Continental campuses: study law in Paris, Madrid or Helsinki?

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By Polly Botsford on

Not all with an eye-popping price tag (until Brexit anyway)

They say that the world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page.

A growing number of universities on the continent teach law degree courses in English because their own national students want to be able to work internationally and international students from Asia demand it.

Legal Cheek went on a hunt to find out if there are any cool campuses out there in inspiring cities to further your studies. You’ll have to get a move on, however, as Brexit may make fees more expensive.

Sorbonne Law school and Insead

Image via Sorbonne-Assas Law School
Image via Sorbonne-Assas Law School

The Sorbonne is Paris’ most prestigious and glamorous university. Its relatively new International Law School has a campus in the heart of the city (as well as in Singapore and Mauritius).

It also runs courses jointly with the world-renowned Insead (up there with Harvard business school) so you can get a certificate which covers key management issues such as finance, accounting, organisational behaviour, strategy and economics. The only downer is the fees which are €17,000 (£14,600). And the Insead element is extra.

University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Law
The University of Copenhagen’s Faculty of Law

In sharp contrast to this glitzy institution, you can sample your own Danish noir with a masters at the University of Copenhagen. You can also spend a lot of your time enjoying Denmark’s 7,000 kilometre of coastline.

Fees for EU and EEA nationals are €0. Yes you read that correctly: €0. But once Brexit goes through, the fees will go up to €10,000 (£8,600) (unless the government lands some sort of special deal on universities).

University of Antwerp

University of Antwerp campus
University of Antwerp campus

Located in the city at the heart of the world’s diamond business, this university runs an LLM which teaches ‘law in context’ with modules ranging from sustainable development and human rights to business.

They want you to think critically on the “contemporary relevance of law to global societal challenges” (otherwise known as: “can lawyers help save the world?”). Fees are level-headed at €500 (£430) for the two-year programme.

Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki University's main library
Helsinki University’s main library

Finland sounds far away but its law faculty is interested in welfare and the rule of law as well as law and technology. Tuition fees are negligible — again, only for as long as we are in the EU or EEA — but the cost of living is not; rent is around €400 (£340) per month and living expenses double that.

IE University

IE University's Segovia campus
IE University’s Segovia campus

This private university with campuses in Madrid or Segovia offers business-oriented LLBs or LLMs and it features alongside the most established law schools globally in the Financial Times‘ annual Innovative Law Schools listing.

But one might think that at around €30,000 (£26,000) for the course it is no surprise the school can afford to be innovative.

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