Law and Human Rights

Course Overview

The four-year Bachelor of Civil Law (Human Rights) is an innovative and unique programme – the first of its kind in Ireland. It offers students the opportunity to combine a full undergraduate law programme with the study of human rights.

The study of human rights involves gaining an understanding of how the international human rights treaties function as tools to ensure that states respect and protect the equal human dignity of all people. Students will learn about how human rights law develops, including the influence of activism and grassroots movements for social change.

Human rights are not just legal concepts; therefore students on this course will have the opportunity to gain philosophical and political insights that will broaden their knowledge and deepen their critical thinking skills. Students will also study emerging areas of human rights law and contemporary issues of large-scale injustice such as climate change, the environment and human rights; data privacy; refugee rights; poverty; and business and human rights. In addition, this course will provide a basic introduction to International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law.

Students on the programme will be challenged and engaged by a rich curriculum of core and optional law modules.  Students will be trained in key legal skills such as written and oral advocacy; and they will be educated in the principles, theories and doctrines of human rights law and practice.

The School of Law and the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway are pioneers in legal education and research on human rights. Students will have access to world leading researchers, writers and lecturers in human rights at the Irish Centre for Human Rights.

Students complete all the modules required to support them to undertake the entrance exams for the Law Society of Ireland, should they wish to qualify as a solicitor. Students who wish to qualify as a barrister will have the option of taking all additional modules required by the Honourable Society of King’s Inns, through the Legal Professions specialised stream in the final year. 

Professional Work Placement or Study Abroad

In year three of this course students will have the opportunity to spend the academic year completing professional work placement or studying abroad. Students will have the opportunity to apply for a professional work placement in a leading law firm, a corporate organisation, a public sector organisation or other suitable legal placement. Study abroad is highly recommended for students who choose to study a language (Legal French or Legal German) and are encouraged to study in our partner universities in Germany and France. We have also partnered with a number of leading universities who teach through English in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, India, Poland, The Netherlands, Spain and the United States of America.

Note: Students who choose the optional specialist stream in Legal Irish will spend year three divided between one semester studying at NUI Galway’s Gaeltacht campus in An Cheathrú Rua and one semester of professional work placement in an Irish-speaking legal environment.​

Specialist Streams

In final year students have the opportunity to shape their degree and focus on an area of study that interests them and develop special expertise in their chosen field. Students may choose one of the following specialist streams.

• Business and Commercial Law
• Public Law, Risk and Regulation
• Human Rights, Crime and Equality
• International, Comparative and Transnational Law
• Law and Innovation
• Language: Legal French, Legal German or Teanga an Dlí (Legal Irish)
• Legal Professions
• General

Key Facts

Entry Requirements

Additional Requirements

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Course Outline

Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Year 1 (60 credits)

This year focuses on building skills with strong foundational teaching. The module ‘Understanding the Law’ builds a platform of essential skills and helps students to transition to the expectations of a university degree.

The module ‘Human Rights: Theories, Concepts and Selected Issues’ provides a grounding in critical, inter-disciplinary and practical approaches to human rights designed to enable deep engagement with human rights law in subsequent years. Topics in past years have included feminist theories of power and injustice, ‘rebellious lawyering’ theory, climate justice, disability rights, the past and present human rights issues arising from Ireland’s history of institutionalisation and family separation, and participation in a mock examination of Ireland by the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Compulsory Core Modules (50 credits)

• Human Rights Law: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues (10 credits)
• Understanding the Law (10 credits)
• Constitutional Law (10 credits)
• Contract Law (10 credits)
• Tort Law (10 credits)

Optional Modules (10 credits)

• Family and Child Law (10 credits)
• Language: Legal French/ Legal German/ Teanga an Dlí (Legal Irish) (10 credits)

 Year 2 (60 credits)

In second year students develop their skills further with modules such as ‘Mooting’ which helps develop communication and advocacy skills. Students will also complete a ‘Guided Research Essay’ on a topic of their choice and will be supported by an academic mentor.

Students take four compulsory modules in human rights law, which together provide a comprehensive overview of the human rights treaty systems that influence state laws and practice in Ireland, Europe and the world over. These modules also address areas of emerging human rights law and contemporary issues, and they introduce students to a range of staff and postgraduate researchers specialising in human rights at NUI Galway as well as to guest speakers practicing in human rights law.

Compulsory Core Modules (50 credits)

• Criminal Law I & II (10 credits)
• European Union Law I & II (10 credits)
• European Human Rights Law - Systems & Themes I & II (10 credits)
• International Protection of Human Rights I & II (10 credits)
• Mooting (5 credits)
• Guided Research Essay (5 credits)

Optional Modules (10 credits)

• Labour Law I (5 credits)
• Labour Law II (5 credits)
• Industrial and Intellectual Property Law (5 credits)
• Environmental Law I (5 credits)
• Environmental Law II (5 credits)
• Language: Legal French/ Legal German/ Teanga an Dlí (Legal Irish) (10 credits)

Year 3 (60 credits)

Customise your experience by choosing either professional work placement or study abroad.

Caithfidh na mic léinn a dhéanann Teanga an Dlí seimeastar amháin ag staidéar ar champas Gaeltachta Ollscoil na hÉireann Gaillimh ar an gCeathrú Rua agus seimeastar amháin eile ar shocrúchán oibre i dtimpeallacht lán-Ghaeilge. (Students who study Legal Irish will spend one semester studying at NUI Galway’s Gaeltacht campus in An Cheathrú Rua and one semester of professional work placement in an Irish-speaking environment.)

Year 4 (60 credits)

Students will have the opportunity to shape their degree by choosing a specialist stream. Students may choose one of the following specialist. Certain specialist streams have prerequisite modules which must be passed before choosing the stream in the final year. Students who wish to qualify professionally as a barrister should choose ‘The Legal Professions’ stream which covers all the modules required to apply for the degree of Barrister–at–Law at The Honorable Society of King’s Inns. Module selection is subject to timetable clashes and availability.

Compulsory Core Modules (30 credits)

• Company Law I & II (10 credits)
• Equity Law I & II (10 credits)
• Land Law I & II (10 credits)

 Specialist Streams (30 credits)

Students will have the opportunity to shape their degree by choosing a specialist stream. Students may choose one of the following specialist streams. Certain specialist streams have prerequisite modules which must be passed before choosing the stream in the final year.

 The Legal Professions

• Administrative Law I (5 credits)
• Jurisprudence (5 credits)
• Evidence I & II (10 credits)
• Choose 10 credits of modules from other streams

 Human Rights, Crime and Equality

• Applied Legal Theory (5 credits)
• Equality and Law (5 credits)
• Labour Law I (5 credits)
• Animal Law (5 credits)
• Comparative Disability Law (5 credits)
• Criminology (5 credits)
• Housing Law & Policy (5 credits)
• Labour Law II (5 credits)
• The Protection of Prisoner Rights under International Law (5 credits)
• Family and Child Law (10 credits)

Business and Commercial Law

• Banking Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Labour Law I
• Labour Law II
• Commercial Law
• International Trade Law
• Law and Economics
• Industrial and Intellectual Property Law
• Comparative Competition Law
• Law and Innovation

 Public Law, Risk and Regulation

• Applied Legal Theory (5 credits)
• Environmental Law I (5 credits)
• Information Technology Law (5 credits)
• Comparative Competition Law (5 credits)
• Administrative Law II (5 credits)
• Criminology (5 credits)
• Environmental Law II (5 credits)
• Health and Safety Law (5 credits)
• Housing Law & Policy (5 credits)
• Industrial and Intellectual Property Law (5 credits)
• International Trade Law (5 credits)

International, Comparative and Transnational Law

• Comparative Disability Law
• Public International Law
• Comparative Competition Law
• International Trade Law
• Applied Legal Theory

Law and Innovation

• Information Technology Law (5 credits)
• Industrial and Intellectual Property Law (5 credits)
• Lawyering, Technology and Innovation (5 credits)
• Business Intelligence & Analytics (5 credits)
• Comparative Competition Law (5 credits)
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (5 credits)
• Decision Modelling and Analytics (5 credits)
• Entrepreneurial Venture Development (5 credits)
• Implementing Digital Innovation (5 credits)
• Law and Analytics (5 credits)

Language

Students who choose a language must also choose 20 credits worth of modules on other streams to meet credit requirements.

• Legal German / Legal French/ Teanga an Dlí (Legal Irish) (10 credits)

 General

Define your own degree by selecting modules from multiple streams to meet the requirement of 30 credits. Module selection is subject to timetable clashes and availability.

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Further Education

Graduates of this course may complete further study to become a barrister or solicitor. Graduates will have completed the modules examined in the solicitor entrance exams at the Law Society of Ireland and will have the option to complete the modules required for the barrister entrance exams at The Honorable Society of King’s Inns.

Graduates may also be interested in completing a LLM (Master of Laws) or PhD programme. The School of Law offers a wide range of taught LLM programmes and LLM or PhD programmes by research.

Why Choose This Course?

Career Opportunities

Who’s Suited to This Course

Learning Outcomes

Transferable Skills Employers Value

Work Placement

Study Abroad

Related Student Organisations

Course Fees

Fees: EU

Fees: Tuition

Fees: Student Contribution

Fees: Student levy

Fees: Non EU

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