Students should show at least one draft of their dissertation to their supervisor before final submission to the School for Advanced Legal Studies for examination. If a minor dissertation is submitted for examination that has not been approved and supervised, the Faculty reserves the right not to consider it ready for examination.

The following rules and procedures apply to the submission of LLM and MPhil minor dissertations:

  1. The University of Cape Town (UCT) requires LLM/MPhil  candidates to submit electronic versions of dissertations online via the PeopleSoft Student Administration Self Service functionality.
  2. This will mean that hard copies of intention to submit form and dissertations/minor dissertations are no longer physically deposited. You, as the candidate, submit your work for examination from any digitally-connected destination.
  3. At the conclusion of your research, 4-6 weeks prior to the submission, please upload your intention to submit form along with a copy of your abstract on PeopleSoft using this process
  4. All communication from UCT regarding the examination process will occur via e-mail. Please make sure that you have your username and password and are able to access the PeopleSoft Student Administration Self Service.
  5. The minor dissertation/research paper must be no longer than 25,000 words for the LLM and MPhil degrees.
  6. The instructions for the uploading the dissertation can be found here. Please ensure that you correctly follow the process outlined. All incomplete submissions will be rejected, which will cause delays in the examination process.
  7. The dissertation should be accompanied by the declaration form, a Plagiarism Declaration form, turn-it-in report (the digital submission instructions document includes turn-it-in information as well) and the final abstract.
  8. Returning students should bear in mind that the final date for submission of minor dissertations is: the first day of term in the new academic year  if they do not wish to reregister in the following academic year.
  9. Students who submit their minor dissertations for examination before the start of the academic year, do not need to re-register and pay associated fees for an additional year.
  10. Returning students who wish to re-register for only their minor dissertation in the following academic year need to consult the UCT Fees handbook for submission deadlines. Please also consult the fees handbook for the cost of Registration for the dissertation-only degree programme.
  11. Students are required to re-register in February of each year whilst completing their dissertations.
  12. Where students are required to revise and resubmit a minor dissertation the academic fee will be charged per quarter (i.e. if candidates must work for up to one quarter they will pay 25% of the full fee; for up to two quarters, they will pay 50% of the full fee and so on).
  13. For more information about timelines for minor dissertations examination from submission for examination to graduation download this summary document. 
  14. Once the examination process is concluded and you are asked to upload your library copy,  please follow the Library Upload instructions.