Law and Economics

Organised jointly by the Faculty of Law and Criminal Justice and the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC Lausanne), this programme is intended to supplement initial training in law and/or economics with an interdisciplinary approach, allowing students from each of these two fields to acquire a thorough knowledge of the other discipline. The programme offers two alternative special subjects: one focused on management, corporate law and taxation, the other on interactions between law and economics.

There is a manifest need for professionals who can combine a thorough knowledge of law with a good understanding of economics. At a time when transversal skills are increasingly important, the Masters offers law students and economics students the chance to acquire pertinent knowledge in the other field and, as a result, to benefit from genuinely complementary training.

The Master of Law in Law and Economics comprises three modules which run in parallel.

Module 1 provides students with a good grounding in the discipline they have not stud-ied during their university careers to date. This module is composed of 39 ECTS credits for basic compulsory courses followed by all students, and specific compulsory courses according to students’ backgrounds (courses in economics and management for the hold-ers of a Bachelor’s degree in Law; courses in law for the holders of a Bachelor’s degree in Economics).

Module 2 offers a wide range of optional courses both in law and economics. Of the 36 ECTS credits comprising this module, students are required to choose a minimum of 12 ECTS credits in courses linked by their content to the discipline they have not studied previously. In addition, students may choose 12 ECTS credits outside their study plan.The 15 ECTS credits of Module 3 may be acquired by completing a research or place-ment dissertation.

Examinations

Examinations, covering all subjects taught, take place at the end of each semester.MobilityStudents have the possibility of taking part in a one-semester mobility placement (30 ECTS credits) at a university in German-speaking Switzerland or abroad, with the prior permis-sion of the competent authorities responsible for the Master’s degree.Skills developmentUniversity studies develop, in addition to spe-cific academic skills, a great many transverse skills such as: oral and written communication, critical, analytical and summarising faculties, abilities in research, the learning and transmis-sion of knowledge, rigorous writing skills, inde-pendence and the ability to make judgements in the field of specialisation and overlapping areas. This panoply of skills, combined with specialist knowledge acquired in the course of studies, is excellent preparation for a wide range of employment opportunities such as those mentioned in the “Career prospects” section

SYLLABUSCompulsory courses of Module 1

• Direct and Indirect Taxation
• Corporate Taxation
• Corporate Strategy
• Political and Institutional Economics
• Accounting and Balance Sheet Analysis
• Introduction to Finance
• Microeconomics and Game Theory
• Empirical Methods for Lawyers
• Legal Methodology
• Criminal/Public Law
• Business Law/Law of Obligations

39 ECTS credits
Summary of optional courses of Module 2

• Advanced Group Accounting
• Consumer Goods Marketing: New Trends
• Cybercrime and Information Security
• Banking Law/Stock Market Law
• Competition Law
• Innovation/Intellectual Property Law
• Private/Social Insurance Law
• International Business Law
• Employment Law/Vocational Pension Schemes
• Economic Criminal Law
• Applied Corporate Finance
• Financial Analysis Credit
• Corporate/International Taxation
• Taxation of Financial Instruments
• International Taxation
• Taxation: seminar
• Mergers, Acquisitions and Takeovers
• Corporate Governance and Responsibility
• Introduction to Economic Analysis of Law
• International Competitiveness
• Leadership Development
• Managerial Decision Making
• Market Creation & Entrepreneurial Marketing
• Microeconomics and Industrial Economics
• International Accounting Standards
• Administrative/Civil/Criminal Procedure
• Project Management and Outsourcing
• Drafting of Contracts
• Seminar Law and Economics
• Unethical Decision Making

36 ECTS credits
DissertationThe subject chosen by the student must relate to one of the subjects covered by the Master in Modules 1 or 2.15 ECTS credits

Candidates must be the holders of a Bachelor’s degree in Law from a Swiss university, related to the “Law” (CRUS) study area, or a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from a Swiss university related to the following (CRUS) study areas: “Management IT”, “Corporate Management”, “Finance” and “Economics”.Another degree or university qualification may be deemed equivalent allowing conditional or unconditional access to the Masters degree.