Find another programme
European Law School

Your future

At Maastricht University, we offer you guidance and counselling to help you choose a career path and the master’s programme that will help you reach your goals. Please note that when you follow a route that leads to professional qualifications to become a lawyer, public prosecutor or judge, your choice of a master’s programme will usually be bound to a certain country or continent.

Master’s programmes

If you decide to continue with a master’s programme, as most students do, you can enrol in one of the following master’s programmes at Maastricht University without additional requirements:

Specific admission requirements apply to the following master’s programmes:

Career prospects

When you graduate, you can start working in a legal environment in positions such as company lawyer, adviser or policy officer. However, most of our students go on to earn a master’s degree.

With a bachelor’s degree from the European Law School (usually followed by a corresponding Master of Laws), you have a qualification that is unique in Europe. You show that you have thorough knowledge of the concepts underlying legal systems and the way these concepts have been implemented in the major legal traditions in Europe (major civil law and common law systems). Moreover, you have deep knowledge of the law and functioning of the European Union. You are at home in a multi-linguistic and multi-cultural environment, and you have the ability to think and act flexibly across national borders.

Globalisation and the further development of the European integration process create a demand for graduates with a European Law School profile. After graduation, you can work in a legal environment, for example as a policy advisor or working for the government. When you gain access to the professional qualification process, you may also become a lawyer, public prosecutor or judge, but additional training will be needed for that. Please be aware that certain activities, such as giving legal advice and in-house counselling, are reserved for fully qualified lawyers in many jurisdictions.

Most of our students continue their legal education and specialise in a specific area, such as European law, business law, criminal law or tax law. Other graduates move outside the legal field and pursue a master’s degree in an area like political science, economics or international relations. We strongly recommend you think about your career prospects before entering any law school.

European Law School

Alumni @ work

Our alumni work in various positions, such as:

  • union consultant
  • legal expert in an international trading company
  • policy advisor for the Dutch Parliament (Eerste Kamer)
  • credit controller
  • director of a communications company
  • immigration consultant for the Dutch Immigration & Naturalisation Service

What you should know about your degree

On the European continent, the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree alone is not considered a fully completed law degree. We therefore strongly recommended that you complete a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.).

Career prospects for graduates with an LL.B. without an LL.M. are extremely limited in Europe, with the exception of England and Wales where an LL.M. is not necessary, but where you will need a graduate diploma in law to seek professional qualifications.

Qualifying to become a lawyer, public prosecutor or judge requires additional professional training in a national jurisdiction after you graduate from law school. Generally, access to the professional training phase for these professions requires detailed knowledge of the relevant national law. For the professions of public prosecutor and judge, there may be an additional nationality requirement.

At Maastricht University we offer you a route that leads to access to professional qualifications. By taking specific courses (in Dutch) in your second and third years, in combination with a specific master's programme, you can obtain the necessary qualifications.

 More on training to be a lawyer, public prosecutor or judge in the Netherlands