Law - Marine & Maritime Law - LLM

Course Outline
The LLM (Marine and Maritime Law) at the School of Law, University College Cork is a new programme which brings together the best legal expertise in the field in Ireland. It covers a range of legal topics from purely Shipping and Maritime Law to Marine Environmental Protection and International Law of the Sea.

The programme gives the opportunity to students to work with the best Maritime and Marine Lawyers in the country, under the academic overview of a highly reputable and internationally acclaimed law school. The LLM integrates theoretical and practical learning of the law, and connects module contents with marine and maritime activities taking place in Cork, such as marine environmental research, marine renewables, law enforcement at sea, fisheries management, shipping and port activities. It is a programme based on flexible workload arrangements, and suitable to law graduates and marine and maritime professionals alike.

Whether you are a law graduate or a marine/maritime professional, this programme provides an in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge, and analysis, of Marine and Maritime Law.

Postgraduate Diploma in Law
Applicants for the LLM (Marine and Maritime Law) Degree also have the option of registering for a Postgraduate Diploma in Marine and Maritime Law. Students take 60 credits of taught masters' modules from those on offer for the LLM (Marine and Maritime Law) programme. The Postgraduate Diploma can be completed over 9 months full-time or 18 months part-time. If you wish to apply for the Diploma please contact the School of Law at lawpostgrad@ucc.ie for application details.

This shorter programme may be attractive to legal professionals and others who may prefer not to make an initial commitment to a full-time masters' level programme. It is possible for graduates of the Postgraduate Diploma to progress their studies by completing a 15,000-word research dissertation qualifying them for a Masters in Law (LLM).

Why Choose This Course
Top 100 ranking
UCC School of Law has been ranked among the world's best Law Schools in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject (2021).

Our LLM (Marine and Maritime Law) brings together leading marine and maritime research and practice in Ireland. The programme enables the practice of law in the fields of shipping and marine environmental research. Through a clinical module, students have the opportunity to learn about law enforcement at sea, including through access to a naval ship at Cork. Fundamentally the programme is built on what Ireland does best in the marine and maritime world, and from there it reaches international excellence.

Connected Curriculum
Our learning approach also reflects our commitment to the Connected Curriculum where we emphasise the connection between students, learning, research and leadership through our vision for a Connected University. Our staff are at the forefront of this integrative approach to learning and will support you in making meaningful connections within and between topics such as maritime law, geography, governance, and the intrinsic variations of law itself.

College of Business and Law Available Scholarships
We also support our postgraduate community by offering scholarships and bursaries to prospective and current students. Please see the College of Business and Law Scholarships & Prizes page for more information.

Our LLM (Marine and Maritime Law) programme offers a wide choice of module options, allowing students to either specialise in their preferred area of marine or maritime law or take a broad range of diverse modules.

A clinical module on Law of the Sea allows students the opportunity to understand the practice of law enforcement at sea, and includes access to the Naval Service at Cork. The practical aspect of marine law is also available through science-based, non-law modules such as GIS and Remote Sensing.

Students take 90 credits in total, including 50 credits of core modules and 40 credits of elective modules.

The part-time option will be taught during weekdays working hours over 2 years.

Core Modules

LW6620 Introduction to the Law of the Sea (10 credits)
LW6621 Admiralty Law (10 credits)
LW6630 LLM (Marine and Maritime Law) Dissertation (30 credits)
Elective Modules

Students take elective modules to the value of 40 credits. At least 20 credits must be chosen from List A and up to 20 credits may be chosen from List B.

List A - Marine, Maritime, and Environmental Law Modules

Choose at least 20 credits from List A:

LW6566 Contemporary Issues in International Law (5 credits)
LW6580 Environmental Law in Practice (5 credits)
LW6581 Methods in Environmental Law (5 credits)
LW6617 International Biodiversity and Ecosystems Law and Policy (5 credits)
LW6618 Climate Change Law and Policy (5 credits)
LW6622 Sale, Insurance, and Carriage of Goods by Sea (5 credits)
LW6623 Global Maritime Security (5 credits)
LW6624 Port Law (5 credits)
LW6625 Law of the Sea (Clinical) (5 credits)
LW6627 International Environmental Law (5 credits)
LW6645 Marine Environmental and Natural Resources Law (10 credits)
List B - Non-Marine, Maritime, and Environmental Law Modules

Choose up to 20 credits from List B:

GG6501 Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (5 credits)
GG6502 Introduction to Remote Sensing (5 credits)
LW6101 Introduction to Planning Law (10 credits)
LW6550 International Criminal Law (10 credits)
LW6560 Law of Cybercrime (10 credits)
LW6589 Contemporary Issues in EU Competition Policy (5 credits)
LW6606 International Human Rights Law (10 credits)
LW6636 European Corporate Restructuring, Insolvency and Rescue (5 credits)
LW6640 E-Commerce Law (5 credits)

Full details may be found in the College Calendar (LLM Marine & Maritime). Please see the Book of Modules for a more detailed description of programme modules.

Requirements
Candidates must be approved by the School of Law. They must normally hold a Second Class Honours Grade I in a primary honours Law degree (NFQ, Level 8). Candidates with other third level qualifications and/or relevant professional experience are also encouraged to apply.

Applications from overseas candidates are welcome, and their qualifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Non-EU applicants should contact the International Education Office by email at internationalpostgrad@ucc.ie for application details. The number of places available in any given year is dependent on resources and all qualified candidates may not be admitted.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland:
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

For more information please contact the International Office.

How to apply
1. Choose Course
Firstly choose your course. Applicants can apply for up to two courses under one application. Details of taught courses are available on our online prospectus.

2. Apply Online
Once you have chosen your course you can apply online at the online application portal. Applicants will need to apply before the course closing date. There is a non-refundable €50 application fee for all courses apart from the Education - Professional Master of Education - (Secondary School/Post-Primary Teacher Training) which has a €100 application fee.

Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing must apply on the PAC website when the programme opens for applications.

3. Gather Supporting Documents
Scanned copies of the following documents will need to be uploaded to the online application portal in support of your application. Applicants may need to produce the original documents if you are accepted onto a course and register at UCC.

Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC
Any supplementary items requested for your course.
Please log into the online application portal for more details.

4. Application processing timeline
Our online application portal opens for applications for most courses in early November of each year. Check specific course details.

5. Rounds
For courses that are in the rounds system (Irish and EU applicants), please check the rounds closing dates below.

The UCC application portal will open on November 1st for admission in September 2022.

Irish, EU, UK, EEA and Swiss Applicants: UCC operates a rounds closing date system for the majority of postgraduate taught courses, which means offers are made at a minimum of four times a year on a rolling basis.

The UCC rounds closing dates for postgraduate taught courses are below. Applicants are advised to apply as soon as possible.

Deadline for receipt of full applications/ Offers will be made:
For all completed applications received by January 17th, 2022 -
Offers will be made by January 31st, 2022
For all completed applications received by March 7th, 2022 -
Offers will be made by March 21st, 2022
For all completed applications received by May 3rd, 2022 -
Offers will be made by May 17th, 2022
For all completed applications received by July 1st, 2022 -
Offer will be made by July 15th, 2022

After July late applications may be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for any courses that have remaining capacity.

Applicants from outside of EU, UK, EEA, Switzerland: Information may be found on the International Office Website.

NON-EU CLOSING DATE: 15 June

Additional Requirements (All Applicants)
Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. We strongly encourage you to complete all sections as this will support your application. The additional information request includes:

Please enter all details of professional or voluntary positions held.
Please outline any additional academic courses, self-learning, and professional training relevant to this programme.
Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme.
Please enter the names and email addresses of two referees.

Generally students are examined by continuous assessment throughout the year and the dissertation must be submitted in September. Individual module assessments can be viewed in the Book of Modules

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
The part-time option will be taught during weekdays working hours over 2 years.

The Diploma Fee is €5,300 Full-time €2,650 part-time

Start Date 7 September 2020

As this course allows students to acquire an education in Marine Law, or in purely commercial Maritime Law it allows access to a broad swath of professions including:

academia
governmental and regulatory agencies
industry
infrastructure developers
international organisations / secretariats
legal professions
local government
marine, maritime and environmental consultancy
non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
utilities sector