Curriculum

As approved by the University of Notre Dame, our LL.M. students enroll for one academic year, during which they must complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework. Courses are assigned from 1 to 4 hours of credit depending upon the number of hours scheduled each week for the course.

The program’s curriculum is intentionally designed and targeted towards expanding the capacities, training, and theoretical and practical tools of human rights lawyers from many jurisdictions to succeed in establishing human rights accountability either through litigation, arbitration, or other forms of human rights adjudication, as well as to support human rights policy-making.

Required Courses

The following courses are mandatory courses to be taken every fall semester of the LL.M. in International Human Rights Law Degree.

Total of 12 credits:

  • International Law (3 credits)

  • Introduction to International Human Rights Law (3 credits)

  • Business and Human Rights Law (1 credit)

  • Global Human Rights Clinic (2 credits, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading, for Fall Semester)

  • LL.M. Legal Research and Writing (2 credits)

  • Foreign and International Law Research (1 credit)

Elective Courses

In the spring semester of their academic year in the LL.M. in International Human Rights Law program, students may register for elective courses. The availability of elective courses varies each year. The following elective courses at the Law School are automatically recognized as part of the curriculum of the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law. Courses that are not on the approved list will require the prior approval of the Faculty Director of the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law before they are included in the official curriculum of the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law.

A sample of approved electives include:

  • Global Human Rights Clinic (4 credits, letter grade in spring semester)

  • Comparative Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, or Comparative Legal Traditions (3credits)

  • Human Rights LL.M. Thesis (3 credits)

  • Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (3 credits)

  • Civil Rights (3 credits)

  • Jurisprudence: Foundations of Human Rights (3 credits)

For a detailed list of approved electives, please view this document.