LLB Global Law (Honours)
Law firms around the world, as well as in Scotland, emphasise the increasingly international or transnational character of their work. Legal skills are required to tackle complex global challenges, from climate change, to peace and conflict, to the regulation of AI. And passionate lawyers can disrupt enduring global patterns of exploitation and injustice.
To succeed in this transformed professional environment, you will need legal and non-legal skills to adapt, mobilise, and innovate. The LLB Global Law at Edinburgh is designed to address this need, preparing you for a range of careers.
It will provide you with the skills and in-depth knowledge of global legal systems required to work across borders and bring a pluralistic legal perspective to solving global challenges. You will also have the opportunity to build an international network of globally minded professionals, as you experience life in a different country during the year abroad at one our prestigious partner universities.
Drawing on Edinburgh Law School’s unique position at the crossroads of common and civil law, and its unparalleled expertise in global legal issues, you will learn to think about legal frameworks, structures and problems beyond the boundaries of any particular legal system, and you will focus on solving global legal problems and benefit from a particularly strong focus on comparative and transnational legal methods.
Programme objectives
The programme aims to provide you with the knowledge and understanding of the theory, concepts and rules of law in their socioeconomic, institutional, and historical frameworks. You will develop:
- a deep understanding of the role of law and lawyers in historic and contemporary processes of globalisation and transnationalisation, including those of slavery and colonialism, from perspectives across the Global North and South;
- an in-depth knowledge of the law and legal systems in the European Union, the international community, and the wider world;
- the ability to think about legal issues, structures and problems beyond the boundaries of any particular legal system and benefit from a particularly strong focus on comparative and transnational legal methods;
- useful skills in logic and rhetoric, which you can apply to other academic and professional fields.
There are also opportunities to engage in broader interdisciplinary learning across the University, and to perfect your oral skills through participation in legal 'moots' which reproduce a courtroom environment. Mooting is just one of the ways in which the Law School encourages you to develop legal skills through a range of experiential learning methods.
Year abroad
In your third year you will benefit from the opportunity to live in another country and study law in a different jurisdiction, developing your global perspective and networks through a compulsory third year abroad at one of our programme-specific partner Law Schools that span six continents.
Exchange partners
Edinburgh Law School has a number of dedicated exchange links with Law Schools around the world.
Please note that we routinely review our partnerships and this list may be subject to change.
- Australia, University of New South Wales
- Belgium, KU Leuven
- Brazil, FGV Rio
- Canada, McGill University
- France, Sciences Po
- Germany, Bucerius Law School
- Hong Kong - SAR China, University of Hong Kong
- India, O.P. Jindal Global University
- The Netherlands, Leiden University
- Singapore, National University of Singapore
- Spain, IE University
Leaving the university with the intention to practice around the world and obtain further legal instruction in Europe and beyond, the Global Law LLB program is something I wish I could have studied to condense my interests towards something more globally focused.
Career opportunities
The LLB Global Law does not provide you with a qualification to practice law in Scotland. Instead, the degree will provide you with skills to adapt, innovate and succeed in a globally oriented legal career.
You may move from country to country, or work with local, national and regional institutions, organisations or businesses with a global perspective. You may work with clients who need to be advised on cross-jurisdictional matters, or with supra- or inter-national organisations.
You may also go on to qualify and practise law in other jurisdictions, in Europe and elsewhere, in accordance with the relevant local conversion requirements and any further study required in the destination jurisdiction.
The Global Law LLB programme will provide you with a range of useful skills transferable to other academic and professional fields. It is also an excellent grounding for a wide range of careers in areas such as:
- international organisations
- financial services
- politics
- journalism
- public policy
- civil society and advocacy work
- government work
Programme structure
To help you find out more about the compulsory and optional courses in this degree programme we publish the latest available information. However, please note this may not be for your year of entry, but for a different academic year.
Degree programme structure (2026-27)
Please be aware that all option courses may be subject to change year on year. The courses listed on these and linked pages are indicative for the noted year of study. They may not be available for subsequent years due to teaching resource, availability, and demand.
You will be introduced to the general principles and techniques of global law. You will study compulsory courses including:
- Global Law (40 credits)
- International Law (20 credits)
You will have the opportunity to select between 0 and 20 credits of the following core courses:
- European Union (EU) Law (10 credits)
- Global Jurisprudence (10 credits)
- Introduction to Law and Digital Technology (10 credits)
If you choose 0 credits, you must take 30 credits from the compulsory choice list in Year 2.
You will also take a selection of optional courses from the Law School and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
During your second year of study you will continue to develop your understanding of global law through a range of courses, including the following compulsory courses:
- Global Legal Systems (20 credits)
- Global Public and Private Law (40 credits)
You will have the opportunity to choose between 10 and 30 credits of the following courses:
- EU Law (10 credits)
- Global Jurisprudence (10 credits)
- Introduction to Law and Digital Technology (10 credits)
- International Private Law (10 credits)
You will also take a selection of optional courses from the Law School and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Students are expected to have taken Global Jurisprudence by the end of year 2.
Jurisprudence (10 credits) can be taken in 2nd year in any academic session that Global Jurisprudence (10 credits) is not available, in order to satisfy programme requirements.
You will spend your third year studying abroad at one of our partner universities and gain exposure to a different legal tradition, benefit from broader cultural benefits, global networks, and a range of legal skills.
You will be expected to do the equivalent of 120 credits.
This includes the 10-credit compulsory course Advanced Legal Writing (Online).
This is the final year of the LLB Global Law (Hons) programme. The Honours programme in Year 4 places a strong emphasis on developing your analytical ability, with importance placed on written and oral skills.
Your courses will include:
- Global Lawyering
This course will advance students’ understanding of global legal practice and the professional and ethical questions that arise in a variety of global settings. Building on the understanding of Global Law developed in the Ordinary years of the programme, the course uses a series of case studies to both ground and expand students’ understanding of global lawcraft. By moving across and beyond traditional sites of legal practice, students will examine the roles of global lawyers, broadly defined, as ethical professionals for whom the practice of lawcraft may, for example, transplant, compare, and codify knowledge in their careers.
This course was previously approved as Advanced Global Legal Problems.
You will choose further optional advanced courses to expand your specialist knowledge, and write a dissertation in Law. This will help you develop your legal research and writing skills.
Enquiries
All enquiries regarding undergraduate applications to Law should be made to the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science Admissions Office.
Email: futurestudents@ed.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)131 650 3565
