• Level: Second level degree programme
  • Class: LMG/01 - Class of five-years Master's Degrees in Law
  • Language of the programme: Italian
  • Admission to the programme: limited number, with admission test
  • Campus: Department - Faculty of Law, Via Verdi 53, 38122 Trento

The cultural and academic approach to teaching at the Faculty of Law of Trento, since its first academic year (1984-85), has been inspired by the idea that a jurist's training requires, above all, an understanding of the legal phenomenon as a social and institutional reality that characterizes every human society. The juridical phenomenon cannot be circumscribed in time and space and traced back to a single state's legal system (today's Italian one) but must be studied and understood also through comparison with other systems, both from a historical (diachronic) and contextual perspective (synchronic), with regard both to legal systems that express an evolution of common roots (such as Roman law), and to systems that stem from different original assumptions (for example in non-European contexts).
A comparison, therefore, facilitates the understanding and critical knowledge of one's own legal system and, as a result, favours the acquisition of cultural and methodological foundations which are a prerequisite for solid professional knowledge.
This approach proves to be of particular importance and pertinence in our time, in which phenomena such as European supranational integration, the globalization of social, economic and cultural relations and the development of technologies (in particular of information technology) require appropriate training also for the jurist, who must know how to view the juridical phenomenon as it expresses itself in the world scenario today, with cultural sensitivity and methodological skills which permit an adequate degree of professionalism.
Legal science is a fascinating and formidable tool for understanding the world that surrounds us and for intervening in it with professional knowledge. The jurist's university preparation requires a higher level training commitment with an elevated cultural and academic profile in the learning of knowledge and in the systematic acquisition of the legal method. The organisation of the programmes offered by the Faculty of Law of Trento calls for an even greater and more intense individual commitment, both for teachers and students, who are called to understand their professional vocation and to invest the necessary energy in their university studies.

Academic objectives

Since the 2011-2012 academic year, in compliance with the ban on the diversification of educational paths (Ministerial Decree n. 17 of 2010), the Faculty of Law of Trento has offered a five-year degree (Master's) in Law which, in keeping with its history, is distinguished by a comparative, European and transnational path with split core modules. This pedagogical choice satisfies the contemporary educational need to prepare the student to operate in a world which, compared to the past, is characterised by growing supranational European and transnational integration, by the progressive globalization of social, economic and cultural relations, as well as by the continuous development of technologies (including information technology).

The teaching method adopted in the core modules also consistently takes account of the transcendence of the state-centric conception of law, which, until recently, was a bedrock of legal teaching, and of the need to consider the existence of an integrated legal system as a reference point for the programme, since any legal issue may now imply the simultaneous use of dispositions and courts of several national and supranational systems.

Therefore, the educational objectives of the core teachings of the programme combine the balanced study of national and European law, according to a proven pedagogy that also includes legal comparison and the transnational dimension.

The basic choice that distinguishes the Master's degree in Law offered by the Faculty of Law of Trento is reflected in the organisation of the course into supplementary, advanced and specialized modules, the organisation of practical workshops, an annual programme of modules which are updated to take account of the modern professional perspectives of the European and transnational jurist, the internationalization of teaching programmes and teaching staff including numerous visiting professors, a wide range of opportunities for international mobility of students and trainees, an emphasis on language and IT training, and the organisation of Italian and foreign professional internships.

The aim of the course is to allow graduates to acquire advanced legal training, an indispensable prerequisite for starting the legal professions (lawyer, magistrate, notary), for job opportunities as civil servants in Italian, EU and international public administration, and for diplomacy, as well as for the practice of various professions in the private sector.

In all the academic-disciplinary areas that make up the programme, in-depth knowledge of the principal sectors of the legal system is provided in its main applications and interrelations, as well as the technical and cultural tools required by the professional jurist.

The objective of the Master's degree in Law is the acquisition by students of the legal "method", skills for solving interpretive and applied problems of positive law, advanced knowledge relating to the cultural training of the jurist, also through study and in-depth investigation of specific aspects or sectors.

Professional profiles

The aim of the course is to allow graduates to acquire general legal training, an indispensable prerequisite for access to the legal professions (lawyer, magistrate, notary), for opportunities as civil servants in Italian, EU, international public administration and for diplomacy, as well as for the practice of various professions in the private sector.

Professional profiles

Further studies

The Master's degree can lead to further studies at the Graduate School for the Legal Professions, a unique training opportunity that allows access, once the exams and the required competitions have been completed, to the traditional forensic professions. The post-graduate training offer also includes a research doctorate.

The academic opportunities after graduation also include:

Aggiornato il
28 June 2021