SOAS University of London

SOAS students in the Paul Webley wing, Senate House, at SOAS University of London.

The LLM (Master of Laws) allows students to create their own programme structure, choosing courses from a wide range of subjects and perspectives, including comparative regional law, trade law, law and development, commercial law (including banking, copyright and patent law), human rights, environmental law, Islamic law, dispute resolution, and international law.

The LLM in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development provides a unique specialisation in a rapidly evolving area of law. Environmental law has grown rapidly over the past five decades and is now one of the key areas of both domestic and international law. The increasingly vast scope of environmental law is reflected in the umbrella notion of sustainable development that captures the links between traditional environmental issues and broader development concerns. Environmental law thus covers not only traditional nature conservation and pollution control issues but also broader the use and conservation of natural resources. In addition, we emphasise links between environmental regulation and other related fields of law, such as human rights, trade or intellectual property rights.

The LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice provides a specialisation in a constantly evolving area of law that covers a range of issues at the heart of major contemporary developments and debates. This programme offers a wide range of distinctive modules that combine a focus on core subjects in the field alongside a critical inquiry into the theory and practice of human rights law and related fields, particularly as they relate to the global South. Options include core international modules on international human rights law, international criminal law, international refugee and migration law, international humanitarian law, and justice, reconciliation and reconstruction in post conflict societies.

The globalisation of commerce makes the LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice extremely useful, if not essential, for anyone wishing to practise commerical law to study it from an international and comparative perspective. The huge growth in the importance of multinational corporations, and countries such as China and the Gulf states, makes it equally useful to study such corporations and countries as well. SOAS has a unique concentration of modules in this area, taught by experts who combine experience in legal practice and consulting with academic scholarship. Many of those modules are equally useful for people wishing to study other areas of law, such as human rights, environmental law, Chinese law and Islamic law, as their main focus.

The LLM in International Law provides a diverse and unique range of courses that interrogate critically the theory and practice of international law and explore cutting edge topics of contemporary significance particularly as they relate to the global south: refugee law and the migrant crisis; climate change and natural resources; the rights of women; gender and armed conflict; international criminal law; the law of armed conflict; multinational enterprises and human rights; sustainable development; and conflict resolution, peace-building and transitional justice. 

The LLM in Islamic Law allows students to study Islamic law and its application in a broad range of legal areas, including Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic family law, and human rights, and in different jurisdictions, as well as law in its relationship to society in the Middle East and North Africa. All SOAS modules are designed not only to introduce students to the general fields of law, but also to provide an understanding of how generic legal structures and processes may operate in non-Western social and cultural settings.

The LLM in Law and Gender  specialisation capitalises on the Centre for Gender Studies as a multi-faculty centre, allowing students to engage with contemporary gender theories alongside existing postgraduate Law modules that engage issues in gender and women's rights. Students are required to take two core modules in Gender, Sexuality & Law alongside units on the human rights of women, gender and migration and gender and armed conflict. Students combine the study of units specifically focused on gender and/or women's rights with the modules from the large list of law options available to LLM students at SOAS, allowing the student to tailor their programme to suit future goals. In taking this module, students should hope to develop an understanding of the role of gender as a tool for analysis and critical analytical skills in feminist legal methods.

The LLM in Law and Development in Planetary Perspective both provides you with a good grounding in the fundamentals of international law and opportunities to explore your specialist interests and to develop niche expertise offered by our diverse and unique range of modules. See SOAS website for modules available in 2023-2024.

SOAS University of London Law Department is in Senate House.

Develop a truly global perspective
Attracting the brightest minds from all over the world to create a community that is diverse, vibrant and multinational. SOAS University of London is a unique institution specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East across a broad set of subject disciplines within the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Our vision is of an interconnected world where SOAS plays an important role in addressing the challenges facing the world by:

• Challenging perspectives through its research and teaching
• Helping to build bridges in a complex world
• Applying a global lens to the critical issues of our time
• Developing graduates who can influence and make an impact throughout their careers
• Developing new intellectual and strategic partnerships

Real-world analysis
As a student, you will engage in research that has a tangible effect on the real world by interacting with scholars at the forefront of their respective fields. Our postgraduate programmes will provide you with a deep understanding of global issues, distinctive in regional focus and relevant today.

Over the course of your study, you will have the opportunity to look at your subject(s) from multiple perspectives, to have your ideas challenged in debate with fellow students and tutors, and overturn any unexamined assumptions.

The School of Law at SOAS is based in the iconic Senate House

The School of Law at SOAS alongside English Law specialises in laws of Asian and African countries. From human rights to international trade and commerce, environmental law to development,  we promise to enrich your understanding and prepare you for a career in a more integrated world.  You will join a community built on distinguished expertise and a passion for how the law can make a difference on the local, national and international stage. Our distinguished alumni include lawyers, judges, politicians, businessmen/women and activists throughout the world.

Postgraduate degrees include:

• LLM (Master of Laws)
• LLM in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development
• LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice
• LLM in International Commercial and Economic Law
• LLM in International Law
• LLM in Islamic Law
• LLM in Law and Gender
• LLM in Law, Development and Globalisation
• MA Legal Studies (General Programme)
• MA in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development
• MA in Human Rights Law
• MA in International Law
• MA in Islamic Law
• MRes in Law

• Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Law. We welcome applications from students who are close to a upper second class honours degree (High 2:2) and who have other relevant qualifications or work experience.

• We require a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or above from students who have completed a Bachelor's degree.

Applications are made through our online Postgraduate Application System. We recommend you submit an application and all supporting documentation by June 30th.

If you have not yet completed your current degree we will consider and assess the application based on your current transcript and grades received so far. Any offers made will be conditional on your final results meeting our entry requirement.

Guidance on how to apply through our Postgraduate Application System is available here.

Fees for 2023-2024 entrants

For information about Masters degree scholarships

SOAS Library: one of only five National Research Libraries in the UK

London life
The student population at SOAS is extraordinarily diverse: students from all parts of the world come to SOAS to study law, bringing with them a unique range of experience and expertise, which frequently enlivens the learning experience. The School of Law is located in the heart of the university district in central London, close to a range of libraries (including our own world famous research library and that of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies) and ideally positioned for students to enjoy the range of academic and cultural activities that occur on a daily basis within London.

Whether you are looking to find a room in SOAS Halls of Residence, a private rented property or looking to find a place for both you and your partner/family, SOAS has a range of options to suit your needs.

The main options for postgraduates to choose from are halls of residence and private rented accommodation.  For more information about accommodation.  

Our students join and take part in activities organised by the SOAS Student Union and its many clubs. Chief amongst these for students of the School of Law are the SOAS Law Society and the SOAS Bar Society. These societies organise careers and networking events, skills workshops, a Law clinic, mooting competitions and social events. The SOAS Law Journal provides a platform for students and alumni to publish high quality legal scholarship. Banyan: SOAS Advocates is a network of postgraduate SOAS students, which provides pro bono legal research on cutting edge questions of development, human rights and social justice.

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