ObjectivesThe LLM International Commercial Law enables you to study a wide range of commercial law options of international relevance. It embraces a number of related areas of commercial law, examining transactional and regulatory law. The public and private law of international trade and shipping law are well represented. Aspects of the conflict of laws (sometimes called private international law) are considered in a number of options but the subject is studied in depth in a specialist option.
Academic titleLLM International Commercial Law
Course descriptionKey facts
-The School of Law is rated as ‘internationally outstanding’ (Grade 5A on a scale of 1-5) for its research and as ‘Excellent’ for its teaching quality.
-The School enjoys important professional relationships with international institutions; leading firms in the City of London and the provinces; private industry and consultancies; and non-governmental organisations.
-Students at the School of Law have exclusive access to the Baker & McKenzie Computer Room.
-Excellent Law Library has in excess of 60,000 volumes, immediate access to a very wide range of electronic materials and resources and dedicated Law Librarian.
-The School has an active Public Procurement Research Group. See here for details
Course Content
You will take 120 credits’ worth of full and/or part-time subject options during the taught components of this course.
Currently, some of the subjects offered in relation to International Commercial Law include:
-Advanced Copyright & Design Law
-Banks, Consumers and Regulation
-Commercial Conflict of Laws
-EC Employment Law
-European Community Competition Law
-International & Comparative Copyright Law
-International & Comparative Patent Law
-International & Comparative Trade Mark Law
-International Consumer Protection
-International Copyright Law
-International Investment Law
-International Law of the Sea
-International Patent and Trademark Law
-International Relations Law of the EU
-International Sale of Goods
-Law of International Carriage of Goods by Sea
-Law of International Trade Finance
-Law of Marine Insurance
-Law, Development and the International Community
-Maritime Law
-Principles of Capital Market Regulation
-Public Procurement in EC and International Trade Law
-Public Procurement Law
-The World Trading System
Please note that all module details are subject to change.
You will conclude the LLM International Commercial Law by undertaking a 60-credit dissertation; this is an extensive piece of independent research in a subject of your choice. You will benefit from the support of a dedicated project supervisor, the School of Law’s Skills Programme, as well as the generic research skills training offered by the University’s Graduate School.
Course Structure
The LLM (Master of Laws) in International Commercial Law can be taken on a full-time basis over 1 year or part-time over 2 to 4 years.
In order to qualify for the LLM, you must take four full-year options (120 credits in total), or the equivalent number of full and half options in the taught element of the programme. Full options comprise eighteen two-hour seminars, held during the Autumn and Spring Terms. Half-options comprise nine two-hour seminars, held in either the Autumn or Spring Terms.
All seminars offer dedicated teaching, open only to postgraduate students, including postgraduate research students, where an option is relevant to a student’s doctoral research.
The precise availability of individual options differs from year to year, depending on the availability of staff to teach them, but in a typical session LLM students are able to choose from around a dozen full-year options (30 credits) and up to 50 half-year options (15 credits) over the programmes. In addition, LLM students may elect to take up to two half-year options in relevant modules offered by the School of Politics as part of its MA in International Relations.
To qualify for a particular specialist degree, candidates must choose at least three full options (or their equivalent in full and half options) from the list of qualifying options within the relevant specialisation. Students may choose any full module (or equivalent half modules) within the LLM programme as their fourth, “free” option.
In addition, the candidate must choose a dissertation topic within the relevant area of specialism. The dissertation is worth 60 credits and taken over the summer period towards the end of the course for submission in September.
Assessment for options is by essay, examination or a combination of both.