Curriculum
Master in International Law (MIL)
The MIL grants students great flexibility to tailor their studies to meet their own preferences. Students can select courses from the MIL’s own tailor-made, rich, and diverse offer of courses as well as from offers by other master programmes.
A distinctive feature of the MIL curriculum is the carefully arranged combination of mandatory courses and electives. Three mandatory courses ensure that students will acquire a sound general understanding of the normative and analytical framework of international law. At the same time, a rich offering of electives enables them to specialise in selected topics in law, management studies or political science.
The Master’s programme in International Law (MIL) is designed to educate professionals with a clear focus on international law, business and government. As it prepares students for a career in an international setting, the teaching and assessment language is English. After three terms of full-time study, graduates are awarded a Master of Arts (M. A. HSG) in International Law. Through courses, research and practical engagement, students acquire a deep understanding of international law and its subfields, as well as a firm grasp of the complex interdependencies between law, the economy and the state. Blending a specialised legal education with elements of management studies and political science, the MIL equips students with the awareness and flexibility of thought to deal with interdisciplinary issues that call for innovative approaches and pose some of the most exciting intellectual and practical challenges in today’s world.
Content and structure
The MIL offers students enormous latitude and flexibility in choosing courses from the programme’s rich and diverse curriculum. This enables students to put together a degree course that meets their professional objectives and personal preferences. A distinctive feature of the MIL curriculum is the carefully arranged combination of compulsory courses and electives. Three compulsory courses ensure that students will acquire a sound general understanding of the normative and analytical framework of international law.
The Master in International Law is designed for a study duration of 3 semesters. A total of 90 ECTS must be completed in order to successfully graduate.
A distinctive feature of the MIL curriculum is a carefully arranged combination of mandatory courses and core electives. Three courses are mandatory for students to take: “The International Legal Order” and “Foundations of International and European Business and Economic Law” in fall term, and “Global Governance” in spring term. These three courses allow students to acquire a sound understanding of the normative and analytical framework of law and governance. Each of the courses is taught by an acclaimed teacher belonging to tenured St. Gallen faculty, namely B. Fassbender, T. Burri, and C. Frei.
The MIL also offers two popular introductory courses in fall term (“Introduction to Methods and Thinking in Law” and “Introduction to International and European Law”) that are designed to bring up to speed those students who have enjoyed less legal education during their previous studies. For those students, these two courses may be mandatory to take and pass.The MIL, in turn, does not require any of its students to pass supplementary credits on the bachelor level to make up for deficiencies in legal education.
The three compulsory courses are foundational in character. They provide students with the knowledge, the analytical tools and the practical skills required for a general grasp of the theory and practice of international law. The compulsory courses are the basis upon which students can build when they attend more specialised legal classes in subsequent semesters.
Core electives are courses designed to deepen students’ understanding of specific international law topics. Courses are organised in clusters, each concentrating on a particular subject area. Some courses seek to familiarise participants with the practical approaches to problem-solving at the intersections of law, business and politics.
The MIL offers a carefully curated set of core elective courses. These courses are designed to deepen the students’ understanding of law, including highly specific international legal regimes. Since most students spend at least three terms to complete the MIL, most courses are offered only every other year. This two-year cycle is one of the reasons why the MIL’s curriculum is so diverse. It also allows the MIL to have the very best international teachers on board. Though subject to change, core electives are typically offered as follows:
Legal electives enhance students’ legal expertise and allow them to specialise while granting them great freedom of choice. Students may attend various courses from the MLaw and MLE. In addition, they are invited to participate in a variety of practice workshops, especially Moots, in which the Law School regularly takes part.
Independent electives create additional choices: students may either attend further core electives of the MIL or courses of other Master’s programmes.
The Master’s thesis allows students to focus on a research question in a subject area of their choice and produce a written piece of scholarship. The thesis is marked and awarded with 18 ECTS. The subject of the MIL thesis must be broadly related to international law and normally be written in English.
Practice credits are awarded for practical activities which are closely related to the MIL, such as internships at law firm, courts, national and international authorities, organisations and NGOs, projects and mandate in various settings.
The Contextual Studies programme is another unique feature of the University of St.Gallen (HSG). It integrates knowledge across disciplines and strengthens the social and cultural competencies of our students distinctively. Students take a holistic approach by "thinking outside the box" and enrol in courses within focus areas and skills areas. The cultural and social science offerings in the focus areas are highly diverse and aligned with the study programme. In the skills area, students acquire additional competencies and practical skills necessary for success in the business world. The Contextual Studies programme complements your main field of study and is awarded with 18 ECTS credits.