B.A. Connect with Human Rights.

Galwaymother

Hello!

I wonder if somebody could give us some information about the above.

My daughter (in 5th Year) is thinking of going for this course, as she is very interested in International and Constitutional Law, but not other types of Legal studies as much.
She also has a great interest in diverse Human Rights issues, and would like to work later for the European Commission/ Parliament, or some international organisation of that type.

She is fluent in French as well as English, and has very good Spanish.

She is thinking of taking History, Soc. and Pol. and Philosophy in 1st Year, to drop Philosophy after (all subjects she is passionate about).

If one of you is doing this course, could you give us your impressions?

Would you recommend this course at undergraduate level, or is she better off studying straight Law and doing a Post-Grad in Human Rights?

Can students take 4 subjects in First Year (I know normal B.A. will do only 3 from next year)?

Are the Internships abroad interesting/ well-run? Could she do ERASMUS in France or Spain too?

Generally, what do you think of the organisation of the course, the lecturers, the workload, the assessment style, etc?

Is the course recognised abroad for Post-Grad applications/ positions?

Thank you in advance.

GM

Galwaymother

Hi again!
My daughter is now in 6th Year.
Still hesitating between Civil Law (with French) and B.A with Human Rights. Any advice (bearing in mind she does not really want to be a solicitor/barrister, but more an advocate or legal adviser on an international level)?

The Lost Sheep

Did you and/or your daughter attend the University Open Day this weekend? Attend the next one in April.... and look to meet staff from each course.
Has your daughter met with career guidance? What do they think if she has?
Im in final year of Arts and am studying Soc and Pol and English and studied History and Philosophy in first year
Workload varies considerably between subjects...

Galwaymother

Yes, she did attend Open Days. Last year for the B.A Connect, where she got some answers regarding how many subjects etc but not really about prospects. Last Saturday she went to the Law talk, and now feels she is better off doing that than the B.A. Connect, but I am not so sure, since she doesn't want to be a barrister.
Career guidance at school is not great, they just know about the standard Law careers.
I don't think the workload would frighten her too much. Soc. and Pol. and/or History seems important to me if she wants to work for intergovernmental agencies etc.
I did Philosophy myself and her father did History ( as mature students) so we know these departments a little.
I feel the Law degree would not provide as rounded an education as the B.A. Connect.
I think she is tending towards that because she would not need to study as long after her primary degree if she wanted to practise Law in France. A Law degree would be more recognised than an Arts Degree...
She should probably try to talk to lecturers from both sides.

Lockstep

I'd advise doing the BA in legal studies and French or BCL with French rather than human rights.

Human rights is a great course but you're not able to study law with it and if she wants to work in the Commission, she'd be better off with a law degree rather than an arts one. You can study human rights law and constitutional law as part of legal studies and pair it with French to give her a great background for international work. She can then do the LLB in one year, giving her a BA and an LLB. Either that or she could just do the BCL which would be much quicker but with a much heavier emphasis on law rather than French.
She could then do an LLM in human rights law after as well for further specialization.
Human rights work is very competitive and prospects aren't great. She'll need to be prepared to do a fair amount of unpaid or low paid internships to build experience before she can get a career out of it. As such, she'd probably be better off doing something like law as arts degrees are ten a penny. What one lecturer told me was that to be taken seriously in law, you either need to have a PhD or be a qualified solicitor/barrister.

If she's studying a language, she will have to do Erasmus for the relevent country. If she's not doing a language, she can still do Erasmus but it's optional. AFAIK, she wouldn't be able to do an internship and Erasmus, unless she sorts an internship out for herself as if she's doing a language, Erasmus takes priority.

I did law myself and am currently doing a PhD in the human rights centre
so ask away if you've any further questions. That said, I didn't do the BA Connect in human rights so I won't have all the answers there.

Galwaymother

Thank you for your insight! Do you think it is better for her to do a B.A with legal science as one of her subjects, or the Bachelor of Civil Law?
We could organise a stay in Paris ourselves, as that's where I come from, either in an internship ( in my uncle's practice for example) or as Erasmus. She speaks French, so I am a little reluctant for her to do French in college...We have to check if her third language, Spanish, is offered with legal science.
Some things to mull about with the lack of positions in Human Rights etc, but it's the only thing she wants to do, that or lecturing...

Lockstep

Galwaymother wrote: »

Thank you for your insight! Do you think it is better for her to do a B.A with legal science as one of her subjects, or the Bachelor of Civil Law?
We could organise a stay in Paris ourselves, as that's where I come from, either in an internship ( in my uncle's practice for example) or as Erasmus. She speaks French, so I am a little reluctant for her to do French in college...We have to check if her third language, Spanish, is offered with legal science.
Some things to mull about with the lack of positions in Human Rights etc, but it's the only thing she wants to do, that or lecturing...

If she already speaks French fluently, she could always do legal studies along with something like history or politics+sociology. This would be a big help in an area like international law or human rights law where international relations and historical developments are critical. She could also do Erasmus in a French speaking country although this isn't compulsory. A BA in legal studies is still not a qualifying law degree but would still give her a good grounding in relevent areas (IIRC, legal studies students do Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, European Union Law, Contract Law, Tort Law and Company Law as compulsory subjects and they can do optional subjects like International Human Rights Law and European Human Rights Law) Given you said her interest was in human rights and constitutional law, these seem like good options.
Given your description of her, I'd say she should look into the BA in legal studies. The BA Connect is great but if she wants to practice law afterwards (or even have the option), it'd mean an extra three years of studying. If she does legal studies, she can get a law degree in just one year (legal studies students can go directly into the final year of the LLB program)

Even if she doesn't want to practice law, it'd still be a good idea for her to do the LLB after as having a law degree is a huge help when applying for jobs. That said, she can always do an LLM afterwards and most students in the human rights law masters program don't come from a law background (though it does help)

Galwaymother

I think she has more or less decided to do a BCL (provided she gets the points!). She wants to be able to go straight to a LLM, probably in Human Rights. She will probably do ERASMUS if she can, so it will already be a longer degree...
The only problem now is to convince the Law department to send her to Paris, where she has accommodation, even though they don't have a link with a university there! But that's another story, all in good time!
She's getting ready for her second BWA Public Speaking Competition now.
Thanks a lot for your help Lockstep!