Dear all,
Is there any postgraduate or professional program in the UK (or another english speaking country) which would last half a year (and hopefully entail half living and tuition costs of a LLM)?
It seems to me that all such programs have been progressively suppressed...

You sound as if you may be looking for a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) programme.

There are a number of UK institutions which offer these as part of a modular credit system, i.e. you sign up only to as many modules or courses as you require. Completing half the LL.M courses (60 credits) could be a certificate, and completing all the courses, but not a dissertation could be a diploma, depending on the details of each institution.

Look closely at the some programme descriptions and you might find what you are looking for.

Good luck.