Law

The LLM programme is a single subject law programme that may be taken over a period of one year (full-time), or part-time over a period of two, three or four years. Every student will be required to take four full courses (or their equivalent in half courses) the assessment of one of which will be by means of a 15,000 word dissertation. The dissertation must be linked to a course offered at SOAS itself, and attendance on the course will be treated as being part of the process of supervision.

With permission of the LLM tutor, students will be entitled to select one complementary subject or the equivalent from comparable Masters course at SOAS including appropriate language courses. A complementary subject may be chosen in substitution for either a full or a half-subject.

Examinations for all taught courses will be held in May/June of each year and the dissertation will be due for submission by 15th September of the final year of registration. The assessment for each course may vary according to the extent to which the research component of each course is to be stressed.

It is expected that all students will graduate with an LLM in law. It is possible, however, for students wishing to graduate with a specialist degree, to do so by way of opting to take three or more courses from the relevant subject groupings below. In each case, the student must undertake a dissertation in that subject grouping.

Students are required to take four taught courses, one of which will be assessed by a 15,000 word dissertation. Three courses must be chosen from the LLM course list (below) or may be an approved language. The fourth option may be chosen from the LLM course list below, an approved language or an appropriate SOAS non-law option (with the approval of the LLM convenor). There is also an optional pre-sessional course.

Optional Pre-sessional Course

Three courses must be chosen from the following SOAS LLM course list:

• Access to justice & dispute resolution: special applications - 15PLAC157 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Affirmative action law - 15PLAH024 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Alternative dispute resolution - 15PLAC104 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Banking law - 15PLAC105 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Chinese commercial law - 15PLAC106 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Chinese Constitutionalism - 15PLAH043 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Climate change law and policy - 15PLAC154 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Colonialism, empire and international law - 15PLAH025 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Commercial Law - 15PLAC166 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Comparative Commercial Law - 15PLAC175 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Comparative Constitutional Law - 15PLAH046 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Development, environment and the law in the South - 15PLAC158 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Feminist legal theory - 15PLAC155 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Foundations of Comparative Law - 15PLAH031 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Foundations of international law - 15PLAH021 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Gender, Armed Conflict and International Law - 15PLAH035 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2014/2015
• Human rights and Islamic law - 15PLAC150 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Human rights of women - 15PLAC112 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Human rights in the developing world - 15PLAC111 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Indigenous Land Rights - 15PLAH048 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Intellectual property rights and development - 15PLAC113 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International and comparative copyright law: copyright in the global village - 15PLAC115 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International and comparative corporate law - 15PLAC116 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International commercial arbitration - 15PLAC153 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International Economic Law - 15PLAH033 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• International environmental law - 15PLAC118 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International human rights clinic - 15PLAC145 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International Labour Law and Equality Rights - 15PLAC169 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International law and global orders - 15PLAH019 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• International law and international relations - 15PLAH037 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• International laws on the use of force - 15PLAH020 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• International protection of human rights - 15PLAC119 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• International trade law - 15PLAC120 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Islamic law (MA/LLM) - 15PLAC121 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Islamic law 2: succession - 15PLAC122 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Justice, reconciliation and reconstruction in post conflict societies - 15PLAC123 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law and development in Africa - 15PLAC160 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law and Governance in the Developing World - 15PLAH047 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Law and international inequality:critical legal analysis of political economy from colonialism to globalisation - 15PLAC131 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law and natural resources - 15PLAC126 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law and policy of international courts and tribunals - 15PLAH026 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Law and society in the Middle East and North Africa - 15PLAC130 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law and society in South Asia (MA/LLM) - 15PLAC129 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law, human rights and peace building: the Israeli-Palestinian case - 15PLAC133 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law, institutions and political economy of transition - 15PLAC134 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law, Multiculturalism and Intercultural Human Rights (MA/LLM) - 15PLAC109 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law of international finance - 15PLAC135 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Law of Islamic finance - 15PLAC159 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Migration, gender and the law in South East Asia and beyond - 15PLAH023 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Modern Chinese Law and Institutions - 15PLAC139 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Multinational enterprises and the law - 15PLAC140 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Procedural principles and ethical standards - 15PLAC141 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Sociological Approaches to Law - 15PLAH032 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• The law of armed conflict - 15PLAH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Water Law: Justice and Governance - 15PLAH044 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• World Trade Organisation Law - 15PLAH038 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Preliminary law, legal reasoning and legal methods - 15PLAC162 (0 Unit) - Term 1

Optional Course In Development Studies

• Water and development:conflict and governance - 15PDSH049 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2014/2015

Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Law. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 7 CAE score: (read more) Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) is part of the Cambridge English suite and is targeted at a high level (IETLS 6.5-8.0). It is an international English language exam set at the right level for academic and professional success. Developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment - part of the University of Cambridge - it helps you stand out from the crowd as a high achiever. 80 (Grade A) IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.

Scholarships and Bursaries

There are some scholarships and bursaries available for postgraduate students. These are very competitive and early application is advised.

• The Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima Bursary (programme must include studying the history of the modern Arab world) - CLOSED
• AKS Postgraduate Bursary (in Korean Studies) - CLOSED
• Bernard Buckman Scholarship (MA Chinese Studies, for UK/EU fee paying students) - CLOSED
• The Canon Collins Scholarships at SOAS. There are two scholarships available available in 2013-14 for study at SOAS. These scholarships are for Masters study in any subject field. Open a national of and resident in one of the following countries:
  Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The application process normally opens in December and closes in February, for study commencing in September the following year. Please go to the Canon Collins website and click "Apply for A Scholarship" and then "Canon Collins Scholarship for Masters Study in the UK" for further information on how to apply.
• Commonwealth Shared Scholarship (for students from African Commonwealth countries) - CLOSED
• D.G.Hall Scholarship (Taught Masters programmes at SOAS, for applicants holding a Burma/Myanmar passport) - CLOSED
• Felix Scholarships (for Indian students) -CLOSED
• Ferguson Scholarships (for African nationals from an African Country) - CLOSED
• HSBC SOAS Scholarships (MA Sinology & MA Chinese Literature, for UK/EU fee paying students) - CLOSED
• Kamran Djam Scholarships (MA Iranian Studies)- CLOSED
• Professor Stuart Wilson Scholarship (MA South East Asian Studies) -CLOSED
• Standard Chartered Scholarships (for a range of full-time Taught Masters programmes. The programmes relate to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East/NorthAfrica) -CLOSED
• Tibawi Trust Awards (for Palestinian students currently enrolled in a programme at SOAS) -CLOSED
• SOAS Master's Scholarships - Faculty of Arts & Humanities - (for any full-time taught masters programme in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities) -CLOSED
• SOAS Master's Scholarships - Faculty of Language & Cultures (for the full-time MA Gender Studies, MA Postcolonial Studies, MA Linguistics, MA Applied Linguistics & Language Pedagogy, MA Language, Documentation and Description, MA Translation Theory and Practice (Asian and African Languages) - CLOSED
• SOAS Master's Scholarships- Faculty of Law and Social Sciences (for any full-time master's programmes in the Department of Development Studies, Economics, Law, Politics & International Studies and Financial & Management Studies) - CLOSED
• Tallow Chandlers and M. W Beer scholarship (MA) (MA Anthropology of Food, for UK/EU fee paying students) -CLOSED
• William Ross Murray Scholarship (LLM, for students from a developing country) - CLOSED