Course summary
The LLM International Dispute Resolution is designed to allow you to explore in detail the mechanisms and processes through which disputes are resolved in key areas of international legal practice. The course aims to further develop the legal knowledge and skills acquired during your undergraduate studies by enhancing your ability to understand the ways in which dispute resolution plays out in various legal environments – from commercial matters to human rights and environmental disputes. This course offers you a contextual and comparative understanding of the relevant legal rules and policies and their operation in practice. You will have the opportunity to consider not only the legislative environment at the international level and within specific jurisdictions and adjudicative institutions but also their interactions and the impact that these have on dispute resolution. Alongside the foundational unit on the settlement of international disputes, providing a comprehensive overview of both private and public international means of dispute resolution, a range of specialised units – including International Commercial Litigation, Transnational Human Rights and Environmental Litigation, and International Investment and Commercial Arbitration – will allow you to gain more focused knowledge and understanding of specific institutions and procedures. This course has been designed to equip you with the legal knowledge and the academic and professional skills that you will need to pursue a successful career in the exciting and competitive field of international dispute resolution. It will provide you with the opportunity to develop contextual skills of legal reasoning, analysis and research, and to exercise independent judgment. This in turn will enable you to apply legal theories and norms to a range of scenarios, conduct an effective evaluation of the legal options available, and devise a clear, coherent and sound legal argument.
Modules
• Settlement of International Disputes • International Commercial Arbitration • International Commercial Litigation • Investment Treaty Arbitration • Transnational Human Rights and Climate Change Litigation • LLM Dissertation Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.
Assessment method
The course is designed to enable you to build on the knowledge and skills you gained during your undergraduate studies and to develop greater autonomy of learning, independent analysis and critical evaluation. Learning activities and assessment tasks are designed to foster the incremental development of your subject knowledge and transferable skills while supporting your personal and professional development. In-class learning activities are structured around lectures, seminars and workshops. Although the nature and format of the activities will vary from unit to unit, interactive learning and practice-based activities are key to all units. Alongside in-class activities, you will also be expected to engage in a range of online learning activities including virtual workshops and seminars delivered by guest speakers; training sessions for legal databases such as Lexis Nexis, Westlaw; discussion forums; and group and individual e-journals. Throughout the course, different types of assessments enable you to demonstrate both breadth and depth of subject knowledge and contextual understanding while developing your academic and professional skills. Assessment methods you will encounter over the course of your LLM studies include: written report or research essay; case study reports; oral presentations; mooting; and your final dissertation where you produce an independent piece of written work, supported by high-quality legal research. Notions of accountability and academic integrity play an integral role in the course. Starting from the initial induction, you will be given extensive training on the principles of academic integrity; how to avoid plagiarism; referencing legal sources; and correctly acknowledging other people's work and ideas. Specific training on the use of AI tools in an academic and professional context, with a particular focus on legal practice, will also be provided. In the context of individual projects and coursework, students are expected to be able to show evidence of the different stages of preparation of the final submission, and to present and discuss their work in its entirety upon completion.
Entry requirements
Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree at Honours level or equivalent. One of the following: LLB or Joint Law degree with a minimum classification of a 2.1; or in the case of degree holders in disciplines other than law with sufficient and adequate legal content on the basis of merit; or applicants with foreign qualifications on the basis of individual merit. Applicants with English as their second language must show proof of competency in speaking and writing English to IELTS 6.5 band or above or its equivalent.
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 information on the 2025 fees and scholarships please refer to our website, https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/money/fees/
Provider information
University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
LU1 3JU