Programme specific admission requirements

The programme is open to all applicants holding a Bachelor’s degree in law or another Bachelor’s degree with at least 45 ECTS in law or other relevant subject(s). The applicants should be familiar with the basics of public international law and/or constitutional law.

In case the applicant’s Bachelor’s degree diploma does not contain an evaluation of the academic merits of the applicant’s Bachelor’s thesis, a separate letter of evaluation by the thesis supervisor should be attached to the application. If the applicant’s Bachelor’s degree does not contain a graded Bachelor’s thesis or another equivalent academic research essay, it is recommended that the applicant supplements her/his application with a letter where a professor assesses the applicant’s academic writing abilities. Please note that a Bachelor’s thesis is not a requirement for applying to the programme.

Eligible applicants are assessed based on:

• their academic merits in relevant subject(s) (such as criminology, social justice, international organisations or gender studies with at least some legal courses); assessed based on transcript of records including the evaluation of the bachelor’s thesis/other academic research essay and academic recommendations, 0-10 points.

10:A high A, with all grades at top of the scale. High distinction.
9: A/5/excellent
8: B/4/very good
7: C/3/good
6: D/2/satisfactory
5: E/1/ sufficient

Applicants may receive a score between the full numbers with 0,25 intervals. Particular emphasis is given to those legal subjects which relate to international law and human rights, such as public international law, international human rights law, EU law, constitutional law, criminal law, public law.

• an online interview, 0-5 points. Applicants who are assessed with minimum 8 points for their academic merits are invited to an interview.Online interviews on Zoom will be held on the week 4 to 8 March 2024. Interviews take place between 9 and 17 o´clock (EET, GMT+2). The exact time and a zoom link are communicated to each applicant (with minimum 8 points for their academic merits) the week prior to the interview via e-mail. For the interview via Zoom the applicants need a computer or a smart device, a web camera, earphones and a microphone. The use of the web-camera is mandatory. At the beginning of the interview the applicant needs to show a valid identity document. The interview lasts maximum 20 minutes. In the interview the following aspects of qualifying candidates are assessed (each aspect weighing 1/3 of the score given for the interview):

• • Motivation for studies in the programme
  • Suitability for studies in the programme
  • Oral communication skills

Each aspect will be graded on a scale 0-5 p. The final score for the interview is calculated as an average of the three. If the appliant scores 0 points in any of the three components, the application will not be processed further.

5: excellent
4: very good
3: good
2: satisfactory
1: sufficient
0: fail

Applicants with the total amount of points below 11 are not admitted to the programme.

Applicants to the Master’s degree programmes taught in English must always prove their knowledge of the English language and fulfill the general academic requirements.

Regarding the Master’s Degree Programme in International Law and Human Rights, an applicant who has completed her/his Bachelor’s degree in English at the Faculty of Law/School of Law at any of the programme’s cooperation universities (such as Addis Ababa University, Makerere University, University of Nairobi, University of Pretoria, University of Stellenbosch) can be considered for the programme without submitting any of the required English language tests.