UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF LAW
REGulations and syllabus for the degree of
master of laws
P.O. BOX 30197-00100
NAIROBI
KENYA
Parklands Campus
TeL: 020-2314371-2-3-4-5, 0724922608, 0734273568
E-mail:
REGulations and syllabus for the degree of
master of laws (LL.M)
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Master of Laws course is designed for students who are interested in gaining further skills and specializing in specific areas of law. The programme will enable students with a Bachelor’s Degree in law to delve into emerging areas of law at the national, regional and international levels.
The objectives of the course are:
· To enlarge and secure the future of the Faculty as a centre of excellence in legal training.
· To respond to market demands by addressing emerging legal problems in light of changed legal and geopolitical terrains.
· To provide a rigorous and critical grounding in key areas of law.
· To provide specialised and focussed training in law at the post-graduate level.
2.0 ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
2.1 The Common Regulations for the Master’s Degree in all Faculties, Institutes and Schools shall apply.
The following shall be eligible for admission:
2.2 Holders of a Bachelor of Laws degree with a minimum of an Upper Second Class Honours from the University of Nairobi.
2.3 Graduates of any other University whose degrees have been accepted by Senate to be equivalent to the Bachelor of Laws degree with qualifications specified in Regulation 2.2.
2.4 Holders of a Bachelor of Laws Degree of the University of Nairobi or its accepted equivalent who have achieved a Lower Second Class Honours and have satisfied Senate that they possess academic qualifications equivalent to Upper Second Class Honours through:
(a) At least two years of work or relevant experience; or
(b) Relevant research and publications; or
(c) Attainment of a post-graduate diploma from a recognized academic institution.
3.0 TRANSFER OF CREDITS
A candidate may be exempted from some course units and credits transferred from institutions recognised by Senate subject to the following conditions:
3.1 They shall have passed examinations in similar course units at post-graduate master’s degree level or equivalent level.
3.2 A candidate can only transfer upto a maximum of one-third of the course units.
3.3 The candidate shall apply for exemption in writing through the Dean, Faculty of Law to the Director of the Board of Post-graduate Studies.
3.4 The application shall be accompanied by officially endorsed, supporting academic documents.
3.5 The candidate shall pay the appropriate exemption fees to the University.
4.0 COURSE STRUCTURE AND DURATION
4.1 The programme will consist of course work, examination and a project. It will run for a minimum of three and a maximum of ten semesters of fifteen weeks each.
4.2 Candidates shall be required to take a minimum of two course units per semester and upto a maximum of five course units per semester.
4.3 Each course unit shall be taught for 60 contact hours in each semester.
4.4 Candidates shall be required to take a total of nine course units and write a research project report. These shall include three compulsory core course units and at least four course units in the area of specialization chosen. Students may take upto a maximum of two course units from an area other than the area of specialization chosen.
4.5 The research project report must be in the area of specialization and undertaken upon successful completion of the nine taught course units. It shall be equivalent to four course units.
4.6 The Senate reserves the right to require candidates to choose subjects that have a common thematic link, or which together constitute a distinct area of specialization, and to attend such other remedial courses as may be necessary for satisfactory completion of the LL. M programme.
4.7 The Faculty reserves the right to decide which courses to offer in any academic year.
4.8 A student wishing to defer his/her admission shall write a letter to that effect to the Dean of the Faculty stating the reasons for deferral and when he/she wishes to take up admission.
4.9 Deferrals shall not be granted beyond a period of three semesters. In case of requests for deferrals for more than three semesters, an applicant shall be required to make a fresh application.
4.10 Candidates may withdraw from the Faculty by notifying the Director, Board of Post graduate Studies and the Dean in writing.
5.0 COURSE OUTLINE
5.1 Core Courses
Code Title Hours
GPR 601 Jurisprudence and Legal Theory 60
GPR 602 Research Methodology 60
GPR 603 Law and Development 60
5.2 Specialization
5.2.1 LL. M in Law, Governance and Democracy
5.2.1.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 604 Comparative Constitutional Law 60
GPR 605 Human Rights Law 60
GPR 606 Principles of Good Governance 60
GPR 607 Law and State Security 60
GPR 608 Democracy and the Legal Process 60
GPR 609 Access to Justice 60
5.2.2 LL. M in Public Finance and Financial Services Law
5.2.2.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 610 Advanced Tax Law 60
GPR 611 Banking and Financial Services Law 60
GPR 612 Capital Markets and Securities Regulation 60
GPR 613 New Developments in Insolvency Law 60
GPR 614 Procurement and Public Accounting Law 60
5.2.3 LL. M in International Trade and Investments Law
5.2.3.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 615 Law and Economics 60
GPR 616 Advanced Competition Law 60
GPR 617 International and Regional Economic
Institutions Law 60
GPR 618 The Legal Regime of the General
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs
(GATT) & the World Trade
Organization (WTO) 60
GPR 619 Multilateral Finance Institutions Law 60
GPR 620 Transnational Enterprises and the Law 60
GPR 621 International Business Transactions Law 60
GPR 622 International Maritime Law 60
GPR 623 International Investments Law 60
GPR 624 Transnational Litigation 60
GPR 625 International Commercial Arbitration 60
5.2.4 LL. M in Law and Society
5.2.4.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 626 Law and Contemporary Problems 60
GPR 627 Comparative Law 60
GPR 628 African Legal Systems and Traditions 60
GPR 629 Law and Religion 60
GPR 630 Children’s Rights in National and
International Law 60
GPR 631 Disability and the Law 60
GPR 632 Comparative Labour Law 60
5.2.5 LL. M in Gender and the Law
5.2.5.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 633 Feminist Legal Theory and Jurisprudence 60
GPR 634 Gender and Family and Succession Law 60
GPR 635 Gender and Human Rights 60
GPR 636 Gender and the Criminal Law Process 60
GPR 637 Gender and Access to Resources Law 60
5.2.6 LL. M in Public International Law
5.2.6.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 638 United Nations Law and Problems
of World Order 60
GPR 639 Law on Refugees and Internally
Displaced Persons 60
GPR 640 International Human Rights Law 60
GPR 641 Humanitarian Law 60
GPR 642 Law of International Organizations 60
GPR 643 International Litigation and
Conflict Resolution 60
GPR 644 Air and Space law 60
GPR 645 International Law-making Processes 60
GPR 646 International Criminal Law 60
5.2.7 LL. M in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
5.2.7.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 647 Law on Trans-boundary Natural Resources 60
GPR 648 The Marine Environment and the Law 60
GPR 649 Natural Resources Law 60
GPR 650 Law and Pollution Control 60
GPR 651 Physical Planning Law 60
GPR 652 International Environmental Law 60
GPR 653 Public Property and the Public
Trust Doctrine 60
GPR 654 Legal Regulation of Power
and Energy Sectors 60
5.2.8 LL. M in Intellectual Property Law
5.2.8.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 655 International Intellectual Property Law 60
GPR 656 Patent Law 60
GPR 657 Trademark Law 60
GPR 658 Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law 60
5.2.9 LL. M in Law, Science and Technology
5.2.9.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 659 Telecommunications and the Law 60
GPR 660 Cyberspace and the Law 60
GPR 661 Biotechnology and the Law 60
GPR 662 Electronic Commerce and the Law 60
GPR 663 Legal Aspects of International
Technology Transfer 60
GPR 664 Medical Law 60
5.2.10 LL. M in Corporate Governance and the Law
5.2.10.1 Electives
Code Title Hours
GPR 665 Principles of Corporate Governance 60
GPR 666 Global Governance Practices and Codes 60
GPR 667 Corporate Culture, Ethics and Governance 60
GPR 668 Non-governmental Organizations & the Law 60
5.3 LL. M Research Project
GPR 699 Research Project 240
6.0 EXAMINATION REGULATIONS
Written Examination
6.1 Examinations for each course shall be held at the end of each semester.
6.2 Candidates are required to sit and pass eight examination papers.
6.3 Each course shall be examined by a three hour written examination.
6.4 Continuous assessment shall constitute 40% of the final overall mark while the final written examination shall account for 60%.
6.5 The pass mark in each examination shall be 50%.
6.6 The grading of each course examination shall be as follows:
70%-100% A
60%-69% B
50%-59% C
0%-49% F
6.7 A candidate who fails to satisfy the examiners in any course unit may upon the recommendation of the Faculty Board and approval by Senate be allowed to resit the failed papers for a maximum of two times.
6.8 A pass obtained in a re-sit examination shall be recorded as 50% in the candidate’s academic record.
6.9 A candidate who fails to satisfy the examiners in the second resit examination or fails to complete the course in the prescribed time shall upon recommendation of the Faculty Board and approval by Senate be discontinued.
Research Project Report
6.10 The research project report shall be at least 15,000 words long and on a subject in the area of specialization chosen.
6.11 The research project report shall be graded out of 100 marks.
6.12 The pass mark for the research project report shall be 50%.
6.13 A candidate who fails in the research project report shall be allowed to re-submit a revised project report for examination upto two times within the prescribed time, which shall not exceed three semesters.
6.14 A pass obtained in a re-submitted research project report shall be recorded as 50% in the candidate’s academic record.
6.15 A candidate shall upon recommendation of the Faculty Board and approval by Senate be discontinued if he/she fails in the second re-submitted research project report or fails to complete the project report within the prescribed time.
7.0 DEGREE AWARD
The degree to be awarded is Master of Laws in the area of specialization chosen by the candidate at the beginning of the course.
8.0 MAINTENANCE OF STUDENT STATUS
8.1 A student who wishes to interrupt his/her study for a semester or more shall write to the Director of the Board of Postgraduate Studies through the Dean of the Faculty of Law.
8.2 A student interrupting his/her study for other than medical reasons shall maintain his/her student status by paying a non-refundable annual registration fee if he/she seeks to be away for a period exceeding one semester.
guide to Proposal writing for Master of Laws (LL.M) Candidates
I. Introduction
The first stage in writing a project is to identify a research topic. This should be a topic that you are interested in. It must have a legal spin to it. You may want to demarcate your geographical scope in the topic. This ensures that your project is specific and focused. A topic such as: The Implications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) is very general and global since it does not define a geographical scope. One may want to delimit the geographical parameters by adding ‘in developing countries’, ‘in Sub-Sahara Africa’, or ‘in Kenya’. Another way of demarcating the research topic is by sector. Here the researcher may add: ‘:Implications for the Agriculture Sector’.
The proposal is the crux of your project paper. It charts out the road map of your project explaining in detail what it is you set out to do, what informs your choice of topic and your argument structure. It also details your objectives, your assumptions or hypotheses, the research questions that you seek to answer, the justification of your choice and the significance of the topic you choose. The underlying assumption is that you choose a topic that you are passionate about. It is in the proposal that you also underline the methodology that you employ, the layout of the chapters or chapter breakdown.
A good proposal makes the actual writing of the project very easy because it already underlines the major themes. It is the proposal that eventually becomes the introductory part of your project paper.
II. The structure of the proposal
The proposal should be structured as follows:
1. Introduction
2. Background to the problem
3. Statement of the problem
4. Theoretical/ conceptual Framework and Literature review
5. Objectives of the research
6. Broad argument layout/structure
7. Assumptions or hypotheses
8. Research questions sought to be answered
9. Methodology to be used
10. Chapter breakdown
III. Detailed Explanations of contents of specific sections
A. Introduction
This lays out the broad parameters of the proposal. It may for instance point out that the proposal is on the implications of information and communication technologies for intellectual property rights (IPRs) in Kenya. It explains briefly what the proposal will cover.
B. Background to the Problem
The background explains the context within which the study is carried out. Using the example of information and communication technologies (ICTs) above, the background may for instance explain the proliferation of ICTs in Kenya and elucidate some problems that have come up with regard to ICTs and law generally but highlighting specific IPR questions that have arisen. It may explain broadly how legal regimes on tax and evidence have been taxed by the application of ICTs. It may then explain the IPR issues that arise from use of ICTs and contextualise the broader study as informed by those specific problems.
C. Statement of the problem
This is the crux of the proposal. It comprises of a succinct statement of the problem to be investigated. Using the example of ICTs and IPRs above, a statement of the problem might be:
Existing laws including those on IPRs did not anticipate the pervasive nature and use of ICTs in Kenya. Laws on IPRs need to be developed to accommodate ICTs.
To use the example of foreign direct investment (FDI), a statement of the problem might be:
FDI has not contributed to the development of African countries owing to the lack of a conducive legal environment and facilitative legal mechanisms. FDI can only contribute to the economic development of Kenya if deliberate measures are put in place to encourage FDI in strategic areas of the economy.
D. Theoretical/ conceptual Framework and Literature review
1. Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework
Here you identify the jurisprudential basis of your research. What is the theoretical basis of your research? With regard to IPP, you may use property theory or development theory. The aim here is to demarcate your area of research conceptually as a legal question, distinguishing it from other fields. You may use other disciplines to sharpen your argument but it is critical that your work be a legal piece of work since it is conducted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master’s degree in Law.