Designing a Legal English Course for Master of Laws Students

Over the last years, universities have diversified their educational offer, understanding and emphasizing the role of foreign languages in enhancing both personal and professional growth. Study programmes at undergraduate level have a mandatory foreign language component and there is a tendency to provide master’s programmes in foreign languages especially in the field of law, business, political sciences, international relations, etc. In this framework, the paper attempts to identify and present the steps to be taken in designing a legal English course for students who complete their Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Human Rights. The focus is on the development of such a course as an essential element of a syllabus. The paper discusses the subject content of the course, i.e. the areas within each topic meant to improve and expand the students’ specialist vocabulary which will further enable them to operate effectively in the field of human rights, the language content and the language skills which must be practised, while also analyzing subject-based materials and language materials.