Masters Degrees (Immigration And Asylum Law)

Overview

The LLM in Immigration Law will provide you with the opportunity to study legal responses to the global phenomenon of immigration at international, supranational and domestic levels and to understand the rationale and operation of the law in context.

This Master of Laws programme offers a comprehensive overview of the major legal and theoretical issues concerning immigration law and policy from a domestic, comparative, European and international perspective. Modules include international migration and refugee law, European migration law, comparative immigration law, cultural diversity and the law, and migration and security. This LLM is unique globally as it is taught by leading academics in the field and you will be exposed to insights from legal practitioners, international organisations and NGOs.

The East End of London is a historic site of migration and displays the interplay between migration and human rights, on the one hand, and migration and security, on the other hand, as well as the transnational nature of the phenomenon of human mobility across borders in a globalised world. The programme adds to the existing expertise offered by the School of Law in human rights, public law, legal theory, and public international law. Our academics are engaged in leading research into the areas covered within the programme.

This programme will:
◦Allow you to gain the most up to date knowledge of developments in the area of international and comparative immigration and refugee law.
◦Deliver knowledge and analysis of a range of concerns of relevance to professional communities involved in the field.
◦Enable you to understand the formal legal dimensions of your subjects as well as the more contextual political, historical and socio-legal dimensions.
◦Give you exposure to an array of experts who have research as well as policy led focus on the issues at stake.

Modules:

To specialise in this area, you must select 90 credits of modules from this list and do your compulsory dissertation in the field of Immigration Law (45 credits). The additional 45 credits of taught modules can be in this area or can be unrelated and therefore selected from the full list of LLM modules.

All modules are 22.5 credits unless otherwise stated.

Note: Not all of the modules listed will be available in any one year and semesters listed can be subject to change. Any modules not available in the forthcoming academic session will be marked as soon as this information is confirmed by teaching academics.

The updated module list below represents the result of our ongoing modularisation of the LLM which is intended to offer students greater flexibility and choice of module options.

◦ QLLM100 EU Immigration Law (Sem 1)
◦ QLLM170 Cultural Diversity and Law (Sem 1)
◦ QLLM172 Comparative Immigration and Nationality Law (Sem 2)
◦ QLLM174 Migration, Security and Human Rights (Sem 1)
◦ QLLM176 International Refugee Law (Sem 1)
◦ QLLM177 International Migration Law (Sem 2) (Not running 2016-17)
◦ QLLM193 Free Movement of Persons in the European Union (Sem 2)
◦ QLLM321 Ethics of Migration and Asylum (Sem 1) (Not running 2016-17)

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In developing a career in the competitive world of government, NGOs, international consultancies or think tanks – as well as in the legal profession - an LLM is an important asset. There are four pathways to choose from at Middlesex: you can take the General LLM programme or specialise in International Business Law, Employment Law or Minorities, Rights and the Law.

Whichever path you take, you will broaden your knowledge of law and deepen your understanding of legal methods, concepts and processes. Our General LLM (outlined below), rather than a specialist pathway, is ideal for students who have not yet chosen a more specialised field of interest, or who wish to gain the overview that can achieved by completing modules across different specialisms.

Why study LLM/PGDip/PGCert Law at Middlesex?

The School of Law at Middlesex brings together a staff team that includes world-renowned scholars who are expert in communicating the latest developments in and thinking about legal questions. You will be taught by these staff members, who combine instruction in core topics with the fruits of their current research. As a student, you will also benefit from their networks of contacts, notably as regards internship opportunities in national and international organisations such as the United Nations, in on-campus litigation centre (the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre), through involvement in our regular client-facing Intellectual Property Clinics, or in the form of placements in a range of local companies providing professional legal services.

The Law Department at Middlesex is known for high quality research, teaching and seminar events on current legal topics, all taking place in a lively and supportive environment. Led by award-winning European Law specialist and Head of Department Prof. Laurent Pech, our scholars and legal experts include Prof William Schabas (a world expert on genocide, the death penalty and international criminal law), Dr. Erica Howard (an expert on EU equality and anti-discrimination law), Prof Philip Leach (Director of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre), Prof. David Lewis (internationally regarded for his scholarship on whistleblowing and Employment Law), Prof. Rohan Kariyawasam (commercial and digital law), Prof Alan Durant (media and communication law), Dr. Helena Wray (international and UK migration law and policy, and editor of the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law), and Prof Joshua Castellino (international law and human rights law, currently member of the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network). Across all our specialist pathways you will work with outstanding and professionally engaged staff who combine expert teaching with professional lessons gained through external research and consultancy.

Course highlights:

- Around 75% of Middlesex Law graduates find employment within six months of graduating (the remaining 25% mostly pursue further study).
- Your studies are located within easy reach of London's major legal institutions, such as the law courts, the House of Lords and the Inns of Court. Visits to relevant institutions such as the London Court of International Arbitration are incorporated into modules.
- The Department has an exchange agreement with Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, providing an exceptional opportunity to be awarded a double degree combining a degree from a US Law School with an LLM award from Middlesex University.
- The Middlesex Law Society is a well-established and active professional association of local lawyers, offering students events and professional links.
- A rapidly growing number of international placements offers you opportunities in leading organisations within and beyond the UK. - These include the Practicum in International Organisations, which gives you the chance to intern at institutions such as the United Nations, Global Union Federations and NGOs.
- The LLM is open to non-law graduates with appropriate experience, subject to taking a short 'Introduction to Law' course.
- We have a proud record of attracting and supporting international students over several decades and place great emphasis on supporting students from all parts of the world.
- As a student of this course you'll receive a free electronic textbook for every module.

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Under which circumstances do immigrants have the right to family reunification in the country of their preference? What are the European Union’s obligations under international human rights treaties when dealing with, for example, the refugee-boat problem? And what is the role of Brussels in managing migration within the EU as well as towards Europe? This is a sample of the issues that are dealt with in the Master’s specialisation in Human Rights and Migration.

This specialisation studies legal issues relating to migration and human rights in its theoretical, operational, social and political context. The basis of the programme lies in European legislation and international human rights treaties. This is a lively field of law that constantly develops and changes. Changes in public opinion in a European member state may affect its domestic legal order, which in turn influences European laws and vice versa. This specialisation therefore also focuses on the dynamic interplay between national, European and international law, as well as on the ins and outs of the EU lawmaking process.

See the website http://www.ru.nl/masters/europeanlaw/humanrights

Why study Human Rights and Migration at Radboud University?

- This specialisation focuses on issues of freedom of movement and immigration within the European Union; asylum and immigration appeals and remedies; as well as international human rights law.

- The Netherlands has a long-standing tradition in the field of refugee law and international human rights and with the presence of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, it’s a great country for studying this field of law.

- The staff that teaches students of this Master’s specialisation are recognised experts in the field, who have published widely in the field of European free movement of persons, asylum and immigration, European and international law and international human rights.

- You’ll study at a Law School that is rated number one in the Netherlands for student satisfaction.

- The Faculty of Law in Nijmegen was the first in the Netherlands to set up a dedicated European Law programme. It has built an international reputation in the field of European law, immigration law and private law, and is part of a large network that includes more than fifty universities in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia.

- The international mix of students gives the classes and project work a multicultural touch. This will give you the extra benefit of gaining multicultural communication skills as well as a multitude of legal and cultural perspectives in this field. By the time you receive your Master's diploma, you’ll have gained excellent skills to work in the Netherlands or in any other country.

- Students of Radboud University regularly take part in international and European Law Moot Court competitions, enabling you to put academic theory into legal practise during your studies.

- You have the option of going abroad, either for an internship or to follow additional courses as an exchange student at our academic partner institutions. This adds to your personal international experience as well as increasing your knowledge further. Our professors have a good network, and are willing to assist you in finding a position that meets your interests.

Career prospects

Graduates of this specialisation are well-qualified to take up positions in law, lobbying or consulting firms anywhere in the world. As the name of the Master’s implies, your area of expertise will be in the legal field of human rights and migration, and specifically where it applies to citizens dealing with the European Union. You’ll also have a thorough, general understanding of the internal and external markets of the European Union and the position of Europe in the world.

- Prospective employers

Prospective employers interested in your expertise include NGOs, governmental organisations including the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, and international organisations such as the European Commission, the United Nations, international courts and tribunals, lobby organisations, councils for refugees and charity foundations. There are also a number of commercial businesses with a need for legal experts with knowledge of free movement of persons in the European Union.

Our approach to this field

At Radboud University, we strive for clear practical relevance of academic knowledge.

1. Many of our lecturers are also law practitioners. We can therefore not only teach our students the black letter law, but also add our own professional experiences, indicating the strengths and challenges of certain rules, legal instruments or strategies.

2. Guest speakers are regularly invited to share their experiences, enlightening students with real-world scenarios, and providing them with tips on how to deal with cases that don’t follow the official norms.

3. In our research we are engaged in collaborative ventures in this field, such as international and European courts and tribunals as well as NGOs and councils. Therefore, we are informed of the issues that practitioners deal with in their regular work. We respond to their questions by developing research that is relevant.

4. In the Master’s programme in European Law we focus on the law in force, and in accordance with the approach of professionals, focus on justifying decisions in legal terms, in reference to legal rules, principles, and precedents. However, we don’t shy away from critically analysing those rules, principles and precedents, indicating possible alternatives and desired improvements where necessary.

See the website http://www.ru.nl/masters/europeanlaw/humanrights

Radboud University Master's Open Day 10 March 2018

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With over 30 years of expertise, LSBU Law has shaped the professional futures of thousands of law students.

The LLM International Human Rights and Development offers a mixture of international human rights law, development studies and refugee studies modules. You'll explore contemporary debates in the context of specific countries and themes.

You'll gain knowledge of the protection of international human rights within the context of international development and refugee practice and the role of a rights-based approach to international development practice.

Events

The Law Department hosts annual events such as updates on Human Rights delivered by our Visiting Professors, Sir Geoffrey Bindman, Joel Bennthan QC and Imran Khan. We also host the Young Legal Aid Lawyers Question Time and occasional events such as our recent inter-professional conference – Responding to Rape, and meetings and seminars for Burmese human rights campaigners.

Modules

Core Modules:

Images of development
Research methods
International law and human rights
International law in the developing world
Dissertation

Optional Modules:

International business, trade and less developed countries
International humanitarian law
Forced migration and resettlement
International refugee law
Case management
Advocacy
International criminal law
Forced migration in developing societies

Teaching and learning

The LSBU Law Department has a strong set of experts, consultants and international advisors in the field of Human Rights and hosts a number of annual events and conferences.

Head of the Law Department, Andy Unger, has worked as a consultant in former communist countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia. In the South Caucuses, his most recent working has been with the British East-West Centre, designing and supervising the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded projects offering human rights training to lawyers and justice officials in the region.

Senior Lecturer in Law Caron Thatcher has observed elections in many parts of the former Soviet Union including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and also in Russia itself and monitoring the final election of Mr. Putin in 2004.

Professional links

Through our growing pool of visiting fellows and professors, the Law Department has developed a strong network of contacts with leading law practitioners in the UK. Many members of the Law Department are practitioners, or retain strong links with the legal profession. We enjoy strong links with a number of leading European Law Faculties, including Universitie Cergy Pontoise in France, INHOLLAND University in the Netherlands and Zagreb University in Croatia.

Employability

You'll graduate with the necessary knowledge and skills to work in the fields of law, human rights and development (either in the UK or abroad) as advisors, experts, researchers and policy makers.

With a background in law, you might practise in human rights, immigration and asylum, and public law.

With a development studies background you might go on to practice in the NGO sector employing a rights-based approach to development.

LSBU Employability Services

LSBU is committed to supporting you develop your employability and succeed in getting a job after you have graduated. Your qualification will certainly help, but in a competitive market you also need to work on your employability, and on your career search. Our Employability Service will support you in developing your skills, finding a job, interview techniques, work experience or an internship, and will help you assess what you need to do to get the job you want at the end of your course. LSBU offers a comprehensive Employability Service, with a range of initiatives to complement your studies, including:

• Direct engagement from employers who come in to interview and talk to students
• Job Shop and on-campus recruitment agencies to help your job search
• Mentoring and work shadowing schemes.

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This programme provides a comprehensive introduction to understanding contemporary research on global migrations and social justice. Unique in Scotland, it addresses questions such as who moves and why, who is allowed to settle and where, what are the roles of states, institutions and civil societies in these processes.

Why this programme

• The programme draws on recognised expertise in migration studies, sociology, anthropology, history, criminology, human geography, policy and politics, ethics, as well as a wide variety of country and regional expertise.
• You will get access to cutting-edge academic research on migration with an emphasis on social justice and learning from non-academic work in this area.
• It offers innovative and wide ranging learning and teaching approaches from lectures and seminars, to project work, workshops and field based activities, along with assessment methods with practical options for collaborative and arts-based projects.
• The programme is supported through GRAMNet, the University of Glasgow’s internationally recognised research network for Refugees, Asylum and Migration in Scotland. You will benefit from the provisions offered by GRAMNet, such as training, seminars, opportunities for knowledge exchange and spaces for dissemination.
• The programme features guest lectures and input from leading migration academics as well as practitioners working in this area.

Programme structure

You will take three core and three optional courses as well as complete a dissertation or a practical project. Courses will be delivered via lectures and seminars supported by appropriate multi-media material, such as monographs, videos, podcasts, journal articles, reports and survey data. Coursework will involve project work, workshops and field based activities.

The dissertation options have been designed to bring together practice and academic learning, allowing you to reflect on the experience of being directly and actively engaged with service providers and asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, working alongside them to explore how research may be transformative for organisations, individuals and communities.

Core courses

• Global migrations: histories, structures, experiences
• Public social science for social justice 
• Research design.

Optional courses may include

• Access, equity, health
• Century of the refugee: refugees and statelessness in comparative perspective, 1900-2000
• Immigration and asylum law 
• Migration, mobility and settlement: Post-Soviet migrations
• Migration, mobility and settlement: Central and East European migration to the UK and Scotland
• Racism and modernity
• Texts for diversity: language across learning for children with English as an additional language . 

You may also be able to choose from courses in the other subjects in the School of Social & Political Sciences.

Career prospects

On completing the programme, you will be equipped to apply your learning to a wide range of opportunities locally, nationally and internationally. This might include working with policy-making bodies, local and national governments, community organisations, NGOs and third sector organisations. The emphasis on applied learning makes this programme relevant to a range of professional settings where graduates may be working with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, for example in education, social work, housing, equalities, campaigning and advocacy work, community development, human rights advocacy work, social research. It will also provide the necessary foundations for further study through doctoral research.

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This programme examines global migrations and social justice by addressing questions such as who moves and why, who is allowed to settle and where, what are the roles of states, institutions and civil societies in these processes. It provides advanced training in social science research methodology to fulfil Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) postgraduate research training requirements.

Why this programme

• The programme draws on recognised expertise in migration studies, sociology, anthropology, history, criminology, human geography, policy and politics and ethics as well as a wide variety of country and regional expertise.
• You will get access to cutting-edge academic research on migration with an emphasis on social justice and learning from non-academic work in this area.
• You will be taught research methods by expert staff from a wide range of disciplines, allowing you to benefit from specialist knowledge and methodology.
• The programme is supported through GRAMNet, the University of Glasgow’s internationally recognised research network for Refugees, Asylum and Migration in Scotland. You will benefit from the provisions offered by GRAMNet, such as training, seminars, opportunities for knowledge exchange and spaces for dissemination.
• The programme is the only Masters programme in Scotland with a focus on migration studies and social justice.
• This degree is taught jointly with the MSc Global Migrations & Social Justice, which has a stronger focus on the subject, with less emphasis on research methods.

Programme structure

You will take five core courses and one optional course as well as complete a dissertation or a practical project.

Core courses

• Global migrations: Histories, structures, experiences.
• Public social science for social justice 
• Research design
• Qualitative methods
• Quantitative data analysis.

Optional courses may include

• Access, equity, health
• Century of the refugee: refugees and statelessness in comparative perspective, 1900-2000
• Immigration and asylum law 
• Migration, mobility and settlement: Post-Soviet Migrations
• Migration, mobility and settlement: Central and East European migration to the UK and Scotland
• Racism and modernity
• Texts for diversity: language across learning for children with English as an additional language. 

You may also be able to choose from courses in the other subjects in the School of Social & Political Sciences.

Career Prospects

On completing the programme, you will be equipped to apply your learning to a wide range of opportunities locally, nationally and internationally. This might include working with policy-making bodies, local and national governments, community organisations, NGOs and third sector organisations. The emphasis on applied learning makes this programme relevant to a range of professional settings where graduates may be working with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, for example in education, social work, housing, equalities, campaigning and advocacy work, community development, human rights advocacy work, social research. The MRes also provides the necessary foundations to students considering further study through doctoral research.

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Our aim is that the Glasgow Diploma comes to be regarded as the trademark of excellence, ensuring that you are not just employable but sought after by employers.

Key facts

• PgDip: 9 months full-time;
• Contact: [email protected]

Why Glasgow

• This highly practical programme has been designed by practising lawyers to replicate the work that you will do when you commence your traineeship, ensuring that you will be a confident and competent trainee solicitor.
• The Glasgow Legal 40, legal alumni of the university who practise across a wide range of areas, support our Diploma students in various ways including mentoring them and attending networking events.
• We have developed strong links with employers and work with them to ensure that the programme we offer meets their requirements enabling you to commence your traineeship with the necessary skills and knowledge.
• Extensive use is made of our library of filmed resources which link to course materials developed in collaboration with the judiciary and our tutors.They include various court hearings including criminal trials, proofs, debates, motions and a judicial review as well as a mediation, collaboration and negotiation.
• Students attend Glasgow Sheriff Court and appear before sheriffs to deliver pleas in mitigation; police officers attend the university to take part in court cases.
• Almost every one of our 150 tutors is a practising lawyer, and all are dedicated, enthusiastic, committed and keen to share their experience with the next generation of lawyers.

Programme Structure

You will take 5 core and 3 optional courses. This allows you to select courses which suit your areas of interest or meet the requirements of your future employers in the legal profession. Courses are delivered through a combination of on-line resources, e-modules, lectures and by small group tutorials (12 or less). Our team of 150 highly experienced, enthusiastic and committed tutors, almost all of whom are practising solicitors or advocates, are all focused on ensuring that you meet the requirement of a “Day 1 ready trainee” by the end of each course.

Core courses
• Criminal litigation (incorporating advocacy, evidence and procedure and negotiation)
• Civil litigation (incorporating advocacy, rules of procedure, evidence, negotiation and pre-action protocols)
• Property Law and Conveyancing (incorporating commercial leases)
• Private client (incorporating wills, trusts, deeds of variation and guardianship)
• Business, ethics, finance and practice awareness.

Optional courses
• Advanced civil litigation (incorporating advocacy, remedies, debates, proofs and appeals)
• Advanced criminal litigation (incorporating advocacy)
• Commercial contracts
• Commercial conveyancing
• Corporate
• Family law (incorporating negotiation, mediation, collaboration and litigation)
• Human rights (incorporating employment, asylum and immigration, legislative competence, children's hearing referrals)
• Contemporary Scottish Public Law

Industry Links and Employability

Our Services to Students

Following completion of the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice students must complete a traineeship within a legal firm as a pre-requisite for legal practice.

We strive to increase our students’ employability through our links with the legal profession by working with colleagues in the School of Law, the University's Career Service and other relevant organisations. Our aim is to support and guide our students to help them make the correct career choices.

When planning future career choices, Glasgow DPLP students can access
• The Glasgow Legal 40 mentoring network: exclusive to Glasgow Diploma students
• Professional Legal Practice events including Glasgow Legal 40 networking events and "Life in Law" autobiographical talks from distinguished members of the profession
• Expert advice from the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice team
• Projects such as CLASP pilot in which corporate law students advise start-up businesses
• An annual Law Fair to network with Scottish Law Firms and other employers
• Information about traineeships and other jobs direct from employers
• Employability website
• After completion of the progrmme - invitations to events to improve employability.

Legal 40 Mentoring Network

The Glasgow Legal 40 is an initiative designed for University of Glasgow School of Law Diploma students. The group comprises 40 successful University of Glasgow legal alumni, drawn from all sectors of the legal profession. The main activities of the group include a mentoring programme and a series of social and educational events which allow Diploma students to engage with distinguished members of the legal profession and which will benefit the next generation of lawyers to emerge from the School of Law.

Since 2013, the group has been strengthened and developed by the introduction of Glasgow Legal 40 associates. This involves students who benefited from support and mentoring offered by Glasgow Legal 40 members undertaking the same role for their successors.

Launched in September 2010, our programme aims to bridge the gap between academia and professional legal practice; the Glasgow Legal 40 is a unique and key initiative which allows us to achieve our goal of ensuring our students are not just employable, but sought after by employers. Eileen Paterson, Director of Professional Legal Practice (Operations) explains: “The Glasgow Legal 40 initiative has already been of enormous benefit to our students. We are extremely grateful to our alumni who have supported our students in numerous ways and have been enthusiastic in their commitment to this initiative."

Our Diploma students benefit from
• Easing students' transition from university to practice
• Allowing students to draw on the experience of expert mentors
• Increasing student networking skills
• Providing role models for students pursuing careers in legal practice
• Increasing student links with the legal profession
• Increased employability.

Students contemplating pursuing a career as an advocate at the Scottish Bar are able to take courses in International Private Law and/or Roman Law at no additional cost. These courses are compulsory entry requirements for the Faculty of Advocates.

Career Prospects

Upon successful completion of the programme you will be eligible to progress through your traineeship to work as a solicitor or advocate. The Diploma in Professional Legal Practice is a requirement for entry into these roles in the legal profession.

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This programme provides you with the necessary qualification to pursue a legal traineeship. Undertaken after obtaining your LLB, it is the next step towards a career as a solicitor or advocate in Scotland. Our aim is that the Glasgow Diploma comes to be regarded as the trademark of excellence, ensuring that you are not just employable but actively sought after by employers. It will equip you with the hands-on skills necessary to practise law as a “day one ready trainee” in the 21st century, as well as excellent opportunities to develop your own professional network to support you throughout your career.

Why this programme

• Our programme aims to bridge the gap between academia and professional legal practice. Designed by practising lawyers, it replicates the work you will do as a trainee.
• Our extensive network of highly experienced professionals, drawn from all sectors of the legal industry, support you through mentorship, as well as attendance at our networking events.
• We work with employers to ensure that our programme meets their requirements, enabling you to commence your traineeship with the skills and knowledge these employers value.
• Tutorial groups are small (12 max), enabling you to become assured and confident in communicating, orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences. You will receive one to one, in-person feedback from tutors on every course.
• Our 150 tutors are all highly experienced legal practitioners. They are dedicated, enthusiastic and keen to share their knowledge with you, as part of the next generation of lawyers.
• You will benefit from our library of filmed resources, developed in collaboration with the judiciary and our tutors. Filmed scenarios include numerous civil and criminal court hearings, judicial review, mediation, negotiation and collaboration.
• You will attend Glasgow Sheriff Court and appear before sheriffs to deliver pleas in mitigation. In addition, police officers join us to take part in mock court cases.
• We run various competitions throughout the year, from client counselling to negotiation, to help you enhance your skills in these areas – and to enhance your CV.

Programme structure

You will take five core and three optional courses. The core courses are required by the Law Society of Scotland, which regulates Scotland’s legal profession. Optional courses allow you to select additional subjects of study that suit your areas of interest or meet the requirements of your future employers in the legal profession. Courses are delivered through a combination of online resources, e-modules, lectures and small group tutorials. As our programme aims to equip you with the abilities and attributes of a “day one ready trainee”, each course will enable you to develop not only your written communication skills, but your verbal communication skills. Tutors will expect you to come to each class prepared to contribute. 

Core courses

• Civil litigation (incorporating rules of procedure, evidence, advocacy, negotiation and pre-action protocols)
• Commercial awareness (incorporating ethics, practice awareness, tax and accounts)
• Conveyancing (incorporating sale, purchase and leasing of residential property, and property finance)
• Criminal litigation (incorporating evidence and procedure, advocacy and negotiation)
• Private client (incorporating wills, trusts, deeds of variation, powers of attorney and guardianship)

Optional courses may include

• Advanced civil litigation (incorporating advocacy, remedies, debates, proofs and appeals)
• Advanced criminal litigation (incorporating advocacy)
• Commercial contracts (incorporating offer and acceptance, rectification and execution of contracts, due diligence and disclosure, key contract terms, disputes and termination)  
• Commercial conveyancing (incorporating sale, purchase and leasing of commercial property, property finance and construction issues)
• Contemporary Scottish public law (incorporating policy-making, legislative drafting, licensing and judicial review)
• Corporate (incorporating directors and director duties, shareholders and board disputes, debt finance, equity finance and business and share acquisitions)
• Family law (incorporating negotiation, mediation, collaboration and litigation)
• Human rights (incorporating employment, asylum and immigration, children’s hearings and criminal law)

Students contemplating a career as an advocate in Scotland are required by the Faculty of Advocates to take courses in International Private Law and Roman Law. These can be studied at the University of Glasgow at the same time as undertaking the Diploma and at no additional cost.

Further information

• Diploma course descriptions‌‌
• Diploma timetable‌
• Diploma additional info

Career prospects

Upon successful completion of the programme you will be eligible to progress through your traineeship to work as a solicitor or advocate in Scotland. The Diploma is a requirement for entry into these roles in the legal profession. The Diploma is a requirement for entry into these roles in the legal profession, in addition to providing employment opportunities in related legal disciplines. As well as working with colleagues in the School of Law and the University’s Career Service, we strive to increase your employability through our strong links across the legal profession by liaising with human resources and training partners in our tutors’ organisations. In addition, we run a series of networking events where you can meet lawyers from all areas of the industry and at all levels, from trainee to partner. Our goal is not only to prepare you for life as a trainee and to make you as attractive to employers as possible, but to support and guide you to help make the correct career choices. 

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This masters will develop your critical engagement with the theories and practices of forced migration and development studies. In-depth knowledge of both disciplines is critical to understand and explain the causes and consequences of forced migration.

Taught by internationally recognised members of staff with a range of innovative research experiences, the course is interdisciplinary. It requires the use of theoretical and methodological insights, knowledge and perspectives of different disciplines. This provides opportunities for in-depth understanding and explanation of the problem of Forced Migration and its interface with other social science disciplines, such as development studies, law, sociology, anthropology, political science and psychology.

Starting in both in September and January, this programme aims to develop your critical engagement with the theories and practices of forced migration and development studies. In-depth knowledge of both disciplines is critical to understanding and explaining the causes and consequences of forced migration, analysing, critiquing and evaluating host governments’, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNCHR) and NGOs’ policies on protection, assistance, reception and settlement strategies, as well as the short and long-term responses of inter -governmental organisations, such as the World Bank and others.

Throughout the course, you’ll also engage in volunteering. Students have volunteered in different organisations , including the UK Refugee Council, British Red Cross, UNHCR, Chance UK, Naz Project London and Eaves in South London. These organisations provide support, advice and advocacy to asylum-seekers, including women who’ve experienced violence, such as trafficking, prostitution, domestic and sexual violence.

MSc Refugee Studies is led by Professor Gaim Kibreab, an internationally recognised expert on forced migration, resettlement, repatriation and development, conflict, environment, water resources governance, post-conflict reconstruction, gender and development, livelihoods, governance and civil society.

Modules

International Refugee Law
Asylum policy in the EU and Member States
Forced Migration and Human Rights
Forced Migration and Development
Contemporary Issues in Development
Research methods for development
Dissertation (triple module)

Study hours

Year 1 class contact time is typically 16 hours per week plus individual tutorial time and independent study. This accumulates to typically two days and two evenings a week.

Assessment

All modules apart from the dissertation are assessed by 5,000 word pieces of coursework.

Employability

The aims and outcomes of this course are designed to develop your knowledge and skills that are relevant to working with forced migrants, including asylum-seekers, refugees, IDPs, oustees and other categories of forced migrants and also for working in refugee-producing and hosting countries world-wide, inter-governmental organisations, such as the UNHCR, non-governmental orgisations, immigration lawyers, lobbying and advocacy groups. The Home Office and immigration authorities in the EU and member states are potential employers of our graduates.

Previous students have entered careers in many fields working for international organisations such as the United Nations and its constituent organisations. Through our pool of visiting lecturers and practitioners, the MSc Refugee Studies networks with activists, academics and practitioners. These networks provide students an opportunity not only to learn about job opportunities but also establish contacts that may prove to be useful in search of employment opportunities. Students’ employability is enhanced by developing their transferable and problem-solving analytical and evaluative skills. Some graduates of the MSc Refugee Studies have established their own NGOs and are serving asylum-seekers, refugees and internally displaced persons in their countries of origin.

LSBU Employability Services

LSBU is committed to supporting you develop your employability and succeed in getting a job after you have graduated. Your qualification will certainly help, but in a competitive market you also need to work on your employability, and on your career search. Our Employability Service will support you in developing your skills, finding a job, interview techniques, work experience or an internship, and will help you assess what you need to do to get the job you want at the end of your course. LSBU offers a comprehensive Employability Service, with a range of initiatives to complement your studies, including:

• Direct engagement from employers who come in to interview and talk to students
• Job Shop and on-campus recruitment agencies to help your job search
• Mentoring and work shadowing schemes.

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Excellent interpreting facilities, from European Commission-standard soundproof booths to broadband, AV recording, mock conference equipment and built-in work placements make this vocational course ideal for anyone wishing to train as a professional interpreter. In the most recent (2014-15) Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, 100% of graduates from this course were in work or further study within six months.

More about this course

The Interpreting MA is a vocational course grounded in theory and practice and specifically set up to train professional interpreters. The course offers you an opportunity to acquaint yourself with the theoretical and professional frameworks of interpreting applied to a range of interpreting types: Public Service Interpreting and Conference Interpreting. Remote Interpreting (telephone and video-conferencing) is embedded in the course.

A key part of the course is a work placement during which you will perform live interpreting tasks under supervision and shadow professional interpreters at work. The course offers a wide range of language combinations paired with English: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese. Further language combinations with English may also be available, such as Arabic, subject to demand, staff expertise and availability. In the past we have offered Romanian, Dari and Lithuanian.

Students on the course benefit from excellent interpreting facilities. Our Interpreting Suite is equipped with six AIIC (Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conference) standard soundproof booths, each with audio and video digital recording facilities. The Interpreting Suite facilities are the same as those used in Brussels for the European Commission and each booth is equipped with broadband and audio-visual digital recording. Conference Guest Speakers and events are filmed and stored on our virtual platform, so that students can revisit the events.

Students will also benefit from the use of our virtual platform to access teaching materials and documentaries, presentations for conferences and recordings of mock conferences. They will be able to chat and exchange their views in forums on the virtual platform, which is accessible from any computer with an internet connection. They will also be able to present their written assessment via the virtual platform, from a computer with an internet connection.

You will be assessed by a variety of coursework, interpreting exams, presentations, essays, and independent work and a research project (at MA level).

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2016/17 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 1 modules include:
Conference Interpreting 1 (core, 20 credits)
Conference Interpreting 2 (core, 20 credits)
Interpreting Theory and Research for Interpreters (core, 20 credits)
MA Research Project (core, 60 credits)
Public Service Interpreting (core, 20 credits)
The Interpreter's Professional Environment (core, 20 credits)
The Interpreter's Skills and Tools (core, 20 credits)

After the course

Career prospects for graduates are excellent, with many proceeding to work as in-house or freelance interpreters and typically finding positions in translation and interpreting agencies; international, European and national organisations and bodies; Local Authorities, Hospitals, The Police, Immigration Services and Refugee and Asylum organisations. Chartered Institute of Linguists. Students who pass the PSI module with 60% automatically get accreditation for the DPSI, interpreting and sight translation tasks.

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