Commercial Law LLM/PGDip/PGCert
Enhance your legal knowledge, especially in global governance and dispute resolution. Master commercial law on this highly respected practical degree with expert advice to support your career
/199x0:1702x1100/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/courses-images/pg---course-masthead-images/2024X2f25/business-and-law/Commercial-Law-Banner.jpg)
Viewing course details for 2025 year of entry
- Code
- PGM194
- Attendance
- Full-time, Part-time
- Start
- September 2025
- Fees
- £11,300 (UK) £18,000 (INT)
- Duration
- 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
- Course Leader
- Dr Alessandra M. De Tommaso
- Study mode
- On campus
- Location
- Hendon campus
- Entry Requirements
- 2:2 degree
- Placement year
- Yes
- School / Department
- Department of Law and Social Sciences
Why choose Commercial Law LLM/PGDip/PGCert at Middlesex?
Middlesex University ranks 6 among UK universities in the Times Higher Young University Rankings 2024. We are highly international, with 50% of our students coming from outside the UK.
Middlesex is dedicated to providing students with the skills and abilities sought after by a wide range of employers, from legal firms to domestic businesses and international corporations. By undertaking this programme you will be able to specialise in subjects related to commercial law, equipping yourself with a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory framework governing the conduct of trade, business, and financial services set up under English and international law.
Studying at Middlesex will maximise your academic potential and refine your problem-solving skills in a transnational context through the acquisition of a critical understanding of complex legal, economic, cultural, ethical and political issues informing both English and international commercial law and the development of commercial transactions
This programme should be of particular value to those students who are interested in commercial practice as it will enhance your professional development and horizons as you explore legal frameworks governing commercial activities and cross-border transactions. You will gain skills which you will be able to transfer to a variety of professional sectors, including the legal profession, policymaking, the corporate sector, governmental bodies or academia.
The School of Law at Middlesex University has assembled a team of globally-respected academics who provide not only insight and practical direction but also access to a considerable network of contacts and connections, most notably internship opportunities within international and domestic organisations:
Dr Sara Hourani
Senior Lecturer in Law, specialises in International Commercial Law, with a focus on the interface between international commercial arbitration and new technologies, spanning digital and online dispute resolution, with a particular interest in blockchain and smart contract arbitration.
Dr Mariette Jones
Senior Lecturer in Law, has research interests in corporate governance and corporate responsibility, civil liability and tort, as well as comparative law.
Dr Eneless Nyoni
Lecturer in Law, has a background in contract law, global trade law, the World Trade Organisation, and international trade law.
Course highlights
- This LLM programme introduces students to real-life business disputes, exposing them to the changing nature both of commercial disputes and their settlement or resolution
- You will become conversant with case law, and UK, EU and international statute pertinent to the conduct of business, together with trends and new issues arising as a result of both technological and regulatory change
- You will become familiar with the range of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms deployed in business contexts to avoid litigation.
About your course
What will you study on the Commercial Law LLM/PGDip/PGCert?
Full-time LLM (1 year, 180 credits)
- Four core plus two optional modules are completed over terms one and two, with a Dissertation period in term three.
Part-time LLM (2 years, 180 credits)
- Four core plus two optional modules are completed over three taught terms, plus a Dissertation period
- Two modules in term one, two modules in term two, and two modules in the first term of the following academic year.
Full-time PG Diploma (1 year, 120 credits)
- You will study four core modules plus two optional modules to be completed over terms one and two
- Three modules will be taken in term one and three modules in term two.
Part-time PG Diploma (2 years, 120 credits)
- You will study four core modules plus two optional modules to be completed over three or four taught terms
- In Year 1, you will study two modules in term one and two modules in term two
- In Year 2, you can choose to study:
- Two modules in term one or
- One module in term one and one module in term two
PG Certificate (60 credits)
- Legal Research Skills must be taken in term one, plus two optional modules
- Can be completed in one or two academic terms.
For all pathways, attendance may be required during the day and/or evening, depending on your choice of modules.
Modules
Each module is worth 20 credits, except the Dissertation and Work Integrated Learning modules which are worth 60 credits each. The Work Integrated Learning module may be chosen to replace the Dissertation with prior agreement.
In addition to the law modules listed below, students can study Politics of Globalisation (term 2) from international politics.
Optional modules: If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.
Modules
The purpose of the English Commercial Law module is to introduce you to this fascinating and richly hybridised area of law. It will encourage you to analyse contemporary issues, legal problems, and emergent changes to the legislation governing the conduct of trade, business and financial services. The module expects you to go beyond synthesis and to ask yourself what the law can and cannot do in facilitating trade, commerce, and the exchange of tangible assets in the UK and abroad, in order to create an original position on these debates in your written work and discussions with peers.
The Law of the International Sale of Goods builds upon your familiarity with the principles of contract law and extends this knowledge into the international arena; specifically, within the international sale of goods. The module focuses upon the English law governing trade in wet and dry commodities and contrasts this with international law, principally the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods. This will enhance your ability to tackle the practical, policy and economic implications of those regimes enabling trade between parties straddling legal and geographic boundaries with particular emphasis on the rights and obligations of the seller and the buyer, remedies, carriage of goods, insurance and impossibility of performance.
This module aims to increase your ability to understand and to organise for yourself a range of disparate views on current debates in legal and alternative dispute resolution practice and scholarship. The goal is to deliver the knowledge necessary to deal with contemporary and emerging challenges in the practice and management of transnational commercial disputes with a focus on the increasing use of arbitration as a site of both expediency and cost savings by medium and large-scale enterprises operating in multiple jurisdictions.
This module equips you with the essential research skills necessary to complete a Master's of Law, including the technical and conventional systems governing academic writing and the principles and practice followed in legal reasoning.
Plus one of the following:
The Dissertation module will give you the opportunity to demonstrate expert-level knowledge and advanced-level legal research skills on a topic of your own choosing with the support of a dedicated supervisor. Your dissertation will be a 15,000-18,000 word piece of work which allows you to demonstrate a deep level of understanding and insight in your chosen area of research.
LLM students can replace this module with the Work Integrated Learning or Practicum in International Organisations module with prior approval.
The Work Integrated Learning module will equip you to gain insights and conduct research in order to anticipate and respond to challenges in a workplace environment. The module will enable you to design and negotiate your own learning goals and will give you the opportunity to engage as an active subject in the assessment process, thereby enhancing your capacity for transformative learning. By selecting a topic of interest grounded in your workplace experience you’ll be expected to demonstrate reflexivity, self-regulation and self-assessment in your journey towards personal and professional development.
The Dissertation module will give you the opportunity to demonstrate expert-level knowledge and advanced-level legal research skills on a topic of your own choosing with the support of a dedicated supervisor. Your dissertation will be a 15,000-18,000 word piece of work which allows you to demonstrate a deep level of understanding and insight in your chosen area of research.
LLM students can replace this module with the Work Integrated Learning or Practicum in International Organisations module with prior approval.
The Work Integrated Learning module will equip you to gain insights and conduct research in order to anticipate and respond to challenges in a workplace environment. The module will enable you to design and negotiate your own learning goals and will give you the opportunity to engage as an active subject in the assessment process, thereby enhancing your capacity for transformative learning. By selecting a topic of interest grounded in your workplace experience you’ll be expected to demonstrate reflexivity, self-regulation and self-assessment in your journey towards personal and professional development.
Plus two of the following optional modules:
This module will provide you with advanced conceptual insights into the legal, political and structural issues that underpin dispute resolution at an international level through a thematic focus on issues such as trade, title to territory, and international peace and security. The module emphasises the rules and principles of international law and international relations in relation to the role of international organisations so as to enable you to think strategically about the different means of settlement of disputes and their applicability to existing or potential conflicts.
This module has been designed to bestow you with a deeper understanding of global trade regimes by exploring world trade issues through critical legal, historical, political and economic perspectives. The goal is to provide you with the ability to critically engage with globalisation and contemporary international economic relations, the regulation of international trade by the WTO, as well as the relationship between international trade and the harmonisation of the law in relation to key trade-related issues.
The Bhopal disaster in India, the tragedy of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh exemplify corporate human rights abuses which have not been prevented or adequately remedied. This module enables you to understand how the sub-discipline of business and human rights, challenges the state-centred architecture of international human rights law, and delves into the responsibility of non-state actors such as multinational corporations. It also challenges the idea that only individuals can commit international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes by looking into corporate criminal and civil liability for human rights violations.
In Politics of Globalisation you will be asked to consider the implications of the forces of globalisation in international relations, looking at processes and institutions at the level of politics, economics and culture in order to critically engage with transnational politics and issues of global importance. The aim of this module is to provide you with a platform to work constructively in groups, gain leadership skills and formulate arguments and coherent debates in a diverse international environment so that you can explore the ongoing debates surrounding these issues and learn to evaluate the effectiveness of international policy.
This module will provide you with advanced conceptual insights into the legal, political and structural issues that underpin dispute resolution at an international level through a thematic focus on issues such as trade, title to territory, and international peace and security. The module emphasises the rules and principles of international law and international relations in relation to the role of international organisations so as to enable you to think strategically about the different means of settlement of disputes and their applicability to existing or potential conflicts.
This module has been designed to bestow you with a deeper understanding of global trade regimes by exploring world trade issues through critical legal, historical, political and economic perspectives. The goal is to provide you with the ability to critically engage with globalisation and contemporary international economic relations, the regulation of international trade by the WTO, as well as the relationship between international trade and the harmonisation of the law in relation to key trade-related issues.
The Bhopal disaster in India, the tragedy of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh exemplify corporate human rights abuses which have not been prevented or adequately remedied. This module enables you to understand how the sub-discipline of business and human rights, challenges the state-centred architecture of international human rights law, and delves into the responsibility of non-state actors such as multinational corporations. It also challenges the idea that only individuals can commit international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes by looking into corporate criminal and civil liability for human rights violations.
In Politics of Globalisation you will be asked to consider the implications of the forces of globalisation in international relations, looking at processes and institutions at the level of politics, economics and culture in order to critically engage with transnational politics and issues of global importance. The aim of this module is to provide you with a platform to work constructively in groups, gain leadership skills and formulate arguments and coherent debates in a diverse international environment so that you can explore the ongoing debates surrounding these issues and learn to evaluate the effectiveness of international policy.
For more information about this course, please download the Commercial Law LLM/PGDip/PGCert course specification (PDF)
Register your interest
Sign up now to receive more information about studying at Middlesex University London.
Teaching
You'll be taught by an experienced teaching team with a wide range of expertise and professional experience.
How you will learn on the LLM/PGDip/PGCert Commercial Law
You will gain knowledge and understanding through a stimulating combination of lectures, seminars and presentations which are used to communicate core information, develop themes and ideas, and student participation through interactive exercises, while also providing opportunities for peer- and self-assessment. You will also be required to engage in intensive programmes of structured reading and research, and to present your findings orally and in writing.
Skills training, particularly through our Legal Research Skills module, will equip you with the intellectual tools necessary for postgraduate work, including the identification of appropriate materials, critical and analytical reading, and both writing skills and conventions.
Learning and teaching on all modules is informed by a critical approach that encompasses relevant aspects of the ethical, social, professional, historical and cultural contexts within which the law operates. Ethics are specifically embedded in some modules and you will be provided with the opportunity to understand the ethical dimensions of your own research.
Those students accepted on the Work Integrated Learning modules will engage with decision-makers in our partner organisations and develop new skills in research, writing, IT and networking.
You will be studying at our leafy north London campus in Hendon.
Middlesex University has reviewed its approach to teaching and learning for this year’s entry and beyond. We have learnt how to give you a quality education - we aim to combine the best of our in-person teaching and materials with our digital and online learning resources, putting you in charge of when and how you learn. We are dedicated to using technology to enhance your experience and will provide you with the digital support and online resources you will need to succeed.
In addition to your time spent in face-to-face learning, you’ll be expected to do independent study where you read, listen and reflect on your learning activities. You may be doing this by yourself or with your course mates, depending on your module selection. In a year, you will typically be expected to commit 1,200 hours to your course across both formal and self-directed study. If you are taking a placement, you might have some additional hours.
You will have a strong support network available to you to make sure you develop all the necessary academic skills you need to achieve your full potential on your course.
You will have access to both one-to-one and group sessions for personal learning and academic support from our Library, Learning Enhancement and IT teams. In addition, our Welfare teams are also able to offer financial advice, and personal wellbeing, mental health and disability support.
In order to present students with a more authentic form of assessment, Middlesex University has elected to move away from the examination model and has adopted an approach which reproduces the skills and tasks that are performed in the workplace. This commitment to professional alignment includes a varied mix of assessment styles such as: oral presentations, coursework, peer-marking, literature reviews and, where appropriate, a dissertation or report-writing.
/0x0:1050x1407/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/courses-images/ug-courses/facilities/north-london-campus-banner.jpg)
North London campus
Our north London campus is 23 minutes away by underground train, travelling from London Kings Cross.
Learn moreFacilities and support
Our Sheppard Library provides a wide range of resources and support to help you to succeed in your studies.
/159x0:1342x1000/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/courses-images/ug-courses/business-and-law/007---Students-in-the-Sheppard-Library.jpg)
Over 1,000 study spaces including rooms for group study and over 500 computers available.
Learn more/101x0:851x634/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/courses-images/ug-courses/facilities/Sheppard-Library-Facilities-2014-40.jpg)
/1598x0:5102x4467/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/courses-images/ug-courses/facilities/052---Students-in-the-Sheppard-Library.jpg)
/126x0:1074x801/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/study-section-images/facilities/MDX-Sheppard-Library-13.jpg)
We have one of London's biggest and best university campuses with everything you need in one place.
Our facilitiesStudent support
We offer lots of support to help you while you're studying including financial advice, wellbeing, mental health, and disability support.
Additional needs
We'll support you if you have additional needs such as sensory impairment or dyslexia. And if you want to find out whether Middlesex is the right place for you before you apply, get in touch with our Disability and Dyslexia team.
Wellness
Our specialist teams will support your mental health. We have free individual counselling sessions, workshops, support groups and useful guides.
Work while you study
Our Middlesex Unitemps branch will help you find work that fits around uni and your other commitments. We have hundreds of student jobs on campus that pay the London Living Wage and above. Visit the Middlesex Unitemps page.
Careers
How the LLM/PGDip/PGCert Commercial Law will support your career
Students considering careers in law and in the court-based approach to litigation and the settlement of disputes will be well served by this LLM programme. Such careers include in-house legal departments and external legal representation of companies and organisations. In addition, students seeking a career in alternative dispute resolution, whether as arbitrators or as counsel representing parties to arbitration, or those working in businesses or other organisations seeking assistance from ADR service providers, will find this LLM of great benefit.
As well as access to the University's Employability Service students are offered specialist advice by the Programme Leader and other contributors to the programme, including guidance on how to enter and pass recruitment processes for national and international organisations. Students have access to the support services offered by the Clinical Legal Education programme and are invited to attend career-focused workshops, skills sessions and events.
Our team of renowned lecturers will provide the latest thinking and practice on legal issues. Our students benefit from their considerable network of contacts and connections within their sectors, notably for internship opportunities within international and domestic organisations, as well as a range of local companies providing professional legal services.
Entry requirements
Qualifications
- The University's standard entry requirement consists of a Law degree at 2:2 or Graduate Diploma in Law/CPE
- Graduates in related disciplines, with law minors or with relevant professional experience or qualifications may be admitted subject to the programme leader's discretion
Eligibility
UK and international students are eligible to apply for this course.
Academic credit for previous study or experience
If you have relevant qualifications or work experience, academic credit may be awarded towards your Middlesex University programme of study. For further information please visit our ccreditation of Prior Learning page.
Interviews, entrance tests, portfolios and auditions
Entry onto this course does not require an interview, portfolio or audition.
We welcome students from the UK and all over the world. Join students from over 122 countries and discover why so many international students call our campus home:
- Quality teaching with top facilities plus flexible online learning
- Welcoming north London campus that's only 30 minutes from central London
- Work placements and networking with top London employers
- Award-winning career support to get you where you want to go after university.
Qualifications
We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the accepted qualifications on your country's support page. If you are unsure of the suitability of your qualifications or would like help with your application, please contact your nearest international office.
English language
You will need to meet our English language requirements. And, don’t worry If you don't meet our minimum English language requirements, as we offer a Pre-sessional English course.
Visas
To study with us in the UK, you might need a Student visa. Please check to see if this applies to you.
Applications for postgraduate study should be made directly to the university. Please visit our Postgraduate application page for further information and to apply.
Fees and funding
The fees below refer to the 2025/26 academic year unless otherwise stated.
UK students*
LLM
Full-time students: £11,300
Part-time students: £75 per credit
Part-time students: £37 per dissertation
PGCert
Full-time students: tbc
PGDip
Full-time students: tbc
Part-time students: tbc per taught credit
Part-time students: tbc per dissertation credit
International students*
LLM
Full-time students: £18,000
Part-time students: £120 per credit
Part-time students: £60 per dissertation credit
PGCert
Full-time students: tbc
PGDip
Full-time students: tbc
Part-time students: tbc per taught credit
Part-time students: tbc per dissertation credit
*Course fees are subject to annual inflation so the total costs for part-time study are shown here as a guide
For more information and to answer your frequently asked questions, please visit our postgraduate funding page.
International students who require a Student route (formerly tier 4) visa to progress on a course at Middlesex University must apply for study on a full-time basis. If you are on any other visa for the duration of study, please contact our admissions team to discuss possibilities of studying on a part-time basis.
Additional course costs
The following course-related costs are included in the fees:
- A free electronic textbook for every module
- All printing and copying required for your study
- Self-service laptops available for loan for a maximum of 24 hours
- Audio-visual equipment available for loan, including digital stills cameras, digital video recorders, digital audio recorders
Scholarships and bursaries
As an undergraduate alumnus continuing postgraduate studies at Middlesex, you are eligible for an alumni award worth 20% off your fees.
Student Testimonials
"Studying at Middlesex University is one of the best decisions I have ever made. The fascinating LLM programme expanded my knowledge and paved my way for a great career. Our tutors were not only academics, but also practitioners, so they made the programme interesting by sharing their own experiences."
Hisham Kanan
LLM Commercial Law
Get answers from our Unibuddy student ambassadors
/138x0:1762x1100/prod01/channel_3/media/middlesex-university/courses-images/pg---course-masthead-images/2024X2f25/business-and-law/Professional-Studies_Herobanner.jpg)
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.