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

No distinction as to which semester they should be taken, so long as students complete these courses within the LL.M. year.

Total of 12 credits:

  • Introduction to International Human Rights Law (3 credits)
  • Public International Law (3 credits)
  • Foreign International Law Research (1 credit)
  • LL.M. Legal Research and Writing (3 credits)
  • Graduate Seminar (2 credits): draws all members of the graduate community together with featured lectures/talks by ND Law faculty or visiting faculty, as well as ND Law alumni, to discuss various strategies, proposals, experiences, developments, and recommendations on human rights practices, human rights fact-finding, human rights implementation and advocacy. It also gives some opportunities to present papers or other human rights projects.

Elective Courses

Will also include credits for participation in clinical offerings related to human rights. Not every elective course will be offered each year. For a detailed list, please view this document. Students can take no more than 15 total credits.

A choice between either of the five elective courses below:

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