module list, or from the General Law Postgraduate Module List above or from the Specialism Module List.

Dissertation

Dissertation (12,000 words), on a topic related to the specialism of the degree

• LLM Dissertation in Law 15PLAD178 (60credits) Full Year