(LLM) Master of Laws
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Current
University of Essex
University of Essex
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Masters
Full-time
LLM M2M012
10/05/2023
Details
Professional accreditation
None
Admission criteria
A 2:2 honours degree, or international equivalent, in a Social Science, Law or any Humanities subject.
While prior academic study or professional experience of law is desirable, it is not a requirement for admission. LLM students who have not previously studied Public International Law will take a one-term module on this topic.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) code
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum component score of 5.5 except for 6.0 in writing
If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.
Additional Notes
The University uses academic selection criteria to determine an applicant’s ability to successfully complete a course at the University of Essex. Where appropriate, we may ask for specific information relating to previous modules studied or work experience.
Course qualifiers
A course qualifier is a bracketed addition to your course title to denote a specialisation or pathway that you have achieved via the completion of specific modules during your course. The
specific module requirements for each qualifier title are noted below. Eligibility for any selected qualifier will be determined by the department and confirmed by the final year Board of
Examiners. If the required modules are not successfully completed, your course title will remain as described above without any bracketed addition. Selection of a course qualifier is
optional and student can register preferences or opt-out via Online Module Enrolment (eNROL).
None
Rules of assessment
Rules of assessment are the rules, principles and frameworks which the University uses to calculate your course progression and final results.
Additional notes
None
External examiners
Dr Titilayo Adebola
Lecturer in Law
University of Aberdeen
External Examiners provide an independent overview of our courses, offering their expertise and help towards our continual improvement of course content, teaching, learning, and assessment.
External Examiners are normally academics from other higher education institutions, but may be from the industry, business or the profession as appropriate for the course.
They comment on how well courses align with national standards, and on how well the teaching, learning and assessment methods allow students to develop and demonstrate the relevant knowledge and skills needed to achieve their awards.
External Examiners who are responsible for awards are key members of Boards of Examiners. These boards make decisions about student progression within their course and about whether students can receive their final award.
Programme aims
- Enable students to form an advanced conceptual understanding of international law with respect to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) at the international, regional and domestic levels that is informed by insight based on scholarship at the forefront of the discipline.
- Set international ESCR law in its geopolitical, philosophical and historical contexts.
- Enable students to understand international ESCR law as it applies in a variety of situations.
- Give students the facility to develop critical, analytical and research skills, problem-solving skills, and transferable skills.
- Produce graduates capable of working in the field of international ESCR law as advocates, as field officers, legal advisers or researchers with governments and international and non-governmental organizations, and as academics.
- Produce graduates who can conduct independent research and construct coherent, well written papers.
Learning outcomes and learning, teaching and assessment methods
On successful completion of the programme a graduate should demonstrate knowledge and skills as follows:
A: Knowledge and understanding
A1: Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of the fundamental legal rules, methodologies, concepts, models, principles and institutions of international law as they pertain to the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR).
A2: Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of the geopolitical, economic and social framework in which international ESCR law operates.
A3: Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of the means and methods of implementing, enforcing and upholding international ESCR law.
A4: Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of how international ESCR law is applied in various judicial, governmental and field situations.
A5: Learn some areas of international ESCR law in depth.
Learning methods
A1-A5 are acquired through large group interactive classes, which encourage dialogue between the students and teacher and between the students, and through seminars which allow for dynamic interaction based on directed, pre-set reading. A1 – A5 are reinforced by the formatively assessed Foundation Essay and independent research for the dissertation.
Students are expected to undertake thorough and in-depth independent research for modules and, in particular, the dissertation, which involves the analysis of primary and secondary sources. They are required to submit research of high quality which involves not only a thorough analysis of law but also of the economic, cultural, political and societal actors which underpin it. The analysis will involve a variety of legal documents that range from national laws to international conventions and it is based on the referencing of a wide range of resources which include reports, articles, books as well as conference papers and national and international case law. The essays in question form an original piece of research and require a high level of skills. Students will also be tested on their understanding and knowledge in examinations for some modules, to showcase their ability to think on-the-spot without support of secondary material.
Assessment methods
A combination of assessment methods will be used. Testing the knowledge-base for A1 – A5 is through unseen examinations, take home examinations, module essays, the foundation essay and the dissertation.
B: Intellectual and cognitive skills
B1: Identify accurately the issue(s) which require researching.
B2: Apply relevant primary and secondary legal sources.
B3: Reason critically, identify, analyse, and solve complex problems, even in the absence of complete data.
B4: Recognise, rank and collate items and issues in terms of relevance and importance.
B5: Produce a comprehensive, coherent and sophisticated synthesis of relevant doctrinal and policy issues in relation to a topic.
B6: Critically evaluate the merits of particular arguments and advanced scholarship in the field.
B7: Present and make a reasoned choice between alternative solutions or methodologies and, where necessary, propose new hypotheses.
B8: Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgments in the absence of complete data, and communicate the conclusions clearly.
B9: Demonstrate and exercise originality of thought in the application of knowledge.
Learning methods
Skills B1 through B9 are obtained and developed through discussion groups and large group interactive classes where there is an emphasis on group discussion and practical problem solving (hypothetical and actual). B5 and B6 are also enabled through lectures. All skills are complemented by class-independent reading undertaken by students in the light of guidance by lecturers and discussion tasks. Intellectual and cognitive skills are also acquired through written and oral feedback on coursework. In addition, learning is enhanced by formative assessment of Skills B1 and B3. B7 - B9 are learned through in-class discussion.
In addition, the dissertation requires students to identify a precise research question, to apply primary and secondary legal and other relevant resources, to critically assess major legal questions and problems and to suggest solutions or take side in a debate. The analysis involves legal, political, historical, cultural as well as doctrinal matters and requires the students to make reasoned arguments which should be well-referenced in literature and jurisprudence. They are required to criticise the existing parties to major debates as well as to take sides and choose between contrasting views. The dissertation is a demanding piece of independent research which requires a high level legal analysis.
Assessment methods
A combination of assessment methods will be used, which will enable the students to demonstrate successful development of all B skills. Some modules will be assessed through unseen exams, take home exams, and some through essays. Independent working is also assessed through the dissertation (B9).
C: Practical skills
C1: Identify, select and retrieve up-to-date legal information, using both paper and electronic sources.
C2: Co-apply multiple applicable regimes of national and international law as they relate to a given practical problem.
C3: Use and apply legal terminology and legal concepts in context to applied problems, actual or hypothetical.
C4: Debate and critically analyse contemporary challenges in the area of study.
Learning methods
A precise use of legal terminology is at the centre of the relevant analysis. The students are required and taught as to how to analyse a field of law which is quite well researched in the past and yet to be able to submit an original piece of work; it involves their ability to criticise, analyse, compare, explain well-researched questions or aspects of law which are yet relatively unexplored.
Skills C1 and C2 are developed through preparation for seminars and the large group interactive classes, and through research for the Foundation Essay and Dissertation.
In addition to traditional research methods, students are expected to use the internet and legal databases when researching their assessed work in order to find primary and appropriate secondary sources, either in on-line or paper format.
Skills C3 and C4 are developed through seminars by way of the medium of problem solving and group discussion.
Skill C4 is particularly developed through the Foundation Essay and Dissertation.
Skills C1 - C4 are developed in seminars, large group interactive classes, and the Foundation Essay, which assessment reinforces their learning by students.
Inclusivity is achieved through the use of Moodle to communicate resources and teaching materials, through different styles of teaching and learning and through different types of assessment, for example through ‘open book’ essays and the dissertation.
Assessment methods
A combination of assessment methods will be used. Some modules will be assessed through exams and some through essays/problem questions. Skills C1 - C4 are assessed through summative take home exams, unseen exams, module essays, the foundation Essay and the Dissertation.
Inclusivity is achieved through the use of Moodle to communicate resources and teaching materials, through different styles of teaching and learning and through different types of assessment.
D: Key skills
D1: Both orally and in writing (i) Work with the English language proficiently in relation to matters of international ESCR law; (ii) Present knowledge or an argument in a clear, coherent and relevant manner; (iii) Analyse materials pertaining to international ESCR law that are complex and technical
D2: (i) Produce a word-processed essay and other text in an appropriate form; (ii) effectively use online academic and other resources to facilitate the research process.
D3: Where relevant and as the basis for an argument, use, present and evaluate information provided in numerical or statistical form.
D4: (i) Analyse complex factual and hypothetical scenarios and (ii) Identify key legal questions and apply relevant law and effective research methodologies thereto.
D5: (i) With limited guidance, reflect on own learning, and make use of feedback, and (ii) demonstrate the ability to plan and undertake effective independent research.
Learning methods
Skills D1, D3 and D4 are acquired through seminars where students debate legal issues and problems, as well as the Foundation Essay, and the Dissertation.
Skill D3 will be developed, where necessary, in modules and assessments where students are required to read figures and statistics in the context of various empirical studies.
Skills D2, D4 and D5 will be gained in particular through the Foundation Essay and the Dissertation.
Skills D1 – D5 will be learnt through writing summatively assessed and formative course essays and take home exams, the Foundation Essay, and through the consequent feedback, both written and that obtained in oral sessions. Skill D5 is developed through continual oral feedback in learning and teaching sessions to stimulate self-reflection and personal learning development, including through researching and writing the dissertation.
Assessment methods
Skills D1 – D5 are assessed through essays, take home exams, unseen exams and the dissertation, including D3 where necessary.