By Business & Finance 
At Griffith College, our LL.M. Degree and Postgraduate Diploma courses aim to equip learners with the legal knowledge, research and drafting skills required to work in international law, with the opportunity to focus on either commercial law, human rights law or opt for a more general international law approach.
The Faculty of Law at Griffith College offers both LL.M. and Postgraduate Diplomas at Level 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications, validated by Quality and Qualifications Ireland. There are a wide variety of options for postgraduate study available to students of Griffith College, including:
- The LL.M. in International Law
- The LL.M in International Human Rights Law
- The LL.M. in International Commercial Law
- The Postgraduate Diploma in International Law
- The Postgraduate Diploma in International Human Rights Law
- The Postgraduate Diploma in International Commercial Law
Career development
These programmes provide learners with an opportunity to enhance further their existing skills and knowledge while preparing them for careers with a focus on international law, and particularly commercial law and human rights law.
The LL.M. programmes aim to equip learners for careers in, for example: the commercial sector, banking, finance, non-governmental organisations and government bodies as well as careers working in-house or in the public or private sector.
They also act as a stepping-stone for those who wish to continue their academic studies, by completing, for example, a doctorate or other courses.
The programmes, offered through the Faculty of Law at Griffith College, have a distinct focus on preparing learners for the international career market, which provides a wide range of opportunities for those with an excellent transferrable skill set, built on a strong foundation of legal knowledge. Head of the Faculty of Law, Karen Sutton believes that:
“The current employment market requires graduates to have an international focus and a professional approach. Our LL.M. programmes not only provide learners with core international law modules but also a wide range of elective modules, allowing learners to focus on niche areas of law. At Griffith College our aim is to provide learners with the knowledge and skills required in the workplace of today, no matter where in the world or in what sector they choose to work in, and it was with this aim that our postgraduate programmes were developed.”
The LL.M. programmes
The LL.M. programmes each comprise six modules, with learners completing three core and three elective modules. All modules have an international law focus taught by academics and legal professionals with a passion for law and a desire to share their knowledge with the learners.
The course duration is one calendar year (September to August), with two evenings a week on campus. Learners on the LL.M. also complete a dissertation, an important aspect of the LL.M..
Karen Sutton describes the dissertation component of the LL.M. Degree programmes as, “an opportunity for learners to focus on a specific area of international law which they have a personal interest in researching and providing their own academic commentary on.”
For those learners who wish to complete further studies but without the commitment of a dissertation, the Faculty of Law also offer Postgraduate Diplomas in International Law.
Karen Sutton sees the LL.M. programmes as appealing to those with an undergraduate qualification in law, qualified legal professionals, those working in criminal justice, or the commercial sector, and anyone involved with human rights or commercial law:
“Learners could be lawyers, members of the Gardaí, bankers or social workers, aid workers or aspiring academics, as were many of our previous graduates—although the programme also appeals to so many others”.
Karen Sutton, Head of the Faculty of Law and Professional Law School, Griffith College
The postgraduate programmes in International Law were developed to meet a clear market demand for programmes with not only an international law focus but also an opportunity for learners to focus on niche legal areas. Karen Sutton adds:
“The programmes provide learners with the opportunity not only to utilise but also develop their skills base, while meeting learners from across the world, immersing themselves in research and engaging in discussion and debate facilitated by highly-qualified lecturers. Our postgraduate programmes aim to provide learners with an opportunity to expand their career horizons or progress in their existing roles, wherever in the world they may be.”
Griffith College’s close ties with industry mean that the Faculty of Law is acutely aware of the importance of postgraduate studies, the internationalisation of the legal sector and the new opportunities this creates for graduates of the future.
Learn more about the Faculty of Law’s other courses, including undergraduate certificate, diploma and degree programmes at Undergraduate & Postgraduate Law Courses Dublin, Cork — Ireland (griffith.ie)
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