llm by dissertation

HLS Dissertations, Theses, and JD Papers

S.j.d. dissertations, ll.m. papers, ll.m. theses, j.d. papers, submitting your paper to an online collection, other sources for student papers beyond harvard, getting help, introduction.

This is a guide to finding Harvard Law School (“HLS”) student-authored works held by the Library and in online collections. This guide covers HLS S.J.D Dissertations, LL.M. papers, J.D. third-year papers, seminar papers, and prize papers.

There have been changes in the HLS degree requirements for written work. The library’s collection practices and catalog descriptions for these works has varied. Please note that there are gaps in the library’s collection and for J.D. papers, few of these works are being collected any longer.

If we have an S.J.D. dissertation or LL.M. thesis, we have two copies. One is kept in the general collection and one in the Red Set, an archival collection of works authored by HLS affiliates. If we have a J.D. paper, we have only one copy, kept in the Red Set. Red Set copies are last resort copies available only by advance appointment in Historical and Special Collections .

Some papers have not been processed by library staff. If HOLLIS indicates a paper is “ordered-received” please use this form to have library processing completed.

The HLS Doctor of Juridical Science (“S.J.D.”) program began in 1910.  The library collection of these works is not comprehensive. Exceptions are usually due to scholars’ requests to withhold Library deposit. 

• HLS S.J.D. Dissertations in HOLLIS To refine these search results by topic or faculty advisor, or limit by date, click Add a New Line.
• Hein’s Legal Theses and Dissertations Microfiche Mic K556.H45x Drawers 947-949 This microfiche set includes legal theses and dissertations from HLS and other premier law schools. It currently includes about 300 HLS dissertations and theses.
• Hein's Legal Theses and Dissertations Contents List This content list is in order by school only, not by date, subject or author. It references microfiche numbers within the set housed in the Microforms room on the entry level of the library, drawers 947-949. The fiche are a different color for each institution.
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ Harvard University (Harvard login) Copy this search syntax: dg(S.J.D.) You will find about 130 SJD Dissertations dated from 1972 to 2004. They are not available in full text.
• DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard Sponsored by Harvard University’s Office for Scholarly Communication, DASH is an open repository for research papers by members of the Harvard community. There are currently about 600 HLS student papers included. Unfortunately it is not possible to search by type of paper or degree awarded.

The Master of Laws (“LL.M.”) degree has been awarded since 1923. Originally, the degree required completion of a major research paper, akin to a thesis. Since 1993, most students have the option of writing the LL.M. "short paper."  This is a 25-page (or longer) paper advised by a faculty supervisor or completed in conjunction with a seminar.  Fewer LL.M. candidates continue to write the more extensive "long-paper." LL.M. candidates holding J.D.s from the U.S. must write the long paper.

• HLS Written Work Requirements for LL.M. Degree The current explanation of the LL.M. written work requirement for the master of laws.

The library generally holds HLS LL.M. long papers and short papers. In recent years, we require author release in order to do so. In HOLLIS, no distinction is made between types of written work created in satisfaction of the LL.M. degree; all are described as LL.M. thesis. Though we describe them as thesis, the law school refers to them solely as papers or in earlier years, essays. HOLLIS records indicate the number of pages, so at the record level, it is possible to distinguish long papers.

• HLS LL.M. Papers in HOLLIS To refine these search results by topic, faculty advisor, seminar or date, click Add a New Line.

HLS LL.M. Papers are sometimes available in DASH and Hein's Legal Dissertations and Theses. See descriptions above .

The HLS J.D. written work requirement has changed over time. The degree formerly required a substantial research paper comparable in scope to a law review article written under faculty supervision, the "third year paper." Since 2008, J.D. students have the option of using two shorter works instead.

Of all those written, the library holds relatively few third-year papers. They were not actively collected but accepted by submission from faculty advisors who deemed a paper worthy of institutional retention. The papers are described in HOLLIS as third year papers, seminar papers, and student papers. Sometimes this distinction was valid, but not always. The faculty deposit tradition more or less ended in 2006, though the possibility of deposit still exists. 

• J.D. Written Work Requirement
• Faculty Deposit of Student Papers with the Library

HLS Third Year Papers in HOLLIS

To refine these search results by topic, faculty advisor, seminar or date, click Add a New Line.

• HLS Student Papers Some third-year papers and LL.M. papers were described in HOLLIS simply as student papers. To refine these search results, click "Add a New Line" and add topic, faculty advisor, or course title.
• HLS Seminar Papers Note that these include legal research pathfinders produced for the Advanced Legal Research course when taught by Virginia Wise.

Prize Papers

HLS has many endowed prizes for student papers and essays. There are currently 16 different writing prizes. See this complete descriptive list with links to lists of winners from 2009 to present. Note that there is not always a winner each year for each award. Prize winners are announced each year in the commencement pamphlet.

The Library has not specifically collected prize papers over the years but has added copies when possible. The HOLLIS record for the paper will usually indicate its status as a prize paper. The most recent prize paper was added to the collection in 2006.

Addison Brown Prize Animal Law & Policy Program Writing Prize Victor Brudney Prize Davis Polk Legal Profession Paper Prize Roger Fisher and Frank E.A. Sander Prize Yong K. Kim ’95 Memorial Prize Islamic Legal Studies Program Prize on Islamic Law Laylin Prize LGBTQ Writing Prize Mancini Prize Irving Oberman Memorial Awards John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics Project on the Foundations of Private Law Prize Sidney I. Roberts Prize Fund Klemens von Klemperer Prize Stephen L. Werner Prize

• Harvard Law School Prize Essays (1850-1868) A historical collection of handwritten prize essays covering the range of topics covered at that time. See this finding aid for a collection description.

The following information about online repositories is not a recommendation or endorsement to participate.

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses HLS is not an institutional participant to this collection. If you are interested in submitting your work, refer to these instructions and note that there is a fee required, which varies depending on the format of submission.
• EBSCO Open Dissertations Relatively new, this is an open repository of metadata for dissertations. It is an outgrowth of the index American Doctoral Dissertations. The aim is to cover 1933 to present and, for modern works, to link to full text available in institutional repositories. Harvard is not one of the institutional participants.
• DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard

Sponsored by Harvard University’s Office for Scholarly Communication, this is an open repository for research papers by members of the Harvard community. See more information about the project. 

Some HLS students have submitted their degree paper to DASH.  If you would like to submit your paper, you may use this authorization form  or contact June Casey , Librarian for Open Access Initiatives and Scholarly Communication at Harvard Law School.

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (Harvard Login) Covers dissertations and masters' theses from North American graduate schools and many worldwide. Provides full text for many since the 1990s and has descriptive data for older works.
• NDLTD Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations Union Catalog Worldwide in scope, NDLTD contains millions of records of electronic theses and dissertations from the early 1900s to the present.
• Law Commons of the Digital Commons Network The Law Commons has dissertations and theses, as well as many other types of scholarly research such as book chapters and conference proceedings. They aim to collect free, full-text scholarly work from hundreds of academic institutions worldwide.
• EBSCO Open Dissertations Doctoral dissertations from many institutions. Free, open repository.
• Dissertations from Center for Research Libraries Dissertations found in this resource are available to the Harvard University Community through Interlibrary Loan.
• British Library EThOS Dissertation source from the British Library listing doctoral theses awarded in the UK. Some available for immediate download and some others may be requested for scanning.
• BASE from Bielefeld University Library Index of the open repositoris of most academic institutions. Includes many types of documents including doctoral and masters theses.

Contact Us!

  Ask Us!  Submit a question or search our knowledge base.

Chat with us!  Chat   with a librarian (HLS only)

Email: [email protected]

 Contact Historical & Special Collections at [email protected]

  Meet with Us   Schedule an online consult with a Librarian

Hours  Library Hours

Classes  View  Training Calendar  or  Request an Insta-Class

 Text  Ask a Librarian, 617-702-2728

 Call  Reference & Research Services, 617-495-4516

• Last Updated: Sep 12, 2023 10:46 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/studentpapers

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

• Home »
• Editorial »
• Advice »
• LLM Student Life »

Guide To LLM Dissertation Writing

Find your perfect llm program search our database of over 2500 courses.

Choosing the topic

Five key considerations when choosing your dissertation topic are:

• Why are you studying an LLM in thr first place?
• Which modules have you enjoyed the most?
• Which areas of the law have a good support base at your institution?
• What are the strengths of your law library?
• Is your potential topic a wide enough question?

Obviously, choosing a topic is a necessary stage to get underway before you can start researching and writing your dissertation. You should spend time carefully considering the subject of your dissertation as it might end up being the clincher for that  first job  after you finish your studies. Make sure you pick a topic that you find interesting, but that also has the balance of support from your lecturers and professors.

You'll need to be uniquely motivated to produce a dissertation about a subject that none of your lectures or professors knows much about. Understanding why you have picked the particular subject will ensure you're choosing the right topic, but don't spend too much time considering what to do as you'll need to get on with it. 

Dissertation support

You will have plenty of dissertation support organised through your law school. Some of it might be compulsory sessions that you must undertake as part of your LLM program, while others may be support sessions that can help you stay focused throughout your dissertation work.

Make sure you attend these sessions and don’t hesitate to ask questions if in doubt. It might be a good idea to share your dissertation structure with tutors or designated academic contacts that can give you feedback on your progress. Law school libraries usually have  books  that tell you how best to prepare for your dissertation. Keep an eye out for skills sessions on writing or research methods. These will prove useful when you get down to drafting content for your dissertation and will enable you to put to practice acquired skills that you picked up during these sessions.

Planning and organisation

Some people love creating a filing system and hopefully, you're one of them as this is a great way to organise your LLM dissertation. You'll need to keep your research well organised to enable you to quickly access it when you are writing your dissertation. It's a good idea to have research divided into chapters early on.

It's a good idea to follow a file management procedure to save your dissertation material. This material could consist of both printed (photocopies from the library or print-outs of research articles) and online documents. Try to follow a consistent labelling/naming convention so that you can locate documents quickly. For instance, if you have a vast number of online articles and research papers to go through, then categorise them in such a way that they fall under relevant chapters of your dissertation.

Any research you do online will need to be backed up, and of course, you will have the dissertation itself backed up too. Do not have everything saved on one ancient laptop, instead build in a routine for how you save and backup your data daily so it just becomes part of how you work. If you start as early as you can on your dissertation, then you'll be able to build in planning time and create a realistic timetable for your work, with escapes from your dissertation to let you reflect on what you have done so far. 

Researching

There is no easy or quick way around this, you are just going to have to get going with the research as soon as possible. Remember that law libraries get busy during the second semester so you'll need to get there early in the mornings or stay late sometimes.

You also don't want to wait around for particular texts that have a limited availability. If you realise you need a book that someone else has checked-out of the library, then let the staff know as soon as you know so you have a chance of getting it. Don't forget about online law libraries and resources too, and speak with your academic staff if you are really struggling to access what you need. 

Don't wait until you think you've done all the researching before you start writing up your findings. Writing up an LLM dissertation takes time and thought. Start writing as soon as you start researching and keep planning the chapters of your dissertation as you delve deeper into the research. With a bit of luck and good planning, you will find that the chapters are easy to write. 

Editing and formatting

Find out before you write a single word what format your dissertation needs to be in for printing and submission. Your law school will likely have their own standards, so you should familiarise yourself with this document before you get started. Establish the right format straight away so you are not spending time at the last minute changing formats or the way you have referenced the whole document.

Don't underestimate how long it will take to edit your dissertation – expect to read through each chapter many times as each read through will show you new and interesting mistakes. And if possible, find a willing friend or family member to give it a final read – fresh eyes are likely to pick up small typos or mistakes.  

Printing and submitting

Aim to finish your LLM dissertation with a little time to spare. Towards submission deadlines, university printers are busy places and if you need to print your dissertation at a particular printer then check with them early on to understand how much time they need to get your document ready. You need time for them to print it and time for you to check the printed material as you need to check for formatting errors or any printing mistakes like double pages.  Once you've written your dissertation you can take a calm walk into your submissions office and hand over your dissertation. Obviously, everything went to plan and you've finished your dissertation with time to spare and now it's time to  relax a little .

Related articles

Global LLM Study Bursaries

• Law bursaries
• Open day alerts
• Funding advice
• Application tips
• Law & LLM news

Sign up now!

Take 2 minutes to sign up to PGS student services and reap the benefits…

• The chance to apply for one of our 5 PGS Bursaries worth £2,000 each
• Fantastic scholarship updates
• Latest LLM and PG Law news sent directly to you

Ready for your legal career? Apply now to start your journey at The University of Law this Summer. 

Find out more!

• Schools & departments

Law LLM by Research

Awards: LLM by Research

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

Programme website: Law

Discovery Day

Join us online on 18th April to learn more about postgraduate study at Edinburgh

View sessions and register

Research profile

The Edinburgh Law School is a vibrant, collegial and enriching community of legal, sociolegal and criminology researchers and offers an excellent setting for doctoral research.

We are ranked 3rd in the UK for law for the quality and breadth of our research by Research Professional, based on the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021).

Our doctoral researchers are key to the School’s research activities and we work hard to ensure that they are fully engaged with staff and projects across all of our legal disciplines.

You will find opportunities in the following fields:

• company and commercial law
• comparative law
• constitutional and administrative law
• criminal law
• criminology and criminal justice
• environmental law
• European law, policy and institutions
• European private law
• evidence and procedure
• gender and sexuality
• human rights law
• information technology law
• intellectual property law
• international law
• legal theory
• medical law and ethics
• obligations
• contract delict
• unjustified enrichment
• property, trusts and successions
• Roman law and legal history
• socio-legal studies

Programme structure

The framework of the LLM by Research allows you time and intellectual space to work in your chosen field, and to refine and develop this initial phase of the project for future doctoral work.

The programme does not have formal coursework elements, other than initial training seminars alongside PhD students.

This makes the LLM by Research a particularly attractive option for those wishing to undertake postgraduate research on a part-time basis, while pursuing legal practice or other employment.

Training and support

Postgraduate researchers enjoy full access to the University’s research skills training which the Law School complements with a tailored research and wider skills programme.

The training programme in Semester One (six seminars) includes workshops on research design, writing and research ethics.

• Find out more about training and support on the LLM by Research

Postgraduate researchers are able to draw upon a fantastic range of resources and facilities to support their research.

The Law School has one of the most significant academic law libraries in the UK which offers outstanding digital resources alongside a world-leading print collection (almost 60,000 items including a unique collection for Scots law research).

You will also have access to the University’s Main Library which has one of the largest and most important collections in Britain, as well as the legal collection of the National Library of Scotland.

Entry requirements

These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in law, or a social science subject.

Entry to this programme is competitive. Meeting minimum requirements for consideration does not guarantee an offer of study.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country
• English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 7.0 in writing and 6.5 in all other components. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 25 in writing and 23 in all other components.
• C1 Advanced ( CAE ) / C2 Proficiency ( CPE ): total 185 with at least 185 in writing and 176 in all other components.
• Trinity ISE : ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 70 with at least 70 in writing and 62 in all other components.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS , TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE , in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old* at the beginning of your programme of study. (*Revised 05 March 2024 to extend degree validity to five years.)

Find out more about our language requirements:

Fees and costs

Scholarships and funding, featured funding.

* School of Law funding opportunities

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding

Further information

• Postgraduate Research Office
• Phone: +44 (0)131 650 2022
• Contact: [email protected]
• School of Law (Postgraduate Research Office)
• Old College
• South Bridge
• Central Campus
• Programme: Law
• School: Law
• College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Select your programme and preferred start date to begin your application.

LLM by Research Law - 1 Year (Full-time)

Llm by research law - 2 years (part-time), application deadlines.

We encourage you to apply at least one month prior to entry so that we have enough time to process your application. If you are also applying for funding or will require a visa then we strongly recommend you apply as early as possible.

• How to apply

You must submit two references with your application.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Main navigation

Llm dissertation in law.

Key information

Module overview.

The dissertation is a supervised piece of research on a topic to be agreed between the student and the chosen supervisor. The dissertation provides students with the opportunity to develop an original piece of academic work in an independent, albeit supervised, way.

The topic of the dissertation can relate to any subject-area covered in any of the modules of the LLM programme. Typically, the dissertation aims to tackle a theoretical, doctrinal, jurisprudential or policy issue that is relevant in contemporary legal scholarship and/or legal policy affairs. As such, students are invited to propose a topic for the dissertation that closely matches their study interest, or practical actual or prospective work or professional experience.

Typically, the dissertation is expected to be bibliographic, on the basis of library, internet, and archival research. In exceptional cases it may contain some original empirical evidence, that the student is expected to collect and analyse independently, subject to supervisor's approval and the student's capacity in the relevant research methodology.

The dissertation entails that the student will develop and demonstrate their analytic, argumentative, writing and presentation skills. The length of the dissertation will be maximum 12,000 words.

Objectives and learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

• Acquisition of detailed knowledge in a particular topic
• Development of critical understanding of a particular topic
• Development of the capacity to plan and carry out independent research work

Method of assessment

• Dissertation: 100% (12,000 words due in September)

Important notice regarding  changes to programmes and modules .

Dr Catriona Drew

Public International Law; international legal history (particularly self-determination of peoples), and legal theory

In this section

• International

Related content

School of Law, Gender and Media

The School of Law is dedicated to the legal systems and challenges of the developing world, with complementary strengths in human rights, international law and institutions, environmental law, and international trade and commerce.

Careers: At SOAS I felt I didn't have to explain myself

Having graduated from SOAS in 1991, Samantha Mitchell has carved a career as a Technology Lawyer and External Affairs Consultant. But SOAS also brought so much more to her life, including lifelong friends and a sense of belonging.

LLB Single Honours

LLB Single Honours at SOAS University of London

Support NYU Law

• Graduate Affairs
• Research & Writing

LLM Research and Writing Options

Working as a research assistant for a law school professor.

Faculty members may offer students the opportunity to work as research assistants (RAs) for monetary compensation or, if the professor deems it appropriate based on the nature of the work, for academic credit.  For details, review information on serving as a research assistant for faculty .

Directed Research

 To undertake Directed Research, students contact individual instructors and agree on a research project. To register, a written proposal must be approved and signed by the instructor, and then submitted to the Office of Graduate Affairs. The written proposal should be at least 1000 words and describe the subject matter of the Directed Research and the issues the student intends to explore in the paper.  While any full-time faculty member or visiting faculty member may supervise the research, Adjunct Professors may supervise only with the permission of Vice Dean Hertz.

Directed Research credit may be added through Monday, October 2 for Fall 2023, and Monday, February 5 for Spring 2024.

The usual allocation for Directed Research is two credits. A student may write a one-credit Directed Research.  A two-credit Directed Research project should conform to the r equirements for an Option A paper ; a one-credit Directed Research paper should be at least 5,000 words, exclusive of footnotes. A three-credit Directed Research project is highly unusual and requires the approval of Vice Dean Randy Hertz.  Students considering a 3-credit Directed Research should contact the Office of Graduate Affairs to discuss. 

For non-tax students no more than four of a student's 24 credits may consist of directed research. Tax students may take a maximum of two credits of directed research. Regardless of the type of project involved, students are, of course, expected to submit original, non-duplicative work. When in doubt about proper use of a citation or quotation, discuss the issue with the instructor. Plagiarism is a serious offense that may merit severe discipline. Requests to add Directed Research after the deadline stated above require approval of Vice Dean Hertz. Such requests should be initiated by contacting the Office of Graduate Affairs and will only be considered if your credit load (not including the Directed Research credits) does not drop below minimum requirements after the add/drop period. Students who are granted permission to late-add Directed Research will not be permitted to drop courses if the result is inconsistent with the above; please plan your schedule accordingly. After March 15, the Vice Dean may allow a student to add Directed Research only in exceptional circumstances. No more than two credits can be earned in this manner.

Read further about Requirements for Directed Research

Directed Research During the Summer Semester

Students may register for Directed Research during the summer semester. The summer registration deadlines is July 1, unless there is approval by the Vice Dean to add at a later date. Please note that full-time students will be charged per credit for Directed Research during the summer. All work must be submitted by September 1 or by an earlier deadline established by the supervising faculty member.

Writing Credit

In seminars, colloquia, and courses that offer the option to add an additional writing credit, students may earn one credit for writing a substantial paper (at least 10,000 words in length exclusive of footnotes). To earn the additional credit, students must register for the writing credit section of the course within the same semester the course is offered. The deadline for registering is Monday, October 2 for Fall 2023, and Monday, February 5 for Spring 2024.

LLM Thesis Option

LLM students have the option to write a substantial research paper, in conjunction with a seminar or Directed Research that may be recorded as a "thesis" on their transcript. At the onset of the seminar or Directed Research, the student must obtain approval from the professor that the paper will be completed for a "thesis" designation.

It should be substantial in length (at least 10,000 words exclusive of footnotes) and, like the substantial writing requirement for JD students, must be analytical rather than descriptive in nature, showing original thought and analysis. Please note the thesis designation is for a single research paper agreed upon in advance.

The student is required to submit an outline and at least one FULL PRE-FINAL draft to the faculty member in order to receive the thesis notation. When submitting a final draft of the thesis to the faculty member, the student must give the faculty member an LLM Thesis Certification form . The faculty member is required to return the signed form to the Office of Records and Registration when submitting a grade for the course.

Please note that the student will not receive additional credit for writing the thesis, but will only receive credit for the seminar or Directed Research for which he or she is registered.

International Legal Studies Students should review their program requirements for further information about writing an LLM thesis within their program.

Writing Assistance

© 2024 New York University School of Law. 40 Washington Sq. South, New York, NY 10012.   Tel. (212) 998-6100

• Academic staff
• Student profiles
• How to apply

This programme offers an exciting and flexible range of courses drawn from across the range of masters level courses offered by Edinburgh Law School, 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
• Intellectual Property, Media and Technology Law
• International Law
• Legal History and Legal Theory
• Medical Law
• Private 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.

If you wish to specialise in a specific area of law you should apply for one of our nominate degrees.

View our full range of Masters degrees

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.

The University of Edinburgh's Law School has a vibrant research community, boasting scholars of international repute. Their work is supported by one of the UK’s leading law libraries, which you will also have access to.

The Law School is also home to research centres for Commercial, Constitutional, International and Global and Private Law as well as centres for Legal History and Legal Theory as well as the Empirical Legal Research Network, the Mason Institute (which examines medicine, life science and the law), the Europa Institute, the Global Justice Academy and the SCRIPT Centre (which explores the relations between law, technology and commerce).

Find out more about our research centres and networks

In addition to scholars based in Edinburgh, the Law School also operates two schemes for visiting researchers: the Visiting Scholar Programme and the MacCormick Fellowship Scheme. Through these the international culture of scholarship in Edinburgh is fostered and developed.

Visit Edinburgh Law School's MacCormick Fellows video channel

Find out more about research at Edinburgh Law School

The wide range of research seminars and public lectures provide an excellent opportunity for you to engage with current research and to get to know academics and postgraduate researchers in a more informal setting.

Each of the research centres organises a number of seminars and symposia throughout the year, which are open to all postgraduate students. The Law School also holds a number of annual lectures given by leading scholars and members of the judiciary.

As a postgraduate student you are actively encouraged to attend and to participate in these events.

Find out more about the range of events at Edinburgh Law School

If you have any questions about the LLM in Law please don't hesitate to contact us.

[email protected]

This programme can be taken full-time over one year, or part-time over two years subject to visa restrictions.

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 for the 2023-24 academic year including detailed course descriptions are available on the University Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study website. 

View 2023/24 programme information for the LLM in Law

Please note that the courses listed below are scheduled for the 2023-24 academic year and are provided for illustrative purposes.

Depending on demand, space on specific courses may be limited.

You can select between 0 and 40 credits from the following courses:

• Company Law (40 credits, full-year course) 
• Comparative Corporate Governance (20 credits)
• Corporation Law and Economics (20 credits)
• International Commercial Arbitration (20 credits)
• The Law of International Trade (20 credits)
• Contract Law in Europe (20 credits)
• Applied Corporate Law (20 credits)

View full programme information for the LLM in Law

• International Criminal Law (20 credits)
• Sexual Offending and the Law (20 credits)
• General Principles of Criminal Law (20 credits)
• Current Issues in Criminal Law (20 credits)
• Criminal Justice and Penal Process (20 credits)
• Police and Policing (20 credits)
• Theoretical Criminology (20 credits)
• Mental Health and Crime (20 credits)
• Penal Politics (20 credits)
• Global Crime and Insecurity (20 credits)
• Responding to Global Crime and Insecurity (20 credits)
• Prisons and Places of Confinement (20 credits)
• Criminological Research Methods (20 credits)
• Applied Criminological Research Methods (20 credits)
• EU Competition Law (40 credits, full-year course)
• EU External Economic Relations Law (20 credits)
• EU Criminal Law (20 credits)
• The EU's Changing Constitution (20 credits)
• Citizenship in Europe (20 credits)
• EU Immigration and Asylum Law (20 credits)
• Judicial Protection in the European Union: A Comparative Framework (20 credits)
• Intellectual Property Law 1: Copyright and Related Rights (20 credits)
• Intellectual Property Law 2: Industrial Property (20 credits)
• The legal challenges of information technologies (20 credits)
• Data Protection and Information Privacy (20 credits)
• Information: Control and Power (20 credits)
• International and European Media Law (20 credits)
• Intellectual Property Law, Innovation and Creativity (20 credits)
• Robotics, AI and the Law (20 credits)
• Contemporary Issues in Exploiting Intellectual Property (20 credits)
• E-Governance, Digital Change and Democratisation (10 credits)
• Human-Computer Interaction and Governance (10 credits)
• Outer Space Law and Policy (20 credits)
• Advanced Issues in Patent Law and Policy (20 credits)
• Advanced Issues in Registered Trade Mark Law (20 credits)
• Software and the law (20 credits)
• Fundamental Issues in International Law (40 credits)
• International Environmental Law (40 credits)
• International Investment Law (20 credits)
• Inter-state Conflict and Humanitarian Law (20 credits)
• International Climate Change Law (20 credits)
• International Human Rights Law (20 credits)
• Advanced Issues in International Economic Law (20 credits)
• International Investment Arbitration: Theory and Practice (20 credits)
• WTO Law 1 (20 credits)
• International Ocean Governance and the Protection of the Marine Environment (20 credits)
• Law and Development (20 credits)
• Women's Rights as Human Rights? (20 credits)
• Economic and Social Rights (20 credits)
• Transnational waste law and circular economy (20 credits)
• Legal Decision Making (20 credits)
• Reasoning with Precedent (20 credits)
• The Rule of Law (20 credits)
• Fundamental Issues in Medical Jurisprudence (20 credits)
• Contemporary Issues in Medical Jurisprudence (20 credits)
• Fundamentals in Bioethics (20 credits)
• Mental Health Law (20 credits)
• Reproduction and the Law (10 credits)
• End of Life, Ethics and the Law (10 credits)
• Public Health Ethics (20 credits)
• Shaping and Regulating Modern Healthcare (10 credits)
• Clinical Negligence and the Law (10 credits)
• Ethics of Health Technologies (20 credits)

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 Property Law (20 credits)
• Comparative and International Trust law (20 credits)
• Insolvency Law (20 credits)
• Family Law in Comparative Perspectives (20 credits)
• Fundamentals of Comparative Private Law (20 credits)
• Child Law in Comparative Perspectives (20 credits)
• Comparative Statutory Interpretation (20 credits)
• The Anatomy of Public Law (20 credits)
• Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (20 credits)
• Advanced Comparative Constitutional Law (20 credits)
• Global South Actors in International Relations and International Law, 1945-present (20 credits)
• Conflict and Peaceful Transition in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (20 credits) 

Having successfully completed 120 credit points of courses within the LLM, you will be ready to move onto a single piece of independent and in-depth research. The 10,000 word dissertation allows you to focus on a preferred topic based on a subject you have studied in one of your courses during the programme.

You will be assigned an academic dissertation supervisor who will provide you with support and guidance while you prepare and write your dissertation.

The dissertation is a challenging but rewarding endeavour, asking you to demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the relevant literature and an ability to engage critically with a range of sources, drawing on the skills and knowledge you have developed during the course of the programme. Students are encouraged to show originality and evidence of independent thinking, whether in terms of the material used, or the manner in which it is presented.

The dissertation is written in the summer months (April to August) after the taught courses are successfully completed.

We cannot guarantee that all courses will run each year, and will provide adequate notice of any changes to the programme structure and courses.

Academic staff teaching on courses on the LLM in Law in 2023-24 are experts in their field and are actively involved in cutting-edge research in their area of expertise.

Dr Simone Lamont-Black - Programme Director 2023-24

Dr Simone Lamont-Black is Senior Lecturer in International Trade Law, at the University of Edinburgh. She trained and practiced law in Germany as Rechtsanwältin before moving to the UK. She holds her Doctorate from Augsburg University (summa cum laude). Simone's teaching spans across a range of topics in international commercial law, including international sale of goods and transport law, commercial private international law, international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution methods.

Find out more

Depending on the courses you choose to study, you will be taught by staff from a range of different subject areas in the Law School.

• Criminal Law and Evidence
• IP, Media and Technology Law
• Legal History
• Legal Theory
• Medical Law and Ethics
• Public International Law

The staff teaching on this programme are subject to change for the 2023-24 academic year.

Find out what it's like to study for an LLM in Law at Edinburgh Law School from our current and former students.

Marlene, Germany

My name’s Marlene, I’m German and have a background in EU-level digital policy-making. After working for several years after my undergraduate degree, I chose Edinburgh Law School to complete my education. While my undergraduate degree was mainly law, I also took interdisciplinary courses in politics and economics. The faculty is open to such backgrounds, which I think is forward-thinking. Many universities still treat legal education as siloed from other disciplines, which it isn’t in real life.

For someone with an interdisciplinary background like mine, the General Law LLM stream was perfect. I was effectively able to custom-design an LLM, drawing from courses across the Law School, and tailor everything to my specific goals. While other LLM streams also have freedom in choosing some courses, what sets the General stream apart is that we have no mandatory courses, and truly have free choice.

I also participated in the University’s team for the Willem C. Vis Moot, which was one of the most rewarding experiences of my time in Edinburgh. It was really challenging to balance with my regular course load, but complementary in improving my oral advocacy skills.

I loved Edinburgh. It’s big enough to feel like a city and offer you anything you need, but small enough that everything is in your reach. The university attracts incredibly interesting people, and I made friends for life.

Marlene studied the LLM in Law in the academic year 2019-20, graduating in 2020.

"Due to the huge range of courses, the LLM in Law offered me a tailor-made way to pursue my various legal interests. Without being restricted to a particular area of law, I had the chance to set up my individual curriculum consisting of civil and criminal law classes.

I really enjoyed the seminar-style teaching in small groups. As most of my courses had a comparative approach, it was more like learning from each other than only from the lecturer.

Discussing legal topics and problems with my fellow classmates from various legal backgrounds was a highly enriching experience. Sometimes the teachers only had to trigger a discussion which then developed itself and only stopped because the seminar-time ran out.

Working with the teaching-staff was also a great experience. The lecturers were all very approachable, student friendly and willing to help.This was particularly visible when I was writing my dissertation. Through out all meetings my supervisor tried to show me ways to improve my work. It was the first time in my academic career that I received such an extensive and smooth supervision.

Not being stuck in one specific programme had another positive effect. As almost all General LLM students had chosen completely different combinations of courses, I met new people in every single class. I really felt like I was part of one big LLM family and not just one small programme. As a result, I made new friends not only from all over the world but also from a wide range of legal subject areas. Thus, I think the LLM in Law is the most diverse programme of all LLM programmes at Edinburgh University."

Nils studied the LLM in Law in the academic year 2016-17, graduating in 2017.

Please note that the information provided is for entry in the 2024-25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. 

Due to high demand, the school operates a number of selection deadlines.  We will make a small number of offers to the most outstanding candidates on an ongoing basis, but hold the majority of applications until the next published selection deadline when we will offer a proportion of the places available to applicants selected through a competitive process.

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.

We require a minimum 2:1 honours degree from a UK university, or its international equivalent, in law. We may also consider a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a social science subject. Entry to this programme is competitive. Meeting minimum requirements for consideration does not guarantee an offer of study.

Supporting your application:

• Relevant work experience is not required but may increase your chances of acceptance.
• Relevant professional qualifications will be considered.
• Preference will be given to those with grades above the minimum requirements due to strong competition for places on this programme.

International qualifications

You can check whether your degree qualification is equivalent to the minimum standard before applying.

Check your degree

Students from China

This degree is Band A.

Find out more about our postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

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.

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic and IELTS Academic Online : total 7.0 (at least 7.0 in the writing component and 6.5 in each other module)
• TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition): total 100 (at least 25 in writing and 23 in each other module)
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 (at least 185 in writing and 176 in in all other components)
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components
• PTE Academic: 70 overall with at least 70 in the writing component and 62 in each other component
• Oxford ELLT (Global and Digital): 9 overall with at least 9 in the writing component and 8 in each other component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old on the first of the month in which the degree begins.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, that was taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). The UK Government's website provides a list of majority English speaking countries.

View the UKVI 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.

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 five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

View approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries

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.

Find out more about the University's English language requirements

Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes

We also accept satisfactory completion of our English for Academic Purposes programme as meeting our English language requirements. You must complete the programme no more than two years and one month before the start date of the degree you are applying to study.

Find out more about the University's Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes

English language support

The University runs a series of programmes for English Language Education, including a pre-sessional English Language Programme intended to strengthen your English Language skills before you start your programme of study.

Find out more about English language support offered by the University

Deadlines for applicants applying to study the LLM in Law in 2024-25 are provided in the table below.

We monitor application numbers carefully to ensure we are able to accommodate all those who receive offers. It may therefore be necessary to close a programme earlier than the published deadline and if this is the case we will place a four-week warning notice on the relevant programme page.

Please note that the deadline for meeting the conditions of an offer is 18 August 2024.

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:

• You will need to submit a personal statement of around 500 words, outlining your academic history and relevant experience. Guidance on writing your personal statement .
• Degree certificates showing award of degree
• Previous academic transcripts for all past degree programmes (please upload the full transcript showing results from all years of study)
• A reference in support of 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.

Please be aware that applications must be submitted and complete, i.e. all required documents uploaded, by the relevant application deadline in order to be considered in that round. Your application will still be considered if you have not yet met the English language requirement for the programme.

View full detailed application guidance

Students at this University must not undertake any other concurrent credit bearing studies in this (or in any other) institution, unless the College has granted permission. The College must be satisfied that any additional credit-bearing studies will not restrict the student’s ability to complete their existing programme of study. Students will not be permitted to undertake concurrent degree programmes in any circumstances.

If you are studying at this or another institution just prior to the start of your postgraduate studies you must have finished these studies before the start of the programme to which you have an offer.

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.  Please note that the deadline for meeting the conditions of an offer is 18 August 2024.
• 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

Deferring your offer

We do not normally offer deferrals, however, we may be able to make a very limited number of offers for deferred entry in exceptional circumstances.

View full guidance on deferral requests

If you receive an offer of admission, either unconditional or conditional, you will be asked to pay a tuition fee deposit of £1,500 (within 28 days of receiving your offer) to secure your place on the programme.

Find out more about tuition fee deposits

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.

University of Edinburgh admissions terms and conditions

If you have any questions about applying to the LLM in Law please don't hesitate to contact us.

Key information

Llm and msc programmes.

Research at Edinburgh Law School

Why Edinburgh Law School?

LLM in Law by online learning

Law LLM Dissertation module (LW50107)

Understand the main rules, aspects, and stages of researching and writing a dissertation

This module will help you conduct work on a master’s dissertation. This covers choosing a topic, defining a title, and using research assistance tools. It will conclude in writing the dissertation.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• understand the main rules, aspects, and stages of researching and writing the dissertation
• learn about the rules that apply to the dissertation. You will also learn about the roles of the supervisor and supervisee
• develop the necessary skills to conduct research and write your dissertation
• use your background knowledge and organise initial ideas. This will allow you to defining a topic, research question, and hypothesis
• learn how to use research assistance tools such as Zotero and Endnote
• understand how to write an outline. You will also learn to manage time and resources to complete your dissertation

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• bring together all skills learned to prepare, research, and write your dissertation
• produce a professional dissertation using correct referencing guidelines and tools

Assignments / assessment

• final dissertation (100%)

This is supported by supervision and guidance. This includes the selection of an initial topic and an extended outline on which oral and written feedback is given.

Your dissertation is expected to be relevant to your named degree award.

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

• independent study

This module is supported by classes delivered as part of LW50107 Legal Research Skills. There are also 8 hours in the spring semester dedicated to preparing for the dissertation. This includes one session from Library Services staff.

This module is available on following courses:

• MyAucklandUni
• Student Services Online
• Class search
• Student email
• Change my password
• MyCDES+ (job board)
• Course outlines
• Learning essentials
• Libraries and Learning Services
• Forms, policies and guidelines
• New students
• Enrol in courses
• Campus card
• Postgraduate students
• Summer school

AskAuckland

• Student Hubs
• Student IT Hub
• Student Health and Counselling
• Harassment, bullying, sexual assault and other violence
• Complaints and incidents
• Career Development and Employability Services (CDES)
• Ratonga Hauātanga Tauira | Student Disability Services (SDS)
• Rainbow support
• Covid-19 information for our community
• Emergency information
• Report concerns, incidents and hazards
• Health and safety topics
• Staff email
• Staff intranet
• ResearchHub
• PeopleSoft HR
• Forms register
• Careers at the University
• Education Office
• Early childhood centres
• University Calendar
• Opportunities
• Update your details
• Make a donation
• Publications
• Photo galleries
• Video and audio
• Career services
• Virtual Book Club
• Library services
• Alumni benefits
• Office contact details
• Alumni and friends on social media
• No events scheduled for today You have no more events scheduled for today
• Next event:
• Show {0} earlier events Show {0} earlier event
• Event_Time Event_Name Event_Description
• My Library Account
• Change Password
• Edit Profile
• My GPA Grade Point Average About your GPA GPA not available Why can't I see my GPA?
• My Progress
• Points Required Completed points My Progress Progress not available All done!
• Student hubs
• Health and counselling
• All support
• Health, safety and well-being

Auckland Law School

Master of Laws LLM

Take the next step towards practising law at a higher level with a programme designed to allow you to upskill or specialise. With the largest range of postgraduate courses in the country, at New Zealand’s top-ranked law school we’ll give you the tools to advance your career.

Breadcrumbs List.

• Ngā akoranga | Study
• Study options
• Find a study option
• You are currently on: Master of Laws

Programme overview

Our LLM is designed to provide an advanced level of flexible legal study for both full-time and part-time students. You can study while you work to keep up the momentum or go full-time to get to the next level even faster. Entry to the LLM is available throughout the year providing the flexibility you need to accelerate your career. 

The LLM also permits cross-disciplinary study in the form of one or two masters courses (up to 30-points) from another faculty at the University of Auckland. It also provides skills in legal research methodology for those without advanced skills in this area.

With over 30 taught courses to choose from you can concentrate your study in particular areas of specialisation or study a broad range of legal subjects. 

The LLM can be undertaken by coursework, research or a combination of both.

Taught (coursework) masters This programme allows you to study specific areas of law in greater depth and complexity than at an undergraduate level. The programme offers courses that provide detailed analyses of particular areas of law, as well as courses that are more policy-oriented. Each course contains a significant research component, usually in the form of a 12,500-word research essay for 30-point courses. For more detailed information on courses available see our Postgraduate taught courses page.

Research masters This programme allows you to conduct in-depth study in an area of personal interest to enhance employment opportunities either professionally or academically. For more detailed information on research see our Postgraduate research options page. 

Postgraduate specialisations Specialisation is optional but you can choose to have your LLM awarded in one of our six specialisation areas: Corporate and Commercial Law , Environmental Law , Human Rights Law , International Law , Litigation and Dispute Resolution or Public Law. 

You must complete a minimum of 90 points (made up of approved taught courses, a dissertation, thesis or research portfolio) in one of the six specialisations for the degree to be conferred with an endorsement in that particular area. 

Watch: Hear from staff and alumni on the Master of Laws programme. 

For more information contact our Student Hubs  [email protected]

Programme structure

• Entry requirements
• Fees and scholarships
• Course list

The LLM is made up of 120 points undertaken by coursework, research or a combination of both.

Taught masters (LLM by coursework)

A taught masters can be structured in the following three ways:

120 points of taught courses OR 90 points of taught courses and a 30-point dissertation OR 105 points of taught courses and 15-point supervised research 

• All three options are to be completed in two full-time semesters (1 year) or eight part-time semesters (4 years). 

Research masters (LLM by 120-point thesis)

120-point thesis (40,000 words).

• To be completed in two full-time semesters (1 year) or four part-time semesters (2 years). 

Combination of taught and research masters (LLM by 90-point thesis)

30 points of taught courses, dissertation or supervised research and a 90-point thesis (30,000 words).

Flexible study We understand that personal, family and work commitments are important factors when deciding whether to study, so we offer options to fit with your lifestyle:

• Full-semester courses taught in the early evening once a week
• Half-semester courses taught for six weeks of the semester in the early evening once a week
• Intensively-taught courses over three to five days (usually incorporating a weekend break, ie Weds, Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tue)
• Independent research programmes.

Postgraduate pathway

Download the Law postgraduate pathway (407KB, PDF)

You'll also need to meet other requirements, including time limits and total points limits. See Postgraduate enrolment .

2024 entry requirements

My highest qualification is from:, programme requirements, minimum programme requirements.

Minimum requirements listed here are the likely grades required and do not guarantee entry. We assess each application individually and applicants may require a higher grade to be offered a place.

Bachelor of Laws

Calculate your Grade Point Average (GPA)

Further programme requirements

Select your study option:.

You must have completed a Bachelor of Laws with a GPA of 5.0.

Other pathways to study

If you have completed a Bachelor of Laws or an undergraduate law degree but you do not meet the grade requirements for direct admission into the Master of Laws programme you may apply for the Postgraduate Certificate in Law (PGCertLaw) pathway.

Under the PGCertLaw, you must complete at least 60 points of postgraduate law courses, with a B average, to gain admission into the LLM programme. The 60 points completed under the PGCertLaw will be re-assigned to the LLM programme.

No bands less than 6.5

See alternative English language requirements

Calculate your Grade Point Equivalent (GPE)

You must have completed a Bachelor of Laws or an undergraduate law degree from a recognised university (or similar institution) with a GPA of 5.0.

If you have completed a Bachelor of Laws or an undergraduate law degree from a recognised university (or similar institution) but do not meet the grade requirements for direct admission into the Master of Laws programme you may apply for the Postgraduate Certificate in Law (PGCertLaw) pathway.

Under the PGCertLaw, you must complete at least 60 points of postgraduate law courses, with a B average, to gain admission into the LLM programme. The 60 points completed under the PGCertLaw may then be re-assigned to the LLM programme.

How much does a Master of Laws cost per year?

Fees are set in advance of each calendar year and will be updated on this website. Fees are inclusive of 15% GST, but do not include the Student Services Fee, course books, travel and health insurance, or living costs. Amounts shown are indicative only. In addition to the tuition fees, there is a Student Services Fee of $8.88 per point, estimated at $1,065.60 for full-time study (120 points). Fees will be confirmed upon completion of enrolment into courses.

*Please note: amounts shown are indicative and estimates only.

See course fees for each faculty

Find out about financial support information

Scholarships and awards.

Find out about the scholarships you may be eligible for.

Student loans and allowances

Are you a New Zealand citizen or resident? You could be eligible for a student loan or allowance.

Cost of living

Get an idea of how much accommodation and general living in Auckland will cost.

1 December start available for 120-point research masters only, subject to supervisor availability.

Please note: We will consider late applications if places are still available. International students should start the application process as early as possible to allow sufficient time to apply for a visa.

Application closing dates

Start dates.

Here are the start dates for the programme.

Other important dates

See important dates for the academic year , including orientation, enrolment, study breaks, exams, and graduation.

For detailed information on courses see our Postgraduate course timetable and descriptors page.

Where could this programme take you?

The detailed analyses of particular areas of law, as well as courses that are more policy-oriented, make the LLM taught (coursework) an effective pathway to take your legal knowledge and transferable skills to the next level. The in-depth study required in the LLM by research can enhance employment opportunities either professionally or academically.

Jobs related to this programme

• Academic, teaching
• Barrister, solicitor
• Financial adviser, strategic policy planner
• Foreign policy official
• Policy analyst in public or private sector
• Research counsel
• Tax adviser, auditor, revenue assessment officer
• Resource management officer, property consultant

Further study options

• Doctor of Philosophy

Meet Jin Cha

A Legal Advisor for the New Zealand Defence Force completing his LLM part time.

Student career planning service

Once you become a student at the University, you can get help with planning and developing your career from Career Development and Employability Services .

Do you need help?

Your online help and support centre. Search our frequently asked questions.

Can’t find the answer in AskAuckland?

Need to speak to someone.

You can phone us directly.

Home > Student Works & Orgs > LLM Theses and Essays

LLM Theses and Essays

Submissions from 2013 2013.

Some Important Causes for Settlement in American Civil Litigation , Felipe Forte Cobo

Submissions from 2011 2011

TO REVEAL OR CONCEAL?—AN ISP’S DILEMMA, Presenting a New “Anonymous Public Concern Test” for Evaluating ISP Subpoenas in Online Defamation Suits , Cayce Myers

Submissions from 2008 2008

Infrastructure Development in Emerging Economies and the Roles Played by Multilateral Institutions , Amjad Ahasan Basheer

Universal Human Rights and Threat to International Peace and Security: The United Nations' Obligation to Intervene , Godfrey Mhlanga

Submissions from 2007 2007

Applicable Law Provisions in International Uniform Commercial Law Conventions , Paolo E. Conci

Licenses, Leases and Other Contractual Arrangements for the Exploration and Production of Petroleum A Comparative Study Between Nigeria and the United States , Omolara Elumelu

Judicial Review of International Commercial Arbitral Awards by National Courts in the United States and India , Aparna D. JUJJAVARAPU

Ethiopia's Sovereign Right of Access to the Sea under International Law , Abebe T. Kahsay

Comfort Women: Human Rights of Women from Then to Present , Jinyang Koh

Imports or Made-in-China: Comparison of Two Constitutional Cases in China and the United States , Xiao Li

Taxing Emotional Distress Recoveries: Does Murphy Show the Way? , Kaushal P. Mahaseth

The Land of the Free: Human Rights Violations at Immigration Detention Facilities in America , Caitlin J. Mitchel

International Legal Standards Governing the Use of Child Soldiers , Dorcas B. Mulira

Corporate Restrictions in Mexico and the United States , Dennis Rios

Regulating Transnational Corporation for Environmental Damage , Sonal Sahu

The Need for a Transnational Appellate Arbitral Review Body , Priya Sampath

A Consumption Tax versus a Federal Income Tax in the United States , Shelly-Ann R. Tomlinson

Financial Holding Company System and Relevant Legislation , Ye Wang

Submissions from 2006 2006

The Hamburg Rules , Kweku G. Ainuson

Tourism in Antarctica: History, Current Challenges and Proposals for Regulation , Juan Y. Harcha

Reconsidering the Medical Expert Witness System , Yunwei Jiang

A Comparative Study of the Legal Responses to Domestic Violence in the United States and Hungary , Adam Keri

Enforcement of Human Rights under Regional Mechanisms: a Comparative Analysis , Fekadeselassie F. Kidanemariam

Shareholders' Agreements in Close Corporations and Their Enforcement , Ricardo Molano Leon

A Comparative Study on the Trade Barriers Regulation and Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation Rules , Junrong Song

How to Deal with Multi-party Nominations of Arbitrators in International Commercial Arbitration - a Comparative Study of Appointment Procedures with Emphasis on U.S.-European Commerce between Private Entities , Marie-Beatrix Tupy

Balancing Regulations and Incentives for Foreign Direct Investment: a Case Study of Mexico and Kazakhstan , Dauren B. Tynybekov

Submissions from 2005 2005

The Legality of Humanitarian Intervention , Eric Adjei

A Comparative Assessment of U.S. Direct Investment in China and India , Kalpana Arjunan

Pre-contractual Obligations in France and the United States , Florence Caterini

Comparative Law: Alcohol, Drug Abuse & Jurisprudence from the United States to Korea , Hyun J. Cho

Commercial Speech in the United States and Europe , Oxana Valeryevna Gassy-Wright

Accountability of Transnational Corporations under International Standards , Lea Hanakova

Protection of "Persona" in the EU and in the US: a Comparative Analysis , Anna E. Helling

Income Tax Preferences to Foreign Investment in China since the Late 1970s , Xiaoyang Hou

Role of the World Bank and IMF in Issuing Loans to Russia: Responsibility, Tricks, Corruption, Mafia, and Important Use of Legal Enforcement , Elmira A. Makova

Governance and Responsibility of Multinational Enterprises: the Use of Codes of Conduct and Litigation to Change Multinational Enterprises' Behavior , Maria Fernanda Matach

Free Movement of Goods: a Comparative Analysis of the European Community Treaty and the North American Free Trade Agreement , Pedro A. Perichart

The Drafting Process For a Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgements with Special Consideration of Intellectual Property and E-Commerce , Knut Woestehoff

The Drafting Process for a Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgments with Special Consideration of Intellectual Property and E-commerce , Knut Woestehoff

Trade-related Environmental Measures and GATT: the Conflict between Trade Libralization and Environmental Protection , Fang Zheng

Submissions from 2004 2004

The Question of Non-trade Issues in the WTO from a Developing Country Perspective , Cecilia Alzamora

Cybercrime , Karissa Ayala

Protection of Children from Exploitation in West Africa: Illusion or Reality? , Afua Brown-Eyeson

Legal Structures of European Security and Defense Policy and War Powers under the U.S. Constitution , Heiko Buesing

U.S. Antidumping Law and Practices against Korean Exports , Jinwook Choi

Regulation of Hate Speech , Haiping Deng

The Institutional Framework of the European Union for the Conduct of Foreign Affairs , Frederic Eggermont

Comparison of New Zealand and United States Securities Markets through the Looking Glass of the Efficient Market Hypothesis , Carla Natalia Gargiulo

Private Party Participation in the World Trade Organizations , Taehyung Im

Issues Regarding the Most Effective Tool of U.S. Bankruptcy Law , Zeenat Kera

Contracts and Electronic Agents , Sabrina Kis

Historical Aspects of State Arbitration Policy , Elton R. Lanier

Regulating Non-territorial Commercial Environments in Territorial-based Legal Systems , Pedro Martin G. Less Andrade

Unilateral Refusals to Deal in Intellectual Property as Monopolistic Conduct , Bolanle Meshida

Comparative Analysis of Federal Income Tax Imposed on U.S. C Corporations and Russian Joint Stock Companies , Alina Y. Mitskevich

Legislation and Implementation of International Environmental Law by African Countries: a Case Study of Ghana , Brigitte L. Okley

The Challenges of Tax Collection in Developing Economies (with Special Reference to India) , Pramod K. Rai

Family Businesses, Choices of Legal Entity , Martina L. Rojo

Sound Record Producers' Rights and the Problem of Sound Recording Piracy , Stanislava N. Staykova

The Change of Corporate Governance Structure in the United States and Taiwan , Yifan Tseng

Fiduciary Duties of Directors in the Context of Going-private Transactions to the Minority Shareholders under Delaware Law , Yuan Wang

Recognition and Enforcement of International Commercial Arbitration Awards , Shouhua Yu

Submissions from 2003 2003

Interim Measures in International Commercial Arbitration: Past, Present and Future , Sandeep Adhipathi

Reservations, Human Rights Treaties in the 21st century: from Universality to Integrity , Pierrick Devidal

Technological Advances Leading to the Diminishing of Privacy Rights , Anabelle Maria D'Souza

Protection of Consumer Privacy in E-commerce , Choong L. Ha

Mergers and Acquisitions in Europe: Analysis of EC Competition Regulations , YoungJun Lee

Security Interests in Intellectual Property Rights: the Time Has Come for the Enactment of New Laws , Esteban Mazzucco

The Convergence of Trade and Environment and the Relative Role of WTO , Xiaoxi Meng

The Main Characteristics of State's Jurisdiction to Tax in International Dimension , Alfred Nizamiev

U.S. Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries: a Case Study of Malaysia, Mexico and South Africa , Abenaa A. Oti-Prempeh

Free movement of goods: A comparative analysis of the European community treaty and the north American free trade agreement , Pedro A. Perichart

A Historical View of Intellectual Property Rights in the Palestinian Territories , Ihab G. Samaan

Submissions from 2002 2002

An Analysis of the Duty to Negotiate in Good Faith: Precontractual Liability and Preliminary Agreement , Aarti Arunachalam

Multinational Corporations Facing the Varying Concepts of Jurisdiction : "forum non-conveniens", Contrasts between the Anglo-American and the European Law Systems , Sandrine Buttin

Minority Shareholders and Oppression in Close Corporations: Contracting as an Effective Protection Device , Marcella Machado Carneiro

Freedom of Speech, Cinema and Censorship: a Comparative Analysis of Issues of Freedom of Speech Violations as a Result of the Rating Regulation Authorities in the Motion Picture Industry in France and the United States , Stephanie Grenier

International Corporate Governance Practices and Their Implications on Investors , Namwandi Hamanyanga

Current Problems of International Taxation of Electronic Commerce , Nuran G. Kerimov

An End to the Political Question Doctrine in Korea?: A Comparative Analysis , Myeong-Sik Kim

The Evolution of the Law's Treatment of the Confessions of Mentally Disabled Criminal Suspects , John E. Knight

Public and Private Interests in Copyright Law: Creativity, Science and Democracy vs. Property and Market , Daryana I. Kotzeva

The Intra-enterprise Conspiracy Doctrine as Applied to Affiliated Corporations under Section 1 of the Sherman Act , Michael B. Menz

Privacy and Personal Data Protection in the Information Age: A Comparative Evaluation , Emeka B. Obasi

The Right to Freedom of Religion vis a vis Religious Intolerance in the New Millennium , Buihe P. Okenu

Conflict of Laws in the Enforcement of Foreign Awards and Foreign Judgments: the Public Policy Defense and Practice in U.S. Courts , Anupama Parameshwaran

Balancing Interests: Statute of Limitations and Repose in Medical Malpractice Cases , Laurie L. Paterson

A Comparison of Environmental Impact Assessment Process between the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Basic Environmental Protection Act (BEPA) , V An Rhee

Offshore Investments , Ana Maura M. Safrin

Lawyers' Value in Mergers and Acquisitions under the New World of Multidisciplinary Practices , Yunling Wu

Submissions from 2001 2001

FAIR USE AND THE DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION OF MUSIC - RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA v. NAPSTER, INC. (A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF A RESTRAINT ON COPYRIGHT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO) , MICHELLE LISA ALEXANDER

THE IMPACT OF MODERNIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT ON MUSLIM WOMEN IN EGYPT: A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE , MAZAHIR MUHAMMED ATA EL-SID

David vs. Goliath (2001): An Analysis of the OECD Harmful Tax Competition Policy , Truman Butler

Transfer Pricing: A Comparative Study of the French and U.S. Legal Systems , Valerie Ciancia

REFORMING CHINA'S PARTNERSHIP LAW: ACHIEVEMENTS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS , HONGBING FAN

SHOULD AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT HAVE PRIMACY OR BE COMPLEMENTARY TO NATIONAL COURTS? AN ANALYSIS OF CONCURRENT JURISDICTION IN THE AD HOC TRIBUNALS AND THE ROME STATUTE , GODWIN YENIKA FONYE

Foreign Direct Investment in Colombia , Juliana Gomez

LEGALIZE IT? -OSP AND PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK LIABILITY FOR ONLINE MUSIC COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY , CHRISTIAN NILS JOCHEN ENGELHARDT

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Collections
• Disciplines
• Recent Additions
• Activity by Year
• Faculty Profiles
• Law Library
• Archive-It Georgia Law

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright UGA Non-Discrimination Policy UGA Privacy Policy

School for Advanced Legal Studies

• Comparative Business Law in Africa
• Criminology, Law and Society
• Dispute Resolution
• Human Rights Law
• Marine & Environmental Law / Environmental Law
• Shipping Law
• Master's Mondays
• Postgraduate Specialisations
• Professional Masters
• Undertaking an MPhil in the Law Faculty
• Exchange Programme - UCT LLM
• Doctoral Degrees
• Law Faculty Handbook
• Choosing Courses
• Course Highlights
• Concessions
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Dissertations & Theses
• Topics & Supervisors
• Research Ethics
• Submission & Examination
• Research Supervision
• Research Examination
• Application & Admission
• Application & Admissions - Key Dates
• Required Application Documents
• Postgraduate Funding
• International Postgraduate Students
• English Proficiency
• Registration - Coursework Programmes
• Registration - Research Degrees
• PG Law Students Council
• Privacy for Students
• Meet & Greet
• Not in the Classroom

Master's degree programmes

UCT Law offers Master's programmes in 18 specialisations. These can be pursued along various routes, including a Master's degree by coursework only; a Master's (LLM or MPhil) degree by coursework and dissertation; and a Master's (LLM or MPhil) by research only. 

1.  Professional Masters (coursework only)

2. llm and mphil programmes with coursework & dissertation.

To graduate with an LLM or MPhil degree (coursework & dissertation) from the Faculty of Law, students must select and complete four courses and submit a dissertation of up to 25 000 words on a topic of their choice. Full-time students are expected to complete the programme requirements within one academic year and part-time students are expected to complete the requirements within two years (except that the dissertation component may be submitted by not later than: the Friday before the first term starts the year following the completion of the coursework for students who have completed their coursework in December; and 15 September of the same year for students who have completed their coursework in June).

Students who register for a general LLM or MPhil in Law are free to choose from the numerous courses on offer. However, students wanting to pursue a specialist LLM or MPhil programme (options are detailed in this linked table) will need to ensure that they take the courses prescribed for that specialisation, as detailed in the Law Faculty Handbook . 

Our specialised programmes are listed here, with links to programme detail and course information.

Additional information on LLM / MPhil by coursework & dissertation

• To see the requirements in each of the specialist programme areas please refer to the Law Faculty Handbook .
• To find out about our highlight postgraduate courses, have a look under the Courses menu .
• Minor Dissertation Guidelines - LLM & MPhil
• Minor Dissertation Submission Guidelines - LLM & MPhil

3. Master of Laws by dissertation (LLM or MPhil)

Applicants for the LLM or MPhil by research only may qualify for admission provided that they have:

• a law degree of the University or equivalent degrees from another university recognised by Senate for this purpose, or
• in any other manner attained a level of competence which, in the opinion of Senate (which acts on recommendation by the Law Faculty), is adequate for purposes of admission.
• or, in the case of the MPhil, candidates may qualify if they have an honours degree from UCT or another university recognised by Senate.

Although originality in postgraduate research is always desirable, it is not an exclusive requirement for an LLM degree. Instead, a dissertation should constitute a significant advance in knowledge on the subject, of such a standard that publication in a reputable journal would be justified.

Candidates must therefore show that they have:

• a thorough knowledge of the chosen subject
• mastered techniques required for competent research in law
• the capacity for independent thought and sound reasoning
• satisfactorily presented the results of research

An LLM or MPhil dissertation must not exceed 40 000 words in length.

For more information on research degrees in the Faculty of Law, what is required and how to apply, have a look at:

Applications

Law Research Degree guidelines - PhD & Master's

Thesis proposal 

Ethics approval 

Supervision

Examination Procedures

Key dates for Research Degree Programmes - Submission etc

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

Dissertation Topics in Law for LLM Students

• Updated on  
• May 9, 2023

The last academic challenge before the completion of your postgraduate degree is a dissertation or thesis. Many students pursuing LLM are often confused while deciding the correct topic for the dissertation as it requires a lot of research. To help you with the dissertation this blog contains ideal law dissertation topics for LLM in India. Keep reading to know more!

This Blog Includes:

How to choose the best dissertation topic, advantages of choosing a good dissertation topic, criminal law dissertation topics, international law dissertation topics, family law dissertation topics, employment law dissertation topics, international commercial law dissertation topics, law dissertation topics india, intellectual property law topics in dissertation, constitutional law topics in dissertation, sports law topics in dissertation, medical law topics in dissertation, commercial law dissertation topics, company law dissertation topics, tort law dissertation topics, eu law dissertation topics, the english legal system and constitutional and administrative law dissertation topics.

A lot of research and hard work is required to decide what is a correct and valuable topic for the dissertation or thesis. It is seen in various students that before graduation the dissertation is the last hurdle in the way. It is advised to pursue a topic after valuable research and most importantly that goes with the student’s interests.

Also Read: Dissertation Topics

There are an array of benefits when you choose a good and valuable dissertation topic. These advantages include:

• This helps you in the analysis of the topic and deep research.
• Present you with a program to enhance your investigative skills.
• In explaining your subject option, you should be prepared to show how your previous research experiences ended up with great knowledge. 
• You can find a degree of education useful for postgraduate research.

Also Read: Law Entrance Exams: India & Abroad

Criminal law is the body of law regulating crime and criminal activities in India. This proves to be an important topic and is interesting as well. Some of the criminal law dissertation topics are:

• A Significant Study of Struggle against Girls in India
• Case Debate on business trial in India
• An Analysis on Terrorism and Lawlessness Against Infants in India
• A survey on Legislation against private terrorism in India
• Significant Evaluation Of Death Cost In India
• An Analysis of Juvenile Justice System and Order in India
• The appearance of the group is in the criminal law process
• The Root Elements of the Infant Mergers
• White-Collar Crime Law in India
• Criminology and Criminal Justice

Also Read: How to Write a Dissertation?

International law dissertation is another amazing topic where you can add your relevant thoughts. Some of the unique international law dissertation topics are:

• What are the significant aspects of collective civil obligations in now’s global order?
• What are the causes that cause application of foreign order at the state standard also complex?
• Figure out the very important issues encountered by establishing universal rules.
• What are the effects of accelerated market restraints on people? Can such a thing be explained?
• What are global challenges encountered by international businessmen, when installing service projects in third group societies?
• What are the effects of letting offenders continue to their native land for action?
• How seeing abuse as a foreign war case will change the position of African people?
• What are the important challenges encountered by companies that are coming in the global travel industry from the ocean.
• What universal rules regulate copy? How should this case be corrected?
• Which governmental law of the UK is sufficiently sufficient to be carried out universally?

Also Read: What is a Dissertation? Meaning, Projects, Report Work

Some of the most important and unique family law dissertation topics are:

• Separation case for father and female representatives of the group, makes it favour any particular gender or is it merely a sense
• Matrimonial Act and how it affects women who join without their permission. What is the attitude of decisions about made mergers and how can one explain it in the court of decision
• Residential part by stepmothers and offspring, how goes on the case provide everybody has their got right and place
• Youth insurance problems in the unified kingdom, which of the state shows to have very trouble with such arguments and why is it so
• Adolescent abuse-is it important to discipline your children and youths? What is the perimeter between youth abuse and correcting your children for setting their limits
• Internal disorder and its effect on the boy and female representatives personally, which of them picks up a greater claim in the mind of order and how can we get rid of that biasness
• Protection problems for separated mothers, how goes on it go and what goes on the statute have to do about the protection of the child for each mother
• How looks at the proper form thing if a man is incapable to provide and provide his house owing to lack or scarcity of means
• Long-distance communications and their fair significance cut off from the spiritual and artistic attitudes
• Minor job- what are we looking at to abolish it and how goes on our constitutional process set limits and provide that they are found

Employment law dissertation enables you to craft perfect research on your thesis or dissertation. Some of the employment law dissertation topics are:

• The link between trade and morality in the UK. An academic context.
• A study of the relationship between sports departments and their service contracts.
• The effect of variation in the business decisions of the UK after starting the EU.
• The task of infant employment regulations in the UK. How does the judiciary remain fighting developing youth employment?
• The influence of civil responsibility service in UK regulations.
• A study of the market association in the UK study of the business requirements and principles.
• A provisional review of business decisions in the station waggon part of the UK and EU. Who gets the first job benefit and rights insurance systems?
• An in-depth study of justice fees in the validities of UK legislation.

Some of the international commercial law dissertations you can choose from are:

• An assessment of the enemy-pollution bill in the UK. Its origins and effects on the state leaders.
• A strategic study of the joint cloak and how the decision can pass through it.
• The performance of UK legislation in affecting joint difficulties while preserving major human rights.
• A symposium on the differences enveloping the purview of field 33 groups do 2006 in the UK
• The effects of setting reasonable requirements for the principal’s needs. How does the organisation do well under this?
• An in-depth assessment of economic regulation programs at attending institutions in the UK.
• The effect of UNCITRAL’s performance on the unification of universal economic legislation in the UK.

Also Read: How to Write Acknowledgement for Dissertation?

Some of the Indian legal topics you can choose for your dissertation are:

• Handgun Case in India: Provision of a Different Structure
•  Animal investigation: Order in India
• Wire advertising and constitutional structure
•  Joint Civil Power and change
• Moral Orders and Cases in producing societies
• Men Investigations and Indian constitutional practice
•  Improvement of infants and proper conflict

Some of the catchy and interesting dissertation topics that you can choose as a dissertation topic for law assignment:

• Scientific advances and present IP rule in India
• IP rules and the safety of/on Internet
•  New patent statutes and digitalisation

Also Read: University of Law: Eligibility, Application, Courses & More

Here are some of the finest dissertation or thesis topics for constitutional law dissertation topics are:

• Accident plans in India: A study
• Legal exploitation and its interest: An assessment
• Application of International Cases in Indian Legal Structure
• Able expression in virtual life and Indian Custom

Also Read: Dissertation vs Thesis

A constantly fascinating subject, sports provides a large range of fields and issues to judge from to create your analysis report. It can deal with universal order, national order, carrying out parties, power, and often better.

Here are some of the finest dissertation (thesis)points on Sports law:

• Doping and Sports: National and International fair innuendo
• Legalisation of speculating in India: Law and Cons
• Handling sports organisations and their constitutional ramifications
• Transgender animals and Indian Custom

Medical law dissertation is another great topic you can choose from, some of the medical law dissertation topics are:

• Member retention: Fair experts and cons
• Miscarriage in India: A global review
• Made fertilisation: Provision of primary training to find out these matters
• Supported suicide: Fair, honest and therapeutic ethics
• Animal torture: A fair claim research

Also Read: Law Courses

Commercial Law is one such topic where a wide area of study is to be covered because it cannot be described within a single legal jurisdiction. A commercial law dissertation often involves comparisons with other countries. Listed below are some topics for Commercial Law Dissertation:

• A critical assessment of the international commercial arbitration system as a cost-effective and efficient means to administer justice in commercial disputes
• An assessment of security over personal property when it comes to the matter of possessory and non-possessory forms of security and other legal devices
• An investigation of the emergence of new manifestations of international commercial law
• A critical assessment of the passing of risk in the commercial law in England and Wales
• A critical assessment of the Future of consumer protection in England and Wales in the post-Brexit era

There is a great scope of producing an effective Company Law Dissertation as it provides you with potential sources. From the Companies Act 2006 to corporate governance, you have a lot of options to choose from. Listed below are some great Company Law Dissertation Topics:

• A critical analysis of the shareholder versus stakeholder basis of corporate governance
• Arguments for and against ‘stakeholder theory’ and to what extent are they still valid?
• Should the OECD’s Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital 2010 be ratified into UK Law?
• To what extent has Environmental Law merged together Vicarious and Corporate Liability
• Is the English maintenance of the “internal management” model failing to bring company law in the 21st Century?

The word Tort comes from the Latin term torture which means “Wrong”. In simple terms, Tort Law is supposed to address the civil wrongs done to a person, accidentally or incidentally. The victim/injured/aggrieved party is provided with compensation for the damages.

This area of law is one of the most important aspects of law study as it demonstrates the circumstances through which an individual is held accountable for another party’s injury either done intentionally or omissions or even by accident. Listed below are some topics for a Tort Law Dissertation to make it easier for you to draft an effective dissertation:

• Importance of foreseeability and policy in establishing a duty of care
• Analysis of the rules regarding the recovery of economic losses in tortious actions
• When it comes to matters of occupiers’ liability under the Occupiers Liability Acts of 1957 and 1984 respectively, when is a trespasser, not a trespasser?
• Wrongful Restraint of a man’s Liberty: Meaning, Defense and Remedy
• Why might the duty of care afforded to children be considered to be a step too far regarding the recognition of tortious liability?

Also Read: All About PhD Thesis

EU Law is considered as an expandable area of academic interest, particularly due to the UK’s recent Brexit from the Union. There is a wide range of dissertation topics you can consider for an EU Law Dissertation, from UK’s Brexit to the superiority of EU Law. Listed below are some great dissertation topics to start with your EU Law Dissertation:

• Critical Analysis of the UK’s Separation from the EU.
• Brexit and EU economy: How the UK’s decision has affected EU trade.
• An argument: Is EU Law actually superior?
• Importance of the enforcement actions against EU Member States as part of the European law-making process.
• How has the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 contributed to the recognition of human rights internationally?

The English Legal System and Constitutional and Administrative Law may be classified into 3 key areas-

• The nature of the Constitution may be considered in areas including, but not limited to, the recognition and application of conventions and the rule of law. 
• Evaluation of the roles of the legislature, executive and parliament in the context of the recognition of the separation of powers, which could include legislation’s passage through Parliament, the delegation of legislation, the relationship between Parliament, the crown and the Royal Prerogative, and the executive, legislative and judiciary’s relationship.
• Judicial Review includes the basis for intervention, such as ultra vires and illegality, procedural irregularity, irrationality, proportionality, and the nemo judex rule.

A number of areas can be covered in this dissertation as the English Legal System and Constitutional and Administrative Law is quite different from other legal systems as the role of the judge differs in an adversarial system. The major difference is in how a trial is pursued. Some topics for an English Legal System and Constitutional and Administrative Law Dissertation are as mentioned below:

• The Role of natural justice  in the UK Constitution
• Are conventions still a valid part of the UK Constitution?
• Is the Royal Prerogative an essential part of the British Constitution?
• Are the current models of statutory interpretation fit for purpose, especially as the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) infer a more active approach for judges?
• In what ways will the relationship between constitutional and administrative law in England and Wales be affected by Brexit?

The following are the popular law universities in the world: Harvard University Columbia University Stanford University

Here are some of the finest dissertation or thesis topics for constitutional law dissertation topics are: Accident plans in India: A study Legal exploitation and its interest: An assessment Application of International Cases in the Indian Legal Structure Able expression in virtual life and Indian Custom

The average salary of a lawyer in India is 3.5 Lakh per year.

Grab the expert assistance of Leverage Edu student counsellors to kickstart your admission and application process to study in the UK in 2023 Call us immediately at 1800 57 2000 for a free 30-minute therapy consultation. 

Team Leverage Edu

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Leaving already?

8 Universities with higher ROI than IITs and IIMs

Grab this one-time opportunity to download this ebook

Connect With Us

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

September 2024

January 2025

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Search code, repositories, users, issues, pull requests...

Provide feedback.

We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously.

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly.

To see all available qualifiers, see our documentation .

• Notifications

An LLM-powered knowledge curation system that researches a topic and generates a full-length report with citations.

stanford-oval/storm

Folders and files, repository files navigation, storm: synthesis of topic outlines through retrieval and multi-perspective question asking.

This repository contains the code for our NAACL 2024 paper Assisting in Writing Wikipedia-like Articles From Scratch with Large Language Models by Yijia Shao , Yucheng Jiang , Theodore A. Kanell, Peter Xu, Omar Khattab , and Monica S. Lam .

Overview (Try STORM now!)

While the system cannot produce publication-ready articles that often require a significant number of edits, experienced Wikipedia editors have found it helpful in their pre-writing stage.

Try out our live demo to see how STORM can help your knowledge exploration journey and please provide feedback to help us improve the system 🙏!

Research Before Writing

STORM breaks down generating long articles with citations into two steps:

• Pre-writing stage : The system conducts Internet-based research to collect references and generates an outline.
• Writing stage : The system uses the outline and references to generate the full-length article with citations.

STORM identifies the core of automating the research process as automatically coming up with good questions to ask. Directly prompting the language model to ask questions does not work well. To improve the depth and breadth of the questions, STORM adopts two strategies:

• Perspective-Guided Question Asking : Given the input topic, STORM discovers different perspectives by surveying existing articles from similar topics and uses them to control the question-asking process.
• Simulated Conversation : STORM simulates a conversation between a Wikipedia writer and a topic expert grounded in Internet sources to enable the language model to update its understanding of the topic and ask follow-up questions.

Based on the separation of the two stages, STORM is implemented in a highly modular way (see engine.py ) using dspy .

We view STORM as an example of automated knowledge curation. We are working on enhancing our codebase to increase its extensibility. Stay tuned!

Below, we provide a quick start guide to run STORM locally to reproduce our experiments.

• Install the required packages. conda create -n storm python=3.11 conda activate storm pip install -r requirements.txt
• Set up OpenAI API key and You.com search API key. Create a file secrets.toml under the root directory and add the following content: # Set up OpenAI API key. OPENAI_API_KEY= < your_openai_api_key > # If you are using the API service provided by OpenAI, include the following line: OPENAI_API_TYPE= " openai " # If you are using the API service provided by Microsoft Azure, include the following lines: OPENAI_API_TYPE= " azure " AZURE_API_BASE= < your_azure_api_base_url > AZURE_API_VERSION= < your_azure_api_version > # Set up You.com search API key. YDC_API_KEY= < your_youcom_api_key >

Paper Experiments

The FreshWiki dataset used in our experiments can be found in ./FreshWiki .

Run the following commands under ./src .

Pre-writing Stage

For batch experiment on FreshWiki dataset:

• --engine (choices=[ gpt-4 , gpt-35-turbo ]): the LLM engine used for generating the outline
• --do-research : if True, simulate conversation to research the topic; otherwise, load the results.
• --max-conv-turn : the maximum number of questions for each information-seeking conversation
• STORM also uses a general conversation to collect basic information about the topic. So, the maximum number of QA pairs is max_turn * (max_perspective + 1) . 💡 Reducing max_turn or max_perspective can speed up the process and reduce the cost but may result in less comprehensive outline.
• The parameter will not have any effect if --disable-perspective is set (the perspective-driven question asking is disabled).

To run the experiment on a single topic:

• The script will ask you to enter the Topic and the Ground truth url that will be excluded. If you do not have any url to exclude, leave that field empty.

The generated outline will be saved in {output_dir}/{topic}/storm_gen_outline.txt and the collected references will be saved in {output_dir}/{topic}/raw_search_results.json .

Writing Stage

• --do-polish-article : if True, polish the article by adding a summarization section and removing duplicate content if --remove-duplicate is set True.
• The script will ask you to enter the Topic . Please enter the same topic as the one used in the pre-writing stage.

The generated article will be saved in {output_dir}/{topic}/storm_gen_article.txt and the references corresponding to citation index will be saved in {output_dir}/{topic}/url_to_info.json . If --do-polish-article is set, the polished article will be saved in {output_dir}/{topic}/storm_gen_article_polished.txt .

Customize the STORM Configurations

We set up the default LLM configuration in LLMConfigs in src/modules/utils.py . You can use set_conv_simulator_lm() , set_question_asker_lm() , set_outline_gen_lm() , set_article_gen_lm() , set_article_polish_lm() to override the default configuration. These functions take in an instance from dspy.dsp.LM or dspy.dsp.HFModel .

💡 For a good practice,

• choose a cheaper/faster model for conv_simulator_lm which is used to split queries, synthesize answers in the conversation.
• if you need to conduct the actual writing step, choose a more powerful model for article_gen_lm . Based on our experiments, weak models are bad at generating text with citations.

Automatic Evaluation

In our paper, we break down the evaluation into two parts: outline quality and full-length article quality.

Outline Quality

We introduce heading soft recall and heading entity recall to evaluate the outline quality. This makes it easier to prototype methods for pre-writing.

Run the following command under ./eval to compute the metrics on FreshWiki dataset:

Full-length Article Quality

eval/eval_article_quality.py provides the entry point of evaluating full-length article quality using ROUGE, entity recall, and rubric grading. Run the following command under eval to compute the metrics:

Use the Metric Yourself

The similarity-based metrics (i.e., ROUGE, entity recall, and heading entity recall) are implemented in eval/metrics.py .

For rubric grading, we use the prometheus-13b-v1.0 introduced in this paper . eval/evaluation_prometheus.py provides the entry point of using the metric.

Contributions

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to open an issue or pull request. We welcome contributions to improve the system and the codebase!

Contact person: Yijia Shao and Yucheng Jiang

Please cite our paper if you use this code or part of it in your work:

Contributors 6

• Python 4.8%