Dushinee Maistry left Mauritius for France in 2017 to attend the Sorbonne-QMUL Double LLM. She explains why she chose to study in Paris.
I always had a strong desire to study an LLM programme at Queen Mary University, a university which is known for its excellent research and quality of staff. As I am very interested in commercial law, QMUL was the right choice because the Centre for Commercial Law studies (CCLS) specialises mainly in the knowledge of commercial law.
I came across the double LLM programme while reading on the law school’s website. The application process was straightforward and required an inspiring motivation letter of why you deserve your place on the course. Afterwards, I had a convivial skype interview with a professor to assess my French language and then to my delight, at the end of our discussion, the professor told me I was accepted on the course.
This double LLM in Paris has been very fruitful for me. I needed to be determined and committed to succeed and I have been able to choose which modules I wanted to study from quite a large list. As someone who also did not have any knowledge of French law, this double LLM has provided me with more than insight into the French and European legal systems. At present, for example, ‘droit des contrats’ or ‘Procedure civile’ are subjects which I master very well. If I needed some advice, there was always someone to provide help. Lectures and conferences are regularly organised and I got the opportunity to attend and meet lawyers. The educational visits to Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels were so interesting. I would never have thought that I would be able to visit the European Court of Justice or attend a live audience in the European Court of Human Rights one day. Moreover, the University’s building is situated at ‘Invalides’- one of the places which is the most visited in Paris and it is very close to the metro.
Being the double LLM student representative, I had the opportunity to receive training on how to be a good representative from QMUL student union’s manager in London and also to attend staff-student liaison committees. As a student advisor for qLegal (Queen Mary Legal advice centre), I had the chance to work on a real case from the point at which the clinic received the client’s file to the submission of the legal opinion. As a QMUL student, I was also able to participate in the Oxford French law mooting competition in 2019.
Being within the first cohort of this double LLM, I would highly encourage students to apply for this enriching and unique course as you get to learn a combination of English, French and European Union Law.