LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies

Please note that we are now able to offer the LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies via distance learning!
Click here For information on this course, including term of study, admission and fees

The LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies builds upon the existing resources and staff experience in postgraduate tuition in the field of legislative drafting at the Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. This LLM is a response to the frequent demand – from students as well as from foreign government departments – for a UK-based postgraduate taught programme in the field of legislative drafting in its broader sense.

Legislative drafting is often perceived as a technical skill, which one learns on the job. The view of the Sir William Dale Centre, as eloquently put by its founder and its staff in numerous publications, has always been that legislative drafting encompasses the theoretical analysis and practical application of the whole process of legislating. Legislative drafting has evolved to become the bedrock of political, economic and social transformation. It is still, however, relatively unexplored as an academic discipline. The LLM examines issues related to the legislative process, constitutional law, the methods of drafting in a modern democratic context, legislative ethics and law reform. It is designed for postgraduate students with a background in law or social sciences as well as professionals and academics who wish to enhance their drafting skills.

The LLM is divided into 2 directions: the Common law Direction and the EU Direction.

• The Common Law direction offers the core course "Comparative Legislative Studies", the course "Legislative Drafting", the course "Themes of Legislative Studies" and a dissertation.

• The EU Direction offers the core course "EU Legislative Studies", the Jean Monnet Module "Legislating for EU Membership and Accession", the module "Theories of European Integration", the joint course "Themes of Legislative Studies" and a dissertation.

Part-time students take two courses in the first year of study and one course or two EU modules and the dissertation in the second year of study.

Any applications which are seeking Bursary funding must be submitted by March 22nd 2010. The only applications which can be accepted after that date are those which do not require a Bursary application to be made.

Contact:

Dr Constantin Stefanou,
Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies,
IALS,
Charles Clore House,
17 Russell Square,
London WC1B 5DR
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 20 78625867
Fax: +44 20 78625855
E-mail: constantin.stefanou@sas.ac.uk

Distance Learning

The LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies has been offered by the IALS with considerable success since 2004. Students will now have the opportunity to study this course in a more flexible manner, via distance learning. It is envisaged that The LLM will include a compulsory week-long intensive residential course in London. This will give students a chance to meet the tutors and other students, and to start their studies with the maximum level of support.

Teaching methods for the remainder of the course include extensive online materials per session, such as PowerPoint presentations, hand-outs, and a number of academic sources for essential and further reading; online discussions with tutors and fellow students on the traditional LLM and the LLM via DL; private reading and independent research; individual tuition and support via email for coursework and dissertation for which a dissertation supervisor is assigned.

The content for the course being offered via Distance Learning will be fundamentally the same as the content of the LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies which is taught by traditional teaching methods. The LLM is divided into two pathways: the Common Law Direction and the EU Direction.

• The Common Law Direction offers the core course 'Comparative Legislative Studies', the course 'Legislative Drafting', the course 'Themes of Legislative Studies' and a dissertation.
• The EU Direction offers the core course 'EU Legislative Studies', the Jean Monnet module 'Legislating for EU Membership and Accession', the module 'Theories of European Integration', the joint course 'Themes of Legislative Studies' and a dissertation.

The LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies via Distance Learning will be a part-time programme, with a duration of two years. Application forms for distance learning and information on fees and funding can be found at the top of the page.