LLM International Business and Commercial Law

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• LLM (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £16,800
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £31,000

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

Global economic law is a coherent and yet an evolving field of international law. This course introduces students to this important and dynamic field of International Law. More specifically, the course enables students to gain insight into the international monetary system as well as trade and investment law. The unit focuses particularly on the highly relevant field of international trade law. In today’s globalised society, international trade transactions take place daily, and the rules which govern those transactions have become even more important in light of the broader move towards protectionism by major trading nations. Accordingly, the module will briefly examine the foundation of global economic law including its fundamental principles and the sources of global economic law. It would then move into exploring specific substantive areas of global economic law such as international monetary law, international investment law and international trade law. As international trade law forms the core of this course, the course will then move to discussing the substantive rules applicable to international trade law. The course will examine the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as the leading multilateral institution in the field of international trade rulemaking. In this regard, the course will pay special attention to the key substantive elements of WTO law and how trade disputes at the WTO are dealt with by the so-called ‘jewel in the crown’ i.e. the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body. Further, many states have sought to regulate their international trade activities outside of the WTO system. In this regard, the course will also examine the substantive rules and conditions on which the creation of Custom Unions (CUs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is permitted under GATT/WTO law. While the unit will provide some insight into why countries are continuously engaging in regional trading blocs like the European Union, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) etc. 

The following are the aims of this course;

• To provide an understanding of the field of international economic law;
• To foster an understanding of the role played by international economic law in the development of international law in a globalised world, and in light of current world events e.g. move towards protectionist policies and Brexit;
• To foster a basic understanding of international monetary law;
• To examine the role of the WTO in international trade regulation;
• To consider how international trade disputes may be settled;
• To examine the role of free trade and regional trade agreements and how they fit with the multilateral trading system;
• To very briefly introduce students to basic concepts within the law of foreign investment;
• To develop students' capacity for critical analysis and independent thinking;
• To develop a general range of transferable and generic skills in problem-solving and reasoning, computer literacy, time management and written and oral communication.

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

• Understand the nature of international economic law and its operation;
• Identify the main principles of international monetary law;
• Have a detailed understanding of international trade law, including the operation of the WTO as well as FTAs;
• Understand some basic issues pertaining to the law of foreign investment.

Lectures (30 hours) and seminars (4 hours)

Formative Essays and Research

Feedback will available within this course unit through the completion of an optional formative essay which will be marked in accordance with the PGT Assessment Criteria which are applied to all summative (final) assessments. In addition, oral feedback will be provided during seminars/lectures, and there will be a possibility of seminar presentations by students.

Recommended Readings

• Qureshi and Ziegler, International Economic Law, 4^th ed. (Sweet & Maxwell, 2019)
• Van Den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization, Text, Cases and Materials, 4^th ed. (CUP, 2017)
• Lester Simon et al, World Trade Law: Text, Materials and Commentary, 3^rd ed. (Hart, 2018)

Further Readings

• Bartels and Ortino ed., Regional Trade Agreement and the WTO Legal System, (OUP, 2006)
• Ngangjoh-Hodu & Zhang, The Political Economy of WTO Implementation and China’s Approach to Litigation in the WTO, (Edward Elgar, 2016)
• Ngangjoh Hodu, Theories and Practices of Compliance with WTO Law, (Kluwer, 2012)
• Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer, International Investment Law: Texts, Cases and Materials (Edward Elgar, 2020)

Open book take home examination

Guest Lectures and Events - In order to provide students with first hand practical experience, every year top practitioners from international organisations or international law firms dealing with international economic law issues are invited to talk about a particular substantive issue and/or well as career possibilities in their organisations.

Students wanting to undertake a dissertation on this subject will be provided with a list of pre-approved titles/topic from which they can choose, or alternatively, students can submit their own titles for approval by the Course Director.