LL.M for Judges

LL.M for Judges

Duration of the Program:

The first program - 18 months of courses, plus an additional 6 months to complete the thesis; the second program lasts for 24 months.
With the approval of the Committee Chairperson the duration of the program can be shortened. In any event, the minimum time for completing the program is 12 months. In order to extend the duration of the program, an approval of the committee and the Dean of the University Graduate Students' Authority is required.

Course of Study:

In the first program, the student will be required to complete 28 credits, including a methodological seminar and a research workshop. In the second program, the student will be required to complete 32 credits and complete the research workshop.
During the 18 month course period, the students will attend 7-8 courses, each course will be awarded 4 credits, plus a workshop for thesis writing lasting 7 weeks – 56 academic hours.
Each course or seminar will last 7 weeks, and be awarded 4 credits.
The studies will take place on Thursday evenings (17:00-20:00) in Tel-Aviv, and on Friday mornings (09:00-12:00) in Haifa.
The times, the courses and the seminars will be determined by the committee, and will be published each year.
Students submitting written confirmation from the Institute of Advanced Judicial Studies, that they have participated in 112 hours of Advanced Studies in the 5 years prior to the beginning of the program, will be exempt from two courses.
Up to two courses may be taken in other schools and departments at the University, with the approval of the Committee Chairperson.
All students will be required to submit two seminar papers during their studies, in addition to writing a thesis or a final research paper.
Final Grade:
The final grade for the degree will be composed of the following components:
First Program-

Thesis: 50%
Classes and seminars: 50%
Minimum grade to be eligible for the degree- 76.
Second Program-

Final Research Paper: 30%
Classes and seminars: 70%
Minimum grade to be eligible for the degree - 76.
Course Description
Below is a list of the courses offered in the Program. It should be noted that the list may change:

Law & Technology/ Professor Niva Elkin Koren
The internet has become an inseparable part of the business, social and public environment. In the light of this reality, the legal system now faces new challenges.
The combination of "Law and the Internet" seemed, until recently, an oxymoron. The Internet network was portrayed to many as a borderless, virtual space, out of the reach of the state and law enforcement agencies. However, the legal reality, which has developed over the last decade, points in the opposite direction. Use of the Internet has been subjected to more and more legal norms, influencing users' behaviors. The legal norms also influence the technological developments, and design the nature of the network, as a business environment and as a discursive sphere.
The course will focus on the interaction between law and technology in the virtual environment. Among the issues examined in the course, will be: ISP liability, online contracts, and intellectual property. The discussion will not only focus on the current Israeli Law, but will also emphasize the role of comparative law, as well as suggestions for reform both in Israel and abroad. The role of the law in shaping the business environment over the Internet, the balance of power, and the economic and political meaning of the information and e-commerce, will also be discussed.

Foundations in Economic Analysis of Law/ Dr. Oren Gazal-Ayal, Dr. Michal Gal, Professor Eli Salzberger, Dr. Avishalom Tor
The economic analysis of law can explain a major part of the legal norms known today. Use of economic analysis as an instrument, in order to find legal solutions, has been growing in courts all over the world. The course is designed to provide the students with a first encounter with this economic analysis. The course will review the theoretical and normative basis of the economic analysis of law.
After a short review of the basic economic model and the market model, a number of basic implementations of this method in various legal fields will be presented, such as Antitrust Law, Corporate Law, Tort and Insurance Law, Public Law and selected questions in Contract Law and Criminal Procedure. The course will also present the influence of behavioral theories on economic analysis. At the end of the course, the main criticisms of the economic analysis and its use in solving problems will be discussed.

Contemporary Theories in Jurisprudence/ Professor Eli Salzberger
The purpose of this course is to study and analyze law in a broader context, as social phenomena and overlapping research fields. In this frame, a wider picture of different theoretical prisms will be drawn. Adopting this wider view will provide the students with an opportunity to learn about the many fascinating fields, and perhaps to choose one of them, and broaden their knowledge and interest in it. The wider perception has another advantage: it is a constant reminder of how important it is to understand the law and the instruments it provides.

Health and Law/ Professor Amnon Carmi
The seminar will deal with legal aspects of the directions and approaches in the field of health in modern times. All or some of the following topics will be discussed during the course of the seminar from a comparative law point of view, both in Israel and in other countries, as it reflects in new rulings and updated statues: the status of conventional practice, unconventional medicine, medical malpractice, patient's rights and obligations, genetic engineering, transplants, medical experiments, medical opinions, mental health and euthanasia.

Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution/ Professor Mordehai Mironi
The seminar will attempt to characterize the causes of disputes, reviewing the different types of disputes and examining and analyzing the tools available in Israel and in other countries to prevent or resolve disputes. Emphasis will be put on different models of negotiation, and on the mechanisms and techniques available for the parties and the state, handling the resolution of disputes when negotiation reaches a dead end. Among these tools are: mediation, conciliation, various types of arbitration and incorporated tools. The object is to illuminate the legal and practical aspects of using these instruments and shaping a frame to evaluate their suitability and effectiveness from the parties', the public and the government's point of view. As a background for these discussions, use will be made of the developments and the extensive literature on the ADR movement, and the contribution of this movement to research, developing instruments and shaping a different culture, in settlement of civil disputes. These issues will be examined through lectures, theoretical debates and practical exercises, such as negotiations, mediation and arbitration simulations.

Evidence and Facts Finding in the Court/ Dr. Doron Menashe
The main object of this course is to present the most recent theories in the field of Logic of Proof and their connection to the practical evidence rules (among other things- their implementation in the central case law in Israel). The course will examine the main functions of fact finding, analyze the term: factual discretion, explain the evidentiary basic concepts and present, as clearly as possible, the evidentiary deduction procedures and principles of decisions in fact.

Law & Society/ Dr. Alexandre (Sandy) Kedar
The purpose of this course is to discuss the complex interactions between law and society and to examine how these categories are different, integrated and incorporated. During the course, we will use a variety of sources: theoretical literature, dealing with law and society; articles dealing with the structure of Israeli society; academic Israeli writings on law and society. We will focus on a number of Israeli norms (statutes, cases and other legal and semi-legal norms), and examine their interactions with social forces. During the course, we will conduct one or two field trips to different sections of Israeli society (such as a "Development Town", a Kibbutz, an Arab Settlement). A number of guest lectures on selected topics will be given.

Select Issues in Criminal Law/ Dr. Khalid Ghanayim, Dr. Noya Rimalt
The main object of this course is to discuss different questions arising from the substantive Criminal Law in Israel.
During the first part of the course we will be examining general issues, concerning Criminal Law, and special attention will be given to 39th Amendment to the Penal Law, and to the principals that were addressed in it, such as the structure, the components and the function of the factual and mental elements of the offence (actus reus and mens rea); the different forms of the mental elements; the principle of culpability; the derivatives of the criminal act:
conspiracy, attempt, direct perpetration, joint-perpetration, perpetration through another, instigation (solicitation) and assistance; the distinction between instigation and public incitement; the criminal liability of corporation; the justified and excused defences in criminal law and more.

The second part of the course will be dedicated to a critical discussion on specific issues, such as sex and gender, arising from the Criminal Law.
We will especially focus on specific offences, such as murder, sex offences, harming minors and the helpless, and more, while examining the relevance of gender in the content of these offences, in their interpretation and the way they are enforced. We will also examine the relevance of the gender analysis of the criminal Law in more general issues, such as criminal defenses, criminal punishment, the "reasonable man" concept, interpretation, reduced responsibility and mitigated punishment.

Research Workshop/ Dr. Avishalom Tor
The workshop will assist research students in the first stages of writing a Thesis paper.
The workshop will deal with different questions researchers are faced with, such as: how to select a topic for the Thesis paper; what is a research question and how it should be formed; how to create a research proposal.
During the workshop the students will meet with faculty members, who will introduce them to the different disciplines they are researching. The students will also meet with other University personnel, who are providing different tools to researchers.
At the end of the workshop the students will submit a short research proposal which will serve as a springboard for writing the Thesis.

Methodological Seminar/ Dr. Shulamit Almog
The Seminar is designed to enable all the LL.M. students in the research track to present the basis of his or her research paper, to illuminate the novelty in it and to face with possible criticism. The presentation of the Thesis will be made by using the theoretical approach of legal research, on which the paper is based. The reading material for each class will include a chapter on the planned paper in addition to a short published article, or a case dealing with the legal theoretical approach presented in the Thesis, chosen by the student and approved by the professor. The presented chapter will be revised according to comments given in class.
All LL.M. students in the research track are required to attend this Seminar, upon submitting their research proposal.

LL.M. for Judges- Registration
Admission:
Practising Judges, holding a first degree in law, or more, are eligible for admisstion to the program. Registration: The Register's Guide and the registration kit may be purchased at the Akademon bookstore, located at Haifa University or via phone (04-8253001).

Tuition:
Tuition for the program is 125% per year, for each of the two years in the program (total- 250%).

Financial assistance and scholarships for LL.M. students:

Excellence Scholarships
Department Excellence Award
Rector Excellence Award
Rector Award for Outstanding Final Paper
Final Paper Grant (Students who submit their final Paper during the first two years of study will receive a NIS 5000 grant after their paper has been graded)
Assistance in copying and binding the final paper

Housing:
The Faculty of Law has made arrangements with the University Students' Dorms, enabling every student in the Program to rent an apartment at a reduced rate, subject to availability.