The LL.M. in International Business Law is an English language post graduate full-time Programme.

It is a 60 ECTS credits (one year) post-graduate university programme, running from late September to June. Courses are divided into two semesters, with exams held in January and June.  Students are entitled to a resit session of exams which is held in late June.

The ECTS, or European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, allows credits taken at one higher education institution to be counted towards a qualification studied for at another within the countries of the Higher European Education Area, and is used as the national credit system within most of these countries. One ECTS credit corresponds to 30 hours of work. The workload for an academic year is set at 60 credits.

The programme is organized through the department of continuing education. It is officially recognized by the Communauté Française of the Kingdom of Belgium as a University Programme Level 7, without sanctioning an academic rank, meaning that under Belgian laws and regulations, the LL.M. does not qualify for access to the Belgian bar or to regulated legal professions.

The LL.M. does not as such provide automatic access to a PhD, but the 60 ECTS credits qualify towards the 300 ECTS credits required for access to a PhD in Belgium. Students who wish to seek the academic recognition of the programme in their home institutions or countries are advised to seek information on such recognition before enrolling.

LL.M. candidates who successfully complete the programme are awarded a LL.M. in International Business Law, signed by the rector of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Most applicants to the LL.M. will already hold a degree giving access to the bar (in the UK, for example, this is a LLB while in Europe it is a Master). The LL.M. is designed as a 60 credit post-graduate programme, not a formal “Master” recognized by the Communauté Française which has specific content and/or language requirements, is usually 2 years and provides access to the bar.