Universidade Católica Portuguesa - Porto Law School
Master in Law
Porto, Portugal
Master degree
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
Portuguese
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Oct 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 594 / per month *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus, Blended
* 1st year: €594/month X 10 monthly payments = €5,940 | 2nd year: €490/month X 5 monthly payments = €2,970
Key Summary
About: At Universidade Católica Portuguesa Porto Faculty of Law, the Master in Law develops legal knowledge and skills. The programme is 90 ECTS, with 60 ECTS taught and 30 ECTS for a dissertation. Students choose from 100+ subjects to build an interdisciplinary plan, requiring 33 ECTS among nine specializations (e.g., Private, Criminal, Corporate, International/European, Administrative, Fiscal, Constitutionalism and Human Rights). Courses run mainly afternoon; faculty, internships and internationalization support professional practice, negotiation and teamwork.
Career Outcomes: Graduates enter public administration, diplomatic services, international organizations, NGOs, consulting and multinationals, or work as lawyers, in‑house counsel, legal advisors, policy/compliance officers, or pursue research.
Master in Law
Presentation
It is intended to provide the acquisition of knowledge and skills essential to the specialized training of lawyers particularly prepared to face the professional world or to pursue studies at a higher level.
The Masters in Law has a highly qualified faculty, which combines specialists from different areas, from the Catholic University and the most prestigious universities, chosen for their high technical competence and also great pedagogical capacity.
Course Operation
Master's degrees have 90 ECTS, of which 60 ECTS correspond to the teaching phase, which takes place over two semesters, and 30 ECTS to the dissertation, corresponding to one semester.
To carry out the 60 ECTS foreseen, the student can choose from more than 100 subjects and seminars, composing the study plan that best suits their preferences and plans.
If you want, as usual, to take a Masters in Law in a specific area of specialization, you must complete at least 33 ECTS in curricular units in that area, and may choose, for the rest, curricular units from other areas, composing an interdisciplinary and personalized curricular plan . It should be noted that this model is unique in our country but corresponds to the practice followed in some of the best American and European universities.
There are 9 areas of specialization currently offered, as they are understood to be the main areas of activity for lawyers and their completion qualifies the student for a competitive entry into the job market:
- Private Law
- Criminal Law
- Corporate and Business Law
- International and European Law
- International Studies Program
- Administrative law
- Related searches
- Fiscal right
- Constitutionalism, Democracy and Human Rights
From the combination of all these possibilities, the student can define the “master's profile” they are looking for, being able to choose between a more scientific path, in conjunction with the research carried out at the School's Center for Studies and Research, a training more directed to access to forensic professions, or else, especially for those who are already in a professional context, to seek to satisfy demands for updating and specializing knowledge in the area of Law. In any case, it will come out with the quality mark of the Faculty of Law of the Catholic University.
Offered preferably in the late afternoon, the course is characterized by the diversity of teaching modules and themes, also reflecting the concern for constant updating of its teaching offer, in the face of new challenges or the emergence of new branches of Law. These objectives can only be achieved by the fact that the School has its own teaching staff of recognized excellence and the collaboration of other teachers and specialists of unquestionable merit.
Taking into account current trends in Law, the School of Law is also committed to strengthening the offer of interdisciplinary subjects/seminars and also in the dimension of internationalization, not only in terms of teaching but also in the offer of training internships.
The International Studies Program offered by the Faculty of Law of Porto at the Catholic University of Portugal is organized into 3 semesters. The first two semesters are academic. During the third semester, students will submit their master's thesis.
The program concludes with the completion of 90 ECTS credits: 60 ECTS corresponding to the academic semesters and the remaining 30 ECTS upon submission of the dissertation. Students must therefore complete 30 ECTS credits in each semester. In the academic semesters, students must complete 60 ECTS credits from the study plan available at the link below.
The course aims to provide an integrated overview and in-depth contact with the set of fundamental subjects in the area of Corporate Law, from a traditional and updated analytical perspective, linked to business legal practice.
The aim is for trainees to acquire skills that facilitate the resolution of problems they encounter in the exercise of their professional activities and/or promote the possible continuation of studies in the areas of Law covered by the course.
Merit scholarships
The awarding of merit scholarships to master's students results from a joint analysis of all students enrolled in the master's programs (Law and Law and Management), with no scholarships awarded per program. Therefore, 10 scholarships will be awarded across both programs, with student ranking based on the criteria indicated below, without considering the master's program they are enrolled in.
i) All enrolled students are eligible (regardless of the university where they graduated and whether the degree is in Law), even those who are in the dissertation preparation phase, unless:
a. Interrupt the course for one or more semesters;
b. They do not complete the master's degree course (curricular part) in the first year of attendance;
c. If the dissertation is not approved in the semester immediately following the first year of attendance;
ii) For ranking purposes, the application grade will be used as a reference, resulting from the arithmetic mean rounded to hundredths, with a minimum required grade of 15.00;
iii) Scholarships will be preferentially awarded to students holding a Law degree from the Faculty of Law of Porto at the Catholic University, without prejudice to the fact that, in the case of students holding a Law degree from another university or students holding another degree with a higher classification, scholarships will be awarded with a limit of three and one, respectively.
iv) The awarding of merit scholarships depends on an application from the interested party, to be submitted to the Director of the Faculty of Law by September 15th.
Awards are granted per semester (not per academic year), with a reassessment conducted at the beginning of each semester.
The awards for excellence consist of:
For the purposes of the table above, tuition fees are defined as the monetary value corresponding to a maximum of 60 credit units (ECTS) in the academic year in which the student benefits from the Excellence Award. Extracurricular activities attended by the student will not be included in the award.
The program is designed to prepare students for careers in the public and private sectors: from public administration, diplomatic and consular services, or international organizations, but also third-sector entities (mainly NGOs), international consulting or public relations, or multinational companies.
This training is intended for lawyers, judges, and legal professionals in general who, in some way, interact or intend to interact with the business world.