At a glance
The Master’s Degree (Laurea Magistrale) in Law and Sustainable Development (LL.M. in Law and Sustainable Development) at the University of Milan is the first European graduate programme that aims at improving the legal skills necessary to better grasp the three interconnected dimensions (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainable development. It offers students an in-depth interdisciplinary academic education to specialise in key issues agreed upon by the International Community within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “Transforming Our World” and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The course is open to students with a bachelor degree in legal, economic or political studies, who are proficient in English. They will complete their training with advanced legal skills, integrated with the relevant socio-economic dimensions, to deal with the challenges of sustainability in the public and private sector. Entirely taught in English, the LL.M. provides specialised education and training enabling legal professionals to tackle contemporary economic, social, and environmental challenges. The approach to learning will be multidisciplinary, integrated, and holistic, as inherent in the notion of sustainable development.
The LL.M. is a full-time two-years Master Programme with compulsory attendance of classes.
In the first year, students are required to attend seven core courses, in the areas of law, economics, and sociology and a course of the Italian language or training and vocational activities.
In the second year, students can tailor their study plan, by choosing elective courses from among those offered within one of the four curricula, as well as one or more optional courses/activities.
To complete their degree, students must do an internship and write and discuss a final dissertation.
The LL.M. programme trains a new generation of legal specialists able to reconcile social development, environmental goals, and economic growth in the activities of private and public organizations. LL.M. graduates will contribute to fostering favourable conditions for long-term competitiveness, social cohesion, and better environmental protection. At the local, national, and international levels, they will play a role in updating existing legal frameworks, business practices, and social action to the requirements and expectations about what the law can do in the sustainable development realm.
The LL.M. in Law and Sustainable Development is a two-year full-time Master Programme (120 ects).
In the first year (60 ects) students are required to attend seven core courses (57 ects), in the areas of law, economics, and sociology. The remaining 3 ects are obtained by demonstrating a basic knowledge of Italian language (level A2) or, for students having previously obtained a school or university degree in Italy, by other optional activities.
To take the exams of the 2nd year, students must have passed all the exams of the 1st year.
In the second year (60 ects), students can tailor their study plan, by choosing four elective courses from among those offered within one of the four curricula (24 ects, 12 of which in the areas of international, European and comparative law), as well as one or more optional courses/activities (9 ects).
The credits for optional courses/activities are obtained by freely combining courses (6 ects) offered within any of the curricula, the LL.M. additional courses, legal clinics and workshops (3 or 6 ects), and/or the courses (6 or 9 ects) taught in English in the Faculty of Law of the University of Milan.
Students will also have to take an internship (150 hours - 6 ects) and write and discuss a final dissertation (21 ects).
The LL.M. currently offers four curricula designed along with the building blocks of sustainable development:
- Law, Economics, and Development;
- Human Rights Law and Social Development;
- Environmental Law and Policy; and
- Rule of Law.
Each curriculum includes an unusually large mix of advanced learning activities in different areas of the law, as well as in the relevant economic and sociological disciplines.
In exceptional cases, students may apply to the Teaching Board to take up to two courses belonging to a curriculum different from the chosen one, provided that this is in line with the learning objectives of that curriculum and the requirement of 12 ects in the areas of international, European and comparative law is met.
Course attendance is compulsory. The courses within the programme use a wide range of solution-oriented educational methods tailored to the learners. In addition to lectures, classes also provide for group discussions, moots, surveys, analysis, case studies, presentation of research papers, directed studies, and workplace experience.