Law studies - For students with completed legal studies at a foreign university (LL.M.)

Features

The Master’s programme in Law for international students who have completed a law degree at a foreign university is aimed at graduates who have completed at least four years of academic legal training abroad. Students are introduced to German law and are expected to develop the ability to conduct legal research using the methods customary in Germany. In their Master’s thesis, they examine a specific area of law in depth. The Master of Laws (LL.M.) qualification enables graduates to practise as experts in German, foreign and international law in their home country.

Name:: Law studies - For students with completed legal studies at a foreign university
Degree:: Master of Laws (LL.M.)
Language of the programme:: German
Standard period of study:: 2 semesters
Start:: Every summer and winter semester

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Programme description

The LL.M. programme in Göttingen is aimed at foreign lawyers who have completed at least four years of academic legal training abroad and who wish to improve their job prospects in their home country by acquiring knowledge of German and/or international law.

The Master's programme in Law for Foreign Students with a Foreign Law Degree at the University of Göttingen focuses in particular on the German legal system, including its historical, philosophical and social foundations. Through research-based teaching of in-depth and specialised knowledge of German law, students develop the skills required for legal work. They acquire both specialist knowledge and the methodological skills customary in Germany that enable them to apply their specialist knowledge in practice. In the academic field, the Master's degree is a step on the way to a doctorate.

Occupational fields

The Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree certifies graduates in their home country as experts in German, foreign and international law. The European Union, international courts, law firms specialising in international commercial law and internationally active companies also offer interesting fields of employment.

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Structure

The programme comprises 60 credits (ECTS credits, abbreviated to C), which are distributed as follows:

33 C in law lectures and seminars
6 C in the area of professionalization (key skills, such as mediation, negotiation, foreign language courses, German courses),
21 C for the master thesis.

As a compulsory introductory module, students attend the course ‘Introduction to German Legal Language and Legal Working Methods for Foreign LL.M. Students’ (6 credits), which was designed specifically for the programme. This module is designed to teach students the basic concepts and structures of the German legal system and legal terminology in the manner of a preparatory course, thus enabling foreign graduates with no prior knowledge of German law to attend the courses of the full law programme. For students who have already acquired prior knowledge of German law, the course offers a useful review and summary of familiar content in preparation for entering the regular law courses.

In order to acquire basic knowledge of German law, students must complete at least two modules from two different sub-areas with a minimum of 15 credits in the area of ‘Elective modules - Basic modules’ - subdivided into the sub-areas of civil law, criminal law, public law and basic subjects. In the group ‘Elective modules - Advanced modules’, at least 12 credits must be acquired, e.g. by successfully completing a seminar. The broad range of subjects in this area opens up many opportunities for specialisation, e.g. in commercial and corporate law, internet law, family and inheritance law, medical law, criminology, international business law, international law, European law or international criminal law. A further 6 credits must be completed in the area of professionalisation. This includes courses that teach skills useful in the practice of legal professions, as well as German courses at language level C (advanced). The programme concludes with a 5-month Master's thesis (21 credits). The Master's thesis must be written in German. Upon request, writing the thesis in another language may be permitted in agreement with the supervisor if there is a particular academic interest in doing so.