Maynooth University

John Paul II Library, South Campus

We offer the following taught postgraduate programmes at the School of Law and Criminology:

• LLM (Global Legal Studies) (full-time and part-time)
• LLM (International Business Law) - dual degree with the Catholic University of Lyon
• LLM (International Business Law) (full-time and part-time)
• LLM (International Justice) for both law and non-law graduates (full-time and part-time)
• MA (Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice) for both law and non-law graduates (full-time and part-time)
• LLM (International Law)(Blended Learning Offering) (part-time only)

LLM (Global Legal Studies)

The LLM (Global Legal Studies) is an innovative programme that provides students with a world-class legal education, which is grounded in an appreciation of global social, economic, and cultural contexts and challenges. The increased potential for international elements to any legal issue – from trade and business, to crime, to migration, to information technology, to privacy – has meant that legal graduates need to possess skills that transcend one national jurisdiction. The LLM (Global Legal Studies) imparts just those skills. By taking the LLM (Global Legal Studies), students will be exposed to a range of areas of legal regulation in a manner that goes far beyond one jurisdiction and will gain critical insights from a range of other disciplines, including politics, psychology, economics, and sociology. Students on the LLM (Global Legal Studies) have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of LLM programmes and can create a postgraduate programme that meets their individual needs. The programme facilitates career pathways in law, business, politics, non-governmental organisations, and policymaking bodies at the national and international levels. In addition, certain modules on the programme are run in partnership with leading law firms, offering students the opportunity to apply for work placements at the end of their studies.

Modules focus on three areas:

• Global Business (including International Investment Law; World Trade Law; Funds Law);
• Social Justice and Human Rights (including International Human Rights Law; Disability Law & Policy; Gender, Sexuality and the Law);
• Transnational Regulation (including Information Privacy Law; Information Technology Law; Globalisation, Migration and the Law).

Students may specialise in a particular area or choose modules from different areas.

Placement opportunities with partner organisations are available through the Placement Module as a credited part of the postgraduate programme.

A Postgraduate Diploma in Global Legal Studies is also available.

LLM (International Business Law) - dual degree

The LLM (International Business Law) is jointly offered by Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology and the Law School at the Catholic University of Lyon, France (UCLy); it enables law graduates to further their legal education by gaining a systematic understanding of the critical issues at the forefront of select areas of international business law. The programme also aims to develop legal research, reasoning, writing, advocacy, and teamwork skills, which are highly sought after by employers.

The first semester of the masters is spent at the Catholic University of Lyon (from September to December) and the second semester at Maynooth University, (from January to May). At the end of the two semesters, successful students will be awarded a dual qualification:

1. French Master 1 Degree awarded by the Catholic University of Lyon; and
2. Master of Laws (LLM) awarded by Maynooth University.

The language of instruction is English. However, French language courses can be taken for free at UCLy. The Faculty of Law offers free language courses to all students. 

Placement opportunities with partner organisations are available through the Placement Module as a credited part of the postgraduate programme.

In addition to reading the information available here, you may wish to consult the UCLy website.

Funding Opportunities (for the dual degree)

Erasmus

There is a small amount of funding available to students in the form of an Erasmus Mobility Allowance, even where students have previously availed of Erasmus funding at undergraduate level. The exact amount varies each year, but is likely to be approximately €1,000.

As soon as you have accepted a place on the programme, you should complete an Expression of Interest Form and submit this to the International Office. Further information about studying abroad as an Erasmus student can be found here.

Maynooth University Scholarships

For details, see the Graduate Studies website.

LLM (International Business Law)

The LLM (International Business Law) is a masters degree offered by Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology. The programme will enable graduates to further their education by gaining a systematic understanding of the critical issues at the forefront of select areas of international business law. The programme also aims to develop legal research, reasoning, writing, advocacy, and teamwork skills, which are highly sought after by employers.

Certain modules on the programme are run in partnership with leading law firms, offering students the opportunity to apply for work placements at the end of their studies.

Placement opportunities with partner organisations are available through the Placement Module as a credited part of the postgraduate programme.

Teaching is delivered by means of small class lectures, in-class simulations, workshops and masterclasses.

The programme will be very attractive to law graduates who wish to specialise in the field of international business law and to non-law graduates who may be interested in developing their legal knowledge.

A Postgraduate Diploma in International Business Law is also available.

LLM (International Justice)

The LLM (International Justice) provides students with critical insights into the international legal system and how it operates to promote and secure justice. It analyses how the international legal order works and how it seeks to protect vulnerable groups, including minorities, migrants and peoples with disabilities. The programme draws on law and other social science disciplines, including sociology, anthropology and politics, to provide students with a comprehensive examination of the challenges facing international justice mechanisms today, and to develop the tools and thinking necessary to tackle those challenges. Modules address a wide range of questions and topics relating to social justice, human rights and international law.

Placement opportunities with partner organisations are available through the Placement Module as a credited part of the postgraduate programme.

Teaching is delivered by means of small class lectures, in-class simulations, workshops and masterclasses.

The programme will be very attractive to law graduates who wish to specialise in the field of international law and to non-law graduates who may be interested in undertaking a vocational law programme in the future.

A Postgraduate Diploma in International Justice is also available.

MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice

Criminology deals with issues that are constantly in the media and attract much public interest. Given the impact of globalising processes on crime and on society more generally in the contemporary era, the School of Law and Criminology has identified the need for a programme to deepen engagement with the global across a wide range of criminological and criminal justice issues. The MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice has been developed to address this need.

At a time of global links at the level of crime threats and criminal justice responses, our view of criminal justice systems as comprising distinct national jurisdictions comes increasingly under challenge. With this increasing cosmopolitanism comes a need to examine a broad range of criminological and criminal justice issues from an internationally comparative perspective. This is what the MA programme aims to do through the unique combination of modules in qualitative and quantitative research methods together with theoretical awareness of key issues in comparative criminology such as the aims of comparison, the different schools of thought on comparative criminological research and the impact of globalisation. With this, students develop specialist knowledge with respect to crime causation and control within a comparative and international context.

Placement opportunities with partner organisations are available through the Placement Module as a credited part of the postgraduate programme.

LLM in International Law (Blended Learning Offering)

The LLM in International Law will provide students with critical insights into the operation of international law. It will provide a critique of international law frameworks and institutions and an analysis of how the international legal order works and how it seeks to protect vulnerable groups, including minorities and refugees. Teaching will be delivered mostly online but supported by a number of face-to-face workshops and masterclasses during the semester. The programme will be open to students with degrees in law and cognate areas, including international relations, social studies, sociology, politics, and other inter-disciplinary degrees. The programme will, in particular, be of interest to those already working in the field of law, including barristers, solicitors and civil servants who want to upskill in the area of international law and those with an NGO background who want to expand their knowledge of international law.

Students will undertake a compulsory module in Public International Law and will choose 5 additional modules, in addition to undertaking a Dissertation. Optional Modules include: International Human Rights Law, International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, Migration Law and Policy, International Law and Vulnerable Groups, International Law and Justice in Practice, International Trade Law, International Law and Europe.

Postgraduate Research Programmes

The School of Law and Criminology offers a structured PhD programme and a masters by research (MLitt), each of which provides a framework that facilitates independent research, while offering milestones for measuring programmes.

Maynooth University, South Campus

Maynooth University is internationally recognised for the quality and value of our research and scholarship and our dedication and commitment to teaching and to our students.

While formally established as an autonomous university in 1997, Maynooth University traces its origins to the foundation of the Royal College of St. Patrick in 1795, drawing inspiration from a heritage that includes over 200 years of education and scholarship.

The University is a place of lively contrasts. It is a modern institution, dynamic, rapidly-growing, research-led and engaged, yet grounded in historic academic strengths and scholarly traditions.

The humanities, social sciences and natural sciences form the academic and intellectual core of the University, complemented by strong departments and programmes in teacher education, computer science and electronic engineering, business, and law. Maynooth University is very much an engaged university, making significant contributions to social, cultural, and economic development at local, regional, and national levels.

The University community comprises over 13,000 students (nearly 2,000 of whom are international students) and 900 staff from more than 20 countries. The institution has grown rapidly in recent years, but retains a student-centred and deeply collegial ethos.

Maynooth University has launched a new University Strategic Plan 2018-22, charting a clear and ambitious direction for the development of the University, including major enhancements in undergraduate and postgraduate education, focussed investment in research, further internationalisation, and deeper engagement with enterprise and the community. This is a university with ambition, vision and values, a clear identity and sense of purpose, a history of achievement, and a future of considerable promise. Reflecting this, Maynooth University was ranked #49 in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) ‘Young Universities’ list. 

Maynooth University, School of Law and Criminology, South Campus

Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology is a vibrant, dynamic, and exciting place to study. Your studies will be guided by staff members who produce internationally-recognised, high-quality research and who will encourage you to reflect on, debate and discuss all of the contemporary issues of law and policy you will encounter. At the School of Law and Criminology, we aim to produce graduates who will not only have the skills and confidence to thrive in the global economy, but who will also be socially engaged and active citizens.

We provide students with a world-class legal education, which is grounded in an appreciation of global social, economic, and cultural contexts and challenges. We connect theory with practice on our all of taught postgraduate programmes by offering internships and placements with public and private sector bodies.

In 2020, the School of Law and Criminology has received an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, which recognises work undertaken to advance gender equality for staff and students in Higher Education.  To achieve the award, institutions and departments are required to perform a critical self-reflection and analysis to identify both good practice and problem areas. The School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University is one of the first two law departments in Ireland to achieve Athena SWAN accreditation.

Graduates of law or cognate disciplines (minimum 2.2 grade, honours (level 8) degree) may apply for the LLM (Global Legal Studies), the LLM (International Business Law), the LLM (International Justice), the MA (Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice) or the LLM (International Law)(Blended Learning Offering). These are the minimum entry requirements and meeting these requirements will not guarantee an offer of entry onto the programmes. To apply for the dual LLM (International Business Law) run in conjunction with the Catholic University of Lyon, applicants are required to have an undergraduate degree in law (a minimum 2.2 grade, honours (level 8) degree in law (a 'licence', an LLB, BCL or equivalent)).

Acceptance of applicants with other types of diplomas will be determined by the admissions committee which may also take into account relevant professional experience. Official transcripts and two letters of reference have to be submitted via the online application platform. Applicants must have a recognised primary degree which is considered equivalent to Irish university primary degree level.

Minimum English language requirements:
IELTS: 6.5 minimum overall score
TOEFL (Paper based test): 585
TOEFL (Internet based test): 95
PTE (Pearson): 62

Online application only at www.pac.ie/maynoothuniversity

A personal statement of up to 1,000 words outlining why an applicant is suitable for the programme should be included as part of an application. Certified copies of all official transcripts of results for all non-Maynooth University qualifications listed MUST accompany the application. Failure to do so will delay your application being processed. Non-Maynooth University students are asked to provide two academic references and a copy of birth certificate or valid passport.

See https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/student-fees-grants/postgraduate (for EU students).

See https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/student-fees-grants/international (for international students).

Information about funding and scholarships can be found at: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/postgraduate-studies/fees-funding-scholarships.

Our vibrant and beautiful campus is closely integrated with the historic and lively town of Maynooth, Co. Kildare, which is easily accessible by car, bus, bicycle and train.

View our campus in more detail in our campus map.

Transport Options
By Car: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/location/travelling-road
By Bus: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/location/travelling-bus
By Train: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/location/travelling-rail
By Plane: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/location/travelling-air

Travelling to Ireland from abroad?
Maynooth lies just 33km south-west of Dublin Airport, around 40 minutes travel time by car. Over 50 airlines operate from 170 destinations to Dublin Airport, with up to 600 flights per day.Visit the Dublin Airport website for flight details.

For more detailed information, see https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/location.

All prospective students may apply for on-campus through the Residence Office.

All on-campus accommodation is situated on Maynooth University's North Campus, close to lecture, sports and recreational facilities. Every apartment has a fully equipped kitchen with dining area and sitting room. There are various halls within campus. The following is a description of the different apartments on campus.

River Apartments
Students in these halls live in apartments where each bedroom has an en-suite bathroom. A typical apartment has five bedrooms each with its own en-suite bathroom. There are a limited number of twin rooms also available which also have en-suite bathrooms. Residents with personal computers also have the opportunity of internet access in their own room. In twin rooms both residents have internet access. Internet access is included in the rent. There is a large kitchen, dining and lounge area.

Rye Hall
All bedrooms in Rye Hall are single and internet access is also available in each resident bedroom. There are a range of three-bed, four and seven bed apartments. Each apartment has at least two shower rooms. A select number of the bedrooms in Rye Hall are en-suite.

Village Apartments
All students in these halls have single rooms and internet access is available. Each five bedroom apartment has two bathrooms. There may be a utility charge for cleaning which will be deducted from your deposit.

The Residence Office also compiles lists of off campus accommodation with rooms available in traditional 'digs' accommodation, self-catering in family homes and in private rented apartments and houses.

For full details on all accommodation options, visit www.maynoothuniversity.ie/accommodation

Alternatively, contact our Residence Office:
Phone: +353 (0)1 708 3322
Email: residence.office@nuim.ie

Student life at Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology is not confined to the classroom.

It draws life from an array of student societies and organisations. Many School of Law and Criminology students are a member of some society or group on campus. While some activities are of a competitive nature, many are cooperative and networking ventures. They all enrich the intellectual community and provide focal points for engagement between students and the School.

Read more about some of our student societies on our website: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/law/student-societies