Hey - just curious, which are the most prestigious universities in the EU? (Oxbridge and London aside).

As an Australian and after some research I have concluded on: Utrecht, Leiden, Leuven. Is this an accurate guess? These seem to be in the elite "groups" - coimbra etc etc

How would places like Lund, Uppsala, Stockholm, Oslo, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Dublin, Galway compare? Any others?

I know EU universities are hard to compare but obviously there would be tiers and more desireable institutions.

Thanks - responses will also help me in determining how these universities are perceived in the EU.

P.S: It would really be helpful is I could get the opinion of people from Europe. This would help a great deal in determining which universities are most favoured - I would greatly appreciate any suggestions whatsoever.

Cheers

In France the most prestigious universities for law related studies would be: Sciences-Po Paris (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris), Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, and Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne.

University of Assas Paris 2 is number one
University of Sorbonne is number two

But it depends on the subjects... Assas is the leader in "business law" whereas in "international law" Sorbonne takes over...

nota: Science-po ain't a University, this is a sort of business school mixed with an Economics University, but they delivers law classes.

in the Uk (Oxbridge, Kings, LSE and Queens aside) i would say that Durham is highly regarded, as is Nottingham or Queens in Belfast.
I may have disregarded one but away from them alot are much of the same in my opinion.

University of Oslo is known as the best law school in Norway. I go to there myself, but I have to say that if you are thinking of taking anytning other than an LLM in Maritime Law (which I have heard great things about), I would not consider Oslo. I know foreigners think the lectures are boring and that it is hard to get to know Norwegians. Professors are also kinda distant, and not too eager to talk to students. One plus about Norway is that 99% of all Norwegians speak English fluently.

And as for the various rankings I have seen - Oslo is always prett high up there. I have no idea why ;) In Sweden you have Karolinska, Stockholm and Lund which are on the better side?

Depends on what you want to do but Trinity College Dublin has a good reputation

I have graduated from the University of Helsinki. I am not too familiar with the LL.M. program, but I believe it has a great reputation in public international law. Professor Martti Koskenniemi is considered to be one of the major scholars in the field (he teaches also at NYU) and both he and Jan Klabbers are reputedly great teachers. If you aspire to be a law teacher in the field of public international law, Helsinki might offer the best price/quality-ratio available.

Thanks - you have all been very helpful.

I'll look into Helsinki abit more - their PIL program looks fantastic. However, what careers can a person pursue upon completion of the PIL program?

Out of curiosity - what careers can an LLM in PIL, human rights, international law and public law open?

Many thanks for any responses.

I only have some very impressionistic views on this. In Finland, most people who specialize in international law end up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, international organizations, or academia. If you aspire for a career in a big international law firm or banking etc., it may not be the best choice. On the other hand, if you feel cosmopolitan and want to work abroad, law of nations might be a good choice. Every European country has its own legal system, and studying it may not be very helpful if you don't wish to settle in that country. Yet again, there are lots of students doing public international law, so it's quite competitive. But if you want to study in Helsinki, send me a personal message and I can give you some names and e-mail addresses of foreign students who have studied PIL in Helsinki. They will have more information about the subject than I do.

Vast question. No rankings, different legal systems, linguistic diversity make them inherently uneasy to compare. Typically people will answer this question on the basis of historical perception, which may or may not reflect the strength of current offereings. In Spain, people will cite Complutense, simply because it is the largest and it is in Madrid, or Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, or the like because they are ancient universities. But Carlos III in Madrid, Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, are probably much more dynamic, modern universities. In France, "universités" are less considered in the pecking order than "Grandes Écoles", a strange distinction but it matters there. Does not really concern law degrees, though.
If English language must be used, then of course I understand your listing Oxbridge (but London???); also, your reasearch yields Ducth and Belgian universities because these have for a long time decided to offer courses in English; they are good, but I would never say that Utrecht is "better" than a great Italian or French university.
Since this is a site about LL.M.s, one key feature of European LL.M.s is that they are never "general" but more or less specialized in an area of law. So how do you compare an LL.M. in Humanitarian law with an LL.M. in International Taxation? Of course you cannot use median salary or job offers at graduation for such a comparison, it would be unfair and misguided. If I had to name the strongest LL.M. program that I know of, that would be the LL.M. in EU law offered by the College of Europe in Bruges, particularly now that it can be complemented with mixed coursework in Industrial Economics. The program in Bruges is very hard to get in, hard work inside, but can't be beaten. In my experience, the only place that I would compare to a top U.S. LL.M., and one of the few remaining places striving for excellence and looking to provide a wider vision of the law within its political and economic context. Of course, nothing of this is of any use unless you are interested in European Union law.

HI All,

I am interested which university is best in EU in the field of
International Trade and Commercial law?

What is the reputation of Lund's Tax LLM?

What your comments on European Master in Transnational Trade and Finance (in the frame of Erasmus Mundus)?

The consortium consists of 4 Universities and in my opinion there are pretty nice schools, such as Tilburg and ILF, dont you think so?