Queen Mary, University of London

Courses,
Teaching and Degree Programmes

The School's teaching consists of six LLM courses, two post-graduate diplomas, one of the largest specialist PhD programmes in the world. All taught and research degrees are offered through the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London. In short:

  • LLM in International and Comparative Dispute Settlement
  • PhD programme
  • Post-graduate diploma in international commercial arbitration (jointly with CIArb)
  • Post-graduate (online) diploma in international commercial arbitration
  • University of London external LLM programme

LLM Courses:

The School is responsible for teaching international commercial arbitration and other dispute resolution courses on the master of laws (LLM) programme. Students have a choice of more than 90 courses offered on the LLM programme. Students who take three of the specialist courses (or two of the courses and a dissertation) offered by the School of International Arbitration qualify for the specialist LLM in International and Comparative Dispute Settlement. Alternatively they may take one or two courses towards the general LLM degree.

The courses offered by the School of International Arbitration include:

The student body in the specialist arbitration course is annually more than 80 students from more than 50 countries

The School also contributes to the University of London external LLM programme with two courses. For these purposes two study guides have been prepared and are circulated to student taking the courses on the external LLM. The University of London external LLM programme is provided jointly by the two lead colleges, Queen Mary and University College London. The School of International Arbitration intends to develop a specialist distance learning LLM in Dispute Resolution in due course.

Research Degrees (MPhil / PhD)

  • The School of International Arbitration academic members currently supervise nineteen PhD students
  • Students pursuing a research degree at the School of International Arbitration benefit from a vibrant academic community at the School of Law of Queen Mary; there are currently more than 200 registered students for MPhil / PhD.
  • Students have access to the Queen Mary Law Library, all major electronic databases, and the world famous library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.
  • Our current research students come from Australia, China , Egypt , France , Germany , Greece , Nigeria, Saudi Arabia , Thailand , the UK and the USA.
  • Students who recently completed their research with success originated from Canada , Greece , Ireland ,Korea , Oman , Portugal , Thailand , Turkey and Ukraine.
  • All theses are deposited at the University of London library and at the library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and several are published by prestigious publishers.

Diploma Courses

The School offers two post-graduate Diplomas in International Commercial Arbitration. Diploma students take two of the six courses offered by the School. The diplomas give a thorough grounding in the rules and procedures of international commercial arbitration.

Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration

This course is offered jointly with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. It is aimed, in particular, at practising lawyers, barristers, solicitors, in-house lawyers based in or around London . Attendance is mandatory. The diploma attracts annually some 10-15 students. Students can also claim CPD points. The programme operates in parallel with the LLM and teaching starts every year in the beginning of October.

Online Diploma

The School of International Arbitration offers the first Europe based Postgraduate Distance Learning Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration with online support.

This unique programme involves part-time study starting on 1 January each year. The programme duration is one year for students who take both modules in the first year or may be extended to two years if students study one module per year. The deadline for applications is 15 November.

Teaching operates via an interactive online platform and the circulation of CDs and other tangible media. The online diploma is aimed, in particular, at practising lawyers, barristers, solicitors, in-house lawyers who cannot attend classes in London The diploma course attracts annually some 20-25 students worldwide. For example, in its first two years the online programme attracted students based in Australia, Belgium, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Palestine, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, and the USA.

Candidates passing the paper on International Commercial Arbitration either on the online or the London based diploma courses and the award writing module are exempt from Part I, Part II and Part III A, B and C (full academic exemption) of the examinations of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

As of January 2008 we also started with a new distance learning programme on international mediation (ADR)

Commercial Law: Oral and Written Advocacy

The aim of this new course (offered in 2008-09 for the first time) is to provide students that have an interest in international commercial law and international legal practice with the opportunity to develop advocacy skills. The objective of the course is to make participants familiar with the key advocacy skills required to advocate for clients engaging in international commerce. To achieve this aim, the course covers the fundamental characteristics of written and oral advocacy through the use of written and oral submissions. The course focuses on advocacy theory, advanced brief writing, and the art of oral argument. This area of law is both challenging and topical, because students are frequently not familiar with, nor are they introduced to, basic advocacy skills required to engage in international legal practice.


The School of Arbitration Teaching Style/Approach

The School of International Arbitration produces annually:

  • Updated compilations of primary arbitration sources (international instruments, national laws, arbitration rules, conventions, codes of ethics)
  • A full set of handouts and reading lists for student preparation
  • An annual survey (and an expanding database) of arbitration statutes from all over the world

On the basis of the above materials available to our students all courses are offered in a seminar format and a comparative approach is taken consistently. Issues are discussed both generically and in the context of particular legal systems and arbitration institutions.

A particular feature of our teaching is the regular small group tutorials that we offer to our students. In tutorial students have a forum to discuss problems they encounter with the study of the courses, to discuss comparatively particular national judicial or regulatory solution and to acquire a more profound understanding of subject matter.

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