Master in Law and Security
Lisbon, Portugal
Master degree
DURATION
4 semesters
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 4,900 **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* * 1st phase of applications: 3rd to 27th February
** 10.000€: total tuition fee for non-EU candidates
Fast-track counseling
By contacting the school, you'll get access to free priority counselling for any study and application questions.
Key Summary
About: The Master’s Degree in Law & Security at NOVA School of Law provides in-depth, interdisciplinary training on security challenges facing states and citizens, including terrorism, organized crime, state fragility, and cyberattacks. It links security with democracy, citizenship, globalization, development and the rule of law. The 2022/23 revised edition intensifies internationalization and strengthens theoretical and practical components across political, geostrategic, military, economic, and legal areas.
Career Outcomes: Career opportunities include roles in business, public and government agencies, non-governmental organizations, security services, management, consulting and academia, and other positions needing deep knowledge of politics, geopolitics, military, economy, law, policy and governance.
This is the perfect opportunity to find out about our wide range of educational programmes, discover our innovative teaching methods and learn about the extracurricular activities that make our academic community so special.
The Master’s Degree in Law & Security provides in-depth knowledge of issues related to Security, drawing from different fields. It is based on an interdisciplinary and transversal approach, due to the need to address the problems of (in)security, which require a global response.
The importance of this master’s degree lies in acknowledging the growing threats to the security of States and citizens, such as terrorism, organized crime, the fragility of certain States, and cyberattacks, among many others – all of which pose a series of challenges to the legality and legitimacy of the action of public powers. Today, more than ever, Security is intrinsically connected to democracy, citizenship, globalization, and development, therefore being a crucial issue for the International Community of States and Citizens.
For the academic year 2022/23 we present a revised edition of the Master’s Degree in Law & Security. We have invested heavily in internationalization and reinforced the theoretical and practical components. We have thus intensified the political, geostrategic, military, economic, and legal areas of Security. Consequently, we can guarantee the appropriate training for our students to adequately respond to the professional and academic challenges of an increasingly complex and competitive world.
The Master’s Degree in Law & Security is for all graduates who want to deepen their knowledge in these two ever broader and more sensitive areas, stressing that security presents itself as an interdisciplinary domain that touches and challenges the boundaries of multiple research fields.
The Master’s may be undertaken by students as a full or part-time endeavour.
The general objective is to provide specialized training in matters of Law and of Security, from a multidisciplinary, integrated perspective. There are also specific objectives:
- To understand, from a geostrategic perspective, the challenges that the new international configuration brings to the individual and collective security of states – namely by analyzing the design of a regional, international, and legal order designed to face the new challenges to security arising from organized crime, particularly with regard to the use of force;
- To promote in-depth discussions about security as a fundamental right and as a limit to other fundamental rights in the light of national Constitutions and of other normative orders in the international order within which we live, and given a changing international system under ever-increasing stresses – consistently with a focus on the rule of law;
- To systematically examine the internal legal order and the institutional responses, among others, regarding the domains of national, regional, and international security, and the roles filled by the branches of the increasingly complex, varied, and interconnected Armed Forces, the changing roles of extant police forces, and the various intelligence services;
- To understand the role of research and crime in contemporary socio-political and socio-economic domains, as well as in environmental dynamics, which includes a careful assessment of the importance of other communal and more inclusive security systems, such as civil protection, and cybersecurity or private security, in developing a sense of security.
+ 2024/2025 & 2025/2026
1st year – Taught Component
The taught component corresponds to 60 ECTS and consists of 6 mandatory courses (36 ECTS), 3 subjects of restricted option (18 ECTS) and 1 subject of free option (6 ECTS).
From 2024/25, students will need to approve the curricular component with, at least 13,50 points out of 20 (13,5/20) to be able to enrol in the research phase (2nd year of the course).
Completion of the curricular component (60 ECTS), with any positive grade, grants the award of a Diploma in Post Graduate Studies in Law and Security, and the title of Internal Security Auditor.
1st Semester
Mandatory
- Security, Governance and the Rule of Law
- Globalization and Security
- International Humanitarian Law
Restrictive Optional
- Cybersecurity and Governance
- Intelligence and Strategic Analysis
Free Option
- Emerging Technologies: Governance and Regulation
- International Economic Law
- Legal English
2nd Semester
Mandatory
- International and European Security Law
- Research Methodology
- Security and Geopolitics
Restrictive Optional
- Human Rights International Protection Systems
- National Security and International Cooperation
- Cybercrime
Free Option
- Direito Penal Económico
- Data Protection and Management Law*
- Law of Online Platforms
- Ethics and Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
- War & Law
*Data Protection and Management Law is a course offered by NOVA School of Law’s Jean Monnet Module on European Union Data Protection Law in Portugal (DataporEU)
(The curricular units presented as free options are suggestions and may be changed. In free-option curricular units that are compulsory for other master’s programmes, enrolment and attendance depends on logistical and pedagogical possibilities).
2nd year – Research Phase
Mandatory
- Dissertation, internship at national or international institution or project work.
Merit Awards
Merit Awards are awarded to:
- Candidates whose final average admission to a 2nd study cycle at NOVA School of Law, according to assessment and ranking by the appropriate jury, is equal to or higher than 17 points (on a scale of 0/20) and who enroll and attend the same course, benefit from an award in cash corresponding to 50% of the tuition fee for the taught component of the Master’s degree.
- Candidates whose final average admission to a 2nd study cycle at NOVA School of Law, according to assessment and ranking by the appropriate jury, is equal to or higher than 16 points (on a scale of 0/20) and who enroll and attend the same course, benefit from an award in cash corresponding to 30% of the tuition fee for the taught component of the Master’s degree.
In the non-taught phase, three prizes for academic merit are awarded (by master’s degree or area of specialization, in the case of the Master’s Degree in Law). These awards assume the completion of the taught component within the stipulated time.
- The best student of the taught component of each study cycle or specialization area of a study cycle who continues and attends the non-taught phase benefits from an award in cash corresponding to 100% of the tuition fee for the non-taught phase of the Master’s degree;
- The second-best student of the taught component of each study cycle or specialization area of a study cycle who continues and attends the non-taught phase, benefits from an award in cash corresponding to 60% of the tuition fee, corresponding to the non-taught phase of the Master’s degree;
- The third-best student of the taught component of each study cycle or specialization area of a study cycle who continues and attends the non-taught phase of the Master’s degree.
The interdisciplinary nature and relevance of the subject matter opens up a wide range of professional opportunities for graduates of the Master’s programme in Law and Security, in sectors including business, public and government, and non-governmental organisations.
The specificity of the programme also allows graduates to pursue a career in security services, management, consulting or academia, or in other roles that require an in-depth knowledge of security issues in various areas, such as politics, geopolitics, the military, the economy and the law.