Course summary

Law is ‘part of a larger system of public decision-making. The rest is politics: the politics of ministers and legislators, of political parties, of media and pressure groups, and of the wider electorate’ (Jonathan Sumption, Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics, 2019). In this innovative LLB, you learn the Law as part of domestic and international politics. Why study LLB Law with Politics & Human Rights

• We’re one of the highest-rated courses in the country. We're number 1 in the UK for student satisfaction (Complete University Guide Law League Table 2024).

• This Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) will allow you to obtain your LLB while also immersing yourself in the study of Politics. Recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Bar Standards Board (BSB). It has been designed to give you a solid foundation to tackle the new Solicitors’ Qualifying Examinations (SQE), and the equivalent training and qualification process for becoming a barrister.

• You'll focus on modern threats to democracy and human rights, and the interactions between Law and Politics required to effectively counter these threats at the local, national, and global levels.

• Goldsmiths is based in New Cross, with access to everything that legal and political London has to offer. Examples of trips include the House of Commons, the House of Lords, Parliamentary Select Committees, UK Supreme Court, Law Society, and the Inns of Court.

• Our outstanding team of visiting professors includes eminent legal practitioners, such as the former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve KC, Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, a distinguished barrister who has led on war crime prosecutions, and HH Judge Alison Levitt KC, who was Principal Legal Adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions and is now a Circuit Judge sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

• You'll also be given access to the Department of Politics’ lively events programme, allowing you to encounter (and challenge) the latest political arguments, theories, and ideas.

• You'll learn from renowned international scholars, attend high-impact research events, and have the opportunity to connect with world-leading Law Schools (our annual lectures in 2019 and 2020 were delivered by Stanford Law and Berkeley Law academics respectively). You'll be taught by Judges, barristers, solicitors, Parliamentary legal counsels, MPs, MEPs, and human rights experts.

• You'll gain an interdisciplinary understanding of how the UK political system shapes Law.

• You'll explore the fascinating and complex interactions between law and politics. You'll also gain an insight into how Law determines the parameters of the political system, defines the distribution of power between branches of government, and allows us to hold our elected representatives accountable, particularly through constitutional and human rights law.

• You'll choose modules from the Department of Law and the Department of Politics & International Relations to give you a holistic understanding of legal and political systems by exposing you to fundamental political concepts on the one hand, and the legislative structures they operate within on the other.

• Instead of studying Law in isolation, you'll study it in its cultural, economic, and socio-political contexts.

• You'll complement your knowledge of core Law subjects with key concepts in political theory and ideologies, UK and comparative governance, and world politics.