Goethe Universität Frankfurt

Students of the LL.M. in Legal Theory become acquainted with the fundamental principles and structures inherent to law as well as it's cultural, social, ethical, political and economic contexts. They will also familiarize themselves with the pluralistic network of legal systems on state, supranational and international levels, above all in integrated Europe. Courses in legal theory including the logics algorithms of law, the social and political philosophy of law, legal comparison, legal history and legal sociology including cultural studies of law are the main pillars of the Masters programme.

The programme analyzes and engages with the ongoing globalization and the connected structural transformation of normativity in law. Its focus is on:

• safeguarding European traditions as basis of constitutionalism for a global perspective.
• developing legal scholarship and jurisprudence as a science.
• developing jurisprudence also as applied legal theory so as to enable the participants in the programme to solve system conflicts that appear nowadays in a regular manner because national law is getting supra- and international and because of the growing weight of transnational law making by non-state actors.

The comprehensive education of the Master programme is set in a European perspective. Europe´s legal systems and academic pluralism provide a huge variety of legal and academic cultures. This is most visible to spectators from overseas. Thus, this endeavor is a specific challenge to come to terms with a most complex association or union. Frankfurt´s Law Faculty and the partner universities under the EALT roof set up a programme governed by the principle of unity in plurality (or according to the EU´s motto “in varietate concordia”) thereby safeguarding the accommodation of diversity in a globalized world.

Main Building of Goethe University

Goethe University is one of Europe’s leading institutions of higher education. Although the current organization was founded as a university in 1914 by prominent citizens of Frankfurt, its actual origins go back to 1763. The Faculty of Law is among the largest and best known in Germany. Frankfurt has earned an excellent reputation in the field of Legal Theory.

With currently more than 48,000 students, including over 7,600 international students, the University prides itself on a rich tradition of intellectual and cultural excellence. Numerous Nobel Prize winners in science and medicine, including Max Born, Paul Ehrlich and Max von Laue, were among the students and teachers of the University. It is home to the world-renowned Frankfurt School, the Institute for Social Research of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, and has enjoyed the teaching of philosophers and theologians such as Paul Tillich and Martin Buber, and currently, Jürgen Habermas.

Law Faculty

The LL.M. in Legal Theory is convened in cooperation with the European Academy of Legal Theory (EALT). The EALT is a network and platform of academic institutions, researchers, and legal practitioners collaborating in the promulgation and advancement of research and teaching in legal theory and their interrelations with legal practice. It forms a main platform for the exchange of legal theory education and legal practice in Europe (for a mission statement see section "Building Bridges").

EALT is a consortium roof organization and involves many partner universities and institutions contributing to the master's course and/or to the Academy's other activities. Among these partners we can find the Jagiellonian University Cracow in Poland, the University of Bologna, the European University Institute in Florence, the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt am Main/Germany, and the University of Glasgow.

Campus Westend

LL.M. students in Legal Theory have the opportunity of writing a master's thesis under the supervision of professors who are members of the EALT's network as well as the teaching body of the Law's Faculty of Goethe University, which includes renowned scholars such as Thomas Vesting, Klaus Günther and Tobias Tröger. The writing process of essays and theses is accompanied by teaching assistants who care about the student's concerns and individual development. Visiting scholars such as Armin von Bogdandy also participate with inputs from the field of International Law and with the institutional cooperation with the research environment outside of university that is provided by the Max Planck Institute for Public Law and International Law in Germany's beautiful city of Heidelberg.

The LL.M. in Legal Theory is well recognized within the German and European academic landscape and is an excellent step for entering an academic career, especially as a preparation to a Ph.D., but also for legal practice in general, as jurisprudence cannot be practiced without mastering of theory, and the deeper one goes into the fundaments the better the abilities for practical action can emerge. Some alumni who made the way into the academic career are for example Lasha Bregvadze, who is Professor of Law at Tbilisi State University in Georgia; Li Chen, who is Associate Professorial Fellow at Fudan University Law School in Shanghai and visiting Professor at Washington University School of Law; Marin Keršić, Teaching Assistant at University of Split, and Carlos Augusto Gálvez Bermúdez, Ph.D. candidate at Goethe-University and tutor for Anglo-American Legal Theory in the LL.M. in Legal Theory. As to the way of practice combined with theory, one can mention Mateus Luiz Puppe Magalhães, Brazilian lawyer and Ph.D. candidate at Goethe University Frankfurt.

Some students reviews:

"I thought the lectures were great. The teachers were very prepared in the topic they presented and were also very polite and open to suggestions, questions and discussions. Many of them, despite the difficulties of online learning, tried to make the classes dynamic with break-out rooms."  Ricardo Arenas Avila, 2021

"It is an honour to be taught by such renowned academics. All lectures are extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic for their respective fields. It is truly very inspiring." Elena Papangelodemou, 2021

Body of Knowledge, sculpture by Jaume Plensa, on Campus Westend

The following requirements must be met:

• Graduates must hold a basic degree in law or a basic degree in another field of study relevant for legal theory (e.g. arts, humanities, cultural, social, political, or economic studies) after a min. duration of 6 semesters (180 ECTS).
• They must also prove a min. of 1 year professional and/or research experience outside the basic degree programme followed prior to the start of the legal theory master.
• Applicants who do not have English as their first language must include evidence of English language proficiency (see above).

In addition to the formal admission requirements, ranking is based on candidates meeting the following criteria:

• Prior knowledge in Legal Theory/Jurisprudence (Publications, Dissertation, Undergraduate work, Master thesis etc., evidence of related lectures during undergraduate studies);
• Proven academic success;
• Additional language skills;
• Extracurricular activities and international experience will also be taken into account.

Entrance hall of the Law Faculty

What to include with your application:

• CV
• Evidence of English language proficiency for non-native English speakers (see below)
• Academic transcripts including final grades (all transcripts or translations thereof must be in either German, English or French)
• A copy of your passport
• A statement of interest (with special regard to legal theory)
• At least one letter of recommendation (with special regard to your legal theory background)

The forms may be submitted as follows:

• Online-application here
• Electronic form: scanned by E-Mail to L.Schulz@jur.uni-frankfurt.de or
• Post to:
  Prof. Dr. Lorenz Schulz, M.A.
  Study Director / Academic Head
  LL.M. in Legal Theory / European Academy of Legal Theory
  Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
  Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 4
  60323 Frankfurt am Main
  Germany

Once you submit your application, you will receive an email acknowledgement. The results are communicated via e-mail in 2-4 weeks after submission.

Central Plaza, Campus Westend

The tuition fee amounts to EUR 7.200,00.
 

Surroundings of the Law Faculty

There is the option to apply for a part reduction of the tuition from 7.200,00 to 6.000,00 EUR according to the following criteria:

• Excellence
• Financial need

This application has to be justified separately. The candidate can justify the application on the basis of one or both criteria (further documents may be requested by the board).

Goethe-University does not offer scholarships for this programme.

Main Buidling of Goethe-University

Our students have the use of the most modern equipment and facilities and state of the art technology during their studies. In addition, our students benefit from the increased contact and network opportunities available due to the presence of researchers and experts working in the field of law and Legal Theory at the Faculty of Law.

The Campus Westend amalgamates an interdisciplinary research on Legal Theory at one place. The Faculty of Law, Max-Planck-Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, and the cluster initiative Normative Orders are in constant exchange of research. The concentration of experts and leading academics at one location enhances the direct and unlimited exchange of information and ideas not only among themselves but also fortifies networking and collaboration with the community and at the international level.

Our students have access to all databases and the internet via numerous notebook cable sockets and wireless LAN which are available in the Law Faculty. 

LL.M. students can use the library facilities every day in the week. They are full members of the University community and are eligible to use all facilities (including sport facilities) available.

We are in close proximity to the main collections of the City and University Library, along with the various libraries of the University’s Department of Law and the Max-Planck-Institute. The Deutsche Bibliothek, the national library and national bibliographic information center for the Federal Republic of Germany, are also located in Frankfurt. 

We work towards establishing a leading European center for education and research in the field of Legal Theory.

Students of the LL.M. in Legal Theory are fully entitled students of Goethe University and profit from all facilities, including the Goethe-Card, the student's identity card that entitles for diverse discounts in the cultural life all throughout Germany and public transportation in all the state of Hessia free of charge.

The student status at Goethe University also entitles to attending classes of other courses in the law faculty as well as in other faculties of the university as a guest student. Classes can be searched by criteria such as topic and language on our catalog.

The LL.M. in Legal Theory offers every year optional Summer Schools. The Schools are opportunities to get acquaintance with Legal Theory as practiced by other universities, as well as to build a network of international contact with researchers and international students interested in legal theory.

The Summer School on Law and Logic (LAWGIC) is a six day course that offers a detailed presentation of propositional and predicate deductive logic, as well as deontic modalities, analogical and inductive reasoning and inference to the best explanation. It also presents some aspects of non-deductive reasoning in law, such as defeasible reasoning, including argumentation schemes. The School is held at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and counts with the presence of Scott Brewer, Henry Prakken, Nino Rotolo, Giovanni Sartor, Bartosz Brozek, among others.

The Palermo Summer School is organized by the University of Palermo as part of the Ph.D. Program on Human Rights, together with the renowned teaching and research network in Philosophy of Law, the European Academy of Legal Theory in Bruxelles, and in collaboration with the École Doctorale de Sciences Juridiques et Politiques of the University of Paris-Nanterre.

Students are also eligible to attend the Summer School Summer of Knowledge convened by the Law Faculty of Goethe University. During the four weeks participants will discover the city of Frankfurt, take part in a diverse cultural programme, attend German language courses, and seminars provided by researchers and lecturers from Goethe University as well as from partner universities cooperating with Goethe University within the programme of Strategic Partnerships.