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This Master’s programme in Public International Law (PIL) will equip you with a broad range of legal tools to address the current challenges facing the world. The PIL LLM is a flexible programme that offers you many options, both during your study period and in your career possibilities post-graduation. As an added benefit, the international mix of students in this programme means that you – by working together – will be able to offer each other personal "comparative" insights on international law.

Three specialisation tracks 

​In today’s globalised world, public international law addresses complex, challenging issues that touch everyone’s lives. In the PIL programme, you will explore common themes of public international law and gain specialised knowledge by taking one of three tracks:

• Conflict and Security

Would you like to know more about studying Public International Law at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ? Have a look at our movie to get an impression.

Multidimensional Teaching and Research

You will build relevant and current skills by studying actual cases before the International Court of Justice and other international dispute settlement institutions. You will develop your argumentation abilities in moot courts, among other training methods, and learn to apply your knowledge of the law to real-life situations. This academic and challenging English-taught LLM programme reflects the Law School’s multi-dimensional approach to legal teaching: developments in public international law are best seen from a broad perspective.

Active, self-designed learning

Our Master’s programme in Public International Law offers you active learning methods in which your own interests, ambitions and aims will guide your learning experiences. Your lecturers take a supportive role in this self-created, individualised approach to your studies. In the Capita Selecta modules, you will have the opportunity to either broaden or deepen your chosen specialism-depending on your preference. You will be trained in the essential skill of how to quickly deepen your knowledge of a current, specialised legal topic. From the very beginning, you will also take part in a research and thesis training trajectory that prepares you to write your Master’s thesis, the culmination of your LLM programme.

Specific knowledge, broad perspectives

This Master's programme provides you with thorough and highly individualised training that will prepare you for a legal career in an international environment. You will particularly develop your academic and practical abilities through taking part in moot courts, visiting international courts and other institutions and undertaking research focused on your thesis. You will also learn to reflect critically on current legal dilemmas and challenges, pertaining to human rights, environment and security, presented by our globalised and interdependent world. Whether you aim to build a career as a diplomat, attorney or policy officer in national government, researcher, legal advisor in an NGO, governmental organisation or international organisation, or attorney in the legal department of a multinational corporation business, you will learn to work effectively and ethically in the complex world of public international law.

What does this Master entail?

During your studies, you will:

• Craft your own study path by customising your programme through a specialisation and selecting different modules offered within the Capita Selecta.
• Examine real-life cases from pending legal proceedings of the International Court of Justice and other international dispute settlement mechanisms.
• Take advantage of the cutting-edge public international law research carried out by the academics teaching in the programme at the Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ School of Law, in particular from the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS), the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (SIM), the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL) and the Research Platform on Peace, Security and Human Rights.
• Receive focused training in conducting research and writing your thesis.
• Participate in small-scale working groups, meaning more interaction time with lecturers and other students.
• Take part in a Master's programme that is distinguished by its close connections with international courts (notably the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs). 

The perfect location

Utrecht is more than just a well-established classical university. It is a vibrant town where Dutch history, a cosmopolitan population and an active student network meet. Every year, students from all over the world come to Utrecht and have the experience of a lifetime. Why not join them?