2nd Semester

A 15,000 word extended piece of work in a subject area approved by the Director of Studies.

Students must ensure that if they intend to be awarded a specialist LLM in either International Law, European Law or Justice then they must ensure their topic broadly fits with the specialism.

The dissertation is an extended piece of writing (no more than 15,000 words), which allows the student to work on a topic independently in depth with appropriate guidance from a supervisor.  It enables students to specialise in an aspect of the taught programme which is of particular interest and to synthesise the skills and knowledge which they have acquired.

Knowledge and understanding

·             Critical awareness of contemporary debates in the study of one or more particular areas of law

·             In-depth understanding of relevant theoretical perspectives

·             Understanding of processes of knowledge creation and contestation within law and more specifically European or International law or aspects of Justice

·             Understanding of techniques of research and enquiry and their application to the study of law

Cognitive skills

·             Gather, organise and deploy evidence and information from a range of different sources

·             Analyse and synthesise a wide range of material in verbal and numerical formats

·             Deal with complex issues systematically and creatively

·             Make sound judgements on basis of incomplete evidence

·             Demonstrate self-direction and originality in solving problems and analysing evidence

·             Construct reasoned argument

·             Apply theoretical frameworks to empirical analysis

Practical skills

·             Carry out an advanced literature search

·             Form effective arguments

·             Organise workload to meet deadlines

·             Formulate research questions

·             Present research findings in writing

Transferable Skills

·             Communicate and present ideas effectively

·             Reason critically

·             Organise and plan own work

·             Adopt a proactive approach to problem-solving

·             Deploy a range of relevant research skills

·             Make decisions in complex situations

·             Take responsibility for own learning

The dissertation is a piece of research on a well-specified question relating to an academic area covered by the programme.  The work may be of an empirical or theoretical kind and must be written in English.  Students will have introductory research methods training in the form of extensive preparatory seminar.

By individual consultation and discussion as well as independent research.  See also Dissertation Guidelines in the Programme Handbook for detailed guidance on scholarly conventions and procedures for writing the dissertation.

Specific to individual topics but students are strongly advised to consult the reference recommended for other modules.

Also, see the following pages on the University of Surrey website:

“Preparing These and Dissertations”

“Citing References in a Bibliography”