Study in Antwerp and learn about law in the world Master of Laws (LL.M) 2024-2025
Table of contents In brief 04 In detail 05 Programme structure 07 Job opportunities 17 Why choose UAntwerp 18 What others have said 19 Admission criteria 20 Application procedure 21 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System 22
4 Apart from its legal features, this Master of Laws is about bringing together students from all over the world, learning from each other, from our pasts and cultures, from our differences, finding our commonalities, and looking to the future together. In brief The Master of Laws (LL.M) is a two-year programme taught in English worth 120 ECTS credits. It offers a number of case-oriented courses in a modular setup within a broad range of legal fields. Specifically, you will experience a law-in-context approach in three chosen modules from a list of five: 1) European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights; 2) Sustainable Development and Global Justice; 3) Commercial Transactions & Disputes; 4) Commercial Transactions: Rights & Governance; and 5) Diversity and Law. You will also have the opportunity to develop research skills and make use of our partnerships with excellent universities across the globe by spending a semester abroad.
5 In detail After the first semester, which is focused on skills courses and some fundamental courses in European and international law and human rights, you will follow one module (cluster of courses) each semester. You can also choose to study abroad for one semester during your second Master’s year and specialise in a module that you’ve already chosen in Antwerp. You will participate in a legal clinic, allowing you to bridge the gap between academic research and legal practice. Each legal clinic involves a different partner institution, e.g. a law firm, an NGO, or a government department. You will work with other students on one or more legal assignments that are developed in close cooperation with the partner institution concerned. The assignments are related to real-life cases or policy developments and need to respond to the institution’s needs. This requires an approach that significantly differs from writing an academic paper or studying for an exam. Therefore, the legal clinic is hard work and a hands-on experience of law in your preferred legal field. The research skills you develop in your first semester are further refined through the assignments in the semester modules and within the context of the Master’s dissertation. With the support of your supervisor, you learn how to translate a problem into a legal question, carry out legal analysis, develop your own opinion based on legal arguments and propose legal solutions that reflect key societal and economic developments. This skill set gives lawyers a distinct edge in any field of law (legal practice, NGO, policy, academic). Excellent students have the opportunity to become student researchers within one of the faculty’s research groups
6 Choosing the LL.M was the best decision I have ever made. It offers an excellent balance between theory and practice, and while working together with other students, your English improves a lot. You can also choose between specific modules, so you can do what interests you. for the duration of the programme. This position is aimed at allowing you to better understand the possibilities of an academic career, work closely with junior and senior researchers at the faculty, and participate in academic events (e.g. conferences, seminars, workshops or informal events). Ideally, this position enables you to prepare a funding application for a PhD fellowship. The additional research skills and attitudes you develop will nevertheless be useful for any professional career. Visiting researchers and internationally renowned speakers are frequently invited to the faculty. Our students are welcome to attend faculty lectures, courses and seminars given by these researchers. In this context the Faculty of Law at the University of Antwerp offers you a globally linked, locally embedded ‘metropolitan law faculty’, building on its tradition of strong research and already established networks. The location in the city of Antwerp allows the faculty to engage with a diverse population and a global economic landscape. Our law faculty responds to societal challenges at the domestic, European, and global level. And finally, our metropolitan law faculty trains lawyers with skills to operate in a changing and global society.
7 Programme structure This LL.M programme is problem-based. Law is not studied in isolation, but courses focus on contemporary problems that call for examination from various fields of law and different disciplines, including social sciences and humanities. The programme starts with some mandatory courses that will provide you with a solid academic foundation for the other courses, your Master’s dissertation and your professional career. Some of these courses are practiceoriented and will increase your research and communication skills. The methodological courses will introduce you to a variety of theoretical and epistemological approaches to legal research and legal research methodologies, and the requirements of academic writing by focusing on the development of your research skills and on the writing process. Other more substantive courses are meant to create a level playing field and focus on a wide range of subjects, such as EU institutional law, EU internal market law, EU external relations, constitutional principles and human rights, private international law, public international law and international dispute settlement. The five course modules are similarly problem-oriented and case-based. They require active participation in class and include assignments that prepare you for your career. Each module consists of two advanced courses and two basic courses. The advanced courses are typically taught via lectures and seminars. Most are assessed on the basis of assignments or exercises, case studies, your participation in classroom activities and a final assignment or group project, usually with an oral presentation. Many basic courses are assessed on the basis of a final exam, which can be either written or oral, open or closed book,
8 in addition to class participation. Guest lecturers are common in both advanced and basic courses. And lastly, our lecturers are available for further explanation and feedback and are always happy to assist their students. Within the module ‘Sustainable Development and Global Justice’ you will undertake a post-colonial analysis of public international law by looking at the current role of the United Nations in the global development architecture, with attention to international environmental law and development. You will learn about human rights law with a focus on the Global South while revisiting this field from a developmental perspective, and study a number of cross-cutting issues in order to demonstrate the links and complexities that weave together the three development policy regimes of aid, trade and investment. The module ‘European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights’ gives you the opportunity to study the institutions and the instruments of EU governance specifically from a perspective of multilevel governance with a sharp focus on multilevel constitutionalism and on the basis of concrete cases. You will focus on federal and quasi-federal systems, based on indicators that allow useful comparison of multi-
9 tiered systems, and learn to identify different approaches that national multi-tiered systems adopt in the face of national as well as global challenges, and how they can adopt a centralist, federal or confederal approach. You will gain insight into the multilevel aspects of European fundamental rights protection via supranational, regional and national instruments and institutions. You can explore diversity from several perspectives and in different legal domains within the module ‘Diversity and Law’. You will look into the interaction between genders, sexualities and the law by learning about feminist theory and jurisprudence, by analysing selected fundamental legal debates, and by studying the relevant legal framework in complex areas such as multi-parenthood. You will study how an interdisciplinary approach to property, planning and privacy law and human rights can contribute to building sustainable cities. You will also gain new insights into the essential field of international and European immigration and asylum law, as well as the rights and obligations of employees and employers in an international and European employment context. In the module ‘Commercial Transactions: Rights & Governance’ you will study competition law. This field covers the rules addressed both to undertakings and to Member States to establish good governance. You will learn about international trade law with a focus on the WTO, trade defence instruments, free trade agreements and methods of dispute settlement. In international investment law you will look into principles of protection and substantive standards and investor-state dispute settlement. You will also consider the role and competence of the EU in this field. The course on intellectual property law takes into consideration both the business and public governance context. You will be
10 encouraged to consider various strategies to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), which will include the international context and different types of agreements. Within the module ‘Commercial Transactions & Disputes’ you will focus on the different approaches of and on the law applicable to commercial transactions. You will learn about the extent to which parties can navigate between legal systems, with respect to both substantive law and dispute settlement. You will tackle dispute settlement questions, such as: Should parties opt for court proceedings, arbitration or mediation and what are the consequences of these choices? You will consider what the international effect of the resulting judgment, award or agreement is. You will consider the methods and potential of private and business law harmonisation at a European and international level. The focus will be on key domains of private law such as contract law and consumer law. You will examine international insolvency, including the question of enterprises that have assets in different countries and the insolvency of enterprise groups that are active in various countries. The programme offers you an ‘open space’ of 6 ECTS credits. In this space you can choose from a wide range of electives or interdisciplinary courses or seminars. Alternatively, you can participate in a winter or summer school, a moot court competition, or you can apply for an internship through one of our partnerships with international organisations or law firms in Switzerland, India or Peru and gain critical experience in the field of human rights. A placement or internship of your choice is also an option.
11 Over a period of two years you will learn to work independently on your Master’s dissertation, deepening your expertise in the selected topic and developing your research skills. Your dissertation is related to one of the modules; the legal clinic that you follow is also aligned to that module. An overview of our legal clinic partners is available on page 12. You will write the dissertation under the supervision of a professor specialised in the subject matter, after your research proposal is accepted during the second semester of your first Master’s year, and you will defend the dissertation at the end of the second Master’s year. In the second and final year of the programme, you will have the opportunity to study abroad for one semester at one of our partner universities, within or outside Europe. Every module in the Master of Laws has a number of privileged partners that offer courses complementary to the UAntwerp modules. This will allow you to experience a different international environment, and perhaps a different approach to law, legal education and legal science. You may find a list of our partner universities on page 12 and 13.
12 Summary of legal clinic partners and privileged partners Our legal clinic partners Commercial Transactions: Rights and Governance: Baker McKenzie law firm in Brussels Diversity and Law: Nansen Belgian refugee council Commercial Transactions and Disputes: Loyens & Loeff law firm in Brussels European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights: Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sustainable Development and Global Justice: ClientEarth and/or similar NGOs Our current privileged partners Commercial Transactions: Rights and Governance Maastricht University (the Netherlands) University of Bern (Switzerland) Vilnius University (Lithuania) Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Lima, Peru) National Law University Delhi (India) University of Bologna (Italy)
13 Our two-year LL.M programme is the cream of the crop in our law school. It hosts a nice blend of international and local students and staff, who benefit from close collaboration in a small college. Professor Frederik Swennen, Dean of the Faculty of Law Diversity and Law Tilburg University (the Netherlands) University of Lodz (Poland) University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu/Kuopio, Finland) University of Westminster (London, United Kingdom) National Law University Delhi (India) Commercial Transactions and Disputes University of Bologna (Italy) University College Dublin (Ireland) University of Johannesburg (South Africa) University of Mannheim (Germany) University of Zagreb (Croatia) European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights University of Graz (Austria) University of Trento (Italy) Maastricht University (the Netherlands) Sustainable Development and Global Justice National Law University Delhi (India) University of Padua (Italy) University of Pretoria (South Africa) Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Lima, Peru)
14 Curriculum Year 1 In addition to the mandatory courses (semester 1) you choose one module (semester 2). You also start with the first part of your Master’s Project. Please refer to www.uantwerpen.be/master-of-laws for detailed information. Mandatory courses ECTS credits 30 Substantive courses Law of the European Union 6 Public International Law and International Enforcement 6 Constitutional Principles and Human Rights 3 Private International Law 3 Methodological courses Legal Research Methodology 3 Empirical Research Methods in Law 3 Academic Writing, Oral and Communication Skills 3 Global Legal Systems 3 1 (compulsory) Module ECTS credits 18 In semester 2, choose one module out of A. Commercial Transactions and Disputes AC International Commercial Transactions 6 AC Dispute Settlement 6 Harmonised Private Law 3 International Insolvency Law 3 B. European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights AC Constitutional Law of the European Union 6 AC Institutional Dynamics in Multilevel Constitutionalism 6 Comparative Federalism 3 European Fundamental Rights Law 3 Our competenceoriented approach comprises internships and legal clinics, where students function very well thanks to our focus on methodological skills. Professor Frederik Swennen, Dean of the Faculty of Law
15 C. Sustainable Development and Global Justice AC International Law and Sustainable Development 6 AC Human Rights and Global Justice 6 Law and the Ecological Crises 3 Law and the Global Economic Governance of Development 3 Master’s Project I ECTS credits 12 Legal Clinic 9 Research Proposal 3 Year 2 In addition to your Master’s Project part II and 1 or 2 ‘open space’ elective(s) you choose two modules, one for each semester. Alternatively, you can subsitute one of your modules by a semester abroad. 2 (compulsory) Modules ECTS credits 36 In semester 1, choose one module out of A. Commercial Transactions: Rights and Governance AC European Economic Regulation 6 AC International Trade and Investment Law 6 European, International and Comparative Intellectual Property Law 3 International Mergers and Acquisitions 3 B. Diversity and Law AC Genders, Sexualities and the Law 6 AC The Inclusive, Sustainable City and Law 6 International and European Immigration and Asylum Law 3 Legal Issues of International Employment 3 C. Mobility window (semester abroad)
16 In semester 2, choose one module out of A. Commercial Transactions and Disputes AC International Commercial Transactions 6 AC Dispute Settlement 6 Harmonised Private Law 3 International Insolvency Law 3 B. European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights AC Constitutional Law of the European Union 6 AC Institutional Dynamics in Multilevel Constitutionalism 6 Comparative Federalism 3 European Fundamental Rights Law 3 C. Sustainable Development and Global Justice AC International Law and Sustainable Development 6 AC Human Rights and Global Justice 6 Law and the Ecological Crises 3 Law and the Global Economic Governance of Development 3 D. Mobility window(semester abroad) Master’s Project II ECTS credits 18 Master Thesis Open space ECTS credits 6 Choose one or two courses for a total of 6 ECTS credits from a list of elective courses or alternatives, such as an internship, moot court, summer or winter course. Please refer to www.uantwerpen.be/master-of-laws for detailed information. Total ECTS credits 120
17 Job opportunities Our Master of Laws enables you to work in an internationally oriented legal environment, including internationally oriented law firms and ministries, international organisations, multinational companies, non-governmental organisations, or in academia. The programme will assist you in fulfilling your ambition, regardless of whether it is as: a practising lawyer a legal advisor in an internationally oriented company an international or domestic civil servant a diplomat or lobbyist an educator or researcher This degree is equivalent to the Flemish degree of ‘Master in de Rechten’. For admission to the legal profession in Belgium (the ‘bar’), a Belgian Bachelor of Laws is required in addition to this Master’s degree. If you hold a non-Belgian law degree you can apply for qualification in certain cases. For more information, go to www.advocaat.be (in Dutch) or www.avocats.be (in French). Orientation year After completing your studies you can choose to look for work opportunities in Belgium. You can apply for an orientation year and extend your stay in Belgium by 12 months. Guidance and administrative assistance with this process is available through the university.
18 Why choose UAntwerp Our university is located in the city of Antwerp, in the heart of Belgium and Europe. The port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world. Antwerp is not just an ancient medieval and baroque city, full of history. It is also a bustling metropolis with a vibrant social scene, impressive architecture and cultural contrasts. Over 170 nationalities live here, more than in New York! This cosmopolitan vibe is also reflected at the University of Antwerp. First-rate research and education make the University of Antwerp a wonderful place to study and work. We foster the nexus between research and education. Internationalisation is key to our mission. It is no coincidence that the University of Antwerp is a partner in a highly promising European University Network, the Young Universities for the Future of Europe www.YUFE.eu. As home away from home to over 20,000 students, the University of Antwerp prides itself on operating on a human scale. Our faculty and staff will welcome you into top-notch infrastructure on one of our four campuses. While you’re here you are also invited to enjoy our vibrant cultural programme, sports facilities and many student services. The University of Antwerp scores extremely well in Young University Rankings
19 What others have said The Master of Laws made me grow on both an intellectual and a personal level thanks to the diverse team of professors, guest lecturers and the many interactions with students from all over the world. The modules encourage critical thinking in an interdisciplinary setting. The programme gave me a great sense of belonging and confidence, allowing me to thrive in a future international career. Quote from an LL.M student
20 Admission criteria Applicants should hold an academic Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) of at least 180 ECTS. Since the programme is taught in English, candidates with a prior degree issued outside of Belgium, the Netherlands or Luxembourg are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English. The following tests are accepted: Paper-based TOEFL: minimum 550 Internet-based TOEFL: minimum 80 IELTS: minimum total score of 6.5 and minimum score of 6.0 for each individual component Cambridge English: minimum B2 First with a score of at least 176 Interuniversity Test of Academic English (ITACE): minimum B2 Successfully passed one year of studies in an accredited Bachelor’s or Master’s programme in English
21 Application procedure Candidates with a Bachelor of Laws from a higher education institution in Belgium, the Netherlands or Luxembourg can enrol directly. All other candidates must submit an application through the online application tool Mobility Online. As of 9 November 2023, the link to Mobility Online is published on www.uantwerpen.be/admission. Application deadlines to submit an application through Mobility Online For non-EEA* nationals and for students who need to apply for a visa: before 1 March 2024 For EEA nationals: before 1 June 2024 When your application is fully approved (i.e. when you have received a Letter of Acceptance), you can proceed with your enrolment. Enrolment deadline 4 October 2024 Enrolments start on 1 July 2024. The academic year 2024-2025 starts on Monday 23 September 2024. * EEA = European Economic Area Member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
22 ECTS credits The University of Antwerp applies the ‘European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System’ (ECTS) in all its degree programmes. A full-time one-year study programme amounts to 60 ECTS credits (30 ECTS credits per semester), which implies a student workload ranging from 1500 to 1800 hours. One ECTS credit amounts to 25 to 30 hours of work including contact hours, preparatory work, study and assessment.
UAntwerpen - Faculteit Rechten @uantwerplaw Faculteit Rechten Universiteit Antwerpen UAntwerpen - Faculteit Rechten Quick facts Level Master Language English Credits 120 ECTS credits Number of years 2 Tuition fee per year * EUR 1116 for EEA nationals EUR 5800 for non-EEA nationals Campus Stadscampus Faculty Law More information www.uantwerpen.be/ master-of-laws * subject to yearly revision Contact Master of Laws Student Administration Office masterlaw@uantwerp.be T: +32 3 265 57 38 International Students Office internationalstudents@uantwerp.be T: +32 3 265 31 89 www.uantwerpen.be Follow us! This brochure was published in September 2023. As all information is subject to change, please check our website for the latest updates.
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