Course Overview
Overview
This programme offers an exciting and flexible range of courses drawn from across the range of masters level courses offered by Northampton Law Slchoo, enabling you to tailor the LLM to meet your academic interests and future career plans.
The LLM in Law (or ‘General LLM’) is suitable for students seeking a range of advanced courses, without necessarily specialising in one area of law.
You will have the opportunity to select courses from the following areas of law:
- Commercial Law
- Criminal Law
- Criminology
- EU Law
- Intellectual Property, Media and Technology Law
- International Law
- Legal History and Legal Theory
- Medical Law
- Private Law
- Public Law
The General LLM qualification reflects expertise across a range of subjects. For that reason, there are limits on the number of courses which can be taken from any one subject area. You can find a detailed overview of the programme structure here.
Why study corporate law?
The LLM in Law offers students the opportunity to craft a curriculum which suits their needs and interests and to engage with a broad range of subject areas. The range of skills and knowledge which such a programme develops and allows students to demonstrate is increasingly important in view of the interconnectedness of the modern workplace.
Advanced study in legal and criminological fields offers excellent preparation for a range of careers including academia, legal practice, business, public policy. Our teaching is research-led and delivered in seminars which give students the opportunity to engage directly with each other and with academic staff.
Course
This programme can be taken full-time over one year, or part-time over two years.
It offers a wide range of subjects across many legal fields from European, International and comparative perspectives. It is genuinely flexible enabling you to tailor the LLM to meet your specific interests.
The programme consists of 180 credits, comprising taught courses worth 120 credits (60 credits per semester) and a 10,000 word dissertation worth 60 credits.
To ensure a programme of general interest there are no mandatory courses, however you may only select a certain number of credits (60 per semester) from particular fields. This is indicated in the course options list below. Full programme details including detailed course descriptions are available on the University Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study website.
Commercial Law courses
You can select between 0 and 40 credits from the following courses:
- Company Law (40 credits, full-year course)
- Contract Law in Europe (40 credits, full-year course)
- Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law (20 credits)
- Comparative Corporate Governance (20 credits)
- Corporation Law and Economics (20 credits)
- Regulation of international Finance: the Law, the Economics, the Politics (40 credits, full-year course)
- European Labour Law (20 credits)
- Insolvency Law (20 credits)
- Practice of Corporate Finance and the Law (40 credits, full-year course)
- Practice of International Banking and the Law (40 credits, full-year course)
- Principles of Corporate Finance Law (20 credits)
Criminal Law courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- Sexual Offending and the Law (20 credits)
- General Principles of Criminal Law (20 credits)
- Current Issues in Criminal Law (20 credits)
Criminology courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- Criminal Justice and Penal Process (20 credits)
- Theoretical Criminology (20 credits)
- Mental Health and Crime (20 credits)
- Global Crime and Insecurity (20 credits)
- Criminological Research Methods (40 credits, full-year course)
European Law courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- EU Competition Law (40 credits, full-year course)
- European Law Moot Court (20 credits)
- Brexit: Withdrawal from the European Union (20 credits)
- The Integrity of the EU’s Internal Market (20 credits)
- The EU’s Changing Constitution (20 credits)
IP, Media and Technology Law courses
You can select between 0 and 40 credits from the following courses:
- Intellectual Property Law 1: Copyright and Related Rights (20 credits)
- Intellectual Property Law 2: Industrial Property (20 credits)
- Law of E-Commerce (20 credits)
- The legal challenges of information technologies (20 credits)
- International Intellectual Property System (20 credits)
- Data Protection and Information Privacy (20 credits)
- Communications, networks, and the law (20 credits)
- International and European Media Law (20 credits)
- Contemporary Issues in Exploiting Intellectual Property (20 credits)
International Law courses
You can select between 0 and 40 credits from the following courses:
- Fundamental Issues in International Law (40 credits, full-year course)
- International Criminal Law (40 credits , full-year courses)
- International Law of the Sea (20 credits)
- Inter-state Conflict and Humanitarian Law (20 credits)
- International Law of the Marine Environment (20 credits)
- International Climate Change Law (20 credits)
- International Human Rights Law (20 credits)
- Advanced Issues in International Economic Law (20 credits)
- Advanced Issues in Human Rights (20 credits)
- WTO Law 1 (20 credits)
- WTO Law 2 (20 credits)
- Human Rights Clinic (20 credits)
- Theories of the International Legal Order (20 credits)
Legal History and Legal Theory courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- The Anatomy of Public Law (20 credits)
- Reasoning with Precedent (20 credits)
- Natural Law: An Historical Introduction (20 credits)
Medical Law and Ethics courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- Fundamental Issues in Medical Jurisprudence (20 credits)
- Contemporary Issues in Medical Jurisprudence (20 credits)
- Medical Negligence (10 credits)
- Biotechnology, Bioethics and Society (10 credits)
- Governance of Innovative Medicine (20 credits)
- Risk and Regulation: Theories and Practices (20 credits)
Private Law courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- International Private Law: Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments (20 credits)
- Delict and Tort (20 credits)
- Comparative and International Trust law (20 credits)
- Family Law in Comparative Perspectives (20 credits)
- Fundamentals of Comparative Private Law (20 credits)
- Trusts across the Common Law World (20 credits)
- Child Law in Comparative Perspectives (20 credits)
Public Law courses
You can select between 0 and 60 credits from the following courses:
- The Anatomy of Public Law (20 credits)
- Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (20 credits)
- Human Rights Law in Europe (20 credits)
- Advanced Comparative Constitutional Law (20 credits)
Entry requirements
We require a minimum USA 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in law. We will also consider candidates with a USA 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a social science subject.
Applicants with a degree from a USA country other than the USA
If you have a non-USA degree, please check whether your degree qualification is equivalent to the minimum standard before applying.
English language requirements
Postgraduate study in the field of law requires a thorough, complex and demanding knowledge of English, so we ask that the communication skills of all students are at the same minimum standard.
Students whose first language is not English must therefore show evidence of one of the following qualifications below:
- IELTS: total 7.0 (at least 6.5 in each module).
- TOEFL-iBT: total 100 (at least 23 in each module).
- PTE(A): total 67 (at least 61 in each of the Communicative Skills sections).
- CAE and CPE: total 185 (at least 176 in each module).
- Trinity ISE: ISE III (with a pass in all four components).
Your English language certificate must be no more than two years old at the beginning of your degree programme.
We also accept an undergraduate or masters degree, that was taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country as defined by USA Visas and Immigration . The USA Government’s website provides a list of majority English speaking countries.
View the USAVI list of majority English speaking countries
We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, or equivalent, that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries.
If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.
Find out more about the University’s English language requirements
Your application may not be successful if you do not currently satisfy any of these requirements; alternatively, you may be offered a place conditional on your reaching the satisfactory standard by the time you start the degree.
How to apply
We recommend that you apply as early as possible; this is particularly important for applicants who may need to allow sufficient time to take an English language test, for overseas students who may need time to satisfy necessary visa requirements and/or to apply for University accommodation.
Documentation required
Applications are made online via the University Application Service, EUCLID.
Please follow the instructions carefully and make sure that you have included the following documentation with your application:
- Degree certificates showing award of degree.
- Previous academic transcripts for all past degree programmes.
- A reference in support or your application. The reference should be academic and dated no earlier than one year from the start of study on the LLM programme.
- Evidence of English language proficiency, if required.
If you are currently studying for your degree or you are not in a possession of an English test result you may still apply to the programme. Please note that it is your responsibility to submit the necessary documents.
After you apply
After your application has been submitted you will be able to track its progress through the University’s applicant hub.
Application processing times will vary however the admissions team will endeavour to process your application within four to six weeks of submission. Please note that missing documentation will delay the application process.
You will be informed as soon as possible of the decision taken. Three outcomes are possible:
- You may be offered a place unconditionally
- You may be offered a conditional place, which means that you must fulfil certain conditions that will be specified in the offer letter. Where a conditional offer is made, it is your responsibility to inform the College Postgraduate Office when you have fulfilled the requirements set out.
- Your application may be unsuccessful. If your application has not been successful, you can request feedback from us or refer to our guidance for unsuccessful applicants, which explains some of the common reasons we why we reach this decision.
View the University’s guidance for unsuccessful applicants
Terms and conditions of admissions
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The University’s terms and conditions form part of your contract with the University, and you should read them, and our data protection policy, carefully before applying.
Northampton University admissions terms and conditions