Hello,
Can anyone tell me the differences between starting a course in September and starting a course in February?
How's the academic year structured?

P.s I've e-mailed Uva and Leiden but no answer yet.

Thanks in advance everyone, and I'd really appreciate your help!

AB

Hello Armando!

I have finished the LL.M. Public International Law this summer.

Actually, you made a quite accurate guess. The difference is exactly in the structure of the academic year.

In the Autumn semester the curriculum begins with a general course on public international law (10 ECTS) which covers the principles, genesis and some essential points of international law and relatively briefly covers the main branches of international law. As a rule, students apply for this LL.M. from all over the world, hence having different backgrounds in legal education. This course enables all students to gain a more or less equal knowledge on international law. From this point on, each course takes on a particular branch of international law (exept for the course on international relations).

An important aspect is that in the Spring semester (which starts in February) there are two rather unique courses: 1) public international law (privatissimum) - which is something like philosophy of international law where each student has to present a particular legal topic and constantly write academic papers on the given topics); and 2) public international law (practicum) - this is a moot court competition where nobody 'wins' but everyone gets a grade. Students are divided into applicants and respondents, hand in their written positions and plead a moot case in front of the judges (played by the professors).
I haven't gone through it all myself as I started in September but from my fellow students I heard that it's real tough to keep up. Especially during these two courses because they require a sound knowledge on all branches and general questions of international law. To be fair, the staff have noticed the issue and held a few extra sessions for consultation for the February intakes, but there was no leniancy during the exams, that's for sure.

Also, the teams for international moot court competitions (like Jessup and others) are formed in September-October so when starting in February you miss out even on the opportunity to get involved.

To sum it up, if I was to take this LL.M. - I would go for the September intake. Then again, if you think that you already possess a firm knowledge on public international law as a whole and find February as a better time of the year to start your master - go for it!

Hope this helps.

Feel free to ask anything else about Leiden.
Paulius

P.S. My answer applies to Leiden University. I have no idea about the University of Amsterdam.