LLM Criminology and Criminal Justice

This programme is based in the UCD Institute of Criminology, the only centre of its kind in Ireland. Crime and punishment are issues of central importance to society and by bringing academic rigour to their examination the Institute contributes to the achievement of national priorities.

See the website http://www.ucd.ie/law/graduateprogrammes/llmincriminologycriminaljustice/

Your studies

Students select their own modules from a list that includes: Crime and Society; Advanced Criminological Theory; Victims and International and Transnational Crime. You will also complete a supervised dissertation. The programme provides students with the opportunity to study subjects outside the School of Law, such as History, Sociology and Computer Science.

On completion of your studies, you will have:
- a deep understanding and knowledge of Criminal Justice and Criminology;
- identified legal and policy trends in criminal justice and their impact;
- developed advanced legal research skills;
- increased your ability to communicate the results of research; and,
- an increased ability to identify and analyse problems from a legal perspective.

Studying abroad

The School affords its students the opportunity to spend a semester abroad as part of the Comparative, International and European Law (CIEL) Graduate exchange programme with our partner Universities in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Students participating in the programme will have their dissertations jointly supervised by staff in UCD and in the institution which
they are visiting. Successful completion of the semester abroad will lead to the award of a Certificate in Comparative, International and European Law.

Your future

A specialisation in criminology and criminal justice will be of interest to graduates who want to work in one of the criminal justice agencies and to those working in prisons, probation, policing and the courts. This specialisation will equip you with a head start for a career in criminal law and the criminal justice system.

Features

The Institute of Criminology offers a wide range of modules for the Masters programmes. Modules of especial interest to those undertaking this programme include

- Coercive Confinement provides an overview the incarceration of individuals during the first fifty years of Irish independence, examining accounts of life within institutions whilst offering an explanation for the system’s longevity and the reasons for its decline.

- Crime and Society maps trends in crime and victimisation and relates strategies of crime control to wider societal factors such as a country’s political priorities, policy-making infrastructure and media culture.

- Punishment, Prison and Public Policy examines the response to crime since the mid-1990s which has been characterised an emphasis on prison expansion and explores some of the dilemmas that confront prison systems everywhere.

- Victims reflects on recent initiatives designed to assist victims and help them to participate more fully in the criminal justice process to discuss the rich body of knowledge about victimisation and its remedies.

CIEL

Any student admitted to an LLM programme in the Law School also can apply on a competitive basis to spend their second semester at one of our sister Law Schools:
- University of Antwerp
- Maastricht University
- The University of Mannhein
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
- Universite de Toulouse 1 – Capitole

Students must score 6.5 in IELTS or 90 in the internet TOEFL exams in the relevant language of instruction (English, French or German). Spaces are allocated on a competitive basis. Students who are accepted onto this programme graduate with an LLM and are awarded a certificate in International and Comparative Law (CIEL).

Careers

This programme is well- suited to those interested in legal practice, public service, or any other career where success is built upon the ability to understand, analyse and respond to developments in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

We have an excellent Careers Development Centre here at UCD, designed to help you with information regarding future employment or studies. UCD hold a number of graduate events throughout the year including a dedicated law fair at which at which many of the big Law firms will be in attendance. The School of Law has a dedicated careers advisor on it’s Academic staff, Dr. Oonagh Breen, and a staff member from the careers office will be in attendance at the School of law on a number of occasions throughout the academic year. To see the full range of services offered by the careers office go to http://www.ucd.ie/careers/

See the website http://www.ucd.ie/law/graduateprogrammes/llmincriminologycriminaljustice/

Find out how to apply here http://www.ucd.ie/law/graduateprogrammes/llmincriminologycriminaljustice/apply,80087,en.html

Scholarships

The University and UCD Sutherland School of Law have a list of scholarships that are open to Irish, EU and International applicants.
For further information please see http://www.ucd.ie/scholarships
International students may wish to visit: http://www.ucd.ie/international

Why you should choose UCD

In the state-of-the-art UCD Sutherland School of Law, graduate students engage in advanced study with internationally renowned specialists to develop the transformative potential of law.

The School is ranked by the authoritative QS World University Rankings as Ireland's number one law school and amongst the world's 100 leading law schools. Students benefit from the School’s strong links with university partners; businesses; NGOs; and, domestic, EU and international governments.
We place particular emphasis on the quality and breadth of our graduate programmes across Diploma, Masters and Doctoral levels. Our graduate degrees are available on a full-time or part-time basis, beginning in either January or September.
We also offer part-time Diploma programmes and single subject certificates with the possibility of securing CPD points and building study up to achieve diploma or masters awards.

Applications will be considered from any of the following: (i) 2.1. or 1st class (or equivalent) degree in Law, or an inter-disciplinary degree in which law was a major component; (ii) Graduates with a Postgraduate Diploma in Law may be considered but will normally be admitted only where they can show an exceptionally strong performance in both their undergraduate degree and diploma; (iii) Significant, relevant, practical experience or those with a post-graduate qualification at Masters level or higher in a relevant discipline.