Masters in Research in Law

The Masters in Research in Law (MRes) offers an advanced introduction to the study of law and a preparation for doctoral study in law. It serves both as a qualification in its own right as well as providing a platform for those who wish to go on to study for a PhD.

[ You may download a fuller description of the MRes in Law ]

The MRes has a strong emphasis on research training, in order to help develop generic research knowledge and skills. Students are introduced to legal research methodologies, the ethics of legal research, key traditions of legal inquiry and basic concepts of legal thought. 

The MRes will be of particular interest to those who want to work as researchers, develop academic research skills or embark on a PhD.

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods is used as appropriate to the subject matter of the different courses. These may include essays, examinations, oral presentations, and submission of project outlines.

Teaching

Teaching will be conducted through lectures and seminars as appropriate to the course. Active participation in debate will be encouraged through presentations in class. There will be provision for one-to-one supervision at dissertation stage

Programme Structure

The MRes in Law has four key components:

1. ADVANCED COURSE IN LEGAL METHODS

The course introduces students to a wide array of methodological approaches and literatures.
Compulsory, taught over two semesters
Credit weighting: 40 credits

Structure:

Part I: Traditions of Social and Legal Inquiry

Major paradigms of social inquiry (hermeneutics, critical theory, structuralism); Legal research Methodologies (comparative legal methodology; historical analysis; doctrinal approaches; socio-legal studies; legal reasoning)

Part II: Legal System and Jurisdiction

Law and Economics; Law and Society; Critical Legal Studies; Systems Theory
Legal Pluralism and Legal Monism: Municipal Legal Systems and the International Legal Order

Part III: Basic Concepts of Legal Thought

Legal personality; legal standing; responsibility and liability; state and constitution; forms of adjudication; property, contract, delict and crime

Part IV: Ethics of Legal Research

A critical introduction to questions of ethical aspects with respect to the substance and conduct of research in law.

Assessment is by means of

one 2,500 word essay due at the end of Semester 1
one 4,000 words essay due at the end of Semester 2
an oral examination including a defence of the Semester 2 essay

Learning Format: seminar-based, encouraging active learning by way of participation in debate and presentations in class.

2. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEACH METHODS

Student will take one of the following two options:

Qualitative Research Methods
Social Science Statistics (1)

These courses are available through the Faculty of LBSS Graduate School

3. ELECTIVES

Students are required to choose courses from the following list.

Law electives (LLM):
Commercial Law; Company Law; Banking Law; Intellectual Property Law; Conflicts of Law; International Economic Law; International  Arbitration; Competition Law (choice from 3 courses)

Law electives (MSc):
Globalisation, Law and Human Rights; United Nations Law; Fundamentals of International Law; Constitutionalism 1600-1800 (MSc in Legal & Political thought); Law and Democracy (MSc in Legal & Political thought);  Institutions and Policies of the European Union

Politics Electives (MSc):
Comparative European Politics; International Theory; Media and Democracy    Democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe; Enforcing Human Rights; EU in International Politics and Development; Internet, Protest and Civil Society; Political Legitimacy: Contemporary Perspectives; International Security and Global Politics

Faculty Advanced Electives in Research Methods:
Advanced Qualititative Methods; Understanding Social Research

4. DISSERTATION

Compulsory, undertaken during final three months of MRes.

The MRes culminates in the Dissertation, in which the students must prove that they are capable of producing original, theoretically informed work of potentially publishable quality. The dissertation which should not exceed 15,000 words must be submitted by the end of September. The aim of the dissertation is to enable students to engage critically with comparative methodologies and to apply the knowledge they have gained of legal methodology and the skills they have acquired to a research topic they have themselves identified. They must demonstrate analytical clarity and the ability to produce arguments at an appropriate level of sophistication. They must demonstrate that they have a good awareness of the field of research, that they have identified relevant material and are capable of analysing it in some in depth and that they are able to adequately relate the literature to their own argument.

Programme Coordinator

Professor Emilios Christodoulidis

e.christodoulidis@law.gla.ac.uk