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Module
Type toTitle: Postgraduate
enter text
Dissertation
Module Code: LA7000
Module Leader:
Professor Kofi Kufuor

Module Leader: Jonathan Weitzmann

Email: [email protected]
Tel: 020 8223 2111
Room: USS 2.26

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 Index

General Information
- Getting Started 3
- Choosing a Supervisor 7
- The Proposal 8
- The Dissertation Process & Deadlines 9
- Research Ethics 10
- Dissertation Workshop 12

Module documentation
- Dissertation Proposal 13
- Dissertation Supervisor’s Log 16
- Dissertation Checklist 17

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Module Title: Postgraduate Dissertation
Module Code: LA7000

Getting Started

During the LLM you have to complete a dissertation which counts for 60 credits of
your assessment. The purpose of this dissertation is to offer you the space in which
you may initiate and follow through an in-depth academic inquiry without a structured
program. The dissertation gives you the opportunity to further develop organizational
and research skills. The dissertation also allows you to demonstrate your
independence of thought and originality through analytical and critical study. You
therefore undertake, on your own, a piece of work of your own choice, which you
must organize, research and complete as a written dissertation. Your work will be
supervised by a member of academic staff within the School who will provide a
minimum of 8 hours supervision. The nature of this process is advisory, your
supervisor will guide you through the process and help you to further your research.

The maximum length of the final dissertation is 15,000 words.

You may choose to do a dissertation on any subject which is clearly relevant to your
LLM pathway. This may be based on a subject which you have studied during your
degree, or it may arise out of the gaps between subjects. The only restraint on your
choice is that the dissertation must be capable of supervision within the School, and
all proposals must be approved by the Dissertation Committee before you may
officially commence your research (see page 8 for details). Where you are
considering undertaking field research (surveys, interviews etc.) your dissertation
must also receive full ethical approval (see pages 11-12 for more details).

It is important that you devote the same time to the dissertation module as you
do to your other taught courses throughout the academic year. Don’t let your
research be sidelined by other pressures.

What subject areas interest you?

The dissertation module should be seen as the culmination of your studies. Some
students may have embarked on this degree because they had a particular interest
or personal experience that prompted further enquiry. Often, within the constraints of
this programme, you may not have been able to develop this interest further – now is
your chance. Dissertations are always improved by keen personal engagement with
the subject matter – if nothing else it means you will not lose interest half of the way
through your research! Think back to your initial motivations – why did you decide to
do the LLM? What did you want to know? Do you have your answers?

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Another way to view the dissertation is in terms of what can it do for your current
career or as a preparation for your possible future career. If you have an idea in what
direction you would like your career to develop after graduation you could target your
research to this area. Current and future employers can look favorably on such
dissertations as providing evidence of a particular candidate’s expertise, it may make
your application stand out from the rest. Alternatively, you may already be working or
volunteering in a relevant field – if so you could tailor your research to this, always
remembering that you may have to gain permission for access to certain materials for
research purposes (see research ethics pages 11-12).

Other students simply pick a topic which they find stimulating regardless of past or
future plans – you can always choose to diversify into something completely different
because this may again open up opportunities or ideas which you may have
overlooked. Such dissertations can be all the more rewarding and make you a more
rounded scholar.

What type of research do you wish to

undertake?
You will also need to ask yourself about the type of research you wish to undertake.
This may be dictated by the nature of your topic but there are a variety of options
available to you.

Are you better at theoretical or practical subjects? Are you interested in current
policy debates or philosophical ones? (NB the line between these options is far from
clear cut, but it may help you to isolate your strengths).

Your chosen dissertation should have an analytical rather than a descriptive

focus and should aim to make an original contribution to the scholarship in
your chosen area. Students who write a wholly descriptive piece of work (e.g.
describing a particular human rights violation rather than subjecting it to a critical
analysis), are unlikely to attain more than a bare pass mark. Similarly it is not
sufficient to simply collate others arguments on a given topic – you must, through the
process of research, test and develop your own.

If you are finding it difficult to locate a suitable topic you should discuss your ideas
with your lecturers.

Some students find it helpful to look through their old course material and consider
topics which integrate some of their options, others look for issues which were only
touched upon, which they would like to develop further. As a general rule you should
avoid broad topics which have been the subject of a whole course or even a whole
weeks work in a unit, as it is unlikely that you will be able to do any more than skim
the surface of the material available. You need to find a specific research question -
choose a narrow issue, perhaps something which only merited one point in a module
guide – which you can expand upon. This is the process of research – to investigate

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and uncover new information on a topic, not simply reproduce the materials we have
supplied on your degree.

How feasible is my dissertation ?

Remember, you are not government sponsored researchers nor are you completing
a PhD – your choice of dissertation will therefore be limited by the constraints of time,
your resources, access to information, contacts and the ethics of social research.
15,000 words may seem a massive undertaking at this stage but when they come to
writing most students realize they have to cut out a large amount of material to come
within the word length! Initial proposals are often too ambitious and get curtailed by
the dissertation committee. Many students find problems with access require them to
refocus their area of research.

If you consider these issues from the outset you should be able to organize a more
realistic proposal. This does not however mean that you should avoid more difficult
topics – the difficulty and originality of the topic is one of the criteria on which you are
marked. Students who ‘play it safe’ will not be equally rewarded, either in marks or
personal satisfaction.

Start reading around and refining your ideas. What are the aims and objectives of
your dissertation ? What methods will you use to achieve your aims ?

You are encouraged to discuss possible topics with members of school staff but
please note: it is your responsibility to decide upon a research question, the
staff will not provide one for you.

Choosing a Supervisor

While you are finalizing the topic for your dissertation you will need to talk to one or
more members of staff who have some expertise or interest in the area. It is your
responsibility to approach members of staff about your dissertation (within their
availability times) and they will be able to advise you about the feasibility of your
dissertation, how to prepare your proposal, and where to go for further information.

On the initial proposal form (a copy is towards the back of this manual) you are asked
to indicate a proposed supervisor for your dissertation. You should always discuss
your proposal with this member of staff before submission and although it cannot be
guaranteed that they will supervise your work, your suggestion will be taken into
consideration by the Dissertation Committee.

It is possible that you have a potential supervisor in mind, perhaps they have already
taught you. There are however other academic staff within the School who may not

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teach on existing LLM modules but who have relevant expertise and are able to
supervise your undergraduate dissertation.

Do not be discouraged if the first person you approach indicates that he or she
cannot be your supervisor, a number of members of staff have heavy supervision
loads (at undergraduate and postgraduate level), so an initial refusal is not
necessarily a reflection on you or your chosen research.

Detailed information on staff research interests may be found on the School’s Web
pages.

- The final decision on the allocation of your supervisor is for the

Dissertation Committee which has to consider both the nature of the topic
and the allocation of staff workloads.
- On rare occasions your chosen topic may not be suitable for supervision within
the School. Where no member of the staff group is able to supervise a particular
topic you will have to think again about your research.

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY A POSSIBLE

SUPERVISOR, THAT IS ACCEPTABLE AS THE DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
WILL ALLOCATE A SUPERVISOR. YOUR FOCUS IS ON ENSURING YOU
COMPLETE THE PROPOSAL FORM FULLY AND SUBMIT ON THE TURNITIN
LINK ON MOODLE BY THE DEADLINE.

The Dissertation Proposal

When you have located a suitable topic and undertaken a preliminary literature
search you should be ready to fill out the Dissertation Proposal form, a copy of which
is contained in this module guide. The completion of the proposal form is to assist
you in the focus of your research and to give the Dissertation’s Committee the
necessary information about your work and your likely ability to complete it in the
requisite time frame.

It is important that you work on your proposal. You will need to complete a
preliminary search of the literature for indicative references and read some of the
basic materials on your chosen subject, so that you can justify the aims and
objectives of your dissertation. You should also discuss your proposal with a
member of academic staff who will be able to advise you on any improvements you
may need to make before submission.

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The Dissertation Process and Deadlines

1. Students must attend the Dissertation Workshop. This workshop gives

students important guidance on the module, how to select a suitable
Dissertation and how to prepare the Dissertation Proposal. Students should
read the module guide before the workshop.
2.
The workshop will take place on Wednesday 28th May 1-2pm via Teams

3. Students must complete a 250-word Dissertation Proposal. This should be

done on the Dissertation Proposal Form, which is available on Moodle. Once
students have completed their Dissertation Proposal, this should be uploaded
to the Turnitin link on Moodle. The deadline for submitting the Dissertation
Proposal is Thursday 5th June 2025 4pm.

4. The Dissertation Committee, consisting of the module leader and subject area
academic staff will consider the proposal. The Committee will decide whether
to approve the proposal, to approve it subject to minor amendments, or to
reject the proposal. Acceptance at this stage simply means that the proposal
is a good enough starting point and has some potential. If a proposal is
rejected you must decide on a new proposal and the Committee will set further
dates for submission. Students who fail to submit a satisfactory proposal
on the second opportunity may have their registration on this module
deferred until the following semester.

5. The Module Leader will contact the student and the supervisor to inform them
of the outcome of the process.

6. Where the proposal is approved, the student will begin working on their
dissertation and should now liaise with their supervisor. In the event that a
student is asked to make amendments to the proposal, these should be
discussed with the supervisor and the student should submit the amended
proposal by the relevant deadline.

7. The student must submit the dissertation online via Moodle. The deadline for
submitting your dissertation will be communicated to you at the Workshop

You should submit your dissertation on Turnitin as a Word document

ONLY with access to file properties unblocked. Other forms such as PDF
etc will not be acceptable.

8. Please note that under the academic framework you must submit your work
for this deadline. Work submitted at the re-sit opportunity will be capped at
50%.
9. The submission date for your complete dissertation is 23.59 pm on
Friday 12th September 2025 via Turnitin

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Referencing and Plagiarism
The School takes issues of referencing and plagiarism very seriously and you must
take account of these when you are working on your dissertation. Full details of how
to correctly reference your dissertation are available in your LLM course handbook.
You should read these guidelines very carefully.

All dissertations must be submitted through Turnitin anti-plagiarism software

as a Word document ONLY.

The preferred citation system is the Modern Humanities system. The following gives
you the style.

Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) Style Guide

Introduction
The key starting point is that names of authors, editors, film directors that appear on their outputs
should not be changed. It their output appears as Tariq A Azziz then it should appear as such as not T.
A. Azziz. On the other hand, if it appears as T.A. Azziz then that’s what is included in the citation.
Citations appear as footnotes on the page of the trext.

1. Books
(a) authored books
Author’s name, Title, (place of publication: Publisher, date)

e.g.
Theodor Meron, Human Rights in International Law: Legal and Policy Issues (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1984

(b) Edited books

Title, edited by (Place of publication: Publisher, date)

e.g.
Law after Ground Zero edited by John Strawson (London, Sydney, Portland: GlassHouse Press, 2002)

© Chapters in edited books

Author of the chapter in name of the book edited by (Place of Publication: Publisher, date), pages
numbers

e.g.
Paul Muldoon, Beginning Anew: Exceptional Institutions and the Politics of Ritual, in Injustice,
Memory and Faith in Human Rights, edited by Kalliopi Chainoglou Barry Collins, Michael Phillips and
John Strawson (London and New York: Routledge, 2018), 93-105.

2. Journals

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Authors name, title of the article name of the journal (in full) vol, no (date) pages numbers

e.g.
Brendan Sweeny, Globalization and Competition Law and Policy: Some Aspects of the Interface
between Trade and Competition, Melbourne Journal of International Law, Vol. 5, Issue 2 (2004). 375-
433.

3. Newspaper articles

Author’s name title, name of newspaper, date and page number

e.g.
Luke Broadwater, Questions for former president’s daughter, The New York Times International
Edition, January 24, 2022, 6.

4. Visual, sound or social media

(a) when citing a film, title, director, title, production company and date:
Eg
The Grapes of Wrath, dir. by John Ford (20th Century Fox, 1940).

(b) Television or radio programs should just have the name of the program the production company,
the date of the broadcast and the time

Eg. Newsnight BBC2, August 10 2019, 10.30 pm

© Social Media

Facebook: Title of page, facebook.com full address (date accessed)

e.g.
Our City Famagusta, www.facebook.com/groups/205964922756784 (accessed November 15 2021)

5. Cases and Legislation and Treaties

Cases

Give the party names, followed by the neutral citation, followed by the Law Reports citation
(eg AC, Ch, QB). If there is no neutral citation, give the Law Reports citation followed by the
court in brackets. If the case is not reported in the Law Reports, cite the All ER or the WLR,
or failing that a specialist report.

Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884

R (Roberts) v Parole Board [2004] EWCA Civ 1031, [2005] QB 410

Page v Smith [1996] AC 155 (HL)

When pinpointing, give paragraph numbers in square brackets at the end of the citation. If the
judgment has no paragraph numbers, provide the page number pinpoint after the court.

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Callery v Gray [2001] EWCA Civ 1117, [2001] 1 WLR 2112 [42], [45]
Bunt v Tilley [2006] EWHC 407 (QB), [2006] 3 All ER 336 [1]–[37]

R v Leeds County Court, ex p Morris [1990] QB 523 (QB) 530–31

If citing a particular judge:

Arscott v The Coal Authority [2004] EWCA Civ 892, [2005] Env LR 6 [27] (Laws LJ)

Statutes and statutory instruments

Act of Supremacy 1558

Human Rights Act 1998, s 15(1)(b)

Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004, SI

2004/3166

EU legislation and cases

Consolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union [2008] OJ C115/13

Council Regulation (EC) 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings

(EC Merger Regulation) [2004] OJ L24/1, art 5
Case C–176/03 Commission v Council [2005] ECR I–7879, paras 47–48

European Court of Human Rights

Omojudi v UK (2009) 51 EHRR 10

Osman v UK ECHR 1998–VIII 3124
Balogh v Hungary App no 47940/99 (ECHR, 20 July 2004)
Simpson v UK (1989) 64 DR 188

International Court of Justice

Advisory Opinions

Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965,
Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2019, p95

Contentious Cases

Merits

Case Concerning the Military and Paramilitary Activities against Nicaragua (Nicaragua V
United States of America) Merits Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1986, p14

Jurisdiction and Admissibility

Case Concerning the Military and Paramilitary Activities against Nicaragua (Nicaragua V
United States of America) Jurisdiction and Admissibility Judgment I.C.J. Reports 1984 p.392.

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International Criminal Court

Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the case of the Prosecutor v Lubanga Dyilo
(Judgment) ICC-01/04-01/06 (14 March 2012).

Treaties

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969

Research Ethics

The School takes research ethics very seriously and it is vital that you ensure that
your work is ethical before starting. When your proposal is being assessed, staff will
pay close attention to any potential ethical issues in the research. If they judge that
there are potential concerns, this will be raised in the feedback to the student along
with guidance on what needs to be done.

No dissertation proposal will be approved until all ethical concerns have been
fully addressed.

Ethical issues are most likely to occur when the dissertation is proposing to have
research involving human subjects. Such empirical research might take the form of
carrying out interviews, distributing questionnaires or surveys, writing letters to
individuals or institutions requesting information, access to data for research, and
observational research.

These kinds of research methods have to receive ethics clearance for the
protection of all parties concerned (your research subjects, the University and the
researcher). Students must be aware of the need to conduct any field research in an
ethical and sensitive manner. You will receive guidance from your Research
Methods course and your supervisor on appropriate methods for your chosen topic
and you should include details of your proposed research methods on your initial
proposal form.

Where ethics issues are apparent on your initial proposal form the Dissertation
Committee will require extra detail on these in order to ensure that appropriate
standards are being met. If the Dissertation Committee judges that these standards
are not met, then you will not be allowed to use the proposed research methods.

If you have any questions or doubts as to whether your planned research is ethical or
not, you should contact your proposed supervisor or module leader who will be able
to give you clear advice and feedback on this.

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Please note that conducting such research, and the need for ethics approval, adds
considerable time, and may delay you in writing the dissertation.

Under no circumstances will students be allowed to undertake such research

without the express approval of the School’s Research Ethics Committee.

IF A STUDENT CARRIES OUT SUCH RESEARCH WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING

WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE MODULE LEADER, THEN THEIR
DISSERTATION WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE MARKED AS A FAIL.

All students must read and abide by the following conditions of their continued
registration on this module. Failure to observe these principles may result in
the termination of your dissertation and place your position on the degree
program in jeopardy.

All student research conducted as part of the Dissertation Module must:

1. Be conducted ethically and with integrity.

2. Avoid harm to the participants and the researcher.
3. Respect the confidentiality of data provided by participants and co-operating
agencies.
4. Avoid covert research techniques and deception.
5. Avoid excessive and insensitive demands on research subjects and co-operating
agencies.
6. Practice safe methods of social research.
7. Avoid involvement in illegal acts, or knowingly collecting data which pertains to
criminal acts as yet undetected or unrecorded by the police.
8. Avoid situations in which the lives and safety of the researcher and participants
are endangered.
9. Ensure that all research participants have an understanding of the research
methods practiced and the objectives of the research.
10. Ensure that all research participants who request research results are provided
with them as soon as possible after the dissertation is completed.
11. Give full consideration to the impact of the research on all research participants.
12. Ensure that the research dissertation is concluded in an ethical and sensitive
manner, so that opportunities for future research dissertations are not
jeopardized.

(This comprehensive list of the conditions of ethical social research was compiled by
Graham Smith of Nottingham Trent University based on the BSA guidelines).

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Dissertation Workshop

Workshop Tutor:

Professor Kofi Kufuor

[email protected]

This will take place on Wednesday 28th May 1-2pm via Teams

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Dissertation Supervisor’s Log

Date Duration Summary (including notes of any agreed Tutor’s and

of Meeting action points) Student’s
Signatures

Supervisors must keep a record of their meetings with students including cancelled
and rearranged meeting dates. Email correspondence should be printed off and
attached to this log. Copies of the supervisor’s log must be submitted for
consideration by the Dissertation Committee of the student’s Interim Progress
Report.

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PROGRESS CHECKLISTS

The two progress checklists provide a list of things you should do in order to
successfully complete the dissertation. Tick each item off the checklists as you
achieve it. The checklists allow students to structure your work and to give you a
clear idea of what you need to have done by certain dates.

The most important thing to remember is that the key to successfully completing your
dissertation is regular contact with your supervisor!

If you think you are falling behind the best thing is to contact your supervisor and
discuss with him or her how you can get back on schedule. If, on the other hand, you
have completed the tasks before the date, that is a clear indication that you are doing
well.

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PROGRESS CHECKLIST 1

Student Name:

Supervisor:

1 I have read the dissertation guidance notes twice over carefully

2 I have entered the deadline dates into my diary

3 I have obtained a folder for my dissertation papers

4 My dissertation proposal has been approved

5 I have identified my supervisor

6 I have done some reading specifically for the dissertation

7 I have done a literature search on the topic of my dissertation

8 I have made notes on how a dissertation should be presented

9 I have written down the main research question of my literature review

10 I have collected 50% of the papers/chapters needed to write the review

11 I have collected 100% of the papers/chapters needed to write the review

12 I have written down the strengths of the research done on this topic

13 I have written down the weaknesses of the research done on this topic

14 I have written down what further research is needed on this topic

15 In 100 words I have summarised what the research says about this topic

16 I have prepared a draft structure for the dissertation

17 I have sent a copy of the draft structure to my supervisor

18 My supervisor has confirmed that this structure is appropriate

19 I have finished the first draft of my introduction

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 20 I have finished the final draft of my introduction

21 I have noted a title for my thesis

22 I have finished a first draft of the main sections of the dissertation

23 I have finished a final draft of the main sections of the dissertation

24 I have written the first draft of my discussion

25 I have finished my discussion, final draft

26 I have sent the final draft of my dissertation to my supervisor

PROGRESS CHECKLIST 2

Student Name:

Supervisor:

1 My supervisor has read and returned the final draft with feedback

2 I have made changes to the dissertation suggested by my supervisor

3 I have re-read the formatting requirements

4 I have checked the layout of the final version of the dissertation

5 I have checked the labels of all the tables and diagrams

6 I have checked that all the numbers, formulas, and table values are
accurate

7 I have checked all the references to ensure that nothing has been left out

8 My thesis has been typed according to the guidelines in the handbook

9 I have checked the numbering of all the pages

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10 I have proof read and corrected all my dissertation in the typed version

11 I have checked all the numbers in the typed version

12 I have checked all the references in the typed version

13 I have had any necessary pages re-typed

14 I am satisfied that my dissertation is as good as it can be, given the time

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Keep in touch!
There are plenty of ways to keep in touch with what’s happening at UEL. You
can:

• follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/UEL_News

• join our Facebook group: facebook.com/universityofeastlondon
• your Universe, UEL’s own student e-zine uel.ac.uk/universe – your one-
stop-shop for news, events, opportunities, announcements, entertainment
and more …
• UELDirect noticeboard – check regularly for news, events and
opportunities
• UELSU – www.uelunion.org – for your representatives, societies and
advice.

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