LLM Specialisms 2012/13

Labour Law

[please note: links below are to the 2011/12 course guides; they will be updated when new guides are made available during the summer vacation]

LSE was the first British university to teach labour law or employment law, commencing about a century ago. Under the distinguished leadership of previous professors, Sir Otto Kahn-Freund and Lord Wedderburn, the subject has always been taught in an interdisciplinary and contextual way involving collaboration with the Department of Industrial Relations. Teachers include individuals who have written the standard textbooks in the area and have contributed significantly to the development of labour law in the public sector (including at European level). Although the principal illustrations of legal regulation are drawn from UK and European Union law, all the courses contain substantial comparisons of regulatory techniques and objectives drawn from jurisdictions around the world and from international law. Students may choose from a wide range of options, offering interdisciplinary, theoretically informed and relevant insights into the field.

Employment Law (H) (LL4H8): regulation of the content and the form of the employment relation. The contract of employment, including express and implied terms and the scope of employment law. Regulation of minimum wage and working time. Discipline and protection from dismissal and termination of employment. Business reorganisation, insolvency and employment rights, and economic dismissals. The approach involves theoretical perspectives, economic analysis, comparative law of employment, and examination of relevant European law.

European and UK Human Rights Law (LL4B6): a review of the theory and practice of the European Convention on Human Rights together with (in the second and thirds terms) a study of the UK Human Rights Act, set in its political and comparative as well as legal context.. (This course is also available as two half units LL468 and LL469)

UK Human Rights Law (H) (LL469): this course provides a detailed study of the UK Human Rights Act together with an assessment of the political context in which the Act operates.  It also has a comparative dimension, assessing the Act by reference to other rights' instruments.

Human Rights in the Workplace (H) (LL4H9): the sources and application of human rights in the workplace, including international and European laws and conventions. Civil liberties of employees. Social and economic rights of workers. Protection from discrimination in the labour market and employment. As well as detailed examination of legal materials, the approach involves discussion of theories of human rights and comparisons between legal systems.

 Varieties of Employment Relations (H) (ID432): the course aims to provide an introduction to the comparative analysis of employment relations and human resource management at national, firm and workplace level throughout the world.