Master in Law and Security
NOVA School of Law
Key Information
Campus location
Lisbon, Portugal
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 semesters
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
EUR 4,900 **
Application deadline
Request info *
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* 1st phase of applications: 1st to 29th February
** 10.000€: total tuition fee for non-EU candidates
Introduction
The Master’s Degree in Law & Security provides in-depth knowledge of issues related to Security, drawing from different fields. It is based on an interdisciplinary and transversal approach, due to the need to address the problems of (in)security, which require a global response.
The importance of this master’s degree lies in acknowledging the growing threats to the security of States and citizens, such as terrorism, organized crime, the fragility of certain States, and cyberattacks, among many others – all of which pose a series of challenges to the legality and legitimacy of the action of public powers. Today, more than ever, Security is intrinsically connected to democracy, citizenship, globalization, and development, therefore being a crucial issue for the International Community of States and Citizens.
For the academic year 2022/23 we present a revised edition of the Master’s Degree in Law & Security. We have invested heavily in internationalization and reinforced the theoretical and practical components. We have thus intensified the political, geostrategic, military, economic, and legal areas of Security. Consequently, we can guarantee the appropriate training for our students to adequately respond to the professional and academic challenges of an increasingly complex and competitive world.
Gallery
Ideal Students
The Master’s Degree in Law & Security is for all graduates who want to deepen their knowledge in these two ever broader and more sensitive areas, stressing that security presents itself as an interdisciplinary domain that touches and challenges the boundaries of multiple research fields.
The Master’s may be undertaken by students as a full or part-time endeavour.
Program Outcome
The general objective is to provide specialized training in matters of Law and of Security, from a multidisciplinary, integrated perspective. There are also specific objectives:
- To understand, from a geostrategic perspective, the challenges that the new international configuration brings to the individual and collective security of states – namely by analyzing the design of a regional, international, and legal order designed to face the new challenges to security arising from organized crime, particularly with regard to the use of force;
- To promote in-depth discussions about security as a fundamental right and as a limit to other fundamental rights in the light of national Constitutions and of other normative orders in the international order within which we live, and given a changing international system under ever-increasing stresses – consistently with a focus on the rule of law;
- To systematically examine the internal legal order and the institutional responses, among others, regarding the domains of national, regional, and international security, and the roles filled by the branches of the increasingly complex, varied, and interconnected Armed Forces, the changing roles of extant police forces, and the various intelligence services;
- To understand the role of research and crime in contemporary socio-political and socio-economic domains, as well as in environmental dynamics, which includes a careful assessment of the importance of other communal and more inclusive security systems, such as civil protection, and cybersecurity or private security, in developing a sense of security.
Curriculum
1st year – Taught Component
The taught component corresponds to 60 ECTS and consists of 6 mandatory courses (36 ECTS), 3 subjects of the restricted option (18 ECTS), and 1 subject of the free option (6 ECTS).
Mandatory
- Security, Governance, and the Rule of Law
- International and European Security Law
- Research Methodology
- Globalization and Security
- International Humanitarian Law
- Security and Geopolitics
Restricted Option
- Cybersecurity and Governance
- Risk Management and Security
- Privacy and Security
- Research and Crime
- National Security and International Cooperation
- Intelligence and Strategic Analysis
- Cybercrime
- Human Rights International Protection Systems
Free Option*
- Data Protection and Management Law**
- Ethics and Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
- Law of Online Platforms
- Direito Penal Económico
- Emerging technologies: governance and regulation
- Fintech
- EU Criminal Law
- International Economic Law
*The list does not exhaust all options on offer.
**Data Protection and Management Law is a course offered by NOVA School of Law’s Jean Monnet Module on the European Union Data Protection Law in Portugal (DataporEU).
2nd year – Research
Mandatory
- Dissertation, internship at a national or international institution, or project work.
Admissions
Program Tuition Fee
Scholarships and Funding
Merit Awards
Merit Awards are awarded to:
- Candidates whose final average admission to a 2nd study cycle at NOVA School of Law, according to assessment and ranking by the appropriate jury, is equal to or higher than 17 points (on a scale of 0/20) and who enroll and attend the same course, benefit from an award in cash corresponding to 50% of the tuition fee for the taught component of the Master’s degree.
- Candidates whose final average admission to a 2nd study cycle at NOVA School of Law, according to assessment and ranking by the appropriate jury, is equal to or higher than 16 points (on a scale of 0/20) and who enroll and attend the same course, benefit from an award in cash corresponding to 30% of the tuition fee for the taught component of the Master’s degree.
In the non-taught phase, three prizes for academic merit are awarded (by master’s degree or area of specialization, in the case of the Master’s Degree in Law). These awards assume the completion of the taught component within the stipulated time.
- The best student of the taught component of each study cycle or specialization area of a study cycle who continues and attends the non-taught phase benefits from an award in cash corresponding to 100% of the tuition fee for the non-taught phase of the Master’s degree;
- The second-best student of the taught component of each study cycle or specialization area of a study cycle who continues and attends the non-taught phase, benefits from an award in cash corresponding to 60% of the tuition fee, corresponding to the non-taught phase of the Master’s degree;
- The third-best student of the taught component of each study cycle or specialization area of a study cycle who continues and attends the non-taught phase of the Master’s degree.