Leiden or Essex?


Hi all,
I have been admitted to both the international human rights LLM in Essex and the Advanced LLM in public international law at Leiden for September 2010. My interest area is human rights. Any thoughts on how to decide?
Thanks!

Hi all,
I have been admitted to both the international human rights LLM in Essex and the Advanced LLM in public international law at Leiden for September 2010. My interest area is human rights. Any thoughts on how to decide?
Thanks!
quote
sociolaw

Hi christinab

Well done! Congratulations!!

Essex has a fantastic human rights research centre. They have produced many excellent sociological and empirical studies in the field of human rights.
http://www.essex.ac.uk/human_rights_centre/

However, I am not familiar with the program at Leiden. You may find some useful information on their webpage. Good luck.

Hi christinab

Well done! Congratulations!!

Essex has a fantastic human rights research centre. They have produced many excellent sociological and empirical studies in the field of human rights.
http://www.essex.ac.uk/human_rights_centre/

However, I am not familiar with the program at Leiden. You may find some useful information on their webpage. Good luck.
quote

Hi, Christinab. Look out for the courses in each program. I am going to Essex LLM International Human Rights Law and Humanitarian law.

Good luck!

Hi, Christinab. Look out for the courses in each program. I am going to Essex LLM International Human Rights Law and Humanitarian law.

Good luck!
quote

Thanks to both of you! I agree, Essex looks like it does outstanding work in the human rights field, and that is certainly what I am leaning towards. Especially as Leiden's course offerings in human rights specifically are quite limited.
Rafacharris, are you are also going in October? What made you decide on Essex? Can I ask where you are from? (I am Canadian).

Thanks to both of you! I agree, Essex looks like it does outstanding work in the human rights field, and that is certainly what I am leaning towards. Especially as Leiden's course offerings in human rights specifically are quite limited.
Rafacharris, are you are also going in October? What made you decide on Essex? Can I ask where you are from? (I am Canadian).
quote
purple

Hi,

I'm currently doing the regular LLM in Leiden and while it's excellent for general PIL and international criminal law, the human rights aspect is very limited. In fact, the only human rights we do is one lecture as part of the 'introduction to PIL' class and a 5 credit module entitled 'Theoretical Perspectives on Human Rights.' I'm not sure how much more the advanced class do, but from what I hear it's not particularly very human-rights orientated.

Don't get me wrong- the LLM here is excellent but if you want to get an indepth knowledge of human rights, I'd lean more towards Essex.

Hi,

I'm currently doing the regular LLM in Leiden and while it's excellent for general PIL and international criminal law, the human rights aspect is very limited. In fact, the only human rights we do is one lecture as part of the 'introduction to PIL' class and a 5 credit module entitled 'Theoretical Perspectives on Human Rights.' I'm not sure how much more the advanced class do, but from what I hear it's not particularly very human-rights orientated.

Don't get me wrong- the LLM here is excellent but if you want to get an indepth knowledge of human rights, I'd lean more towards Essex.
quote
jobeyme

I have been admitted to both the international human rights LLM in Essex and the International Law Program at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. I am still waiting on the London School of Economics and the University of Nottingham. Anyone with some insight on preference? From what I have seen and heard, Essex has a reputable Human Rights program, but LSE and Nottingham are part of the Russell Group which is comparable to the Ivy League in the U.S.

I am from the United States. Will anyone from the U.S. be attending Essex this October?

I have been admitted to both the international human rights LLM in Essex and the International Law Program at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. I am still waiting on the London School of Economics and the University of Nottingham. Anyone with some insight on preference? From what I have seen and heard, Essex has a reputable Human Rights program, but LSE and Nottingham are part of the Russell Group which is comparable to the Ivy League in the U.S.

I am from the United States. Will anyone from the U.S. be attending Essex this October?
quote
Tabmas08

Joeybme
I ahev just given up my place at Nottingham (sob sob) LLM Human Rights to go to LSE so hopefully Notts will give you my place.
Good Luck...and if you get into LSE...let me know:)

Joeybme
I ahev just given up my place at Nottingham (sob sob) LLM Human Rights to go to LSE so hopefully Notts will give you my place.
Good Luck...and if you get into LSE...let me know:)
quote
cmars

Why do you think the Russell Group is like the Ivy league? That's really not a valid comparison.

Why do you think the Russell Group is like the Ivy league? That's really not a valid comparison.
quote
Mesix

I'm no expert on law schools, but Leiden seems to have a good reputation. I've heard Leiden referred to as the Harvard Law of Continental Europe.

I'm no expert on law schools, but Leiden seems to have a good reputation. I've heard Leiden referred to as the Harvard Law of Continental Europe.
quote
denizzi

Hi all,
I have been admitted to both the international human rights LLM in Essex and the Advanced LLM in public international law at Leiden for September 2010. My interest area is human rights. Any thoughts on how to decide?
Thanks!


Hi, congratulations! Hope the best choice for you!
May I ask whhat your transcript point was, x/4 ? or x/100 ?
Thanks!

<blockquote>Hi all,
I have been admitted to both the international human rights LLM in Essex and the Advanced LLM in public international law at Leiden for September 2010. My interest area is human rights. Any thoughts on how to decide?
Thanks!</blockquote>

Hi, congratulations! Hope the best choice for you!
May I ask whhat your transcript point was, x/4 ? or x/100 ?
Thanks!
quote
tvh2005

Christinab and Jobeyme, Where you should go really depends on what you want out of your program.

Christina, if you want a focus on IHRL, then there's no point in choosing a general PIL because it will never fully satisfy you. Particularly when you have a choice of one of the top IHRL programs in the world (Essex).

Jobeyme, Russell Group isn't really comparable to the Ivy Leagues. It's more like the Research-1 schools, which is a lot bigger than just the Ivys. While Essex isn't in the Russell Group, when it comes to IHRL (or IHL, really), it has some of the best courses and some of the best profs in the world. So, if you're judging the Uni as a whole, then you're right- Nottingham and LSE are better. But if you're judging the human rights programs (and in the human rights world, going to a Russell Group really doesn't matter and doesn't give you an advantage over a school like Essex), then you might not want to discount Essex quickly.

More importantly, choosing where to go for you might depend on what type of human rights you want to practice. If you want economic social and cultural rights, it's a toss-up between LSE and Essex because the former has Margot Solomon and the latter has Paul Hunt. If you want CCPR, there's no comparing LSE and Essex because LSE primarily focuses on UK human rights law in this area, and Essex has Sir Nigel Rodley (who still teaches a lot), Kevin Boyle, Francoise Hampson and others who have years of experience and still remain at the top of the field. LSE has no one comparable. Nottingham has the superb Michael O'Flaherty, but he's the only prof I can name at Nottingham off the top of my head that's of that caliber in human rights. So, again, if you are looking at doing specific types of human rights law, Nottingham can be beneficial over LSE.

I did the Essex LL.M. 2008-2009, so I admit I'm completely biased. I have great relationships with several of the professors and know that several of my classmates are publishing their LL.M. dissertations in top journals, and others have been asked to do conference presentations on theirs (not at student conferences - at academic conferences). I don't know how true that is for LSE or Nottingham, so I won't try to guess. There's a massive alumni connection and the staff works hard to provide extra opportunities to the students. It's a small department in that the LL.M. has only 50 or so students (with another 50 from the Masters of Arts and Masters of Science programs) and only about 10 profs, so you will get to know people really well if you choose to, but they really emphasize quality legal work.

Christinab and Jobeyme, Where you should go really depends on what you want out of your program.

Christina, if you want a focus on IHRL, then there's no point in choosing a general PIL because it will never fully satisfy you. Particularly when you have a choice of one of the top IHRL programs in the world (Essex).

Jobeyme, Russell Group isn't really comparable to the Ivy Leagues. It's more like the Research-1 schools, which is a lot bigger than just the Ivys. While Essex isn't in the Russell Group, when it comes to IHRL (or IHL, really), it has some of the best courses and some of the best profs in the world. So, if you're judging the Uni as a whole, then you're right- Nottingham and LSE are better. But if you're judging the human rights programs (and in the human rights world, going to a Russell Group really doesn't matter and doesn't give you an advantage over a school like Essex), then you might not want to discount Essex quickly.

More importantly, choosing where to go for you might depend on what type of human rights you want to practice. If you want economic social and cultural rights, it's a toss-up between LSE and Essex because the former has Margot Solomon and the latter has Paul Hunt. If you want CCPR, there's no comparing LSE and Essex because LSE primarily focuses on UK human rights law in this area, and Essex has Sir Nigel Rodley (who still teaches a lot), Kevin Boyle, Francoise Hampson and others who have years of experience and still remain at the top of the field. LSE has no one comparable. Nottingham has the superb Michael O'Flaherty, but he's the only prof I can name at Nottingham off the top of my head that's of that caliber in human rights. So, again, if you are looking at doing specific types of human rights law, Nottingham can be beneficial over LSE.

I did the Essex LL.M. 2008-2009, so I admit I'm completely biased. I have great relationships with several of the professors and know that several of my classmates are publishing their LL.M. dissertations in top journals, and others have been asked to do conference presentations on theirs (not at student conferences - at academic conferences). I don't know how true that is for LSE or Nottingham, so I won't try to guess. There's a massive alumni connection and the staff works hard to provide extra opportunities to the students. It's a small department in that the LL.M. has only 50 or so students (with another 50 from the Masters of Arts and Masters of Science programs) and only about 10 profs, so you will get to know people really well if you choose to, but they really emphasize quality legal work.
quote

Thanks very much for this, I really appreciate your thoughts. It fits with what I have heard over and over again about Essex, which is why I did accept admission there. I am very much looking forward to it!

Thanks very much for this, I really appreciate your thoughts. It fits with what I have heard over and over again about Essex, which is why I did accept admission there. I am very much looking forward to it!
quote

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