The goal of our LLM programmes is to give students a thorough grounding in a specialised field as well as an understanding of the most significant current issues. To complete an LLM students must complete four courses and a short dissertation. For each programme, they can choose from a range of courses offered in this and other Departments in the Law Faculty.  Alternatively, students can pursue a dissertation-only LLM or MPhil. 

Rules regarding areas of specialisation appear in the Postgraduate Study Programmes section of the Faculty Handbook, with additional information also available on the School for Advanced Legal Studies site.

Programme specialisation gives you the opportunity to choose your courses from all the Masters courses offered in Public Law, such as:

PBL5602S International Law of the Sea
PBL5615F International Law in Theory and Practice
PBL5618S International Law on Disputes and the Use of Force
PBL5619S International Environmental Law
PBL5623F Governing under the Constitution: Law and Practice
PBL5628S International Rights of the Child
PBL5631F International Protection of Human Rights
PBL5640F Principles of Environmental Law
PBL5641F Land Use Planning Law (not offered in 2024)
PBL5642S Natural Resources Law
PBL5643F Pollution Law
PBL5651S International Protection of Women's Human Rights
PBL5653F Refugee and Human Rights
PBL5658S Administrative Justice and Open Government
PBL5659S Human Rights, Legal Pluralism, Religion and Culture (not offered in 2024)
PBL5661S Litigating the South African Bill of Rights
PBL5663S Transparency Law & Governance: Global and Local Theory & Practice (not offered in 2024)
PBL5815S Punishment & Human Rights
PBL5820F Theories of Crime and Social Order
PBL5822S Victims and Victimology: Theory, Policy and Practice
PBL5844S Police and Policing: Explorations in Security Governance
PBL5847S Forensics and the Law 
PBL5848F Law and Society in Africa (not offered in 2024)
PBL5849F Law in Action - Research methods