Master of Laws (LL.M.)

Welcome to the website of the Master of Laws program of the K.U.Leuven Faculty of Law.

The program kicked off in 1990, modelled on the programs at US law schools. The Leuven LL.M. continues the tradition of enabling you to study alongside the international body of students who come to Leuven via Erasmus and other exchange agreements, thus expanding the international exposure which the LL.M. group already offers you. However the LL.M. also offers you an increasing amount of courses, tutorials and clinics which are exclusively organised for the concise group of LL.M. students.

The introduction of intensive 'clinics', led by top experts in their field, is but the latest means of enhancing your exclusive research and teaching experience. These clinics will crown your know-how in your chosen fields of specialisation, and will enable you to have high level discussions on these issues in a small group of fellow LL.M. students.

These clinics – as well as other tutorials – will also offer you a platform to meet practitioners and experts in your specialisation.

The Leuven LL.M. is either a one-year (residential) or a two-year (part-time) program, with five different specialisations: (1) European Economic Law, (2) European Financial Law, (3) European and International Tax Law, (4) European Human Rights, and (5) the EU in international relations.

There is evidently no hiding the fact that an important part of our focus lies with European law. Anything else would be foolish, as Leuven lies in the shadows of the EU institutions and can tap into a large network of professionals with daily exposure to, or activities in, the European Union institutions, such as the European Commission, the European Council or the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Indeed, we are proud that the first permanent President of the European Council, Mr Herman Van Rompuy, is an alumnus of our Faculty of Law.

However, just as many jurisdictions look to European Law to inspire them in their own laws and regulations, so too do our teachers look across the EU in their research and teaching. The Professors teaching in the LL.M. Program generally hold degrees from prestigious universities in the US and in the UK and many of them have additional substantial experience as prominent practitioners.

Given its philosophy based on European law, highly skilled teachers and an openness to the practice of law – and of course, its location just 15 kilometers from Brussels – the Leuven LL.M. has had tremendous added value for our large body of alumni. I trust the details of the program, included in the various sections of this website, shall convince you too of the quality of the program for you as a student, as an individual and as a professional.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to Leuven.

Prof. Vincent Sagaert

Director of Studies for the LL.M. program

If you have a healthy appetite for top-notch European Law studies, would you like to… Share classrooms, thoughts, joys and miseries of learning process, coffees and Belgian chocolates, hot wine in Christmas markets, exam mornings and graduation with Brazilian, Bulgarian, Japanese, and Australian person? Borrow your wisdom from the professors that walk the corridors of European Union Institutions, major law firms and public authorities, know the past and present European Union law intimately and often also shape future law? Shake hands with the leaders of law-firms, industries and European Union administration during clinics, see what and why is happening in the law-making kitchen, and how the law “tastes” in life? Have an opportunity to conduct a guided research on a topic close to your heart? Perhaps have it published (well, if you have made an effort)? Learn, have fun, and spend one of the best years of your life? And, once it is over, proudly add the LL.M to your curriculum vitae and your newly acquired knowledge to the growth of your career? Receive wedding invitations from San Paolo and Prishtina, e-mails from Paris, Perth, Sofia and Shanghai?

K.U. Leuven is your answer. It was mine.

Katrina Petrosovitch (LL.M. Leuven 2010)