International Law and Comparative Law, LLB

International Law and Comparative Law, LLB

Introduction

Open for September 2025 applications.

This innovative degree provides a unique student learning experience through the comparative study of legal cultures, institutional and intellectual expectations of law, and state and international orders. It teaches law at a conceptual level, without focusing on one specific jurisdiction, and can help develop careers across international bodies, non-profit organisations, multinational companies and arbitration.

*Please note:

Applicants interested in a career as a Scottish solicitor are directed towards our other LLB programmes. This degree does not qualify candidates to take the Diploma in Professional Practice with a view to entry to the Scottish legal profession.

Study Information

At a Glance

Learning Mode
On Campus Learning
Degree Qualification
LLB
Duration
48 months or 96 months
Study Mode
Full Time or Part Time
Start Month
September
Location of Study
Aberdeen
UCAS Code
M130

Law is often seen from largely or purely from a particular jurisdictional or cultural standpoint. The LLB (Hons) International Law and Comparative Law programme is different.

At the outset of their studies, students become familiar with the levels at which law operates in a global context, including individual jurisdictions, states and the international order. Students then discover the ways in which cultural ideas about law cross traditional jurisdictional and state boundaries, dynamically shaping and reshaping notions of justice and legal practice in the process.

Using the tools of comparative law, students are trained to see law from a variety of different perspectives. Seeing law from such different perspectives fosters understanding and respect for the radically different assumptions of other legal traditions and cultures, enabling students to recognise and question the Euro-centric, Western assumptions that often underpin law as a form of political power.

The course ensures that students are grounded in some of the central ideas of civilian and common law traditions and given the tools to challenge the intellectual underpinnings of this contrast. Students will also see the ways in which clear understanding of differences between those traditions can facilitate powerful, transformative legal dialogues. The courses selected for the programme consider these themes in light of legal theory and black-letter law.

Part Time Study

Part time study options are available for this programme.

What You'll Study

Students will explore the following topics:

  • Institutional structures of law at the jurisdictional, state and international levels
  • Foundations of public law in constitutional democracies, including relationships between states and their citizens
  • The traditional contrast between the great global civilian and common law traditions, and the problems with that contrast
  • Ideas and expectations of law stemming from civilian legal traditions
  • Ideas and expectations of law stemming from common law thought
  • Critical understanding of the ways in which civilian and common law thinking can operate in practice
  • The rich diversity of legal traditions that existed prior to the European Ages of Exploration
  • The Euro-centric nature of legal analysis, and how to spot and critically analyse European and Western assumptions concerning law and legal orders
  • Reflective study of comparative law methodology
  • Critical understanding of international legal orders
  • Fostering the capacity to reflect critically on students own legal methods, assumptions and culture, in a manner consistent with decolonising the curriculum

Please contact study@abdn.ac.uk for more information about this programme.

We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.

How You'll Study

Learning Methods

  • E-learning
  • Group Projects
  • Individual Projects
  • Lectures
  • Peer Learning
  • Research
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Workshops

Assessment Methods

Assessments will be conducted in a range of different ways, including the use of Multiple Choice Tests (MCTs), essays, problem questions and written exams. An additional summative assessment will contribute to the final mark in any situation where an end-of-term exam is used. Constructive and timely feedback will be given in advance of subsequent assessments.

Why Study International Law and Comparative Law?

This programme equips students with the intellectual tool-kit required to think like a lawyer in a globalised context.   Thinking like a lawyer in a globalised context calls for a very special skillset. It calls for:

  • the best of traditional, jurisdiction-specific legal education, including rigorous grounding in the skills of handling black-letter law
  • the capacity to understand the dynamic interchange of legal ideas which operate at the supranational level, and to spot the deep and conflicting cultural assumptions that underpin them
  • the ability to engage with different legal languages, these being the unique ways in which legal ideas are expressed across many different jurisdictions
  • respect and understanding of radically different cultural assumptions from student’s own assumptions
  • the intellectual confidence to be able to navigate those assumptions to negotiate an agreement and a way forward.   

This programme immerses students in different legal languages – the languages of civilian and common law traditions to name two examples. By the very fact of that comparative approach, students learn the limitations and strengths of the ways in which they organise the legal world. It reveals the rich legal diversity of the world prior to the Ages of European Exploration and exposes the Western, Euro-centric assumptions that lie behind much of our thinking about the law, helping to engage critically with them.  

The course equips students with the theoretical tools to analyse and evaluate the law, and to understand law from a variety of different perspectives. It examines the fundamentals of the constitutional and international orders of public law with which we live, and gives students the tools to think about how to transform those orders for the better. It enables students to appreciate law as a practical, functioning reality in a globalised context, when ideas about what is just and fair are changing through international discourse at a rate never-before seen in human history.

Entry Requirements

Qualifications

The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.


General Entry Requirements

2024 Entry

SQA Highers

Standard: AAAA or AAABB

Applicants who have achieved AAAA are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers / Advanced may be required. Nat 5 English at C or better is required. Higher English is highly desirable.

Minimum: BBBB

Applicants who have achieved BBBB (or are on course to achieve this by the end of S5) are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers / Advanced Highers will normally be required. Nat 5 English at C or better is required. Higher English is highly desirable.

Adjusted: BBBC

Applicants who have achieved BBBC, and who meet one of the widening participation criteria are encouraged to apply and will be considered for a conditional offer. Good performance in additional Highers / Advanced Highers will be required. Nat 5 English at C or better is required. Higher English is highly desirable.

An HND in Legal Services may be considered for applying to Year 1 of some LLB programmes.

More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.

A LEVELS

Standard Offer: AAB

NOTE: English is highly desirable. GCSE in English or English Language at C or better, or equivalent, is required.

International Baccalaureate

34 points overall, including average of 5 at HL. Higher English is highly desirable.

Irish Leaving Certificate

5 subjects at Higher minimum required at H2, obtained in one sitting. Higher English is highly desirable.

2025 Entry

SQA Highers

Standard: AAAA or AAABB

Applicants who have achieved AAAA are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers / Advanced may be required. Nat 5 English at C or better is required. Higher English is highly desirable.

Minimum: BBBB

Applicants who have achieved ABBB/BBBBB at Higher and meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed a conditional offer for LLB degrees. 

Adjusted: BBB

Applicants who have achieved BBB at Higher after S5, and who meet one of the widening participation criteria are encouraged to apply and will be considered for an adjusted offer for LLB degrees.

We would expect to issue a conditional offer asking for one additional A grade at Higher or alternatively two additional Highers at B grades. 

Foundation Apprenticeship: One FA is equivalent to a Higher at A. It cannot replace any required subjects.

An HND in Legal Services may be considered for applying to Year 1 of some LLB programmes.

More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.

A LEVELS

Standard Offer: AAB

NOTE: English is highly desirable. GCSE in English or English Language at C or better, or equivalent, is required.

International Baccalaureate

34 points overall, including average of 5 at HL. Higher English is highly desirable.

Irish Leaving Certificate

5 subjects at Higher minimum required at H2, obtained in one sitting. Higher English is highly desirable.

The information displayed in this section shows a shortened summary of our entry requirements. For more information, or for full entry requirements for Law degrees, see our detailed entry requirements section.


English Language Requirements

To study for an Undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:

IELTS Academic:

OVERALL - 6.0 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0

TOEFL iBT:

OVERALL - 78 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21

PTE Academic:

OVERALL - 59 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59

Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency:

OVERALL - 169 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169

Read more about specific English Language requirements here.

Fees and Funding

You will be classified as one of the fee categories below.

Fee information
Fee category Cost
EU / International students £20,800
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year
RUK £9,250
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year
Home Students £1,820
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year

Scholarships and Funding

Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.

Additional Fees

  • In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips. Any additional fees for a course can be found in our Catalogue of Courses.
  • For more information about tuition fees for this programme, including payment plans and our refund policy, please visit our Tuition Fees page.

Our Funding Database

View all funding options in our Funding Database.

Careers

This programme offers a unique student learning experience in the UK, by fostering the comparative study of legal cultures more generally. It offers a sophisticated legal education for those looking to work in the field of arbitration, or for supranational or international institutions such as those found in the UN or the EU, or for NGOs, individual governments or their civil services, or alternatively for international law firms and major multi-national companies.

*Please note:

This degree is not tied to the study of a particular jurisdiction or aimed for students who wish to study law with a view to legal practice. Students wishing to practice Scots law are directed to our other LLB programmes.

Top 15 Law School

We’re delighted to be ranked a Top 15 UK Law School by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.

Proud of our heritage

University of Aberdeen, one of the four “ancient” universities of Scotland has taught law since 1495 when the university was founded.

First-to-market UK degree

This programme is designed for those who wish to study a general, non-specific legal programme, helping to develop careers across international bodies, non-profit organisations and multinationals.

Our Experts

Professor Andrew Simpson (Course Coordinator)

Andrew is Professor in Scots Private Law at the University of Aberdeen. He is a graduate of the Universities of Aberdeen and Cambridge. Following completion of his doctoral studies, Andrew taught at Aberdeen University for ten years prior to becoming Professor in Scottish Legal History at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Tamas Gyorfi

Professor Roy Partain

Professor Mátyás Bodig

Professor Zeray Yihdego

Professor Péter Cserne

Information About Staff Changes

You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.

Facilities

Students will have access to:

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