LLM in Islamic Law

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

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 specialised LLM.

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.

The LLM in Islamic Law allows students to study Islamic law and its application in a broad range of legal areas, including Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic family law, and human rights, and in different jurisdictions, as well as the law in its relationship to society in the Middle East and North Africa. All SOAS modules are designed not only to introduce students to the general fields of law, but also to provide an understanding of how generic legal structures and processes may operate in non-Western social and cultural settings. All teachers on modules offered at SOAS are experts in their designated field. Many have years of experience advising governments, international organisations or non-governmental organisation, and many also have been or continue to be legal practitioners in their specialised fields.

Each LLM student is required to successfully complete 180 credits, which comprises 120 credits of taught modules and a 60-credit 12,000-word dissertation on a topic related to his or her specialisation.

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 specialisation.

Please note: Not all modules listed will be available every year.

Dissertation

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

• LLM Dissertation in Law

Taught Component

• Guided Option
  Choose modules from List A below to the value of 60 credits.

and

• Choose a module(s) from List A or General Law PGT Options below to the value of 30 credits.

and

• Choose a module(s) from the List of General Law PGT Options below or from Postgraduate Open Options to the value of 30 credits.

List A

• Human Rights and Islamic Law
• Islamic Law (MA/LLM)
• Law of Islamic Finance
• Law and Society in South Asia
• Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa

General Law Options

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Gender, Sexuality and Law: Selected Topics
• Gender, Sexuality and Law: Theories and Methodologies
• Human Rights and Islamic Law
• International Commercial Arbitration
• International Human Rights Clinic
• International Investment Law
• Islamic Law (MA/LLM)
• Law and Development in Africa
• Law and Society in Southeast Asia
• Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
• Law, Rights & Social Change
• Preliminary Law, Legal Reasoning and Legal Methods
• International Migration Law
• International Refugee Law
• Law and Society in South Asia
• Mapping International Law in London: International Legal Geography in the Capital of Empire
• Law, Environment and Social Justice
• Law and Justice in Contemporary China
• Climate Change Law and Policy
• Colonialism, Empire and International Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law
• Foundations of International Law
• Human Rights Of Women
• International Criminal Law
• International Environmental and Sustainable Development Law
• International Protection of Human Rights
• Justice, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Post Conflict Societies
• Law and Natural Resources
• Law and Policy of International Courts and Tribunals
• Law and Postcolonial Theory
• Law of Islamic Finance
• Law, Human Rights and Peace Building: The Israeli-Palestinian Case
• Multinational Enterprises and The Law
• The Law of Armed Conflict
• The Law of International Trade and/or Financial Regulation
• Water Law and Development: Conflicts, Governance and Justice
• Water Law: Justice and Governance

Open Options Note
Open options will need the approval of deputy PG programme convenor (LLM or MA).

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.

Admissions and Applications

You can apply for this course via the online application form.

We aim to assess a complete application and provide a decision within a 5-week time frame. Overseas students who require a Tier 4 visa and wish to join SOAS should bear in mind visa applications can take several weeks, so you should apply as soon as possible.

Consideration of Application

The whole application, including transcript and references, is considered before a decision is reached. You are therefore advised to submit a complete application including references and transcript (where required). An incomplete application will add considerable delays to the decision-making process.

Students will receive an acknowledgement of their application. Each application is carefully considered and although we try and respond as quickly as possible, we do ask that students should expect to receive a response within five weeks of receipt.

Candidates who are available in the United Kingdom may be called for an interview. The absence of academic members of staff (or instance on study leave) may affect the timing of decisions.

Entry Requirements

Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Law. We welcome applications from students who are close to an upper second class honours degree (High 2:2) and who have other relevant qualifications or work experience.

English Language Entry Requirements

You must be able to show that your English is of a high enough standard to successfully engage with and complete your course at SOAS. Please note that we take our English language requirements seriously and failure to meet them exactly may well result in your application to SOAS being rejected. It is not possible to negotiate if your scores are below our required levels, with the expectation that because they are 'close enough' they will be accepted. It is important that you plan appropriately, well in advance, so that your English language test comes in good time and so that you have time to retake the test if necessary. We do not accept reasons of inconvenience or financial hardship for not submitting or retaking an English test.

International students

For EU and International students who need a visa, if unconditional entry scores are achieved we accept qualifications from several countries, as well as a range of international qualifications and tests.

If a Tier 4 entry visa is required then a SELT, such as UKVI IELTS may be needed. For this reason, we recommend all Tier 4 visa students to choose the UKVI IELTS Academic test as the test of first resort.