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Course information

Entry requirements

UCAS code

M200

Entry requirements

A-level: ABB
BTEC: DDD
IB: 33 points overall with Three HL subjects at 655

Length

3 years full-time

Department

Law

Course overview

The Criminal Justice and Human Rights pathway leads to an LLB Law (Hons) with Criminal Justice and Human Rights. This programme gives you the opportunity to obtain specialist knowledge and deepen your understanding of criminal justice and human rights, and their challenging interactions.

The LLB Law is a qualifying law degree recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board.

The LLB Law is a qualifying law degree accredited by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board.

This programme enables you to contextualise the study of Law and broaden your horizons, opening up career opportunities in criminal justice professions, and human rights jobs in the third sector.

Why study LLB Law with Criminal Justice and Human Rights at Goldsmiths

  • We’re one of the highest-rated courses in the country. We're number 1 in the UK for student satisfaction (Complete University Guide Law League Table 2024). In the NSS (National Student Survey) 2022, our Law Department was ranked number 1 in the UK for its intellectually stimulating curriculum and programme, and we were rated the best Law department in London for quality of teaching.
  • Goldsmiths has a rich heritage of social awareness and engagement. You'll be part of an environment that champions human rights and social justice
  • Not only is this a qualifying law degree, it has been developed in anticipation of the new Solicitors Qualifying Examinations (SQE). Training for these is integrated throughout the degree and you'll also have the option to take a specific SQE2 module in your final year
  • This degree is active. You won't just be sitting and reading, you'll learn problem-solving, debating and advocating through a range of experiential learning, extra-curricular and professional development activities, on campus and beyond
  • You will gain systematic knowledge and understanding of criminal justice and human rights theory and practice, and be equipped with the ability to critically engage with core debates in these areas
  • The programme will provide you with the conceptual and methodological tools required to analyse and explore the ideas, actors, and practices central to criminal justice and human rights law
  • This pathway of the LLB Law at Goldsmiths allows you to specialise in a range of areas related to Criminal Justice and Human Rights, including; Domestic human rights law, and European human rights law as applied in the United Kingdom; How human rights norms are implemented in criminal law and the criminal justice system; What are the causes of crime, and what can be done to prevent it; Contemporary developments in criminology and criminal justice; Sociological approaches to crime, and how crime is linked to social inequalities, such as gender, class, ethnicity, etc; Global issues of crime and crime control, populism, and international human rights responses; The use of Artificial Intelligence in policing; State surveillance and Big Data collection; Cybercrime and the regulation of internet communications; Freedom of the press
  • You will also hone the essential critical thinking and practical skills needed in representing clients and defending cases as a solicitor or barrister specialised in criminal law and human rights

Specialist activities and career skills 

Alongside your specialist module choices, you will have the opportunity to take part in a programme of activities designed to expose you to contemporary and historic debates in criminal justice and human rights. You will be invited to participate in events and conferences with leading organisations and experts, and will join visits in and around London that immerse you in the criminal justice and human rights policy world.

In recent years, such activities have included taking part in fictional trials at the 'Old Bailey' (the central criminal courts of England and Wales), the Royal Courts of Justice and the UK Supreme Court, visiting the 'Inns of Court' (historic associations of barristers), attending legal practice seminars at barristers' chambers or taking part in workshops that the Big Brother Watch and Fair Trials NGOs have delivered at Goldsmiths on how modern technologies such as facial recognition and predictive algorithms are used in policing.

You will also interact closely with the Departments of Sociology and Psychology at Goldsmiths and attend relevant events that they hold.

You will identify relevant volunteering and vacation opportunities, so that you are ideally placed to move into a related criminal justice or human rights career upon graduation.

Clinics, Placements and Summer Internships

In Goldsmiths’ Law and Policy Clinics, students confront challenging societal issues through supervised legal research and public engagement activity. Areas of research and public engagement activity covered by the Clinics include immigration, the law of financial wrongdoing, police interrogation, and counter-terrorism law.

We also offer our students access to the University of London’s Refugee Law Clinic (awarded Best Contribution by a Law School in the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards 2023).

Students can choose a Placement module as an option and are given access to summer internships with internationally leading faculty as well as social welfare placements in law centres and legal advice clinics across London.

Harvard Law School course

We’re the first Law department in the UK to offer free access to Harvard Law School’s pioneering Zero-L course.

Taught by 18 leading Harvard Law faculty members, it has hours of video lectures, vocabulary, and periodic comprehension checks that you can take at your own pace. The course provides you with an introduction to the legal profession, stages of litigation and citizenship rights as well as offering instruction and practise in basic skills, including how to read a case.

Materials developed by Goldsmiths Law academics to support the delivery of Zero-L direct you to key areas of interest in the programme and give you support to understand how Zero-L strengthens your understanding of English law and helps you to develop legal skills.

Student life and student support

You'll belong to a close-knit community, and are supported by a network which includes academic personal tutors, career advisers, disability officers and other student support staff. We work in small groups in lectures and research seminars, and immerse in legal London as a group on a regular basis. The legal, institutional and cultural experiences you will gain in the LLB will stay with you forever. 

Find out more about student life and studying in London, explore 'a day in the life' in the Law department, and visit the Department of Law Instagram page for a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to study Law at Goldsmiths.

Study abroad, international court visit and our Athens Summer School

We take our students on an annual international court visit. Read our blog to learn more about our visit to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on February 2023, where students attended a Grand Chamber hearing and participated in a workshop with the UK Judge at the Court, Tim Eicke KC.

We organise an annual summer school in Athens, in collaboration with leading Universities there. The week-long intensive programme provides a range of courses (in e.g. refugee law and migration studies, EU law, criminal law, law and technology), connects our students with high-profile institutions and authorities there, such as the British Ambassador and British Council in Greece, as well as giving them unprecedented access to cultural visits and experiences. Read more about our summer schools in Athens in June 2022 and June 2023. 

In recent years, our students have also attended summer schools at the University of Geneva and Amsterdam Law school.

Students are supported through substantial Department of Law scholarships to participate in our summer school and international court visit.  Funding is reviewed on a yearly basis. To find out more about funding and other global opportunities at Goldsmiths, visit our Study Abroad pages. 

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact the Department of Law..

Watch videos about your course

What you'll study

Note about optional modules (if available): The below is indicative of the typical modules offered, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. The module content and availability is subject to change.

This LLB gives you the opportunity to focus on your interests in the second and third years by choosing from a range of law option modules. You will study a wide range of specialisms, drawing on globally leading expertise in the departments of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Media and Communications, and Art.

Please note: Many of the option module lists below are indicative, and updated annually by the department.

Year 1 (credit level 4)

In your first year, you will study the following compulsory modules:

Module title Credits
21st Century Legal Skills 15 credits
Contract Law 30 credits
Criminal Law: Theory and Practice 30 credits
Public Law and the Human Rights Act 30 credits
English Legal System in a Global Context 15 credits

Year 2 (credit level 5)

In your second year, you'll study the following compulsory modules:

Module title Credits
EU Law and the UK 15 credits
Law of Tort 30 credits
Land Law 15 credits
Trusts 15 credits
International Law and Politics 15 credits

You'll then choose between 15 and 30 credits from an approved list of modules from the Department of Sociology. This list is updated each year, and may include the following:

Module title Credits
Criminal Justice in Context 15 credits
Crimes Against Humanity 15 credits
Religion, Crime, and Law 15 credits

Depending on how many credits you decide to take from the Department of Sociology, you can choose up to 15 credits from the Department of Law optional modules, or from relevant departments (known as Connected Curriculum) across the University.

Department of Law optional modules

You can select up to 15 credits of optional modules from the list below. For the Goldsmiths' Social Change module, you have the option to focus on Immigration Policy Clinic and/or Counterterrorism and Human Rights Clinic.

Optional modules may include:

Module title Credits
The Goldsmiths Elective 15 credits
Intellectual Property Law 15 credits
Goldsmiths’ Social Change Module 15 credits
Immigration Law 15 credits

Connected Curriculum modules

You will also have the opportunity to select optional modules from departments such as Sociology to broaden your studies. Exact lists of these modules will be available at the beginning of each academic year.

You can select up to 15 credits from the Connected Curriculum modules, or Goldsmiths' Electives. Please see the programme specification below for further details of these modules.

Year 3 (credit level 6)

In your third year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:

Module title Credits
Criminal Justice & Human Rights Dissertation 30 Credits
Criminal Evidence (with Advanced Mooting and Advocacy) 15 credits
Human Rights Law and Clinic 15 credits

You then need to select between 15 and 30 credits from an approved list of interdisciplinary modules. This list is published annually and may include modules such as:

Module title Credits
Confronting climate crisis 15 credits
Media Law and Ethics 15 credits
Anthropology of Rights 15 credits
Crimes of the Powerful 15 credits
Psychology and Law 15 credits

 

You can then choose 30 to 45 credits from the following modules:

Module title Credits
AI, Disruptive Technologies and the Law 15 credits
Work Placement 15 credits
Commercial Law and International Trade Agreements 30 credits
Art Law 15 credits
Company Law 15 credits
SQE2: Practical Legal Skills in Context 15 credits

Teaching style

You'll be taught through lectures, seminars and self-directed learning, but you'll also benefit from more modern and diverse teaching styles, such as blended, experiential and clinical learning, learning through the production of reflective journals, videos and reports, and learning through online or even virtual reality environments.

You’ll take your learning outside of university with field trips and professional development initiatives such as annual mooting competitions, mock trials and debates, leading to finals at the UK Supreme Court, the Inns of Courts and other prestigious venues.

Dispute resolution workshops and integrated teaching on advocacy and client interviewing, alongside simulated contract negotiations and the option to participate in a human rights clinic, will all help you to develop a deep understanding of how the law works in practice in addition to your theoretical knowledge. These styles of teaching and learning will enhance your understanding of theory and hone transferable skills and will give you a competitive edge irrespective of whether you're pursuing a career as a solicitor or barrister or a different career path.

The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:

  • Year 1 - 17% scheduled learning, 83% independent learning
  • Year 2 - 17% scheduled learning, 83% independent learning
  • Year 3 - 14% scheduled learning, 80% independent learning, 6% placement learning

How you'll be assessed

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include coursework, examinations, reports, case notes, statutory interpretation, critiques of articles, and research projects such as the dissertation.

As well as these traditional assessment methods, you'll also have the option in your second and third years to take modules that are wholly assessed in more innovative ways, such as:

  • a portfolio of mooting contributions
  • client interviewing, persuasive argumentation, written advice and legal drafting
  • voluntary and prepared contributions in the classroom
  • taking part in a human rights clinic and other experiential learning activities

*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2020/21. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about .

Credits and levels of learning

An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 modules in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 modules in your final year. A standard module is worth 30 credits. Some programmes also contain 15-credit half modules or can be made up of higher-value parts, such as a dissertation or a Major Project.

Download the programme specification.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

What our students say

Noemi Konan
I gained so many opportunities to build up my legal experience and made many good friends as the Law Department is a tight-knit community.

I enjoyed every aspect of studying at Goldsmiths. The Law Department here is amazing because they truly care about you, and that in itself is a blessing as it’s not something I really experienced previously in my educational history.

I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much because I started my time at Goldsmiths during lockdown, but nonetheless I managed to gain so many opportunities to build up my legal experience and make many good friends as the Law Department is a tight-knit community.

Studying at Goldsmiths changed me as a person in the best way possible. It has played a big part in my life and I’m very grateful I came here.

Be prepared to enjoy your time here. You will make new friends, and have opportunities to build upon your employability. No matter what, you will leave Goldsmiths with something positive to push you to the next level.

What I enjoyed about studying law in New Cross is that it kept me grounded as a person. Because the legal community is a different world to the one I grew up in, going to a university in New Cross allowed me to stay true to who I am and not conform in a world where people are different.

Entry requirements

We accept the following qualifications:

A-level: ABB
BTEC: DDD
International Baccalaureate: 33 points overall with Three HL subjects at 655
Access: 60 credits overall with 33 distinctions and distinctions/merits in related subject

International qualifications

We also accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for degree-level study.

Alternative qualifications

See our full list of undergraduate entry qualifications.

We welcome students with a range of educational experiences. If you believe you may not meet the standard qualification requirements we would still encourage you to apply because we consider all aspects of your application when making a decision.

We’ll pay particularly careful attention to your personal statement, which is your opportunity to demonstrate your interest in the subject you’ve applied for. Your referees are also welcome to include any relevant contextual comments around your academic achievements. We’ll look at all these things when making a decision on your application, as well as your qualifications and grades.

Fees & funding

Annual tuition fees

These are the fees for students starting their programme in the 2024/2025 academic year.

From August 2021 EU/EEA/Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for 'Home' fee status. EU/EEA/Swiss nationals will be classified as 'International' for fee purposes, more information can be found on our fees page.

  • Home - full-time: £9250
  • International - full-time: £19640

If your fees are not listed here, please check our undergraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.

It’s not currently possible for international students to study part-time under a student visa. If you think you might be eligible to study part-time while being on another visa type, please contact our Admissions Team for more information.

If you are looking to pay your fees please see our guide to making a payment.

Additional costs

In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such as buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.

There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments. Please check the programme specification for more information.

Funding opportunities

Successful graduates of this programme will be eligible for a 20% fee waiver to any of our Postgraduate Law programmes. This can be combined with our general alumni fee waiver, meaning a 30% reduction in fees (based on Home student fees). Find out more about the LLM Fee Waiver.

We offer a wide range of scholarships and bursaries, and our careers service can also offer advice on finding work during your studies. Find out more about funding your studies with us.

Careers

Solicitor or barrister

The LLB will allow you to qualify as a solicitor or a barrister, and throughout your studies you’ll acquire the academic knowledge and professional awareness and skills needed to pursue a dynamic legal career in England and Wales and internationally.

It is a qualifying law degree (QLD), recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Bar Standards Board (BSB), and has also been designed specifically to provide graduates with a solid foundation to tackle the new Solicitors' Qualifying Examinations (SQE) for all future solicitors and the equivalent training and qualification process to become a barrister. 

Find out more about becoming a solicitor or barrister.

Cutting-edge specialisms

Reflecting Goldsmiths’ creative and progressive ethos, the degree also offers opportunities for you to engage with pioneering and future-looking topics that will open up exciting career paths in Law and other areas. You’ll be able to develop specialist knowledge in cutting-edge areas of law, such as:

  • Artificial Intelligence and Law
  • Commercial Law and International Trade Agreements
  • Media Law
  • Art Law
  • Creativity and Intellectual Property Law
  • Financial Technology
  • Criminal Law
  • Criminology and Human Rights

You can choose to either explore a variety of modules, or to focus on options that relate to one of the specialist themes that run throughout law at Goldsmiths.

Careers further afield

LLB Law graduates can also pursue career opportunities in a wide range of other areas, such as:

  • human rights and the third sector
  • financial technology and regulation in the financial sector, including compliance
  • the civil service
  • journalism, the media and creative industries
  • patent and trademark litigation
  • art and cultural heritage litigation
  • the government, for example in relation to immigration or foreign affairs
  • mediation
  • the crown prosecution service
  • the police or the prison service
  • legal recruitment
  • the ‘in-house’ legal practice sector
  • academia

Partnerships with leading organisations

Cutting-edge collaborations with global law firms, government organisations, local councils, NGOs, think tanks and academics in world-leading Universities support the delivery of all our programmes, exposing you to unique opportunities to grow a strong awareness of future career destinations and develop dynamic professional networks throughout your degree.

These include Linklaters LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, the UK Supreme Court, the National Justice Museum at the Royal Courts of Justice, the Kalisher Trust, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Migrants’ Rights Network, Fair Trials, Big Brother Watch and Liberty, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Law Commission, the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, Stanford Law School, Berkeley Law and Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), New Europeans, the Human Rights Lawyers’ Association, Forensic Architecture, Lewisham Borough, the Council of Europe, the British Academy, Garden Court Chambers, Doughty Street Chambers and many others.

Welfare benefits course and Legal Advice Centre placements

We give you access to a welfare benefits course provided by the Pro Bono Community organisation. This prepares you for 3-6 months placements in Legal Advice Centres in London. There are 15 placements in Legal Advice Centres available to our students on an annual basis.

The welfare benefits course has 30 spaces annually, and equips you with foundational knowledge in contemporary areas of legal practice such as benefits for people unable to work due to sickness or disability, universal credit, benefits for migrants, help with housing costs, appeals and advocacy.

The course also has a core introductory element covering the background to Law Centres, legal aid, triage, interview techniques and practical skills.

Staff

Dimitrios, Professor of Law

Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos is Goldsmiths' inaugural Professor of Law. 

His focus is on comparative criminal evidence and procedure, with emphasis on how human rights norms in criminal justice are applied in national jurisdictions across different legal cultures, particularly in the Anglo-American and Continental European legal cultures. He publishes on topics including police interrogation and suspects' rights, police searches, electronic surveillance and unlawfully obtained evidence. 

Between 2009 and 2013, he was the Deputy Head of the Law School at Brunel University. He has also worked at Brunel's College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences as Associate Dean, and is an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. 

 

At Goldsmiths, we believe that an interdisciplinary approach can bring fresh perspectives and insights to contemporary issues. The LLB Law draws on expertise from across a range of disciplines at Goldsmiths, to contextualise your knowledge and provide specialist option modules. Contributing staff from other departments include:

The course also features contributions from some of the UK's  foremost experts on human rights law, with visiting professors including:

  • Martha Spurrier, Executive Director of Liberty, the UK’s leading human rights campaigning organisation
  • Kirsty Brimelow QC, Head of International Human Rights at Doughty Street Chambers and Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee
  • Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, renowned for leading the prosecution of Slobodan Milosevic and a leading figure international criminal law
  • HH Judge Donald Cryan, a family law judge and former Treasurer at the Inner Temple

Read more about the people who will be teaching Law at Goldsmiths.