MSc Commercial Law

• You should hold a law honours degree (minimum 2:2) from a recognised Higher Education institution or equivalent from a recognised overseas institution.
• Candidates who have successfully completed the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or the Common Professional Examination (CPE) will also be considered for admission onto the course.
• Non law graduates will also be considered for admission if they have relevant experience or if they have a degree in a related area of study such as business, politics or international relations.

English Language Requirement:

• IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all components

Core modules:

• Research Methods - we develop your approach to legal research by introducing you to key skills and concepts.

Option modules (choose three):

• International Competition and Law Policy - allows you to develop a thorough awareness and understanding of competition law and policy in an international context.
• International Banking and Finance Law - covers the law relating to the international banking and financial sectors. You will consider the historical development of the sectors, the policy adopted by the UK and the USA towards financial regulation, and the impact of the credit crunch on financial institutions.
• International Contracts - provides you with a sound knowledge of the main principles of international contracts and their application, enabling you to gain an overview of the different legal and economic elements involved in an international transaction.
• International Environmental Law - covers international legal principles and concepts relating to environmental protection in the context of wider political, ecological and economic issues.
• Globalisation and the Law - introduces you to what globalisation means in economic, political, cultural and social terms, and the legal consequences that derive there from. You will assess whether international law is equipped with instruments and institutions to regulate the consequences of globalisation.

Choose four modules:

• International Financial Crime - provides a critical understanding of the international legal principles and concepts relating to financial crime and enables you to evaluate and discuss the effectiveness of European Law in preventing and detecting financial crime.
• Shipping Law - gives you an understanding of the issues, constraints, interests and risks involved in the shipping industry and the role that sea transportation plays in international trade.
• Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility - looks at the difference between the concepts of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, enabling you to assess the effectiveness of corporate governance and self-regulatory schemes.
• International Employment Law - centres on employment law in an international context. The module relates to many of the themes explored in the materials of the International Labour Office (ILO), in particular globalisation, flexicurity (flexibility v security), human rights and sustainability.
• International Commercial Disputes - gives you an understanding of the international legal principles and concepts relating to international commercial disputes, and how to apply them in a variety of practical contexts.
• International Intellectual Property Law - covers the law relating to intellectual property (copyright and patents)from an international and European perspective.
• Natural Resources Law - examines the legal regulation related to natural resources, looking at the sources and legal concepts applicable to natural resource activities, with a particular focus on the oil, gas, water and forestry sectors.
• Information Technology Law - gives you a thorough understanding of the complex legal issues created by the use of information technology, with particular application to the UK, the European Community and the USA.

Dissertation

You will need to write a 15,000 word dissertation. This needs to be an original piece of work. You can satisfy this requirement by:

• carrying out empirical work that has not been done before
• synthesising issues not put together before
• looking at topics that people in the discipline have not looked at before
• examining existing knowledge in an original way, or
• bringing new evidence to bear on an old issue.