Postgraduate Law 2026-2027

The course deals with the regulation of international activities regarding energy and the environment. The course will consider the international legal framework regarding energy sources, and it will look at the various legal instruments at the global and regional level as well as the key actors that are involved in regulation. It will also examine environmental issues that correspond to the generation and use of energy in the international context and the responses relating to environmental protection of soil, water, air, atmosphere and species.

With only limited exceptions hydrocarbons lie in the ownership or control of states but are frequently explored for and produced by commercial actors. This course considers the means by which the state controls exploitation of its oil and gas reserves. Following a number of introductory online lectures, students will participate in interactive seminars considering topics such as: from energy security to energy trilemma; national oil companies; licensing and production sharing agreements; resource curse and transparency; health, safety and environmental regulation; and decommissioning. This course is available to students registering for the LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills).

This is an optional course at postgraduate level and offers a selective and critical examination of company laws in the UK and other systems. It is an appropriate course for students with an interest in working in the corporate sector or who wish to learn more about how company law operates in different countries. Key issues in comparative company law shall be examined and a range of topics will be covered, dealing with corporate entities, their ownership, management and activities.

This course provides students from diverse legal and educational backgrounds with a common understanding of the core research, analytical, and writing skills which will be required for LLM-Taught courses. The course is delivered as a series of five interactive lectures with two individual assessments designed to encourage critical thinking and provide opportunities for early feedback. It also incorporates a library workshop to provide students with hands-on experience with the resources available for course and dissertation work.

The course analyses recent developments in international law. It first considers the sources of international law. The question is then asked whether traditional international law can regulate pressing issues on the international plane. Examples of these problems are international terrorism, nuclear weapons proliferation, ethnic conflicts, and climate change. The course encourages the student to think creatively as an international lawyer to resolve contemporary international challenges. Teaching will be principally delivered through discussion-based seminars. 

This course provides a detailed overview of the international and domestic legal regulatory framework pertaining to the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations. Teaching and instruction will be by a variety of methods including podcasts, directed reading, and interactive discussion. Topics covered are: International law of the sea; global legal regime for offshore decommissioning; dumping – the UNCLOS, London and Oslo Conventions; Implementing international law in the UK and the Brent Spar Case; Legal and regulatory consequences of Brent Spar; the ongoing evolution of UK decommissioning law; the comparative dimension; waste. This course is available to students registering for the Online LLM Oil and Gas Law programmes (Dissertation or Professional Skills) and MSC Decommissioning.

The course explores the history and nature of ICL, allowing students to develop their understanding of the core crimes, their evolution, and the path to the creation of the International Criminal Court. Through seminar discussions, students are encouraged to contribute their informed, evidenced perspectives on contemporary problems in international criminal law. These include the attempts to suppress international crimes through international cooperation, international initiatives to prosecute those accused of serious violations of international criminal law, and the limitations of the International Criminal Court, as well as its successes.

This course introduces international commercial litigation, the major means of commercial dispute resolution for many sectors of industry and the default means of dispute resolution against which international arbitration is positioned. The course demonstrates the relevance of a venue’s Private International Law (PIL) to its attractiveness for dispute resolution and provides advanced instruction in the relevant post-Brexit aspects of PIL to parties engaged in litigating international commercial disputes.

The course introduces students to the basics of International Law. It will describe the international legal system, the sources of International Law and the law of treaties.

The course will examine the law and principles of cross-border taxation. It will cover core subjects on international tax law, including the concepts of source and residence taxation, double tax conventions, allocation of taxing rights, transfer pricing and thin capitalisation rules, and international tax avoidance (schemes and prevention).

Attention will be paid to topical issues around international taxation and the efforts being made to modernise the international tax system. This includes an examination of the tax challenges of the digital economy and the solutions introduced by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. The progress and challenges associated with the recent resolution to establish a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation will also be examined.

The course content fulfils the core requirements of Module 1 of the ADIT (Advanced Diploma in International Tax) qualification offered by the Chartered Institute of Taxation. The course is also essential for those aiming to practise tax in an international context, either as academics, government officials, or general tax advisors.

The course will be taught from a legal and policy perspective. No prior knowledge of tax is required, but students should be willing to engage with the tax literature and tax affairs.

This course introduces students to one of the most highly discussed areas of law in modern societies. Competition law and policy offer a solution to the abuses of power that firms may perpetrate against consumers and the market. Yet, competition law enforcement is limited in many respects.

This course explores the spread of competition law around the world analysing its core provisions from a comparative perspective. The course thus focuses on the core aspects of competition law: anticompetitive agreements, abuse of dominance, and merger regulation. It then offers insights on the analysis of competition law in digital markets and on the international enforcement of its core provisions.

The course examines the complex and dynamic relationship between law and development and traces the impact of international development discourse on lower- and middle-income countries’ legal systems. The course focuses on domestic law reforms aiming to promote sustainable development and achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda. It focuses on the role of law in promoting SDG 16 on peace, justice, and inclusive institutions, SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, and SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production.

This course will explore issues within the law of corporate finance, with reference to different legal systems. It will provide students with a wider and deeper understanding of various debt and equity finance issues that are crucial to the law of corporate finance.

 A transition from reliance on fossil fuels to low-carbon renewable energy is essential for mitigating climate change and for making energy supplies more sustainable. This course examines the legal frameworks governing authorisation of renewable energy projects, as well as health, safety & environmental regulation. With a focus on the UK and Scotland, the course also considers European Union and other jurisdictions to draw comparison and analysis.

The course is designed to offer in-depth theoretical insights and practical knowledge essential for navigating the field of international commercial arbitration.

The seminar topics have been selected to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of international commercial arbitration law. The topics include:

1. Arbitration Agreement and Arbitral Jurisdiction
2. The Role of the Seat
3. Applicable Substantive Law
4. The Arbitral Tribunal
5. Arbitral Procedure and Evidence
6. The Arbitral Award

Additionally, the course features a podcast introducing the fundamentals of international commercial arbitration.

This course considers issues relating to international trade and finance law and addresses the legal and commercial aspects of export-import transactions. It covers trade risks and risk assessment, the law and practice relating to international sale of goods, carriage of goods and insurance matters, international trade finance, digitalisation of international trade and international commercial dispute resolution.

This course is comparative in nature and examines in depth certain aspects of the criminal justice process, focussing upon differences between the adversarial and inquisitorial models. Examples are mainly drawn from Scotland, England and continental Europe. Topics addressed include: prosecution systems; the position of the accused; the status granted to the victim; plea-bargaining; the trial process; and appeals. The emphasis is not so much on ‘black-letter law’ but on the principles and policies, often clashing, which underlie the detailed legal rules and regulations governing the relevant institutions and processes.

This course is comparative in nature and examines in-depth various key evidentiary doctrines, focussing upon the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and differences in the approaches adopted by national jurisdictions. The emphasis is not so much on ‘black-letter law’ but on the principles and policies, often clashing, which underlie the detailed legal rules and regulations governing the relevant types of evidence.

This course provides students from diverse legal and educational backgrounds with a common understanding of the core research, analytical, and writing skills which will be required for LLM-Taught courses. The course is delivered as a series of five interactive lectures with two individual assessments designed to encourage critical thinking and provide opportunities for early feedback. It also incorporates a library workshop to provide students with hands-on experience with the resources available for course and dissertation work.

The course introduces students to the basics of International Law. It will describe the international legal system, the sources of International Law and the law of treaties.

Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge of our time and addressing it requires a range of regulatory tools and strategies for mitigating emissions. These include placing limits on greenhouse gas emissions at international and national levels, adapting to the current and projected impacts of climate change, and opening international green finance markets to support regional decarbonisation. This course immerses students in the cutting-edge field of climate law and sustainability, where they will critically explore the role of law in mitigating the climate crisis.

The course aims to introduce students to the core aspects of privacy and data protection law, exploring its international, European, and national dimension.

The course aims to introduce students to the core aspects of privacy and data protection law, exploring its international, European, and national dimension.

The course addresses, in particular, the role of data privacy regulation in the digital environment, critically discussing key global challenges, such as: international data transfers; artificial intelligence and its impact on data subject’s rights; the balance between the right to data protection and other fundamental freedoms (e.g. freedom of expression).

Between May and mid-August students prepare a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic of their choice related to their specialist LLM programme. Students are instructed through the delivery of a preparatory lecture, two supervisory meetings and a two hour dissertation planning workshop in a small group setting. Students are expected to spend considerable time on independent research throughout the course of the dissertation module, including; preparation of dissertation plan, amendment of plan in accordance with supervisory comments, preparation for the dissertation workshop, and, of course, in the final 10,000 word dissertation itself.

This course allows students to deploy the knowledge gained in the taught courses on the Oil and Gas/Energy Transition LLMs in intensive exercises designed to develop their professional skills. This course provides students with insights into the context and roles of the different parties involved in the building of a business case, and approaches to decision-making used by organisations in the energy sector. It also introduces students to important elements in negotiations.