Master’s courses in Law launched by UON

The importance of balancing rights with security and the changes in multinational commerce are topics covered in two postgraduate law courses launched by the University of Northampton.

Applications are now being invited for the LLM Multinational Corporate Law and LLM Transnational Rights and Security one-year programmes, which will commence in September.

LLM Programme Leader, Dr Simon Sneddon, said: “It is really exciting to be able to offer two brand new programmes, and we are pleased that this latest stage in the continuous development of our postgraduate offer is now ready.

“As well as finding employment in the UK, graduates from our previous LLM programmes have progressed to careers across the world, from India and Nigeria to Colombia and Thailand. They now work in positions as varied as legal secretary, corporate assessor, charity director, the police and education.”

The Master’s in Transnational Rights and Security will appeal to graduates in Law, Criminology and International Relations and reflects the needs of students, employers and society.

The importance of balancing rights and security is very much a 21st Century global issue, and are considered in the programme. The 2015 terrorist attack on the Bataclan nightclub, in Paris, is one such instance where the balance of rights and security were put to the test.

The firearms used were supplied by organised crime groups and moved from Slovenia to France via Germany and Montenegro; the act itself was triggered by perceptions of religious intolerance and violations of human rights; the perpetrators fled across international borders, requiring international legal cooperation and the response was to bolster national security measures plus airstrikes on Raqqa by French Air Force. These are all areas and aspects which are considered in this programme, which also draws on information developed by members of the programme team for the UNODC  Education for Justice (E4J) programme on Firearms Crime.

The Master’s in Multinational Corporate Law, meanwhile, emphasises key elements of 21st Century multinational commerce. As globalisation increases, and with changes in trading relationships which may come about as a result of geopolitical factors, it is crucial for those running and working at higher levels within a business to have an understanding of the legal ramifications of business decisions. To succeed, those in business need to understand legal issues around international, regional and national laws on intellectual property rights, patents and copyright; the environmental impacts of different manufacturing and transport practices; the legal business environments which exist in different areas; the rights and obligations of employees at all levels of the business; competing contractual obligations where commercial contracts are concluded across national boundaries; and laws which govern moving goods by sea. This programme will give students the opportunity to develop all of these knowledge areas.