Master of Law: Double Degree Study Programs - 120 ECTS

The double degree master's programmes conducted jointly with the partner faculties offer students the opportunity to expand and deepen their knowledge of the Swiss legal system, the legal system of the country of the respective partner faculty and international law. Participants acquire two Master's degrees ("Master of Law UZH" as well as the corresponding academic degree of the partner faculty) after a standard period of study of two years.

If you are applying to the University of Zurich, you will find further information on the following website:
Double Degree Outgoings

If you are enrolled at one of our partner faculties, you will find further information on the following website:
Double Degree Incomings

Double Degree students are eligible to apply for graduation once both study programs have been successfully completed:

• 60 ECTS credits from the study program at RWF UZH
• Completion of the study program at the partner university

The academic achievements at the partner university can be recognized through a general credit transfer of 30 ECTS credits. With this transfer, you will reach the required 90 ECTS credits for graduation.

The general credit transfer can only be processed once the partner university confirms that you have successfully completed its study program.

Please submit the Transcript of Records from the partner university as soon as you receive it, using the contact form to the Student Center at RWF UZH (Topic: Recognition & Crediting: General Transfer of credit Double Degree). If you also have a graduation decision from the partner faculty, please include it along with the transcript.

Important: Please note that it cannot be guaranteed that you will be able to apply for graduation at the first graduation date. The timing depends primarily on the confirmation from the partner university and the associated administrative processes. In particular, students enrolled in the program with our partner faculty at King’s College London can only apply for graduation at the second graduation date.

Pay close attention to all dates and deadlines  published by RWF UZH. Further information on graduation can be found on the graduation website.

Students in the Double Degree Master's Program can choose between the following two study programs:

• MLaw UZH Rechtswissenschaft
• MLaw UZH International and Comparative Law

Within these study programs, students at the Faculty of Law UZH must complete the following modules totaling 60 ECTS credits

German-language Double Degree study program Rechtswissenschaft:

English-language Double Degree study programInternational and Comparative Law :

Important: Admission to the Zurich bar examination with the degree in the double degree master's program is possible. However, it should be emphasized that due to its focus on international law, comparative law aspects as well as foreign law, the study program is not specifically geared towards an internship at a Zurich district court (auditoriate) and also not towards the subjects examined in occasion of the Zurich bar exam (§10 Abs. 3 PrüfV, OS 215.11). Graduates of this  study program who wish to take the cantonal bar exam must therefore deepen their knowledge of Swiss law on their own responsibility, which involves an additional learning effort.

Students enrolled in the Double Degree study program have the opportunity to complete additional compulsory modules from the Mono study program Rechtswissenschaft – for example, Zivilverfahrensrecht. This is a valuable opportunity to acquire practical knowledge for an internship in Switzerland as well as for preparing for the bar exam. In the Double Degree Master’s program Rechtswissenschaft, these compulsory modules from the Mono study program can be counted as elective modules. 

The module Introduction to Swiss Law and the Master's thesis may be repeated twice. A third failed attempt results in final rejection.

For the other modules, a common maximum of eight failed attempts applies. As long as the maximum number of failed attempts has not been reached, they can be repeated and substituted by other modules, provided they are offered again. When substituting modules, it must be ensured that sufficient modules of the respective module group (compulsory elective modules Fundamentals, compulsory elective modules International Law and compulsory elective modules Comparative Law) are completed. If further compulsory modules (in addition to the Master's thesis) are chosen in the study programme Law, they can be repeated a maximum of two times, otherwise the repeatability is only limited by the maximum number of failed attempts. A final rejection takes place if there are more than eight failed attempts.

Consult the StudO DD RWF for further details on the rules on repetition of examination (§5 for the study program Rechtswissenschaft, §7 for the study program ICL ).

Students are not allowed to take equivalent or similar modules at RWF UZH and at the partner faculty, or these cannot be counted twice towards the course credits. Whether two modules are equivalent or similar is determined by their content. If equivalent or similar modules have nevertheless been completed, these ECTS credits will not be counted towards the degree and the student must complete an additional module to achieve the missing ECTS credits, even if this is not possible until the following year. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that he/she does not take equivalent or similar modules. In case of doubt, the coordinators of the home or partner faculty can be contacted.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Zurich has established three new partner faculties for its double degree master’s program, beginning in Fall 2026:

• Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom
• Chicago Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology in the USA
• TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland in Australia

The flyers for these partner universities with further information will be published on the Outgoing website as soon as possible.

The Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich has announced a new Double Degree program with the renowned Cardozo School of Law in the heart of New York City in the fall semester 2024.  As the tenth Double Degree program of the Faculty of Law and the second in the USA, this Double Degree program offers an invaluable opportnity to immerse oneself in both Swiss and the American legal systems. Cardozo School of Law offers several excellent LL.M. (Master of Law) programs focusing on various areas of law. Find out more about the new Double Degree program, the admission requirements and the tuition fees in the Cardozo School of Law Flyer.

Cardozo School of Law (USA) (PDF, 158 KB)

Presentation Information Event (Mastertage) FS2 (PDF, 2 MB)5  (in German)