Program Overview

Summary

Face the legal issues in international human rights today in our LLM Human Rights and Legal Practice course.

Our LLM is designed and taught by experienced legal professionals and human rights activists. It will provide you with the necessary foundation for the skills in the human rights field for legal practice, campaigning and advocacy. You will gain a thorough understanding of the theories, issues and concepts underpinning international human rights and, crucially, how they are put into practice.

Suitable for legal practitioners, aspiring legal professionals and human rights activists, this course will enable you to build upon your skillsets in project management, research, analysis, problem-solving and critical thinking within the field of human rights. This LLM programme will examine the rhetoric and reality of human rights using an issues-based approach. Taking an interdisciplinary and holistic approach, you will acquire a high level of specialist knowledge, informed by current thinking and debate.

With the human rights sector becoming increasingly competitive, employers are now asking for some experience as a prerequisite. London is one of the world centres for this sort of career, with most international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) having their headquarters here.

This course will provide you with a strong academic grounding as well as the practical and vocational legal skills required for legal practice in the human rights field. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a work placement during your degree to develop your skills. After this course, you could work for a law firm, international organisation, government department, think-tank, non-governmental organisation, or a research and development organisation. Students can also exit with PGCert and PGDip awards.

Career opportunities

This specialised course will prepare you for many career opportunities within human rights law. You could work in human rights organisations, including international organisations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation, the International Criminal Court, or for an NGO specialised in human rights and social justice. Many of these organisations are headquartered in London. You could also have a career in government, diplomatic institutions, think tanks, research and development organisations, or continue your academic career.