LLM, 1 year full time/2 years part time
Subject overview
Law at Sussex was ranked in the top 10 in the UK in The Sunday Times University Guide 2012, in the top 20 in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2013 and in the top 30 in the UK in The Guardian University Guide 2014 and The Complete University Guide 2014.
Law at Sussex was rated 16th in the UK for research in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 100 per cent of our research was rated as recognised internationally or higher, and over half rated as internationally excellent or higher.
Law at Sussex offers specialist, research-led degrees in international criminal law, international trade law, international commercial law, international law, criminal law and criminal justice.
Our interdisciplinary degrees are intellectually rigorous and explore law in its political, social, economic and cultural context, engaging with important issues of contemporary concern.
We have a strong internationalist outlook, with an emphasis on research and the practical significance of study.
Our degrees are taught by enthusiastic, expert faculty, committed to research and teaching excellence.
Law at Sussex attracts graduates from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds and equips them with the knowledge and skills for successful careers in their chosen fields.
We offer a dynamic research environment for faculty and graduate students, and a thriving law community with students from around the world.
Local firms of lawyers play a significant part in the life of Sussex Law School, sponsoring some of its activities and employing a number of students on formal training contracts as well as less formal assignments. Partners in these firms judge part of the student mooting, negotiation and client-interviewing competitions.
We have regular visits to local and London courts, as well as courts in France and the International Tribunals at The Hague.
We place great emphasis on fostering a supportive environment for our postgraduate students.
Specialist facilities
The University Library is a European Documentation Centre, and Library holdings in the fields of European law and international law are particularly strong. The University is a subscriber to LEXIS, Lawtel and Westlaw, the online data retrieval systems for law, through which significant libraries of UK, European, US and other international legal materials may be accessed.
Programme outline
This degree offers a unique and challenging insight into issues of international law. In the context of world social, political and economic relations, the study of international law ranges from traditional topics such as the use of force and state sovereignty to contemporary challenges posed by environmental degradation, globalisation, international terrorism, armed conflict, and human migration. This degree offers a critical and intellectual consideration of international law, while exploring many of the issues responsible for placing the international legal system at the forefront of both global and national concern.
We continue to develop and update our modules for 2013 entry to ensure you have the best student experience. In addition to the course structure below, you may find it helpful to refer to the 2012 modules tab.
Autumn term: Advanced Research for LLM Students • Approaches to International Law • International Law: Rights and Responsibilities.
Spring term: you take two options, one of which must be selected from an array including International and Transnational Offending • International Crimes • International Environmental Law • Law of Armed Conflict • Migration and the ECHR • Minority Groups and Human Rights • Terror, War, Violence and International Law • Women and Human Rights. The range of options available in any one year may vary.
One option may be selected from the full array offered within Law: Aspects of Intellectual Property Law • Comparative Criminal Justice Systems • EU Single Market Law • Hate Crimes and Sexual Violence • Human Rights, Development and the Law • International and Commercial Arbitration • International and Comparative Company Law • Law of International Business Transactions • Restorative Justice: Domestic and International Approaches • Youth Justice. The range of options available in any one year may vary.
Summer term: supervised work on the LLM dissertation.
Assessment
Modules are assessed by a combination of coursework, unseen examinations, 4,000-5,000-word essays, and a 15,000-word dissertation.
Current modules
Please note that these are the core modules and options (subject to availability) for students starting in the academic year 2012.
Core modules
- Advanced Research for LLM Students
- Approaches to International Law
- Dissertation (International Law)
- International Law: Rights and Responsibilities
Options
- Human Rights and Migration
- International and Transnational Offending
- International Crimes
- Law and Social Theory
- Law of International Business Transactions
- Law, Security and the Global Public Good
- Minority Groups and Human Rights
- The International Legal Regulation of Armed Conflict
- War, Terror, Violence and International Law
- Women and Human Rights
Advanced Research for LLM Students
15 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, year 1
This is an intensive module taught in the first and second terms in blocks of two weeks and three weeks respectively, introducing you to the essential research, bibliographic, on-line and writing techniques which are required for study at this level and for the production of term papers, dissertations and other assessments.
Approaches to International Law
30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module provides a thorough grounding in the key intellectual skills and theoretical framework necessary for the study of International Law at Masters level. It examines a range of methods for research in law, which may include comparative, socio-legal, empirical, critical and doctrinal research methods. The module develops knowledge of and analytical skills in relation to theoretical approaches to international law, particularly in relation to rights and responsibilities.
Dissertation (International Law)
45 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, year 1
This course gives you the opportunity to undertake a 15,000-word dissertation under faculty supervision.
Human Rights and Migration
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
The treatment of migrants is one of the most challenging issues which human rights, as a political philosophy of practical import, faces today. In the last two decades, immigration has risen to the top of the political agenda of many governments and international organizations around the world. It recurrently leads to reflexes of closure which are at odds with the ethical message embodied in the concept of human rights, generating questionable, if not straightforwardly abhorrent, practices which too often become entrenched and regarded as 'natural'.
The European Court of Human Rights is widely celebrated, and indeed praises itself, for being 'the conscience of Europe'. When the European Court decides migrant cases, does it manage to remain true to the values at the core of its institution? What about the other human rights institutions such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee or the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination? This module addresses these questions from a perspective which combines legal analysis, historical and sociological discussion, as well as ethical reflection. Every year, some topics (eg family reunification, deportation after criminal conviction, social security protection, immigration detention) are selected for in-depth analysis.
International Crimes
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module will focus on the four core crimes in international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. In each case we will highlight their development, application in international and domestic courts and matters of controversy in relation thereto, before examining other so-called quasi-international crimes including torture, hijacking, and terrorism.
International and Transnational Offending
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
In order to assess the effectiveness of legal responses to offending that cross national boundaries, it is essential that you gain an insight into the phenomenon itself, rather than merely into the legal responses which we have examined in International and Transnational Offending. This module explores the nature and extent of both state and sub-state or individual offending. It includes such examples as the use of torture, war crimes, economic criminality, including illegal arms and drug dealing, corporate crime, computer and share frauds and organised crime and international crimes of violence.
International Law: Rights and Responsibilities
30 credits
Autumn teaching, year 1
This module is intended to introduce you to or further develop your knowledge of the nature and sources of international law. The course enables you to explore a non-traditional approach to international law by focusing on rights and responsibilities not only of states but also in relation to individuals and other putative subjects of international law.
Law and Social Theory
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module introduces you to a series of readings that explore the relationship between law and social theory. The objective is to reflect on how law can be understood as a social phenomenon, whose nature and functions are intimately connected to different stages of social, economic and political development. Beginning with a consideration of classical social theory (Marx, Durkheim, and Weber) and its analysis of the relationship between law and modern society, the module proceeds to analyse more recent works of social theory and to reflect on how these might help us to understand the contemporary workings and roles of law and legal institutions. Among the themes to be explored will be law and disciplinary society, and neoliberalism and the welfare state.
The International Legal Regulation of Armed Conflict
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module subjects the international law of armed conflict to critical examination. Since 1945 states, international and regional organisations have used armed force in circumstances and for purposes unforeseen by the drafters of the United Nations Charter. This practice is evidence of the tension between the need for the international community to respond to new threats to international peace and security and the requirement that the use of armed force is limited by international legal controls. You will explore this practice and examine international legal rules relating to the conduct of armed force and international humanitarian law.
Law of International Business Transactions
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module considers the body of rules governing commercial relationships of a private law nature involving different countries. You focus on the legal rules governing the sale and supply of goods by a merchant in one country to a merchant in another country.
Law, Security and the Global Public Good
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module looks at the often problematic relationship between 'security' and the global 'public good' within international law. In the module we examine the historical development of international law in relation to colonialism and globalisation and go on to consider the possibilities and limitations of new modes of global governance. We will look at how international law has ordered and shaped global space in relation to property, economic organisation and the use of force and we will investigate the various legal, moral and political arguments that lie behind these changes. The module combines international law scholarship, critical theory and case studies to assess the global significance of the idea of 'security' today.
Minority Groups and Human Rights
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module aims to critique the development of a universal minority rights framework, focusing in particular on the rights of religious, linguistic and national minorities.
The first part of the module will provide a theoretical framework for the study of different approaches to minority rights and includes consideration of the following: Is it possible to define the term minority? To what extent can communal goods such as religion, culture and language be accommodated within an individual rights framework? What are the tensions between minority rights and the traditional liberal framework? What are the demands of minority groups in areas such as education? Should different types of minorities have different entitlements? Is a focus on the obligations and responsibilities of the State more appropriate than a focus on the rights of individuals and groups? The rest of the module focuses on the development of a universal minority rights framework with reference to relevant case-law of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), the core UN human rights treaties and minority specific instruments. You also examine the role of political supervisory mechanisms, considering the work of bodies such as the UN Independent Expert on Minorities and the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities.
War, Terror, Violence and International Law
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
You will focus upon the contemporary problems of war and terrorism within a historical, political and global context. Drawing upon approaches from international law, political and critical theory and international relations, the module examines law's various attempts to define what constitutes 'legitimate violence'. In this respect we will look at some of the dominant legal, moral and political arguments behind the justification and condemnation of acts of war, terror and public violence. We will look at the law's criminalisation of non-state violence, the use of new theological arguments to justify 'humanitarian wars', the relationship between violence and international security and the ethics of violence.
Women and Human Rights
30 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module is divided into two halves. The first half consists of core topics providing a theoretical framework for the study of women's human rights. You will draw on feminist legal theory, human rights theory, anthropological and historical materials and international and national rights instruments and documentation. The second half focuses on the conception, implementation, adherence and breach of a specific right or related rights.
Entry requirements
UK entrance requirements
A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree in law or a relevant subject, but applicants from other backgrounds may be considered.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to column A on the Overseas qualifications.
If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas
qualifications table, contact the University.
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
Visas and immigration
Find out more about Visas and immigration.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
For more information, refer to English language requirements.
Additional admissions information
If you are a non-EU student and your qualifications (including English language) do not yet meet our entry requirements for admission directly to this degree, we offer a Pre-Masters entry route. For more information, refer to Pre-Masters.
For more information about the admissions process at Sussex
For pre-application enquiries:
Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
For post-application enquiries:
Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk
Related programmes
Fees and funding
Fees
Home UK/EU students: £5,5001
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £5,5002
Overseas students: £13,0003
1
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
3
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
To find out about your fee status, living expenses and other costs, visit further financial information.
Funding
The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.
To find out more about funding and part-time work, visit further financial information.
Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust for Postgraduate Study (2013)
Region: UK
Level: PG (taught), PG (research)
Application deadline: 1 October 2013
The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust are offering bursaries to Postgraduate students following any postgraduate degree courses in any subject.
Sussex Graduate Scholarship (2013)
Region: UK, Europe (Non UK), International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 16 August 2013
Open to final year Sussex students who graduate with a 1st or 2:1 degree and who are offered a F/T place on an eligible Masters course in 2013.
Faculty interests
Law at Sussex has active research groups in its primary research fields, exploring legal conceptualisations of responsibility, and issues of citizenship and governance. These groups meet regularly for the presentation of work in progress, as reading groups, to host external speakers and to plan the organisation of research seminars, workshops and conferences. The Centre for Responsibilities, Rights and the Law, located within the Sussex Law School, brings together researchers from across the University to facilitate and develop doctrinal, theoretical and empirical research into responsibilities, rights and the law nationally, in the EU and internationally. Research interests are briefly described below. Also visit Department of Law: Research.
Professor Craig Barker International law and international relations, international immunities, international criminal law.
Dr Yuri Borgmann-Prebil European law, especially constitutional law and citizenship.
Jo Bridgeman Child and family law, healthcare law, feminist perspectives on law.
Dr Elizabeth Craig International human rights and comparative law, European minority rights law.
Dr Mark Davies Professional negligence, regulation and conduct; education and law.
Professor Marie-Bénédicte Dembour Human rights (theory and European Convention).
Paul Eden International law, commercial law.
Professor Jane Fortin Child and family law.
Dr Helena Howe Property law and intellectual property law.
Heather Keating Criminal law; family law, especially child law.
Dr Tarik Kochi International security; war, terror and violence; legal and political theory.
Laurence Koffman Sentencing and the penal system, criminal law and criminal justice.
Craig Lind Gender and sexuality, child law, and family regulation across cultural divides.
Professor Sue Millns European public law, comparative law, human rights, law and gender.
Dr Paul Omar European and international insolvency law, French company and insolvency law.
Professor Malcolm Ross State aids, public undertakings and public services.
Professor Stephen Shute Criminal law and criminal procedure.
Dr Charlotte Skeet Gender and human rights.
Teresa Sutton Legal history, ecclesiastical law, land law.
Dr Kenny Veitch Critical and theoretical approaches to medical law, and health.
Dr Richard Vogler Comparative criminal justice systems, criminal procedure, criminology.
Dr Mark Walters Criminal law and criminal justice.
Careers and profiles
In addition to working as solicitors and barristers (subject to completion of the necessary further qualifications), our graduates have gone on to pursue careers in international organisations, non-governmental organisations, international law firms and foreign affairs departments, and to further study.
For more information, visit Careers and alumni.
School and contacts
School of Law, Politics and Sociology
Engaging with key issues of contemporary concern, the School of Law, Politics and Sociology brings together academic units that are committed to excellence in teaching, and recognised nationally for research.
School of Law, Politics and Sociology,
PG Admissions,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9SP, UK
T +44 (0)1273 678655
F +44 (0)1273 873162
E lps@sussex.ac.uk
Sussex Law School
Discover Postgraduate Study information sessions
You’re welcome to attend one of our Discover Postgraduate Study information sessions. These are held in the spring and summer terms and enable you to find out more about postgraduate study and the opportunities Sussex has to offer.
Visit Discover Postgraduate study to book your place.
Other ways to visit Sussex
We run weekly guided campus tours every Wednesday afternoon, year round. Book a place online at Visit us and Open Days.
You are also welcome to visit the University independently without any pre-arrangement.