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University College Cork

Law - Children's Rights & Family Law - LLM

On the LLM (Children's Rights and Family Law), you will be exposed to the law and theory on child and family law in Ireland and internationally. At the same time you will get a rare insight into various aspects of the law in action by engaging with social workers, legal professionals and others.

You will work with scholars who have a track record of outstanding scholarship on legal issues relating to children and the family.

You will have the opportunity to become involved in UCC's innovative Child Law Clinic where you can provide research assistance to lawyers on real cases, helping to make a contribution to the quality of advocacy on children's issues, and lobbying for the reform of child law and children's rights.

Applicants for the LLM (Children's Rights and Family Law) Degree also have the option of registering for a Postgraduate Diploma in Law (Children's Rights and Family Law). Students take 60 credits of taught masters' modules from those on offer for the LLM (Children's Rights and Family Law). The Postgraduate Diploma can be completed over 9 months full-time or 18 months part-time. Those who wish to apply for the Diploma should contact 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 master's programme. Graduates of the Postgraduate Diploma may further progress their studies by completing a 15,000 word research dissertation and graduating with a Masters in Law (LLM).

Why Choose This Course
The LLM (Children's Rights and Family Law) is the first course of its kind in Ireland and it builds on the School's wide range of expertise and knowledge in the area of child and family law. From this course, you will gain a unique specialisation in legal issues relating to children and the family, including family property, children's rights and juvenile justice. You will also have the opportunity to work on real cases and to lobby for reform through the Child Law Clinic, which allows you to make contacts and gain practical experience. You can follow the work of the Child Law Clinic on Facebook and Twitter.

Entry requirements

To be accepted on this course, you must be approved by the School of Law.

You will also normally have:

(a) A law degree with at a 2H1

(b) Have such other relevant third level educational qualifications and/or professional experience as, in the opinion of the School of Law, qualifies the candidate to undertake the LLM (Children's Rights and Family Law) Degree.

If you are an overseas candidate, you are welcome to apply and your qualifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis as above. Non-EU applicants should contact the International Education Office by email at internationalpostgrad@ucc.ie for application details.

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please view the grades comparison site.

Non-EU Candidates

Non-EU candidates are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to Irish university primary degree level. In addition, where such candidates are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language. To verify if you meet the minimum academic requirements for this programme please visit our qualification comparison pages.

For more detailed entry requirement information please refer to the International website .

Duration

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time

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

LLM classes are in seminar format. This participative and interactive format of teaching is suitable for postgraduate level. You will receive advance reading lists and/or materials for each seminar. Seminars take place in two-hour blocks between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. 10 credit modules run for 12 weeks and 5 credit modules run for 6 weeks. Arrangements are made for courtroom observation in the family courts.

Careers or further progression

Skills and Careers Information
As the only qualification of its kind in Ireland, graduates are uniquely qualified in the areas of child law and family law. As well as allowing legal professionals to specialise in these areas of legal practice, graduates of this degree are well equipped to work anywhere in the children's sector – with government departments and agencies (in education, child protection, youth justice etc.), with non-governmental organisations (both nationally and internationally), or other bodies who work with children. Few statutory or children's organisations have staff with legal expertise in the child and family law area and this is a significant gap in the sector.

Further enquiries

Dr. Louise Crowley
E: l.crowley@ucc.ie
T: +353 21 490 3879
http://www.ucc.ie/en/law-postgrad/

Law Administrator
E: lawpostgrad@ucc.ie
T: +353 21 420 5170

Subjects taught

Students take 90 credits as follows.
Core Modules
Students take core modules to the value of 80 credits as follows:
LW6507 Comparative Family Property Law (5 credits)
LW6546 Juvenile Justice (10 credits)
LW6549 International Children's Rights (10 credits)
LW6563 Children's Rights Law in Practice (10 credits)
LW6568 The Family and the Law (10 credits)
LW6569 LLM (Children's Rights and Family Law) Dissertation (30 credits)

Plus one of the following:
LW6614 Family Law Clinic (5 credits) or
LW6615 Children's Rights Law Clinic (5 credits)

Note: The other clinic module not chosen here may be taken as an elective see List B below.

Elective Modules
Students take modules to the value of 10 credits from the list of elective modules set out below.
LW6584 International Refugee Law (5 credits)
LW6592 Mental Capacity Law (5 credits)
LW6603 Legal Regulation of Cohabitation and Emerging Family Forms (5 credits)
LW6609 Mental Health Law (5 credits)
LW6614 Family Law Clinic (5 credits)
LW6615 Children's Rights Law Clinic (5 credits)

Full details may be found in the College Calendar. Please see the Book of Modules for a more detailed description of modules.

Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

Assessment method

You will be examined by continuous assessment throughout the year and your dissertation must be submitted in September. To view individual module assessments in the Book of Modules

Application date

Applications for academic year 2020/2021 are open.

EU Applicants: UCC operates a rounds closing date system for the majority of postgraduate taught courses, which means offers are made four times a year on a rolling basis. Some courses have one specific closing date, please check your course prospectus page for this information.

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:
For all completed applications received by January 10th 2020
Offers will be made by January 24th 2020

For all completed applications received by March 2nd 2020
Offers will be made by March 16th 2020

For all completed applications received by May 1st 2020
Offers will be made by May 15th 2020

For all completed applications received by July 1st 2020
Offer will be made by July 15th 2020

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

Non-EU Closing Date: 15 June
Non-EU Applicants: Information for Non-EU applicants may be found on the International Office Website https://www.ucc.ie/en/international/