About this course
The purpose of this module is to help students develop specialised knowledge of the particular legal and political challenges facing transitional societies that are grappling with a legacy of mass abuse.
It will also introduce students to the aims of transitional justice and the main forms of transitional justice measures that seek to respond to mass abuse: namely, justice (international, national and restorative), truth-telling, reparations (including memory initiatives), and institutional reforms.
The short course will create a solid foundation by providing deep understanding of transitional justice as a field, and of the applicability to it of complementary legal regimes including those of international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international human rights law.
This short course is central to the uniqueness of the Transitional Justice focus that forms part of the newly proposed LLM in Human Rights Law at Ulster University, drawing on the research and teaching strengths of staff in the Transitional Justice Institute.
The short course aims to give students a detailed grasp of contemporary transitional justice debates. It is built around ensuring student familiarity with the historical and theoretical underpinnings of current transitional justice discourse and practice.
It also develops knowledge and understanding of both the normative and institutional aspects of the complementary legal regimes of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Students will also tackle pressing and very real contemporary dilemmas in transitional societies.
The short course will also encourage critical reflection on the core theoretical concepts underpinning the field of transitional justice. This will require consideration of the different forms of political transitions - transition from what, transition to what? - and questioning the assumptions of exceptionalism that arise from these contexts.
Students will also discuss and critically reflect on the macro goals that some have attributed to transitional justice - including peace, democracy, development, and the rule of law - as well as objectives set for particular forms of transitional justice.
Linked programmes
LLM Gender and Human Rights,
LLM Human Rights,
LLM Human Rights Law and Transitional Justice,
PG Cert Professional Development.
Assessment
Written Assignment (Coursework) [25%]
1. Written assignment [25%] (1,000-words - 10 x 100-words)
Weekly Reading Reflection: Students will need to produce a short reflection on their weekly readings and post it within the designated blackboard forum.
Written Assignment (Coursework) [75%]
2. Written assignment [75%] (3,000-words)
Essay: Students will be asked to submit a written essay from a range of essay questions based on the topics which they have studied throughout this course.
Attendance
This course requires on-campus attendance, at our Belfast campus, during Semester 1, in 2025.
The course runs on Fridays from 10:15am - 1:15pm, starting Friday 26 September to Friday 12 December 2025.
* Please note, dates and timetabling may be subject to change.
Entry requirements
Degree (second class Honours or above) in Law, Social Sciences, Humanities or a cognate discipline. Other degrees may be considered.
Allowance may be made for special qualifications, experience and background, and students with other academic backgrounds will be considered, where applicants can demonstrate their ability to undertake the programme through the accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) or accreditation of prior learning (APL).
English Language Requirements
Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the minimum English entrance requirements of the University and will need to provide recent evidence of this (certified within the last two years).
Most of our courses require a minimum English level of IELTS 6.0 or equivalent, with no band score under 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement.
Additional information on English language requirements for admission at Ulster University, is available at - www.ulster.ac.uk/global/apply/english-language-requirements
Start dates
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
The content for each course is summarised on the relevant course page, along with an overview of the modules that make up the course.
Each course is approved by the University and meets the expectations of:
Attendance and Independent Study
As part of your course induction, you will be provided with details of the organisation and management of the course, including attendance and assessment requirements - usually in the form of a timetable. For full-time courses, the precise timetable for each semester is not confirmed until close to the start date and may be subject to some change in the early weeks as all courses settle into their planned patterns. For part-time courses which require attendance on particular days and times, an expectation of the days and periods of attendance will be included in the letter of offer. A course handbook is also made available.
Courses comprise modules for which the notional effort involved is indicated by its credit rating. Each credit point represents 10 hours of student effort. Undergraduate courses typically contain 10, 20, or 40 credit modules (more usually 20) and postgraduate courses typically 15 or 30 credit modules.
The normal study load expectation for an undergraduate full-time course of study in the standard academic year is 120 credit points. This amounts to around 36-42 hours of expected teaching and learning per week, inclusive of attendance requirements for lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical work, fieldwork or other scheduled classes, private study, and assessment. Teaching and learning activities will be in-person and/or online depending on the nature of the course. Part-time study load is the same as full-time pro-rata, with each credit point representing 10 hours of student effort.
Postgraduate Master’s courses typically comprise 180 credits, taken in three semesters when studied full-time. A Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) comprises 60 credits and can usually be completed on a part-time basis in one year. A 120-credit Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) can usually be completed on a part-time basis in two years.
Class contact times vary by course and type of module. Typically, for a module predominantly delivered through lectures you can expect at least 3 contact hours per week (lectures/seminars/tutorials). Laboratory classes often require a greater intensity of attendance in blocks. Some modules may combine lecture and laboratory. The precise model will depend on the course you apply for and may be subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. Prospective students will be consulted about any significant changes.
Assessment
Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.
Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.
Calculation of the Final Award
The class of Honours awarded in Bachelor’s degrees is usually determined by calculation of an aggregate mark based on performance across the modules at Levels 5 and 6, (which correspond to the second and third year of full-time attendance).
Level 6 modules contribute 70% of the aggregate mark and Level 5 contributes 30% to the calculation of the class of the award. Classification of integrated Master’s degrees with Honours include a Level 7 component. The calculation in this case is: 50% Level 7, 30% Level 6, 20% Level 5. At least half the Level 5 modules must be studied at the University for Level 5 to be included in the calculation of the class.
All other qualifications have an overall grade determined by results in modules from the final level of study.
In Masters degrees of more than 200 credit points the final 120 points usually determine the overall grading.
Figures from the academic year 2022-2023.
Academic profile
The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 60% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.
Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (19%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (22%) or Lecturers (57%).
We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic and learning support staff (85%) are recognised as fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advance HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.
The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise. The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff. This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.
Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.
Figures from the academic year 2022-2023.
