The LLM (Law) provides ambitious graduates with a highly flexible approach to advanced legal studies, focused on the School of Law's specialisms in criminal justice, European law, public and environmental governance, human rights, international business, law and technology and intellectual property law. The programme reflects the School’s global orientation and its culture of critical enquiry and as such we encourage you to devise the pathway that best suits your scholarly interests and your career ambitions.
Law highlights
Student Experience
Students study within a vibrant international mix of students and staff. We focus on your individual career and development needs, building your skills, enhancing your personal experience of the course and maintaining a strong emphasis on your particular career path in addition to the academic content of the course.
At Queen's you will be part of a thriving postgraduate culture built on teaching excellence, leading-edge research, innovation, collaboration and engagement. These components are woven together in our Graduate School. It is here you will develop new skills and increased personal effectiveness that will enable you to stand out in the crowded and increasingly competitive global job market.
Life at Queen's is not just about the degree. We offer our students the opportunity to really enrich their studies. Whether you're into student societies, sports, music, dance, or just a coffee with your friends, Queen's has exceptional facilities to cater for all interests.
Career Development
We are dedicated to student employability and have strong industry links. Law was ranked Top 10 in the UK for graduate prospects (Complete University Guide 2024).
Internationally Renowned Experts
Law at Queen's is taught by world-leading experts in the area of Law. Our staff have close research links with the professions, government and civil society. Law at Queen's is in the top 150 Law Schools worldwide and we are ranked 18th in the world for international outlook. Research in Law was ranked 8th in the UK in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (2021).
World Class Facilities
Our facilities at Queen's include a state-of-the-art Law building with superb teaching facilities, a moot court and study spaces. Queen's has one of the most modern campuses in the UK, including the award winning McClay Library, one of the finest libraries in the world and home to 1.2 million volumes and over 2,000 reader places.
Our Physical Education Centre was used as a training camp for the 2012 Olympics. Our Queen's Elms Student Village and city centre student accommodation (built in 2018) are located within easy walking distance of the University.
Student Testimonials
“Everyone has studied different degrees before which adds an extra dimension to classes and makes tutorials really lively. Overall, the subject areas we study are really interesting, everyone is motivated. Doing coursework instead of exams means you can examine issues in more depth and at your own pace. We also ensure we make time to get together outside of classes for coffees, meals and nights out.” Julie Ellison
Students may enrol on a full-time (1 year) or part-time (2 years) basis.
The Masters is awarded to students who successfully complete all taught modules (120 CATS points) and a research dissertation (60 CATS points).
The programme is delivered through a series of taught modules and culminates in the submission of a dissertation on an original topic. Students can choose from the wide range of modules available on any of the School's LLM programmes.
Dissertation
Dissertation (Maximum 15,000 words)
(Students who secure a summer work placement of at least 8 weeks can complete a Dissertation in Practice Module including 12,000 word dissertation and 3,000 word reflective journal of the learning experience)
Methodology Mini-Modules
Approaches to Legal Research
Theories of Human Rights
Criminal Justice and Criminology Methods 1 and 2
Data, Privacy and the Law
Metaverse Law: Copyright, Trademarks, and Immersive Technologies
Platform Regulation: IP Enforcement and Content Moderation
Optional Modules
International Competition Law
International Human Rights Law
Human Rights in Practice
Transitional Justice
Climate, Justice and Human Rights
Foundations of IP Law: Theory, Economics and Policy
Global IP Law, Trade and Technology
Intellectual Property and Creative Industries: Copyright, Designs and Trademarks
Theoretical Criminology
Criminal Justice Processes
Key Debates in Criminology
International Commercial Law
World Trade Law
International Corporate Governance
Law and the Challenges of Technology
Regulating Reality : The Law of Misinformation
Regulating Innovation
Business and Human Rights
Comparative Human Rights
Advanced Issues in Medical Law and Ethics
Corporate Environmental Law
Restorative Justice
Artificial Intelligence and the Law
Advanced International Trade Law and Policy
Prisons, Punishment and the Legacy of Conflict in NI
International Financial Law
Critical Approaches International Economic Law
Please note this is not an exclusive list of the optional modules available. Optional modules are reviewed each year and subject to staff availability and student numbers.
8 (hours maximum) In addition to 6-8 hrs of teaching per week, students should set aside 10-12 hours per module for reading and preparation to engage meaningfully in classroom discussions, group work and other forms of active engagement.
Learning and Teaching
Learning opportunities associated with this course are outlined below :
Learning Opportunities:
The Law School at Queen's has approximately 1,000 undergraduate students, 200 postgraduates, 70 PhD students and over 60 members of academic staff. You will be taught by scholars from all over the world, many of whom have international reputations in their fields and all are committed teachers and researchers. Students will also have access to an excellent law section in the library and extensive IT facilities.
The School operates a proactive system of student support. Programme Co-ordinators are allocated to each degree programme tasked to guide and support you throughout your time with us, together with the School's experienced and helpful administrative staff. We place considerable emphasis on facilitating good communication between staff and students. To this end, a Student Voice Committee, comprised of elected student representatives, the Director of Graduate Studies and other members of academic staff, meet at regular intervals throughout the academic year. This Committee provides students with a forum in which to raise matters of concern to them and also enables the School to keep students informed about matters affecting the School and wider university.
At Queen’s, we aim to deliver a high quality learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation and best practice in learning, teaching and student support to enable students to achieve their full academic potential.
We do this by providing a range of learning experiences which enables our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society and make use of innovative technologies and a world class library that enhances their development as independent, life-long learners. Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:
- E-Learning technologies: Information associated with seminars and assignments is communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Canvas. A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the programme through, for example: interactive group workshops in a flexible learning space; podcasts and interactive web-based learning activities; opportunities to use IT programmes associated with design in project- based work, etc.
- Seminars: Seminars provide information about topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Seminars also provide opportunities to ask questions, gain some feedback and advice on assessments.
- Self-directed study: This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s Law student when important private reading and research, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
Assessment
Assessments associated with the course are outlined below:
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2024/25). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
This module is designed to allow students to engage in independent research and to develop independent study, analysis and methodological skills.
Learning Outcomes
1. A detailed knowledge and understanding of a chosen subset of the programme themes
2. Capacity to build a detailed and sustained argument around a research question or questions
3. Advanced knowledge of available research methodologies in the study of law and of the social sciences.
4. Understanding of the skills required in order to carry out research in law and the social sciences.
5. Detailed knowledge and understanding of core issues regarding the current challenges for law.
Skills
- Advanced writing skills
- An advanced knowledge of and ability to understand and critically evaluate key theories, concepts, principles, rules and values in the chosen area of law
- An advanced awareness, critical understanding of and engagement with legal and policy debates, building on scholarship already undertaken in the course of studies
- An advanced capacity to synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures in the area and to use those literatures to formulate new arguments
- An advanced ability to design and engage in self-managed, self-directed and intellectually independent research, to reflect on one’s own learning, to solve problems, make decisions, to develop work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate and to offer evidenced conclusions addressing complex actual or hypothetical problems.
- Advanced ability to judge critically the merits of methodologies from different disciplines, and to make reasoned choices between different positions and approaches
- Advanced ability to use, present and critically evaluate information, ability to synthesise and identify central issues from a large amount of complex legal information and information from other disciplines and to draw on scholarship encountered in the course of one’s LLM
- Advanced knowledge and understanding of research ethics and ability to mainstream ethical considerations with research as appropriate to the project
- Advanced ability to engage with, manage and respond to supervision
- Engagement with one’s own personal and professional development and academic integrity
What motivates legal research? In addition to the principles and methods that guide the design and implementation of a specific research project, we also ought to have some sense of the broader ‘research programme’ or ‘theoretical framework’ that animates our work. Students will be introduced to several important theoretical frameworks and research programmes from which they might draw some helpful inspiration.
Legal scholarship is no longer limited to the analysis of legal doctrine. Many legal scholars engage in empirically-oriented research that investigates how law interacts with other social phenomena. Legal scholars hope to illuminate the causal connections between law and other aspects of the social world. Legal research of this kind is rewarding but it also comes with special methodological challenges. This module will introduce students to some fundamental principles of research design and methodology, covering both ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ social science methods.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to
• critically evaluate the merits and weaknesses of various theoretical frameworks and approaches to legal scholarship
• critically evaluate empirical academic research in terms of its methodology
Skills
• reading and synthesizing academic work
• academic writing
• social science methodology
• designing an empirical research plan
This module provides a comprehensive review of corporate transactional issues in environmental law. The module examines, in a primarily corporate context, contemporary environmental law debates regarding regulation, liability, and institutional reform. This module evaluates environmental meta-principles and approaches to regulation, including traditional command-and-control, the use of economic incentivisation, and trends towards voluntary regulation. Questions of corporate environmental disclosure are considered and environmental responsibility in project financing. The development of environmental liability in the US and EU is comparatively examined with a view to ascertaining emerging trends and questions of reform. Special case studies consider the oil pollution liability regime and the development of carbon emissions trading schemes.
The aims of the module are to:
[] contribute to the development of environmental law and practice in business, corporate finance and law professionals;
[] critically evaluate principles of environmental accountability, scientific claims, and technological aspects of the environment;
[] assess and analyse how lawyers and corporate professionals play key roles in protecting clients and employers from environmental losses and are also called on to act against those who cause or are accountable for negative environmental impacts;
[] provide an in-depth review and critique of prevailing regulatory approaches to understanding and managing environmental impacts and business opportunities;
[] critically examine approaches to environmental liability;
[] identify and critically assess how corporate environmental responsibility factors impact on a firm’s accounts.
Learning Outcomes
(1) Evaluate the meta-principles of environmental law and their influence in legal development;
(2) Identify and critically assess approaches to regulating corporate conduct with respect to the environment;
(3) Critically assess environmental risk factors influencing corporate entities and corporate responses to environmental risks;
(4) Define the major environmental regulatory trends in the corporate environmental landscape;
(5) Evaluate how changes in the legal and governance landscape interact.
Skills
(1) Ability to apply existing knowledge to new situations;
(2) Develop or substantially enhance skills of independent learning, including the ability to plan, time-manage and execute an independent guided research project;
(3) Synthesise information from legal and non-legal sources so as to contextualise subject specific information;
(4) Use fluent and effective communication and discussion skills in oral and written contexts;
(5) Engage with complex concepts and scrutinise information in critical, evaluative and analytical ways;
(6) Develop or substantially enhance an ethical awareness of global citizenship and, in particular, responsibilities to safeguard ecological, social and economic wellbeing, both in the present and for future generations.
This module will familiarise students with key debates regarding the corporation's role in society. Students will explore work on business and human rights and corporate citizenship, specifically with regard to global corporations and global supply chains.
This course will covers some (but not necessarily all) of the following topics in any given year, and other topics may be added from time-to-time: the human rights obligations of corporations to workers, host countries, other stakeholders, the rise of corporate social responsibility reporting, global initiatives and frameworks, the Ruggie principles, the role of civil society in corporate regulation and self-regulation etc, corporate promotion of labour standards, human rights considerations in international corporate investment.
Learning Outcomes
• Knowledge and understanding of ideas of corporate responsibility.
• Familiarity with legal frameworks regarding the integration of human rights considerations and corporate social responsibility.
• Understanding of the application of the theoretical constructs to “real world” cases and situations.
Skills
• Oral and written communication skills, as appropriate to LLM-level scholarship
• An advanced knowledge of and ability to understand and critically evaluate key theories, concepts, principles, rules and values in corporate social responsibility, building on previous work within the programme
• An advanced awareness, critical understanding of and engagement with legal and policy debates, specifically in the area of corporate social responsibility, and an ability to tie those debates to debates encountered in previous modules.
• An advanced capacity to synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures in corporate social responsibility and to use those literatures to formulate new arguments
• An advanced ability to engage in self-managed, self-directed and intellectually independent research, to reflect on one’s own learning, to solve problems, make decisions, to develop work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate and to offer evidenced conclusions addressing complex actual or hypothetical problems.
• An advanced ability to recognise and rank issues in terms of their relevance and importance.
• An advanced awareness of legal and regulatory regimes and of their impact with regard to corporate social responsibility building on previous work within the programme
• An ability to use information technologies for communication, data retrieval and analysis as appropriate to the module
• Engagement with one’s own personal and professional development and academic integrity
This module will examine ways in which human rights protection is provided in practice. It will consider the work of non-governmental human rights organisations, the ways in which private businesses can help to protect human rights, and the role of the media too. It will also analyse the problems facing state and inter-state organisations in trying to ensure that human rights are protected on the ground, especially in times of disasters and other emergencies. The work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations will be explored, as will the challenges facing human rights fieldwork more generally.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module students should be able to:
- understand the difficulties facing organisations working on the ground to protect human rights;
- evaluate the effectiveness of different ways of protecting human rights on the ground;
- assess how the practice of human rights could be improved.
Skills
By the end of this module students should be able to:
- develop strategies and tactics for dealing with allegations of human rights violations;
- report and campaign on human rights issues in various parts of the world;
- assess what works and does not work when seeking to protect human rights on the ground;
- articulate clearly why human rights deserve to be protected and how this can be achieved.
Digital technologies have transformed the way that creative content is produced, distributed and used, disrupting long-standing business models and traditional revenue streams, and enabling the emergence of new business models. This module would focus on exploring the legal challenges and opportunities posed by the intersection of copyright law, trademark law, the creative industries, and emerging technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive technologies, including how the Metaverse might impact the traditional creative industries. Three main questions will be investigated in detail:
(i) How do copyright and trademark laws apply to the protection and distribution of creative works in the digital age?
(ii) How are the internet and digital platforms impacting the creative industries and the protection of intellectual property rights?
(iii) How are virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive technologies impacting the creative industries and the protection of intellectual property rights?
(1) First, this module provides students with the opportunity to explore critically the various policy and doctrinal aspects of contemporary copyright issues as they impact the creation, dissemination and use of creative and cultural goods within the digital environment.
(2) Second, in the trademark context, the impact of emerging technologies, including 3D printing and virtual reality platforms, on traditional legal norms and business models, will be analysed and discussed as well as the impact of the internet and digital technologies on cybersquatting, internet keyword searches, and the resolution of domain name disputes in cyberspace.
(3) Third, the module will consider the challenges of providing high level of protection for right holders within the digital environment, while maintaining an appropriate balance with other public policy goals such as education, research and innovation, access to our shared cultural heritage, and more.
(4) Overall, this module will be also engaged with issues and challenges posed by the Metaverse about how trademark owners, creators and artists can protect and enforce IP rights in this space. For example, the module will review the legal frameworks that apply to virtual property and assets in the Metaverse, including how these frameworks might differ from those that apply to physical property and assets.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• understand trademark and copyright law as it applies to a number of issues relevant to the digital environment within a UK, European, and international content
• differentiate between approaches taken to trademark and copyright policy and doctrine within the pre-digital era, and the adaptation and development of those existing norms within the digital environment
• acquire general knowledge concerning the interface between copyright, trademarks, immersive technologies, virtual reality, augmented reality, and the metaverse
• acquire knowledge of the related legal framework;
• understand the ethical and societal challenges related to immersive technologies and the metaverse;
• master a comparative, cross-jurisdictional understanding of the regulatory framework;
• develop the ability to reflect on the immersive technologies’ disruptive effects on traditional business models;
• develop critical thinking skills in connection to practical problems in metaverse, virtual realities regulations from a global international perspective;
• research, evaluate and criticise constructively recent developments and legal arguments in this domain;
• enhance research and writing skills in formulating arguments to solve new emerging legal problems in a fast-developing technological context.
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and Application Skills
Research Skills
The course involves a study of human rights issues drawing on material primarily from Europe, North America, and the Commonwealth. The course considers the meaning of particular human rights and their significance in theory and in practice, and the efficacy of the legal institutions designed to protect them. Several specific substantive issues (right to life, freedom of speech, conscience, and equality) will be studied in depth to illustrate the complex interplay between theory, legal concepts and procedure, and between legal and non-legal sources of protection. It will draw on international human rights law, but will not be confined to it. The course as a whole will aim to provide the opportunity for in-depth comparative study, during which the appropriateness and utility of comparative legal techniques will be considered.
Learning Outcomes
This module offers students the opportunity to:
• Explore how human rights have emerged as a comparative issue.
• Enhance their understanding of the limitations to comparison in human rights law.
• Develop key transferrable skills, including presentation skills, data gathering and essay-writing.
• Develop an understanding of legal research methodologies.
Skills
• Identify the relevant primary and secondary legal and non-legal materials relating to comparative human rights law and theories.
• Synthesise and critically analyse these materials.
• Organise and conduct effective comparative research on human rights.
• Develop coherence and clarity in written presentations that allow them to articulate to others a critical evaluation of the knowledge they have acquired.
• Thoroughly understand the skills required to do effective comparative human rights research – such as collecting sources, referencing and how to write critically.
• Understand and apply legal research methodology.
The focus of this module will be on the interplay of data, privacy and the law. The module will focus on issues such as GDPR; the E-Privacy Directive
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the learning process each student should have acquired:
• an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges that certain aspects of new technology present, and an appreciation of the legal challenges faced
• a critical awareness of the national and international regulatory and legal frameworks within which technology develops
• an ability to critically assess claims about the social importance and value of new technological advances
• an ability to conduct independent research, articulate coherent legal arguments and present these orally.
Skills
At the end of the module each student will be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some new technological advances and the role of law in regulating them
• Engage in critical analysis and evaluation of the interaction between law, regulation and technology
• Develop theoretical understandings of both the implications of technology in terms of democratic values and the strategies for controlling technology
• Synthesise relevant and directed readings with independent research, and present findings both orally and in written format.
• Engage in independent study and research and to develop skills around self-directed learning and to exercise initiative in the learning process.
• Show an ability to construct coherent legal and policy arguments and present these orally and in writing
How do you address mass atrocities when there are thousands or even millions of victims and perpetrators? How do you begin to deal with the crimes committed by different states and actors in Syria or even on a smaller scale in Northern Ireland? Since the Second World War international criminal justice has emerged as a body of law to hold individuals responsible for mass atrocities. This module aims to introduce students to the key questions on the relationships between international law, justice and the transition from conflict in the 21st century through an exploration of law, criminological and social theory and case studies. The module adopts a broad interdisciplinary approach to mapping these connected issues and draws on a range of source and geo-political contexts (Latin America and Africa). It touches on contemporary controversies with international justice and domestic political conflicts, such as the intervention of the ICC in Palestine, criminal responsibility child soldiers, and reparations by multinational corporations.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the topics covered in the module, including the concepts of transitional justice and conflict transformation and the relationship amongst criminology, conflict and transition;
- Critically reflect on the relevance of discourses on transitional justice in other jurisdictions to the ongoing transitional process in Northern Ireland;
- Critically assess laws, policies, practices and conduct in the areas covered and apply them to topical problems;
- Interpret relevant concepts and understand theoretical frameworks relevant to the study of the topics;
- Demonstrate knowledge and skills of critical analysis and engage in relevant debate;
- Conduct thorough research on criminal justice and criminology topics and present findings orally and in writing.
Skills
• Oral and written communication skills, as appropriate to LLM-level scholarship
• An advanced knowledge of and ability to understand and critically evaluate key theories, concepts, principles, rules and values in criminal justice, building on previous work within the programme
• An advanced awareness, critical understanding of and engagement with legal and policy debates, specifically in the area of criminal justice, and an ability to tie those debates to debates encountered in previous modules.
• An advanced capacity to synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures in criminal justice and to use those literatures to formulate new arguments
• An advanced ability to engage in self-managed, self-directed and intellectually independent research, to reflect on one’s own learning, to solve problems, make decisions, to develop work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate and to offer evidenced conclusions addressing complex actual or hypothetical problems.
• An advanced ability to recognise and rank issues in terms of their relevance and importance.
• An advanced awareness of legal and regulatory regimes and of their impact with regard to criminal justice, building on previous work within the programme
• An ability to use information technologies for communication, data retrieval and analysis as appropriate to the module
• Engagement with one’s own personal and professional development and academic integrity
This module will examine the development, scope and effectiveness of international human rights law, focusing on the state of the law today. It will pay particular attention to the UN’s systems for protecting human rights but will touch to some extent on regional systems and on the rights of different vulnerable groups, such as national minorities or persons with disabilities. It will look as well at how international human rights law relates to public international law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
The current trends within international human rights law will be explored, as will the challenges facing the law now and in the foreseeable future.
- The rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the nine core UN human rights treaties and a selection of the soft law documents endorsed by the UN.
- The ways in which rights are enforceable within the UN system, particularly through the work of the treaty-monitoring bodies.
- The international systems in place for protecting vulnerable groups, such as members of national minorities.
- The apparent trends within the normative, evaluative and adjudicative activities of the UN’s human rights institutions.
- The ways in which international human rights law might develop in the near future.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module students should be able to:
- display awareness of the variety of legal and regulatory regimes relating to human rights;
- understand the norms in place within the United Nations and international human rights law more generally for the protection of human rights;
- evaluate the institutional mechanisms in place at the global, regional and national levels to enforce human rights norms;
- assess how implementation of human rights norms at all levels could be enhanced
Skills
By the end of this module students should be able to:
- communicate orally and in writing, as appropriate to Masters-level scholarship;
- recognise and rank issues in terms of their relevance and importance;
- understand and critically evaluate key theories, concepts, principles, rules and values in human rights;
- critically engage with legal and policy debates, specifically in the area of human rights;
- synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures in human rights and use those literatures to formulate new arguments;
- engage in self-managed and intellectually independent research, reflecting on their own learning, developing their work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate, and offering evidenced-based solutions to actual or hypothetical problems;
- use information technologies for communication, data retrieval and analysis as appropriate to the module.
The focus of this module will be the exploration and analysis of the normative framework governing the UK’s external trade relations and the main legal and political challenges the UK faces in developing and implementing this important area of foreign policy.
One consequence of the UK’s decision to leave the EU is that the competence to carry out an external trade policy, which had hitherto been carried out exclusively by the EU, will be repatriated to the UK. The UK will therefore have to craft its own external trade policy. This will entail, for example, the setting of its own external tariff system, the development of unilateral trade policy measures (e.g., trade defence instruments and preferential treatment systems) and the negotiation of bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements. The UK’s trade policy will have to be developed within the context of a normative framework which encompasses international law (including the rules of the World Trade Organisation) as well as a growing body UK trade legislation.
The module will be subdivided into three components. The fist component will deal with the constitutional and legal framework underpinning the UK trade policy. It will look at issues such as the status of the UK’s membership within the WTO, the decision-making process through which the UK can negotiate trade agreements, the role devolved authorities will play in shaping trade policy and the legal effect of international trade rules in the UK’s domestic system. The second component of the module will focus on the substantive aspects of UK external trade policy by examining both how the UK can use such policy to advance and protect economic interests and values. This will include an analysis of the UK’s approach to negotiating trade agreements and how such agreements interact with other policy and regulatory areas, trade with developing countries and tackling unfair trading practices. The third component will examine the legal dimension of the UK’s trade relationship with its biggest trading partner: the EU. It will, in particular, deal with the challenges associated with Northern Ireland’s potentially unique trading status post-Brexit.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the learning process each student should have acquired:
• an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the constitutional and regulatory framework governing the UK’s external trade relations and the main legal and political challenges the UK faces in developing and implement this area of foreign policy
• a critical awareness of the international legal framework within which UK trade policy is exercised
• an ability to critically asses the UK’s role and actions as an international trade actor in light of contemporary debates relating to globalisation issues
• an ability to conduct independent research and to articulate coherent legal arguments.
Skills
At the end of the module each student will be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of international and domestic legal framework underpinning UK trade policy
• Engage in critical analysis and evaluation of the interaction between UK trade policy and other policy areas
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Northern Ireland’s distinct trading status within the UK and the EU
• Synthesise relevant and directed readings with independent research, and present findings both orally and in written format.
• Engage in independent study and research and to develop skills around self-directed learning and to exercise initiative in the learning process.
• Show an ability to construct coherent legal arguments orally and in writing
This module examines the framework relating to international trade law. It will consider its origins, evolution and the principal characteristics of the post-war rules governing international trade, from its origins in the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to its current manifestation in the World Trade Organization Agreement (WTO). The module will assess the legal rules relating to international trade in goods and services and how these impact on various regimes worldwide.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will be able to:
- explain and critically assess the history, structure and operation of the WTO and its substantive and procedural rules;
- explain how WTO rules and institutions fit within their political, economic and historical context, with particular reference to the functions they play and the trade-offs they express.
- demonstrate a detailed understanding of the legal frameworks regulating international trade and their application in particular circumstances.
- explain the practical significance of WTO disciplines for a number of specific policy issues including environmental protection and economic development.
Skills
- Legal analysis and problem solving: the doctrinal aspects of the module will challenge students to read and interpret primary legal materials; identify relevant issues; apply relevant concepts, principles and rules; make judgements and reach supported conclusions on the basis of sound and informed reasoning.
- Critical thinking: interdisciplinary approaches will challenge students to think creatively and critically; to evaluate complex policy and legal arguments and evidence; and to expand their methodological perspectives.
- Communication skills: students will be required to participate in seminar discussions and (subject to student numbers) to make presentations during seminars, developing their oral communication skills.
- Academic writing: students will develop their written communication skills.
This module explores the internationalisation of competition law in the context of globalisation and international trade with a particular focus on EU competition law as a leading model, followed by great many states around the globe both in terms of institutional design and substance.
The course will start with general introduction to competition law and policy, its history and aims. During the course of the semester students will be introduced to various aspects of public and private enforcement of competition law, issues related to cartels. Monopolies and mergers, as well as challenges related to transnational violations of competition legislation. The module will also engage with international cooperation in this area of law, in various contexts and on different platforms.
The module critically examines the current regulatory framework governing competition among firms internationally, identifying and analysing the existing limitations and challenges in that regard. It uses the EU model as a comparative benchmark, acknowledging its profound international influence. The course is comparative in nature. No prior knowledge of competition law (antitrust) or international economic law is assumed.
Learning Outcomes
The aims of the module are to engage in a comparative study of competition laws and regimes in an international context with a particular focus on EU competition law as a leading model, followed by great many states around the globe both in terms of institutional design and substance.
At the end of the module students should be able to:
- outline and compare institutional design of the leading competition law regimes around the world,
- identify and explain the main challenges posed by transnational anticompetitive conduct from the perspective of authorities of the affected countries and harmed parties (consumers and competitors),
- distinguish and evaluate national and international responses to the existing challenges (including the role played by international organizations and inter-agency networks),
- account for recent trends in competition law and policy and explain their practical importance in the context of competition law enforcement.
Skills
By taking this module students will be facilitated and expect to develop and practice following academic, legal and transferable skills:
- to identify, access and work with primary (legislation, guidelines etc.) and secondary sources from different countries and different legal and cultural traditions,
- to use various online databases (such us Westlaw, HeinOnline),
- to summarise and synthesise complex doctrines and procedures, and to present them orally (using digital visuals) and in writing in an appropriate manner,
- to write an academic paper of a proper structure, form, and referencing,
- to identify and reflect on faced challenges in the study process and on strategies allowing to address them (also using other available resources at Queen’s).
This module is designed to provide students with an overview of important issues in the field of corporate governance. The study of corporate governance focuses on how, by whom and for whose benefit commercial and other organisations are controlled.
Our primary focus in this module is on public corporations. The limited company is defined in part by the ‘separation of ownership and control.’ That is, that the people who direct and control the corporation and its resources very often do not actually ‘own’ it. Rather, in publicly listed companies at least, a diffuse and diverse body of shareholders are thought to hold a range of property rights. How, so the core corporate governance dilemma goes, is the organisation to be constructed so that the directors do not divert resources to themselves rather than working for the benefit of shareholders? What social role does the corporation have?
Learning Outcomes
• Detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the fundamental doctrines, principles and features of corporate governance design and regulatory politics.
• The ability to demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of a wide range of legal and political concepts, values, principles and to explain the relationship between them in the field of financial governance.
• Critical understanding of the wider socio-legal context in which corporations and the markets in which they operate are governed.
Skills
• Oral and written communication skills, as appropriate to LLM-level scholarship
• An advanced knowledge of and ability to understand and critically evaluate key theories, concepts, principles, rules and values in corporate governance
• An advanced awareness, critical understanding of and engagement with legal and policy debates, specifically in the area of corporate governance
• An advanced capacity to synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures in corporate governance and to use those literatures to formulate new arguments
• An advanced ability to engage in self-managed, self-directed and intellectually independent research, to reflect on one’s own learning, to solve problems, make decisions, to develop work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate and to offer evidenced conclusions addressing complex actual or hypothetical problems.
• An advanced ability to recognise and rank issues in terms of their relevance and importance.
• An advanced awareness of legal and regulatory regimes and of their impact with regard to corporate governance
• An ability to use information technologies for communication, data retrieval and analysis as appropriate to the module
• Engagement with one’s own personal and professional development and academic integrity
This module introduces students to the foundations of International and Transnational Commercial Law. A wide and varied range of private and public international legal sources underpin and regulate the performance of transnational commercial and financial transactions. We will explore and discuss the main principles and rules of conflict of laws/private international law, the sources of international commercial law, harmonisation and unification of commercial law, the international sale of goods, international payment systems, leasing, e-commerce, and international commercial dispute resolution via litigation, mediation, and arbitration
Learning Outcomes
This course will equip students with a deep, systematic knowledge and understanding of the general framework within which the international commercial law operates, and specific areas of commercial law.
• Provide students with a systematic knowledge and understanding of the moral, social, economic and political context informing international commercial law.
• Students will be introduced to a range of research methodologies, and will learn to apply these appropriately to this specialist area of study.
• The course will promote awareness of the range of specialist resources available for the study and understanding of this area, and will promote the development of advanced research skills and academic writing.
• The course will also develop the analytical powers of students, and the ability to evaluate problems in this area to present their views in a compelling manner.
Skills
• Students will be able to work effectively as part of a team analysing problems at a detailed level, formulating and presenting solutions to the group.
• Work independently to present complex arguments, both orally and in written analysis, engaging confidently in academic and professional communication with others.
• Be able to undertake complex research acting independently, making the best use of a range of available resources, and to present the result of this research in a useful and clear form.
• To reflect on personal performance and to identify take appropriate steps to address gaps in knowledge.
This course will be presented in three parts:
a) Theories of Global Justice in the Anthropocene
i.Law and the Anthropocene
i.Planetary and Social Boundaries
ii.Human Rights and Responsibilities
iii.Law, Cyborgs and the Trans-human
b) Climate Justice and Human Rights
i.Climate Change and Human Rights (a)
ii.Human Rights, Human Limits (b)
iii.Human Rights and the Biocentric Turn
iv.Law and the Commons
c) Climate Change Law & Practice:Negotiation Simulation
i.World Climate Negotiation Simulation
ii.Climate Change and Systems Thinking
iii.Live Negotiation Simulation
iv.Negotiation Debrief and Group Assessment
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this Module, students will have:
a.A critical understanding of the implications of climate change for law and humanrights.
b.An ability to problematize law and human rights in the context of climate change(and wider societal changes associated with the Anthropocene)
c.An understanding of climate change law from a number of perspectives, includingthe law of the commons and systems thinking.
d.A first-hand critical understanding of simulated climate change negotiations, usingreal-time online simulation tools at www.climateinteractive.org
e.An understanding of some of the implications of the Anthropocene for law, thelegal profession, and human rights practice
Skills
On completion of this Module students will acquire a number of skills associated with Climate Change and Human Rights practice, including:
a.Critical reflection on individual and group dynamics in negotiating contexts
b.Communicating complex ideas, making links between climate science, societyand law
c.Climate Change negotiation
d.Systems Thinking
e.Integrating human rights into climate change science and negotiation practice
Restorative Justice: Principles, Issues and Debates
Overview
Restorative Justice (RJ) is a unique approach that has been recently put forward as an alternative method of dealing with offending behaviour. Instead of focusing on inflicting harm upon the offender, emphasis is on repairing the harm caused by encouraging the victim, the offender and the community to work together in dealing with the aftermath of the incident. Some of the key principles of RJ include providing a platform for the victim to express the impact of the offense, providing an opportunity to the offender to apologise to the victim and offer some form of reparation and the reintegration of the offender back into the community.
RJ’s popularity has increased in various criminal jurisdictions around the world and its use has been extended in the resolution of conflicts in schools, places of employments and other situations where conflict occurs. However, despite the growing interest in RJ theory, it remains a subject of debate in both academic and non-academic circles, particularly on whether it has a role in the criminal justice process. This module intends to explore the theory and practice of RJ as well consider the various sides of the debate on its application.
Learning Outcomes
• Critically analyse the main principles of RJ theory
• Evaluate evidence relating to theoretical and empirically based arguments and data about RJ
• Demonstrate an understanding of the roles of the parties in a RJ process and the benefits they can derive from participating
• Understand the complexities involved in implementing RJ whether within a traditional criminal justice system or externally
Skills
• Develop the ability to present written reasoned arguments based on research evidence and academic texts
• To present persuasive oral arguments that are logically structured and supported with evidence via active participation in seminar groups.
This module will provide students with unique insights into contemporary debates surrounding the legal challenges posed by the spread of online misinformation. Students will not only grapple with thorny questions regarding how online misinformation can be regulated but will also consider the impact that emerging legislation in this field may have on human rights. Addressing the constantly evolving legal problems that online misinformation poses, this module will equip students with a broad range of timely and practical knowledge.
The first module of its kind in the United Kingdom, this elective module covers the following core topics: (1) The legal classifications of misinformation (2) misinformation and human rights (3) the jurisprudence of misinformation (4) key stakeholders in the law of misinformation (5) the regulation of misinformation in the European Union (EU) (6) the regulation of misinformation in the United Kingdom (7) Contemporary challenges for the law of misinformation.
By introducing students to these engaging and topical subjects, this module will not only provide students with insights regarding current EU and domestic laws in the misinformation field but will also equip students with an understanding of the relevant case law that has vital significance when assessing how the regulation of misinformation can implicate human rights. This module will further be enhanced by a diverse set of perspectives from leading experts in the fields of misinformation, digital rights, and platform governance.
Learning Outcomes
Upon taking this module, students will be expected to:
• Understand and distinguish the complex and nuanced terminology in contemporary legal debates surrounding online misinformation.
• Understand the delicate and ever-changing relationship between misinformation and human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression and the right to free and fair elections.
• Understand the case law and jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that has particular relevance for online misinformation.
• Acquire an in-depth knowledge of how EU legislators—in particular through the Digital Services Act (DSA) package—are currently attempting to regulate online misinformation.
• Acquire an in-depth knowledge of how UK legislators—in particular through the recently adopted Online Safety Act—are currently attempting to regulate online misinformation.
• Develop critical thinking skills by identifying contemporary challenges posed by new technologies for the regulation of online misinformation.
• Develop critical thinking skills by identifying unique perspectives—including feminist and environmental perspectives—that can be used to inform the regulation of online misinformation.
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Case law analytical Skills
Research Skills
The focus of this module will be the exploration and analysis of the impact of online platform in modern society, the construction of online markets and its implications for law and regulation. As a lawyer, entrepreneur, or policy maker working at the forefront of Internet and technology industry, you must know whether and when access providers and communications platforms like Google, Twitter and Facebook are liable for their users’ online activities. This is one of the most relevant emerging issue for online businesses and a key factor that effects innovation and free speech.
(1) This course will provide an in-depth exploration of legal, policy and ethical issues facing platforms and online intermediaries from a national and international perspective, focusing on long standing and emerging new legislation, such as the e-Commerce Directive and Regulations, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Communication Decency Act § 230, the GDPR, the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, the proposed Online Safety Bill, and the newly enacted Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.
(2) In this course, you will learn about novel issues of Internet jurisdiction and innovation regulation.
(3) The course will discuss law and case law dealing with platforms’ intermediate liability for copyright, trademark, and privacy infringement, including data protection obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the right to be forgotten.
(4) Also, this course focuses on the role of Internet platforms and service providers in moderating the speech they carry for customers, including obligations and liabilities for defamation, hate and dangerous speech, revenge porn, and disinformation.
(5) We will also review the tension between innovators and property owners leveraging their hold-out powers to block progress by challenging the legality of innovative technologies under the assumption that they may infringe their intellectual property and other rights.
(6) Finally, we will look into enforcement strategies that governments and private parties around the world adopt to press intermediaries to block their users’ undesirable or infringing online content, such as voluntary agreements, three-strikes policies, blocking orders, and administrative enforcement and extra-territorial enforcement of online intermediaries’ obligations.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to :
• critically discuss the national and international regulatory and legal frameworks within which platforms develop;
• describe platforms’ obligations and liabilities for IP enforcement and content moderation at large;
• discuss online enforcement strategies for IP and other infringing content, including content infringing privacy, personality rights or public laws;
• discuss the challenges that platform regulation portends, also in terms of innovation and technology policy;
• critically assess claims about the social importance and value of the platform economy
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and Application Skills
Research Skills
Prisons, Punishment and the Legacy of Conflict in NI
Overview
An introduction to punishment, imprisonment and justice in society generally but also set within the context of a post-conflict/transitional society. The module will examine, in particular, the role and function of imprisonment during the conflict in Northern Ireland (1968-1998) and residual impact on punishment and criminal justice policies since the signing of the peace agreement. The module will generally explore philosophies / ideologies of punishment; the history and emergence of approaches to imprisonment, the effects of imprisonment during times of incarceration and post release. The module also explore the legacy of conflict on approaches to punishment and impact on those in contact with the criminal justice system. The module also considers the effectiveness of different forms of punishment and critiques of incarceration along with a discussion on alternative approaches to punishment within the context of a post conflict/transitional society.
Learning Outcomes
The principal objectives of this module are to:
1. Provide students with an in-depth understanding of punishment, imprisonment and justice and their relation to the formulation of policy and strategies used during and after the Northern Ireland conflict.
2. To facilitate a critical evaluation of diverse nature of approaches to punishment and role and operation of current day penal institutions and their historical background.
3. To provide a thorough understanding of the diversity of experience, response and adaptation within the penal context (locally and internationally) and assess the utilisation and impact of penal sanctions.
4. Understand and critically evaluate contemporary debates on the impact of punishment, imprisonment and justice.
5. Develop an understanding of the legacy of conflict on approaches to punishment and impact on those in contact with the criminal justice system.
6. Provide an understanding of alternative approaches to punishment within the context of a post conflict/transitional society.
Skills
1. To demonstrate a thorough understanding of the diversity of experience, response and adaption within the penal establishment and assess the utilisation and impact of penal sanctions.
2. To demonstrate informed and independent critical judgement upon theoretical discussions on punishment, imprisonment and alternative responses to those in contact with the criminal justice system.
3. To locate contemporary debates on imprisonment within relevant theoretical frameworks locally, nationally and internationally.
4. To communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
5. To enhance independent research utilising library resources including online databases for research and knowledge enhancing purposes.
6. Develop team and group-working skills via class discussion and group work.
On completion of this twelve-week module each student should be conversant with the dominant paradigms in western Criminology, and will be able to demonstrate the insights that can be gained from such theories and their application to specific criminal justice problems and to apply such theories to practical situations. Through a critical and evaluative exposition of criminological theory, students will be shown that that concepts such as ‘crime’, ‘criminality’ ‘policing’ and ‘punishment’ do not have any universal or general relevance, but rather can be said to be contingent upon a range of historical, political, social and cultural factors. The module will also demonstrate how an applied use of criminological theory can be used to deconstruct the ‘commonsensical’ and often media-inspired explanations for a range of contemporary social problems, and accounts of criminality.
Learning Outcomes
(a) to provide a critical overview of the dominant theories of Western criminology.
(b) to demonstrate the insights that can be gained from such theories, as applied to specific criminal justice problems.
(c) to demonstrate the relationship between theory and practice in the development of an academic criminology that has professional relevance.
Skills
Students taking Theoretical Criminology are required and expected to apply a range of theoretical tools to the study of crime and deviance.
The focus of this module will be the exploration and analysis of the impact of technology on innovation, the construction of online markets and its implications for law and regulation.
The module will examine matters such as ‘cyberlaw’; jurisdiction over online activities; intellectual property and data; and the rise of liability considerations around platforms.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the learning process each student should have acquired:
• an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges that certain aspects of innovation and technology present, and an appreciation of the legal challenges faced
• a critical awareness of the national and international regulatory and legal frameworks within which technology develops
• an ability to critically assess claims about the social importance and value of new technological advances
• an ability to conduct independent research, articulate coherent legal arguments and present these orally.
Skills
At the end of the module each student will be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some new technological advances and the role of law in regulating them
• Engage in critical analysis and evaluation of the interaction between law, regulation and technology
• Develop theoretical understandings of both the implications of technology in terms of democratic values and the strategies for controlling technology
• Synthesise relevant and directed readings with independent research, and present findings both orally and in written format.
• Engage in independent study and research and to develop skills around self-directed learning and to exercise initiative in the learning process.
• Show an ability to construct coherent legal and policy arguments and present these orally and in writing
This module will familiarise students with the law on medical law and ethics. There will be a particular focus on current issues in the area.
Learning Outcomes
• Knowledge and understanding of the ideas underpinning research and development of medical law and ethics.
• Familiarity with legal frameworks applicable to the practice of medicine.
• Understanding of the application of the theoretical constructs and legal frameworks to ‘real world’ cases and scenarios in the area of medicine.
Skills
• Detailed knowledge of governance and regulation as it pertains to medicine.
• Advanced appreciation of the theoretical frameworks through which the relevant scholarship might be advanced.
• Ability to evaluate complex policy and legal evidence.
• Ability to apply legal doctrines and frameworks in the subject area.
• Effective oral communication skills.
• Advanced written skills.
• Ability to be self-directed and exercise initiative.
• Ability to think critically, creatively and holistically.
The chief aims of the module are: (1) to provide an overview of the aims and values of criminal justice processes, policies and practices; (2) to provide knowledge and understanding of the law, policy and practice relating to particular aspects of the criminal process; (3) to demonstrate the issues and tensions that confront the wide range of participants in the criminal justice process; and (4) to encourage an appreciation of the political context in which criminal justice processes operate. The focus of the module is on criminal justice in England & Wales and in Northern Ireland, though students are also expected to engage in comparative analysis in their evaluation of domestic law, policy and practice. The content of each seminar will allow for analyses of specific aspects of the criminal process. Key aspects of the criminal process, from the point of police investigation through to post-appellate review, will be examined in detail throughout the course of the module.
Learning Outcomes
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of the law, policy and practice relating to specific aspects of criminal justice processes.
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of the major debates and tensions which underlie criminal justice processes.
• Understanding of the political context in which criminal justice processes operate and an appreciation of the impact of political interests on the development of the law and policy relating to the criminal process.
• Knowledge of comparative approaches to criminal justice processes.
Skills
• Effective oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to engage in independent study and research.
• Ability to engage in critical analysis and evaluation of the law, policy and operation of specific aspects of the criminal justice process.
• Ability to synthesise relevant and directed readings with independent research, and present findings both orally and in written format.
The first of two 5-credit modules for the Criminal Justice PGT programmes, this session focuses on foundational issues in qualitative social science research. After an overview of research methods relevant to studies in criminal justice and criminology, the module will cover a range of the following topics: the use of case studies; comparative research; critical social research; ethnography; interviews; documentary and discourse analysis; use of surveys and crime data; longitudinal studies; socio-legal; and mixed methodological approaches.
The module aims to:
• provide a foundation for effective methodological work and a framework for the critical appraisal of criminological and social science research.
• introduce students to a variety of approaches and techniques used in criminological/ social science research, facilitate proficiency in research design and encourage methodological appraisal and critique. • develop reading and writing skills and the capacity to critique secondary and primary research. • interpret the manner in which the measurement of crime leads to the social construction and casting of deviance.
• locate the experiential realities of individuals and communities (agency) within their historical, structural and reproductive contexts (structure).
Learning Outcomes
• Knowledge and understanding of methodological issues and the application and suitability of various methods in research studies;
• Knowledge and understanding of criminal justice and criminology as subject areas; understanding of official data sources and secondary sources;
• The ability to critique research methods and their application.
• The capacity to determine what is ethical research.
Skills
• A detailed knowledge of the application of various methodologies;
• An advanced appreciation of various methodologies applied by criminologists and those who have studied criminological issues;
• Ability to study and understand complex issues and problems in the subject area from an interdisciplinary perspective.
• Ability to evaluate complex policy and other evidence.
• Ability to critique and make use of primary and secondary resources.
• Ability to think critically, creatively and holistically
This module will introduce students to the different ways in which human rights can be conceived, for example as inherent aspects of being human, as legal fictions, as socially constructed entitlements, as cultural traditions, as ethical principles or as political tools. It will illustrate to students how human rights thinking and reasoning are not as universalist as they are sometimes portrayed. This should help instil a more sceptical approach to some human rights claims and generally enhance the students’ powers of criticism. In addition the module will introduce students to the different ways in which human rights issues can be researched. It will demonstrate a range of methods for seeking answers to human rights research questions, depending on whether the question concerns the prevalence of human rights violations, the consequences of those violations, the applicability of relevant legal standards, the measurement of progress in advancing human rights standards, and the impact which changes in policies can have on people’s enjoyment of human rights. It will look too at how to assess the performance of various human rights actors, be they legislatures, governments, courts, non-state actors, international governmental organisations or non-governmental organisations.
Relevant texts for this module will be Marie-Bénédicte Dembour’s Who Believes in Human Rights? (Cambridge UP, 2006) and by Fons Coomans, Fred Grunfeld and Menno Kamminga (eds), Methods in Human Rights Research (Intersentia, 2009).
Learning Outcomes
1. Students will be knowledgeable about the history of thought concerning human rights.
2. Students will be aware of the range of arguments that can justify the development and application of international and national human rights law.
3. Students will know about the difficulties that can arise in seeking to measure the extent to which human rights are effectively protected in a society.
4. Students will be aware of the range of views as to what ‘effective protection’ of human rights can mean.
Skills
1. An advanced capacity to synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures and to use those literatures to formulate new arguments.
2. An advanced ability to engage in self-managed, self-directed and intellectually independent study, to reflect on one’s own learning, to solve problems, make decisions, to develop work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate and to offer evidenced conclusions addressing complex actual or hypothetical problems.
3. An ability to use information technologies for communication, data retrieval and analysis as appropriate to the module.
4. An ability to understand and critically evaluate the application of relevant research approaches and methodologies.
5. A self-awareness of one’s personal and professional development and academic integrity.
6. An ability to think critically, creatively and holistically.
7. Oral and written communication skills appropriate to LLM-level scholarship.
The second of two 5-credit modules for the criminology and criminal justice programmes, this session will continue with coverage of the topics introduced in LAW8258. In addition the module will consider a number of the following issues as they arise in criminological research: the politics of research, ethical issues, and practical challenges to researching in a criminal justice environment.
Learning Outcomes
Student should gain a foundation for effective methodological work and a framework for the critical appraisal of criminological and social science research.
They should understand a variety of approaches and techniques used in criminological and social science research, be competent at designing a research project, and have the capacity to critique secondary and primary research.
Skills
-Ability to critically assess research designs, the use of methodological approaches and specific methods, and conclusions made by researchers in the fields of criminal justice and criminology.
- Advanced reading and writing skills.
- Detailed knowledge of the application of various methodologies.
- The capacity to determine what is ethical research.
- The ability to study and understand complex issues and problems in the subject area from an interdisciplinary perspective.
- Ability to critique and make use of primary and secondary resources.
- Ability to think critically, creatively, and holistically.
This module is designed to allow students to engage in independent research and to develop independent study, analysis and methodological skills, in the context of a placement or internship with non-governmental, legal, commercial or governmental organisations that operate in arenas that are relevant to their LLM research.
NOTE: students are encouraged to explore internship options independently with relevant entities. Any particular placement must be approved by the module and/or programme convenors.
Learning Outcomes
1. Ability to reflect critically on personal practice/engagement in the fields relevant to the LLM while working in collaboration with relevant host organisations
2. Ability to undertake an extended research Dissertation based on tasks/learning undertaken while on placement;
3. Enhanced communication, presentation and networking skills.
Skills
• Advanced writing skills
• An advanced knowledge of and ability to understand and critically evaluate key theories, concepts, principles, rules and values in the chosen area of law
• An advanced awareness, critical understanding of and engagement with legal and policy debates, building on scholarship already undertaken in the course of studies
• An advanced capacity to synthesise relevant primary and secondary literatures in the area and to use those literatures to formulate new arguments
• An advanced ability to design and engage in self-managed, self-directed and intellectually independent research, to reflect on one’s own learning, to solve problems, make decisions, to develop work both as an individual and in collaboration with others as appropriate and to offer evidenced conclusions addressing complex actual or hypothetical problems.
• Advanced ability to judge critically the merits of methodologies from different disciplines, and to make reasoned choices between different positions and approaches
• Advanced ability to use, present and critically evaluate information, ability to synthesise and identify central issues from a large amount of complex legal information and information from other disciplines and to draw on scholarship encountered in the course of one’s LLM
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of research ethics and ability to mainstream ethical considerations with research as appropriate to the project
• Advanced ability to engage with, manage and respond to supervision
• Engagement with one’s own personal and professional development and academic integrity
This module will explore thorny questions related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Intellectual Property (IP) and the law by dissecting legal, policy and ethical issues concerning AI impact on creativity and innovation. In particular, after an introduction of AI as a technology and the disruptive effects of AI on society and the market for creativity and innovation, this module will examine multiple roles played by AI in innovative and creative processes. In this context, this module will consider AI as (1) a person, (2) a (machine) learner, (3) a creator, (4) an innovator, (5) an administrator, (6) an infringer and (7) an enforcer.
In doing so, this module will discuss an emerging debate on intelligent machine and legal personality; legal issues related to data protection in machine learning processes, including a discussion of trade secret, "ownership" of data, rights to personal data; legal issues related to the protection of AI software via copyright, patents or trade secrets; legal issues about the protection and ownership of AI-generated works and inventions; the potential use of AI in facilitating administration of legal processes, with emphasis on blockchain for digital right management, use of AI for patent and trade mark examination and smart contracts; the liability of intelligent machines for damages they might cause, both in the IP and other contexts, such as personalised medicine or autonomous driving; and the use of artificial intelligence for content moderation of miscellaneous rights online, including the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
The module will review the mentioned legal aspects of AI by providing a comparative review of multiple international jurisdictions with special emphasis on the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States.
Learning Outcomes
After taking this module, students will be expected to:
• acquire general knowledge concerning the interface between artificial intelligence and law;
• acquire knowledge of the legal framework related to artificial intelligence and data protection, copyright law, patent law, trade secrets, tort law, content moderation;
• understand the ethical and societal challenges related to artificial intelligence;
• understand the challenges that artificial intelligence might pose to fundamental rights, in particular freedom of expression, freedom to access information, right to privacy and due process;
• understand the market effects of larger availability of AI technologies and robot, with emphasis on the market for creativity and innovation;
• master a comparative, cross-jurisdictional understanding of the regulatory framework for AI;
• develop the ability to reflect on how AI’s disruptive effects on traditional business models might force a re-consideration of legal personhood, and the tort and IP legal framework;
• develop critical thinking skills in connection to practical problems in AI regulations from a global international perspective;
• enhance research and writing skills in formulating arguments to solve new emerging legal problems in a fast-developing technological context.
Skills
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and Application Skills
Research Skills
This module is intended as a core for students undertaking the LLM Criminology and Criminal Justice programme. The module is designed to offer a critical insight and overview into four of the main aspects of the criminal justice process that are engaged in the control, management and regulation of crime. The module is structured into four distinct components that consider (1) aspects of policing, policing and policework and their relationship to crime control and prevention; (2)critical decisions in the sentencing process and the ways that these impact on crime control (3) competing legal and policy discourses around crime preventionand the role of governmental and non-governmental agencies that are tasked withimplementing these, and finally (4) the operation of the prison system and whatimprisionment / punishment is intended to achieve. The content of this module isbased on the research interests of teaching staff. The focus of the module willprimarily be on developments in the UK and Ireland but international comparisonswill be drawn where appropriate.
The broad thematic content of the module can be outlined as follows:
1.What do the police do: crime control or order maintenance?
2.The police of the state: governance, oversight and regulation
3.Policing social division: the impact of ‘cop culture’ on the practice of policework
4.Policing beyond the police: the extended policing family
5.The politics of crime prevention
6.Situational crime prevention and target hardening
7.Social crime prevention and early intervention programmes
7.Critical decisions in the sentencing process.
8.Sentencing as crime control.
9.The theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of penology.
10.The experiences of imprisonment.
11.The impacts and consequences of imprisonment.
12.Restorative justice and community offender management.
Learning Outcomes
1.Demonstrate their knowledge and comprehension of the operation of a numberof key agencies concerned with crime and criminal justice issues from acriminological and criminal justice standpoint.
2.Demonstrate that they can apply this knowledge to the actual operation ofcriminal justice agencies and the political economy of crime and to situate thiswithin various theoretical perspectives drawn from law, criminal justice andcriminology.
3.Analyse the effectiveness of criminal justice agencies and crime preventionpolicies in reducing, controlling and managing crime in contemporary society.
4.Synthesise a range of data from interdisciplinary studies to make an evidence-based and informed judgement to assess the impact of criminal justice policies oncrime control within the UK but also within a comparative international framework.
5.Use their evaluative skills to make an overall assessment of the efficacy andeffectiveness of crime control strategies and to identify areas of best practicenationally and internationally.
Skills
Each student will be in a position to distinguish between relevant and irrelevantinformation in developing a critical understanding of current problems in theregulation and management of crime and to demonstrate an awareness of thewider socio-political and economic context within which crime occurs.
Each student will be in a position to critically analyse, evaluate, interpret andapply conceptual information to crime and its management using soundconceptual and methodological frameworks.
Each student will be in a position to problem-solve the linkages between crimeand broader issues in relation to social exclusion and marginalisation withinsociety more generally.
Each student will have the ability to evaluate complex policy and legal evidencein relation to the control and management of crime in contemporary society.
Each student will be in a position to assimilate a range of policy and statisticalinformation around crime and criminality and to draw conclusions and makeassessments on this.
Each student will have the ability to apply complex theoretical frameworksincluding those developed from law, sociology and criminology in the subjectarea.
Each student will be in a position to develop effective oral communication skillsduring class and group discussion.
Each student will be in a position to develop advanced written skills in theformal assessment.
Each student will be encouraged to develop skills around self-directed learningand to exercise initiative in the learning process.
Each student will be in a position to think critically, creatively and holisticallyabout the core precepts of the module.
The focus of this module is the exploration and analysis of the impact of technology on society, the role of law in shaping this, and the response required by law and regulation.
Taking as a context the development of a number of ‘exponential technologies”’ – manufacturing, biotech, energy, and information and communication – the course explores how these are related to law and to wider social forces which condition their production and evolution as well as presenting a range of challenges to any legal approach that seeks to control their development.
Looking at a number issues such a big data, the advance of robotics, the internet of things, machine learning and other developments in biotech, and in culture and entertainment, the module will explore the particular challenges this presents. The value of legal concepts, such as privacy, consent, patents and copyright will be critically examined. In particular there will be a focus on the general question about whether new law is required to deal with the implications of new technology, or whether existing law can be developed and enforced more imaginatively. This is explored across a range of areas and themes and we welcome additional areas of study from the class. Within what we have already included, detailed examination will be given to a number of phenomena, including developments in surveillance technology, the rise of bio technologies, new formats within the music and entertainment industry, and the role of information technology in legal practice and administration to allow an exploration of the implications of technological advance for basic ideas of rights, equality and democracy. Theoretical ideas around the development of algorithmic governance and algorithmic governmentality will be presented and developed, and their value in both understanding what is happening and providing ways of controlling it will explored.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the learning process each student should have acquired:
• an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges that certain aspects of new technology present, and an appreciation of the legal challenges faced
• a critical awareness of the national and international regulatory and legal frameworks within which technology develops
• an ability to critically assess claims about the social importance and value of new technological advances
• an ability to conduct independent research, articulate coherent legal arguments and present these orally.
Skills
At the end of the module each student will be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some new technological advances and the role of law in regulating them
• Engage in critical analysis and evaluation of the interaction between law, regulation and technology
• Develop theoretical understandings of both the implications of technology in terms of democratic values and the strategies for controlling technology
• Synthesise relevant and directed readings with independent research, and present findings both orally and in written format.
• Engage in independent study and research and to develop skills around self-directed learning and to exercise initiative in the learning process.
• Show an ability to construct coherent legal and policy arguments and present these orally and in writing
Intellectual Property and Creative Industries : Copyright, Designs and Trademarks
Overview
This module will focus on exploring the legal challenges and opportunities posed by the intersection of intellectual property (IP) law and the creative industries, with emphasis on copyright, trademarks and designs. This is a rapidly evolving field with significant implications for a wide range of industries and sectors. Moreover, the creative industries contribute enormously to the national economy, with the UK government recently reporting that the creative sector generated £76.9 billion towards the country’s economy in 2013.The module will focus on a range of topics, including the legal framework for the protection of creative works, the impact of new technologies on the creative industries, and the challenges and opportunities posed by global trade and investment. The module will explore a number of questions, topics and sub-topics, including:
(1) a multi-jurisdictional review of creative industries, their dynamics and economics, including how the disruptive effects of macro-economic, social and technological changes might force a re-consideration of traditional business models and the role of IP for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the digital creative economy;
(2) a broad introduction to subject matter, ownership, exclusive rights, infringement, defences, enforcement and remedies for each relevant IP regimes, with emphasis on copyright, trademarks and designs;
(3) the existing justifications, scope and ambition of different IP regimes critically discussed in the context of the creative industries and the market incentives that IP can provide;
(4) practical insights into cross-cutting issues in creative industries such as (i) assignment and licensing of IP; (ii) legal challenges posed by AI-generated creative works; (iii) the impact of digital platforms on the music industry and the video-game industry or the use of IP protected works on social media platforms; (iv) new challenges for trademark protection and unfair competition, such as offensive and scandalous trademarks, trademark dilution and the protection of well-known marks, developments in the area of non-traditional trademarks, character merchandising and personality merchandising; (v) interactions and management of IP, fashion designs, and luxury goods; (vi) non-conventional forms of creativity, such as graffiti, recipes or comedians’ jokes
(5) an international and comparative perspective, with special emphasis on the UK and the EU, including the implications of global trade agreements for the protection of IP rights in the creative industries;
(6) policy considerations, drawing from case studies in several jurisdictions.
Learning Outcomes
After taking this module, students will be expected to:
• acquire general knowledge concerning the interface between Creative industries and intellectual property law, including copyright, designs and trademarks;
• identify and reflect upon the various justifications and aims underpinning the IP regimes in the creative industries
• acquire knowledge of the legal framework related to copyright, trademarks and designs, with emphasis on UK and EU law and case law;
• understand the market effects of larger availability of AI technologies and robot, with emphasis on the market for creativity and innovation;
• master a comparative, cross-jurisdictional understanding of the regulatory framework for IP in the creative industries;
• develop the ability to reflect on how technological innovation’s disruptive effects might force a re-consideration of traditional business models in the creative industries;
• develop critical understanding in connection to practical problems in the regulation of creative/IP content in the creative industries from a global international perspective;
• enhance capacity in formulating arguments to solve new emerging legal problems in a fast-developing technological context.
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and Application Skills
Research Skills
The module examines the emerging issues in global intellectual property (IP) law and its increasing interactions/clashes with other fields such as trade, technology, investment, and human rights.
The global IP regime has evolved through national experiences and common challenges faced by countries. However, international harmonisation of IP via minimum standards of protection implemented in most jurisdictions worldwide has also created tension between national law and legislators in terms of regulating IP vis-a-vis global obligations. In addition, the steady increase in IP interactions with different branches of law, such as investment law and agreements, has threatened the objectives of – and the balance achieved through – international IP harmonisation. Finally, emerging and disruptive technologies had a critical impact on traditional IP norms, further destabilising the international IP system.
In order to disentangle these emerging complexities and imbalances of the global IP system, the module adopts a ‘glocal’ approach focusing on different jurisdictions (UK/European, Asian, and African practices) to the end of covering:
(i) rationale, institutions, and actors of the international IP system;
(ii) the trade-based approach to IP in the context of multilateral trading system and international IP treaties;
(iii) protection of IP rights through free trade agreements;
(iv) interface between trademarks and other regimes for the protection of geographical indications;
(vii) the interface between IP rights, traditional knowledge and cultural expressions, and the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples;
(v) emerging global issues at the intersection of IP, access to knowledge, and education, in a cross-border, possibly digital, environment;
(vi) IP overlaps with trade and investment agreements;
(vii) intersections between IP and international dispute resolution.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, students will be able to :
• develop a deeper understanding of global IP system, its operation, and issues and challenges.
• understand how IP rules are applied in their wider social, economic, and political context.
• understand contemporary debates on global IP rights and their implications to national systems
• appreciate how divergences in national approaches and socio-cultural responses to innovation can be accommodated within the international framework
• understand the international legal framework for the protection of trademarks and unfair competition
• develop the ability to analyse IP policy that reflects social responsibility and balanced consideration of public/private interests
• apply legal rules and principles to practical, real-world scenarios in developing solutions to client-based problems, particularly in cross-border settings
• develop understanding of technologies issues in global IP landscape
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and Application Skills
Research Skills
This module is designed for students who wish to study and understand the complex discipline of international financial law and regulation. It introduces students to the various financial services, the infrastructure, the products, and financial instruments of contemporary finance and the role of law in regulating this key sector. It examines the international financial architecture and the frameworks of rules, standards and practices that govern international financial markets and transactions; the regulation of and competition between global, regional, and local financial centers; the implementation of global frameworks in the U.S., the EU, and in emerging market economies; the role of law and technology in international finance; and the transition to sustainable and digital finance.
Topics addressed in the course include:
The structure of financial systems and the relations between Central banks, banks, securities firms, financial investors, depositors, and states.
The most important types of finance: equity, debt, sovereign debt, and securities.
The nature of banks, their deposit taking function, and their risks
Bank and securities prudential regulations
Corporate governance of financial institutions
Bank insolvency and resolution
Deposit insurance
Payment systems
Regulation of cross-border banks
Sovereign debt
EU and international financial architecture (including IMF)
Learning Outcomes
A. Detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the risks affecting the stability of financial systems;
B. Detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the most important bank regulations in the UK and the EU;
C. Detailed knowledge and critical understanding of comparative approaches to financial regulation (with a specific focus on the US);
D. Detailed knowledge and critical understanding of currently unaddressed issues in international finance and the various reform proposals on the table;
E. An ability to identify and analyse risks in finance and propose practical legal solutions;
F. An ability to understand and analyse financial transactions and the legal regime applicable to them.
Skills
• Oral and written communication skills, as appropriate to LLM-level scholarship
• Legal problem solving. An advanced ability to identify relevant issues, apply relevant concepts, principles and rules, make judgements and reach supported conclusions on the basis of sound and informed reasoning;
• An advanced awareness of and ability to understand financial and economic concepts and to critically evaluate them into broader legal concepts
• An advanced capacity to identify economic issues and to propose regulatory and legal solutions to tackle them
• An advanced ability to critically analyse financial regulations
• An advanced ability to recognise and rank issues in terms of their relevance and importance
• An advanced capacity for a comparative analysis of the law
• Ability to use information technologies for communication, data retrieval and analysis as appropriate to the module
• An advanced ability to structure argument and analysis
• Engagement with one’s own personal and professional development and academic integrity
This module provides a basic understanding of intellectual property (IP) theory and practice. The module is divided into three parts.
Part I of the module will focus on the salient features of intellectual property rights. It will explore in detail the theoretical foundation of intellectual property law by covering: taxonomy, history, theory and social function of IP law. In particular, this Part will cover the historical developments of IP law from the early to the modern period. It will also review the basic justifications of intellectual property law (patents, copyright, trademark, and design law) by discussing deontological theories such as the natural rights-based justifications of IP (eg Lockean theory/Hegel personality theory) or the Utilitarian Incentives-based theories. This Part will also discuss the so-called IP paradox and the social function of IP.
Part II will adopt an economics and socio-legal approach in examining IP law by considering: IP economics, commons-based theory, and the effects of IP rights on innovation. (1) It will first examine the economics of IP rights highlighting its relevance in protecting against market failure; discussing notion such as marginal cost of production, dead-weight loss, and rent seeking; focusing on international technology transfer; and commercialization of intellectual property including intellectual property due diligence and valuation. (2) This part will also focus on commons-based theory, as an alternative to Demsetzian propertisation, including gift economy models (eg free software or community-based/communal intellectual property with emphasis on geographical indications, traditional knowledge, expression of folklore, and genetic resources). (3) Finally, this Section will dig deeper into a review of the tension between the leverage power of right holders in holding out innovation and the effects of IP rights on economic progress. The entire history of IP – from piano rolls to the Internet - is a struggle between innovators and rightsholders to define the scope of the monopoly of the latter and whether innovations that make use of IP protected content should be covered or not by that monopoly.
Part III will cover intellectual property and public interest debates by examining emerging issues related to the potential construction of IP as a fundamental right and the tension of IP with other competing fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, freedom to access information, personality rights, privacy, freedom to conduct a business or due process (eg in the case of online algorithmic content moderation and enforcement).
The module adopts a comparative approach in examining above mentioned topic by reviewing international and national practices.
Learning Outcomes
After taking this module, students will be expected to:
· critically discuss concepts, principles, and theories related to IP and its understanding in a wider societal context.
· critically evaluate emerging challenging of IP and public interest
· analyse and synthesis emerging issues of IP and fundamental rights including the digital environment.
· identify relevant principles and strategies for digital enforcement
· discuss philosophical and economic justifications for intellectual property rights
Skills
Presentation Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Analytical and Application Skills
Research Skills
This module will comprise a critical analysis of the history, institutions and legal/political/theoretical underpinnings of international economic law. This includes: historical accounts of international economic law’s evolution; an exploration of its global and regional institutions such as International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organisation; an examination of the legal/political and theoretical theories which underpin its operation; an engagement with how international economic law interacts with a wide variety of other legal topics such as global health law, the law of the sea, international development law and others. The class will develop a deep and critical understanding of the contemporary and historical operation of international economic law.
Learning Outcomes
• Students will develop an advanced knowledge and understanding of the legal, political and theoretical underpinnings of international economic law.
• Students will develop a deep knowledge and understanding of the legal institutional infrastructures that operate in international economic law and its historical development.
• Students will have detailed knowledge of the primary and secondary sources within international economic law.
• Students will develop the skills necessary to critically analyse how international economic law operates in the global legal order and the critiques that have been applied to it.
• Students will develop their ability to apply theory and knowledge to current topics of debate and be able to analyse international economic law from multiple perspectives.
• Students will develop their skills to synthesise relevant directed readings with independent research and present findings in both an oral and written format.
• Students will engage in independent study and research.
Skills
The module will develop the student’s abilities to:
• Show a critical understanding of the substantive module content
• Utilise a range of legal theoretical and historical analysis to understand the operation of international economic law
• Demonstrate effective oral communication skills in preparing for and engaging with class discussions.
• Further develop their self-directed learning through researching and preparing their assessment.
Applicants with a primary Law degree: Normally a strong 2.2 Honours degree in Law (with a minimum of 55%) or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University. Applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree in Law with less than 55% (or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University) along with a minimum of 2 years relevant experience may be considered.
Applicants with a primary degree in a relevant/cognate subject: Normally applicants with a 2:1 Honours degree or above (or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University) in Social Sciences, Humanities or a cognate discipline.
Applicants with a minimum of a 2:2 Honours degree (or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University) along with a minimum of 2 years relevant experience may be considered.
Exemption from these requirements may be considered for those applicants who hold a Master's degree in a relevant subject (or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University).
Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 29th August 2025. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the application portal against the programme application page.
Admission under Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) may be considered for this course. The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning (RPEL). Please visit the link below for more information. http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicyQUB
International Students
Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.
English Language Requirements
Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required.
*Taken within the last 2 years.
International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.
Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.
Given the broad range of topics covered in this LLM, successful completion of the programme will open a wide range of career opportunities to its graduates. This Masters also provides an excellent basis for further study towards a research degree such as a PhD, which in turn may lead on to an academic career. http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/
Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
1EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.
2 EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.
3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.
All tuition fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. Tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.
All Students
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.
Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.
Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.
If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.
Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.
There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
How do I fund my study?
The Department for the Economy will provide a tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 per NI / EU student for postgraduate study. Tuition fee loan information.
A postgraduate loans system in the UK offers government-backed student loans of up to £11,836 for taught and research Masters courses in all subject areas (excluding Initial Teacher Education/PGCE, where undergraduate student finance is available). Criteria, eligibility, repayment and application information are available on the UK government website.