Criminal Justice

The LLM in Criminal Justice gives you a panoramic, 360-degree view of the criminal process, and a multidimensional perspective which explores organic synergies between domestic, transnational and international criminal justice. It opens up diverse career paths in the criminal justice and human rights sectors.

Why study LLM Criminal Justice
- The LLM puts you in a strong position to pursue a career as a criminal law practitioner in the UK (as a barrister, solicitor, member of the Crown Prosecution service or in other parts of the UK criminal justice system), and internationally.

- You’ll take developments in UK criminal justice as a starting point and extrapolate from their study modern trends in criminal law and criminal justice thinking worldwide.

- You’ll learn by doing, for example in the 'Criminal Evidence' module, where you examine in chief and cross-examine witnesses in fictional criminal trials, before experienced barristers and Judges, at the Old Bailey (the central criminal court) in London.

- You’ll explore some of the most cutting-edge criminal justice debates of our times, from the relationship between counter-terrorism and family law to algorithm-based predictive policing and the use of improperly obtained evidence in criminal trials.

- You’ll learn from important legal thinkers, internationally leading barristers and politicians. Our Law faculty and Visiting Professors include pioneering criminal justice experts such as Her Honour Judge Alison Levitt KC (a Circuit Judge sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court, who was previously the Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions), the former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve KC, the founder of Reprieve, Clive Stafford-Smith, who has gained global admiration for his work for people on death row in the US, or the barrister who prosecuted Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Sir Geoffrey Nice KC.

- We’re focussed on employability, and you’ll have the opportunity to gain practical experience through taking criminal justice placements and clinics modules (for credit). Our Careers Service is here to support you every step of the way.

- You’ll collaborate with renowned legal scholars, eminent legal practitioners and NGOs working in the field of Criminal Justice and International Human Rights, including leading UK NGOs such as Fair Trials, Big Brother Watch, Reprieve, as well as Liberty, which leads on our pioneering 'Criminal Justice and Human Rights: NGO Advocacy, Litigation and Practice' module.