International Economic Law (Taught)

The LLM in International Economic Law offers an in-depth study of all the different aspects of the contemporary regime of international economic law. Unlike most other programmes, it overcomes the division between the main branches of international economic governance - world trade, investment, and finance - and raises awareness for common themes and challenges facing international economic law in these different areas.

WHY THIS PROGRAMME

• The core course is designed to provide a bird’s-eye-view of the field of international economic governance and the multiple roles played by international law in that context.

• Key areas of focus include the structure of global economic governance, the rules and institutions of world trade, international investment, and international finance.

• Drawing on a range of different legal, critical, and interdisciplinary approaches, it aims to provide the students with the opportunity to study at advanced level the various aspects of contemporary international economic regulation in its full normative, political, and historical complexity.

• You will benefit from the combined experience of a lecturing team representing a rich diversity of professional and international backgrounds. Theorists and practitioners, litigators and consultants, our lecturers come from more than half-a-dozen countries, including Germany, Spain, UK, Lithuania, and Uzbekistan.

• The programme is supported by excellent facilities, including two dedicated law libraries, extensive online resources, and access to various official publication databases, such as the European Documentation Centre.

• Guest-speaker presentations, an active research seminar series and other extra-curricular events provide you with a unique opportunity to meet international lawyers and academics from around the world, become exposed to some of the most topical discussions shaping the field of international economic law, and to engage with current debates.

• Law at Glasgow is ranked 4th in the UK by the Good University Guide 2026 and 8th in the UK by the Complete University Guide 2026.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

You will take six courses and submit a dissertation as falling within the area. Courses are delivered through a blend of lectures and seminar-style teaching.

You are required to take two core courses and four optional courses. One optional course can be chosen from other courses within the School of Law's LLM portfolio. Please note, enrolment on courses is subject to availability and timetabling.

For the dissertation, you can choose between a written dissertation or a collaborative dissertation research project with a partner organisation. Please note, the collaborative dissertation option is subject to availability.

Core courses
International Law and International Economic Governance
International Trade Law OR International Investment Law

Optional courses
Banking Regulation
Climate Change Law and Governance
FinTech Law and Regulation
Foundations Of International Law
Fundamentals of Environmental Justice
Intellectual Property Law And The Market
International and Comparative Intellectual Property Law
International Competition Law
International Courts and Tribunals
International Merger Control
Law and Just Energy Transition
Law and Sustainable Finance

Dissertation
LLM Dissertation or Collaborative LLM dissertation

CAREER PROSPECTS
The programme will be of particular interest to those students interested in pursuing a career in international organisations, government service, advanced research institutions, think-tanks, NGOs, independent consultancy, and academia. Students seeking to pursue a career in legal practice will benefit from the programme's broad approach, to be able to situate specific legal problems arising in highly practical areas (such as world trade, or investment law) within the broader context of international economic law.