Master of Laws

Laws exist throughout the world, across continents and in different cultures and societies, governing the way we live, work and play. Our LLM Master of Laws reflects this variety of contexts and offers you the opportunity to choose from a range of legal specialisms, with the result that you can tailor your legal qualification to suit your interests.

You can choose from the widest range of modules, which can be selected from areas across the Law School including International Trade and Commercial Law, European Trade and Commercial Law, Corporate Law and International Law and Governance where subjects range from the law of the sea to electronic commerce.

This one-year full-time course is comprised of taught modules delivered through a mixture of lectures, small-group seminars or tutorials and film showings, as well as a major dissertation, which you will produce under supervision following independent research. 

Students join the LLM from a broad range of countries and backgrounds, enriching the learning experience through the academic or professional experience they bring to the course. You will be able to participate in activities hosted by research centres who have their homes in the Law School, including the Institute for Commercial and Corporate Law, the Durham European Law Institute, the Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, Law and Global Justice at Durham and the Human Rights Centre.

Course Structure

Core modules

Applied Research Methods in Law provides specialised knowledge on the latest research methods and skills used in legal studies as well as an advanced understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and of their relevance for different forms of legal research. The module also creates a framework within which you will be able to critically assess potential research topics and, importantly, where you will be able to design, discuss and develop a detailed research proposal of the appropriate standards for your dissertation.

The Dissertation is based on an area of particular interest in an area of law and can be of one of two lengths – 10,000 or 15,000. Depending on the length chosen, the dissertation is equivalent to 2 or 2.5 modules.

To offer maximum flexibility, the remaining modules are chosen from an extensive range of options (* indicates half modules) which have previously included:

• Advanced Issues in Corporate Law*
• Advanced Issues in Human Rights*
• Advanced Issues in International Economic Law
• Advanced Issues of International Intellectual Property Law*
• Advanced Law of Obligations
• China and the International Legal Order*
• Commercial Fraud*
• Comparative and Transnational Law*
• Comparative Corporate Governance
• Competition Law
• Consumption Tax Law and Policy*
• Corporate Compliance*
• Corporations in an EU Context
• Current Issues in Commercial Law
• Current Problems of International Law
• Electronic Commerce*
• Free Speech Problems in International and Comparative Perspectives*
• Frontiers in Biolaw*
• Fundamental Issues in International Legal Governance*
• Fundamentals of Corporate Law*
• Fundamentals of International Law*
• Global Environmental Law*
• Global Financial Law
• Global Institutions
• Horizontal Human Rights*
• International and Comparative Corporate Insolvency Law*
• International Banking Law
• International Commercial Dispute Resolution
• International Counter Terrorism: Theory and Practice*
• International Humanitarian Law
• International Investment Law*
• International Perspectives on Law and Gender*
• International Protection of Human Rights
• International Sales Law
• International Tax Law*
• International Trade Law and Policy
• Introduction to Corporate Governance*
• Introduction to Corporate Insolvency Law*
• Introduction to EU Law*
• Introduction to Intellectual Property Law*
• Introduction to International Criminal Justice
• Islamic Law
• Law of Oil and Gas Contracts*
• Law of the Sea 
• Medical Law and Ethics
• Mergers and Acquisitions*
• Multinational Corporations and Human Rights*
• Private International Law and China*
• Protection of Human Rights in Europe
• Renewable Energy Law*
• Securities Law and Capital Markets
• Takeover Regulation in the EU*
• US Business Associations
• Cross-Border Commercial Litigation
• International Law of Peace and Security
• International Perspectives in Cartel Control*
• The Law of Subsidy and State Aid Control*
• Current Issues in International Law and Governance*
• US Corporate Law*
• Modules offered by another Board of Studies (subject to approval)