Anyone working in legal practice, academia, national, or international institutions, or corporations will need to engage with foreign laws and foreign legal concepts. The study of private law from a comparative perspective is therefore essential to those seeking a career in an international or transnational context.
Want to find out more about the value of the comparative approach to research in private law? Join us on the 27 January 2026 for an online webinar discussing the value of the comparative inquiry in private law research.
Register for the online session
Professor Alexandra Braun provides an overview of the LLM in Comparative Private Law and discusses the benefits of studying this LLM at Edinburgh Law School.
Drawing on both the civil and common law tradition, the LLM in Comparative Private Law offers the ideal platform for you to develop expertise in core areas of private law from a comparative perspective, and to benefit from research-led teaching from legal scholars who are recognised as experts in their field.
It provides you with the opportunity to obtain an advanced qualification that is both academically rigorous and professionally beneficial.
This unique masters programme offers a wide range of subjects that deal with various aspects of private law from a comparative perspective, as well as courses on legal theory (such as 'Reasoning with Precedent' and Legal Decision Making) and legal history (such as 'Reasoning Using Civilian Authority').
Core courses cover the main areas of private law, including:
- Contract law
- Property law
- The law of trusts
- Delict and tort
- Family and child law
- International private law
In addition, you can select further courses from a broad list of options offered by the Law School, allowing you to tailor the LLM to meet your specific interests. Since 2018 this LLM programme offers two courses that focus on the comparative study of trust law. Those with a specific interest in studying trusts from a comparative perspective will therefore have a unique opportunity to specialise in this area.
You feel as though you are constantly moving between legal worlds, and that perspective is incredibly enriching.
Ömer
LLM in Comparative and European Private Law, 2025
Scotland is a mixed legal system meaning that its laws are shaped by both the civil law and the common law traditions. Edinburgh is therefore the perfect place to study private law from a comparative perspective. Edinburgh’s private lawyers work in a tradition that is outward-looking by its very nature, maintaining active research links with scholars in continental Europe and with the larger common law world beyond the United Kingdom.
The LLM in Comparative Private Law attracts an international community of talented and ambitious students from common law, civil law, and mixed legal jurisdictions from all over the world.
The programme provides you with an excellent foundation for a career in legal practice in national and transnational law firms or employment in international organisations. It also offers a strong basis for doctoral research in private law and the growing fields of Comparative Private Law, whether in the UK, in Europe, or beyond.
Graduates of this programme have pursued successful careers in all sectors of legal practice or have undertaken doctoral research in the UK or their home countries.
As an LLM student at Edinburgh Law School you'll not only benefit from expert teaching, but you will also be part of a vibrant intellectual community of legal academics and students.
Edinburgh Law School has a long-standing and very distinguished tradition of scholarship in the field of comparative private law. Private law has been taught and researched at the University of Edinburgh since 1722, and Edinburgh Law School is widely recognised as one of the leading institutions in the world in the field of Comparative Private Law.
Edinburgh Centre for Private Law
Closely associated with the LLM is the Edinburgh Centre for Private Law (ECPL) which was established in 2009. Much of the research carried out in the centre examines Private Law in a European and comparative context and fosters a lively dialogue between civilian and common law jurisdictions. Law reform is also strongly represented, with several members of the ECPL being current or former Law Commissioners.
Several members of the ECPL conduct research in various fields of private law, including contract law, unjustified enrichment, delict and tort, property law, trust law, succession law, family and child law not only in the Scottish context, but also in the comparative European and international, as well as historical, context. Their scholarly work has been as much concerned with the intellectual history of the law and the circulation of ideas across legal traditions as it has been with matters of legal doctrine.
Visit the Edinburgh Centre for Private Law website
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The Edinburgh Centre for Private Law holds regular events featuring speakers from many different jurisdictions, which are attended by our LLM students. These events provide an excellent opportunity for students to meet legal scholars, legal practitioners, and judges interested in comparative and private law.
The centre also organises the annual W. A. Wilson Memorial Lecture.
The centre hosts several international academic visitors every year. It also has a separate Distinguished Visitorship in Private Law scheme. Former Distinguished Visitors include Professor Danie Visser (UCT South Africa) and Professor Lionel Smith (McGill University).
Other centres that you may want to get involved with are the Centre for Legal History, the Edinburgh Centre for Commercial Law, and the Edinburgh Centre for Legal Theory.
Find out more about Edinburgh Law School's research centres and network
The Edinburgh Private Law Blog provides expert insight and debate on a range of fields related to Private Law. Posts are based on research taking place at Edinburgh Law School and other academic institutions.
Find out more about the Edinburgh Private Law Blog
Contact us
If you have any questions about the LLM in Comparative Private Law please don't hesitate to contact us.
pg.law.enquiries@ed.ac.uk
This programme can be taken full time over one year, or part time over two years subject to visa restrictions. It offers a wide range of subjects that deal with various aspects of private law from a comparative perspective, with the possibility of choosing additional courses so as to enable you to tailor the LLM to meet your specific interests.
The programme consists of 180 credits, comprising taught courses worth 120 credits (60 credits per semester) and a 10,000 word dissertation worth 60 credits.
View 2026-27 programme information for the LLM in Comparative Private Law
Courses offered in the 2026-27 academic year can be found below.
You can select between 80 and 120 credits of the following courses:
Child Law in Comparative Perspectives (20 credits)
This course aims to examine child law from a comparative perspective by looking at the status of children and children’s legal rights from a range of jurisdictions, such as Scotland, England, United States, Australia and New Zealand. You will also be encouraged to share research from your home jurisdictions, where different.
The course will identify common child law issues that will provoke discussion, challenge previously-held views and encourage reading and research to find common ground and establish ways to pursue equality, whilst respecting cultural and religious backgrounds.
The issues to be addressed will include: the legal definition of “child”; welfare vs protection; evolving capacity of a child; state intervention; criminal responsibility; UNCRC; and religious and cultural considerations.
Comparative and International Trust Law (20 credits)
This course explores the essential nature of trusts, as well as their core features, by examining different conceptual approaches that are taken to trusts across selected jurisdictions in common law. It explores the essential nature of trusts, as well as their core features, by examining different conceptual approaches that are taken to trusts across selected jurisdictions in common law, civil law and mixed legal jurisdictions. In doing so it shows the flexibility and diversity of the concept and how different models of trusts have circulated over time and space.
The course further examines the values underpinning certain regulatory choices across a number of jurisdictions as well as the boundaries of trust law and what is and what is not permitted across jurisdiction. In addition to examining trusts in the doctrinal context of specific legal systems, the course also considers trusts in a conflict of laws perspective.
The course examines the notion of 'trust' from a functional perspective. It is not limited to any particular system of 'trust law' and, in particular, it is not a course devoted to the 'common law trust' only, being international and comparative in its approach. The trust jurisdictions considered usually include England and Wales, the United States of America, New Zealand, selected offshore jurisdictions, mixed legal systems (such as Scotland, South Africa and Quebec) and civil law systems, including, for instance, Germany, France and Italy. Alongside selected mainstream trust jurisdictions, this course also considers European harmonisation projects, and other international trust instruments.
Comparative Property Law (20 credits)
This is an advanced level course on the law of property. It will examine the treatment of key areas within this subject, in particular ownership and limited real rights. Both movable and immovable property will be considered. The approach adopted will be comparative and reference will be made throughout to other jurisdictions. This will include continental Europe and the USA as well as other mixed legal systems such as Louisiana and South Africa. Fundamental conceptual structures will be compared, as well as specific problems, with a view to illuminating not only differences but also the common features of those systems. Recent initiatives to harmonise property law in Europe will be considered, in particular the Draft Common Frame of Reference.
The course is designed mainly for those students who have already studied the law of property in their own system. Those who have not may still apply for a place in the course, but they should be aware that additional study may be required.
Comparative Statutory Interpretation (20 credits)
Legislation is the principal source of new law in most jurisdictions. This course will examine where legislation comes from and how it is construed and interpreted in practice (both inside and outside the courts) in anglo-american legal systems. This advanced level course will consider drafting of legislation, and take a detailed look at approaches to the interpretation of statutes in theory and in practice from a comparative perspective.
Contract Law in Europe (20 credits)
This course is a comparative contract law course. Its main focus is fundamental concepts of the law of contract, which arise in all systems. The course compares national systems of contract law, principally Scots, English, French and German law. The course also considers some of the harmonisation initiatives that have taken place in Europe over the last decade, principally the Draft Common Frame of Reference (Principles, Definitions and Model Rules of European Private Law).
Delict and Tort (20 credits)
This is an advanced level course on the law of delict. It will examine the treatment of key areas of liability in Scots and English law. The approach adopted will be comparative and reference will be made throughout to other Anglo-American and European legal systems. Fundamental conceptual structures will be compared, as well as specific problems, with a view to illuminating not only differences but also the common features of those systems. Particular attention will be given to the impact of Human Rights law on the law of delict and current debates on the extent of the constitutionalisation of private law. Recent initiatives to establish a common European law of torts will also be discussed.
The course is designed mainly for those students who have already studied the law of obligations in their own system. Those who have not may still apply for a place in the course, but they should be aware that additional study may be required.
Students require an undergraduate degree in law to study this course.
This course is particularly suitable for students who have already studied delict/tort in reasonable depth at undergraduate level and who wish to pursue their interest further in comparative perspective.
Fundamentals of Comparative Private Law (20 credits)
The aim of this course is to provide students with a general introduction to the basics of the comparative study of law, and to equip them with the tools necessary to conduct comparative analysis with a particular focus on private law. Attention will be given to different methodological approaches to the comparative enquiry, and to the purposes and challenges of the legal comparison. The course will also assess the taxonomical debates in comparative legal scholarship through the lens of the main sources of law. This course thus offers an ideal foundation for students who want to study core areas of private law across both civil and common law jurisdictions. It further offers an ideal preparation for students who aim to write a dissertation that is based on a comparative inquiry or that contains a comparative angle.
The course is structured in two parts. Part one of the course engages with the aims of the comparative inquiry and explores various methodological approaches placing emphasis on both theory and practical applications. Part two introduces students to the taxonomical debates, the main sources of law in both the common and civil law traditions. It thus allows students to gain an understanding of what can and should be compared, as well as of the challenges and potential pitfalls of the comparative enquiry.
- Reasoning Using Civilian Authority (20 credits)
The aim of this course is to expose students to the debates surrounding the use of historical material in courtroom argumentation. Using a number of court decisions from Scotland and elsewhere, students will investigate the methods and pitfalls associated with the use of historical authority in courtroom argumentation. International Private Law: Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgements (20 credits)
This course deals with civil jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments, issues which have been central to recent developments within International Private Law. It considers the provisions contained in EU instruments, focusing on the Brussels I Regulation and comparing with frameworks with a global potential. In particular it considers relevant Hague Private International Law Conventions, especially the 2005 Choice of Court Agreements Convention and the 2019 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments.
- Gifts in Context (20 credits)
This course explores the complexity of the world of gifts by examining different social practices of gift-giving. It considers the motivations that underpin gifts and whether, and if so how, these motivations are reflected in the law. It examines different legal conceptions of gifts and gift promises across the common and civil law legal traditions and explores how gifts relate to various areas of the law.
You will have the option to take between 0 and 40 credits of the following courses from different subject areas offered by the Law School, depending on availability and with the express permission of the programme director.
- Advanced Comparative Constitutional Law (20 credits)
- Decentralised Technologies: Law, Finance and Society (20 credits)
- Europe, Empire and the Law (20 credits)
- Fundamentals of Legal Argument (20 credits)
- Innovation: Law and Policy (20 credits)
- Introduction to Health Law (20 credits)
- Insolvency Law (20 credits)
- Law and Development (20 credits)
- Reproduction and the Law (20 credits)
- Slavery in the Eighteenth-Century Scotland (20 credits)
- The Law of Integration: understanding the EU Legal System (20 credits)
- WTO and International Trade Law 1 (20 credits)
Having successfully completed 120 credit points of courses within the LLM, you will be ready to move onto a single piece of independent and in-depth research. The 10,000 word dissertation allows you to focus on a preferred topic from within the field of comparative private law, normally based on a subject you have studied in one of your courses during the programme.
You are supported with your independent research in several ways:
- During semester 2 (Jan – March) you are provided with targeted opportunities to develop research and writing skills necessary for the successful completion of a larger research project.
- You receive advice on formulating an appropriate research topic and feedback on developing a specific research question.
- You are assigned an academic supervisor who will provide you with support and guidance while you undertake your research. You will have three meetings with your supervisor (in the period April – June, following the end of taught courses) in which avenues of research are discussed; a structure for the dissertation is developed; and feedback is provided on a sample of the dissertation. The dissertation is submitted in August.
This independent research project is a challenging but rewarding endeavour, allowing you to demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the relevant literature and an ability to engage critically with a range of sources, drawing on the skills and knowledge you have developed during your studies. You are encouraged to show originality and evidence of independent thinking. Indeed, the outcome of the project – your dissertation – may provide a useful platform for the next stage of your career.
Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances or lack of demand for particular courses, we may not be able to run all courses as advertised come the start of the academic year.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the LLM in Comparative and Private Law please don't hesitate to contact us.
pg.law.enquiries@ed.ac.uk
Page update: Courses for the 2026-27 year were published on the 16th April 2026.
Staff teaching on the core courses of the LLM in Comparative Private Law for 2025-26 are experts in their field and are actively involved in cutting-edge research in various areas of private law.
Academic staff teaching courses offered on this programme may include:
Professor Alexandra Braun - Programme Director 2025-26
Professor Braun holds the Lord President Reid Chair in Law at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to joining Edinburgh Law School in 2017, she was Professor of Comparative Private Law at the University of Oxford, as well as a Fellow and Tutor in Law at Lady Margaret Hall (Oxford).
Professor Braun has broad research interests in the comparative study of law and legal history, with a particular focus on succession law and the law of trusts, as well as on the study of the circulation of legal ideas across legal traditions. Her monograph Claiming a Promised Inheritance: A Comparative Study published in 2022 with Oxford University Press has been selected as one of the ‘Law Books of the Year’ in the October 2023 issue of the German law journal JuristenZeitung.
Professor Braun is also interested in the impact of the transfer of wealth on questions of intergenerational equality, the study of the intellectual history of the law and of the development of legal scholarship and its interaction with, and impact upon, judicial decision-making.
Professor Braun teaches both ‘Fundamentals of Comparative Private Law’ as well as ‘Comparative and International Trust Law.’
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Grigoris Bacharis is a Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Edinburgh and an Academic Year Lead for third-year LLB students. He teaches private law, primarily delict and contract.
Grigoris’ research interests lie broadly in private law (across both civil and common law jurisdictions), competition law, EU law, and legal theory. His current work focuses on (1) the interaction between competition damages claims and tort law from the perspective of private law theory, (2) private law theory in the European context, with a focus on the private enforcement of public policies, and (3) EU and US competition law.
He has served as an editor of the European Journal of Legal Studies, coordinator of the EUI Private Law Working Group, and visiting researcher at Columbia Law School, King’s College London, and Humboldt University Berlin. Before joining the University of Edinburgh, he worked as a lawyer in Greece, as a trainee at the European Commission, and as a Fellow in Law at LSE Law School.
Grigoris obtained an LLM degree (with distinction) from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and holds a Bachelor of Law (first in year) and a Master’s degree in Private, Labour, and Civil Procedural Law (with distinction) from the University of Thessaloniki.
Dr Bacharis teaches 'Delict and Tort'.
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Katy’s particular area of interest is Child and Family Law. Between 2002 and 2007, Katy lectured and taught courses on the LL.B, Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP) and Trainee Continuing Professional Development (TCPD) before being appointed as a Teaching Fellow in the Law School in 2008 and a Senior Teaching Fellow in 2014.
Before joining the Law School she headed up the Scottish Child Law Centre from 1997 to 2007. Katy is a qualified solicitor, Safe guarder for the Children’s Hearing System, Reporter in Family Law Actions in Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Katy teaches 'Child Law in Comparative Perspectives'
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Laura Macgregor holds the chair of Commercial Contract Law and was formerly Visiting Professor in International Commercial Law, Radboud University, Nijmegen.
Laura's interests lie in the field of commercial law, specifically contract law, agency law and partnership. Her research considers Scots law in its comparative context, both European and global. She is also interested in legal history.
Professor MacGregor teaches 'Contract Law in Europe' .
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John MacLeod joined the Law School in 2018 from the University of Glasgow. His research seeks to rationalise central aspects of private law through the use of comparative and historical perspectives. His interests range across private law but his current work focuses on general concepts in private law and on the structural relationship between civil wrongdoing (i.e. delict/tort) and other areas of private law.
He is a member of the Verband deutscher Pfandbriefbanken's "Round Table on Security Rights over Immovable Property". He worked extensively with the Scottish Law Commission and the Law Reform Committee of the Law Society of Scotland on a variety of law reform projects.
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Claudio Michelon graduated LLB in 1992 from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and, in 1996 obtained an M.Phil by research from the same University. He gained his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 2001. From 2001 to 2006 he lived in Brazil and was an assistant professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul while also practicing as a lawyer. He joined Edinburgh Law School in 2007.
Claudio Michelon's research focuses on (i) legal reasoning and legal decision-making and on (ii) the underlying normative structure of private law doctrines, rules, and concepts.
Professor Michelon teaches 'Reasoning with Precedent'.
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Scott is a Lecturer in Commercial Law and has research interests in the area of rights in security (including floating charges), issues in property law, and legislation, the legislative process, and statutory interpretation.
Scott teaches 'Comparative Statutory Interpretation'.
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Andrew Steven holds the Chair of Property Law. From 2011 to 2019 he worked at the Scottish Law Commission where he was the Commissioner responsible for property law reform. His research work has focussed on property law and more particularly on rights in security.
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Lorna Richardson joined the Law School after seven years practising as a commercial litigator, with major Scottish law firms. Her particular interests include contract law, particularly in relation to formation, interpretation and breach. In her time in practice Lorna acted in a number of contract dispute cases which generated significant comment. Lorna is also interested in contract law in a comparative context.
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Before coming to Edinburgh, David was for many years a Fellow of St John’s College in the University of Cambridge, where his teaching touched on most aspects of private law, concentrating on property, trusts, Roman law and monetary law. He has also held visiting posts at the National University of Singapore. He is a Barrister in England and Wales, with a door tenancy at Maitland Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn.
His research interests have a strong historical and comparative focus. They concentrate on the formation of modern trust and property doctrine in common law systems, and on the private law applicable to money.
His recent work has drawn on doctrinal and numismatic sources to develop a legal historical view of money and the law. His current projects relate to the extension of general private law doctrine to emerging cryptocurrency technology.
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Amalia is on sabbatical for the 2025-26 academic year
Amalia Amaya joined the School of Law at Edinburgh University in 2019 with a British Academy Global Professorship Award. Professor Amaya completed a B.A. in Law at the University of Alicante and a B.A. in Linguistics at the University of Barcelone. She obtained an LLM and a PhD from the European University Institute and an LLM and a SJD from Harvard Law School. In 2007 she joined the Institute for Philosophical Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she has a position as Research Professor. She has also held visiting appointments at the University of Texas at Austin, University College at Oxford University, and Queen Mary University of London.
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Alasdair is on sabbatical for the 2025-26 academic year
Alasdair Peterson joined the School of Law in January 2022 as a Lecturer in Private Law. He previously studied here for his LLB (2012), PhD (2017) and Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (2017). Following his studies, Alasdair completed his traineeship with a firm in Edinburgh and qualified as a solicitor and notary public. He was a Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Glasgow from 2020 to 2022.
Dr Peterson teaches 'Comparative Property Law'.
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Verónica is on sabbatical for the 2025-26 academic year
Dr Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm specialises in private international law and shipping law. She has a great deal of experience in these fields both in practice in Uruguay and as an academic in the UK. Her main areas of research and teaching are private international law and shipping law. Other research interests include international commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration, air law, oil and gas law, comparative law, and the interaction between public and private international law.
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Paul J. du Plessis holds the Chair of Roman Law at the University of Edinburgh. As a legal historian, he delves into the intricate links between law and society throughout history. His research covers law's doctrinal and historical aspects, primarily focusing on Roman law. This scope includes property and obligations, with a minor focus on persons and family. In his study of 'law and society,' he explores another era where Roman legal principles significantly influenced lawmaking: the European ius commune in the late Middle Ages. He examines structure, doctrine, and legitimacy here, challenging European legal history's established 'macro-narratives’.
He is the author of six books with publishers including Oxford University Press and Bloomsbury, and the Editor of eight volumes with the same publishers.
His research has been funded by various national and international organisations including the National Research Fund (South Africa), The Institute for Classical Studies (United Kingdom), and the Journal of Legal History (United Kingdom).
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The staff teaching on this programme are subject to change for 2026-27. Staff listed as on sabbatical will not be available to teach for the duration of their sabbatical.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the LLM in Comparative Private Law please don't hesitate to contact us.
pg.law.enquiries@ed.ac.uk
