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Criminal Justice at Goldsmiths, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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Open days

7Dec
Goldsmiths, University of London - Postgraduate Open Day
Postgraduate

Course summary

The LLM in Criminal Justice gives you a panoramic, 360-degree view of the criminal process, and a multidimensional perspective which explores organic synergies between domestic, transnational and international criminal justice. It opens up diverse career paths in the criminal justice and human rights sectors. Why study LLM Criminal Justice

  • The LLM puts you in a strong position to pursue a career as a criminal law practitioner in the UK (as a barrister, solicitor, member of the Crown Prosecution service or in other parts of the UK criminal justice system), and internationally.
  • You’ll take developments in UK criminal justice as a starting point and extrapolate from their study modern trends in criminal law and criminal justice thinking worldwide.
  • You’ll learn by doing, for example in the Criminal Evidence module, where you examine in chief and cross-examine witnesses in fictional criminal trials, before experienced barristers and Judges, at the Old Bailey (the central criminal court) in London.
  • You’ll explore some of the most cutting-edge criminal justice debates of our times, from the relationship between counter-terrorism and family law to algorithm-based predictive policing and the use of improperly obtained evidence in criminal trials.
  • You’ll learn from important legal thinkers, internationally leading barristers and politicians. Our Law faculty and Visiting Professors include pioneering criminal justice experts such as Her Honour Judge Alison Levitt KC (a Circuit Judge sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court, who was previously the Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions), the former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve KC, the founder of Reprieve, Clive Stafford-Smith, who has gained global admiration for his work for people on death row in the US, or the barrister who prosecuted Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Sir Geoffrey Nice KC.
  • We’re focussed on employability, and you’ll have the opportunity to gain practical experience through taking criminal justice placements and clinics modules (for credit). Our Careers Service is here to support you every step of the way.
  • You’ll collaborate with renowned legal scholars, eminent legal practitioners and NGOs working in the field of Criminal Justice and International Human Rights, including leading UK NGOs such as Fair Trials, Big Brother Watch, Reprieve, as well as Liberty that leads our pioneering 'Criminal Justice and Human Rights: NGO Advocacy, Litigation and Practice' module.
Study 21st century Law, and Law in context As well as compulsory modules that provide you with a foundational knowledge of criminal justice theory and practice, you’ll have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of specialist criminal justice (and human rights) modules delivered by the Department of Law. Active learning Our students learn the law in action while helping local communities and developing crucial professional skills. Through our placement modules focussing on criminal justice and human rights, or by participating in Law Clinics. Our leading researchers You'll have unique access to influential legal thinkers who have undertaken high-level legal and policy work in government departments, international courts, prestigious research centres, boutique law firms and some of the top NGOs and human rights organisations in the UK. Harvard Law School course We are the first department outside the United States to offer free access to Harvard Law School’s pioneering Zero-L course. Study abroad, and our Athens Summer School In recent years, our students have attended summer schools at the University of Geneva and Amsterdam Law school. Funding is reviewed on a yearly basis. We organise an annual summer school in Athens, in collaboration with leading Universities there.

Modules

Students will study compulsory modules to the value of 45 credits, and complete a compulsory dissertation for 60 credits in the area of criminal justice (105 credits total). You'll then be able to choose a further 75 credits of optional modules. Compulsory modules Advanced Criminal Law and Criminal Justice: Domestic, Comparative and International Human Rights and Criminal Justice: NGO Advocacy, Litigation, and Practice Criminal Justice Dissertation Department of Law optional modules Students can then choose 4 or 5 optional modules to the value of 75 credits. These credits can be made up exclusively of Department of Law modules, or you can choose up to 30 credits from the Interdisciplinary module lists below, which include options from the Department of Politics and International Relations and the Department of Psychology. International Human Rights Law: Theory and Practice International Human Rights: Advanced Themes and Contemporary Debates Environmental Challenges, Social Justice and Human Rights Gender, Sexualities and the Law Law and Policy Clinic: Criminal Justice Criminal Justice Placement Students can choose 1 or 2 modules (15-30 credits) from the lists below (in which case they can only choose 30-45 credits from the Department of Law list of modules above). Department of Law interdisciplinary modules: Criminal Evidence (with Advanced Mooting and Advocacy) Department of Politics and International Relations, and Department of Psychology interdisciplinary modules: Memory and Justice in Post-Conflict Societies Psychology, Crime and Law Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

Entry requirements

Applicants will normally have a degree in Law, a related social science discipline (such as Criminology, Politics and International Relations, Sociology, Anthropology, Media & Communications, Economics or Psychology) or a humanities degree (such as English, History, Philosophy or Art). We also accept applications from people with professional, transferrable experience working in: NGOs Charities Criminal justice and human rights organisations Journalism The civil service or other governmental positions Students will normally be expected to have an upper second-class honours degree or its equivalent. There is some flexibility where applicants demonstrate exceptional commitment or abilities to study for the degree because of their possession of other qualifications, or because they have relevant experiences that would qualify them for the programme. If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

For details of fees and funding please visit https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ or the programme page on our website.
Criminal Justice at Goldsmiths, University of London - UCAS