Law PhD
The Liverpool Law School’s academic research is respected internationally for its rigour and significance. We’re committed to contributing, through the excellence of our research and policy work, to critical exploration of the role of law in promoting (or inhibiting) social justice.
Taking core values such as equality and citizenship, participation and exclusion, and vulnerability and social responsibility, as inspiration for our legal investigations, we also reflect upon how such values are themselves constructed and critiqued.
Introduction
The Liverpool Law School’s research clusters provide access to some of the most rigorous and advanced research in the field of law.
Research clusters
These research clusters provide focal points for collaboration in different areas of social, legal and political research. Postgraduate researchers are fully integrated into activity in areas including:
- Charity law and policy – exploring legal issues affecting charities and non-profit groups
- Corporations, law and society – rethinking the key legal principles and assumptions governing the relationship between corporations and society
- Criminal justice – advancing research on criminal justice processes and institutions
- EU law – driving forward understanding of the laws of the European Union, including legal relations between the EU and its member states
- European children’s rights – examining the interplay between governance and children’s rights
- European criminal law – coordinating the European Criminal Law Academic Network (ECLAN) in conjunction with the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the University of Luxembourg
- Feminist legal research – advancing research in women’s rights, while directly influencing law and policy
- Health law and regulation – pursuing impactful research into current legal, regulatory and policy dilemmas in healthcare
- International criminal law – studying legal frameworks and challenges in international criminal justice to improve responses to serious international crimes
- International law and human rights – providing a hub for research into broad areas encompassing conflict and security, migration, international courts and tribunals, and the European system of human rights
- Law and non-communicable diseases – studying how laws can help prevent non-communicable diseases through strong, evidence-based policies
- Public law – analysing institutional power, theory and multi-level governance in public law across global, European and UK contexts
- Technology, law and society – conducting interdisciplinary research into the impact of technology on society, economy and human interactions.
Research topics
We welcome research proposals which align with the research expertise of staff in the Liverpool Law School.
Research topics could be related to:
- Access to justice
- Advertising law
- Animal law and ethics
- Banking law
- Bankruptcy law
- Brexit
- Care and welfare
- Charity law
- Children’s rights
- Climate law
- Commercial law
- Company law
- Comparative law
- Competition law
- Constitutional, administrative and public law
- Consumer law
- Counterterrorism
- Corporate insolvency law
- Corruption
- Criminal law and justice
- Critical theory and political theory approaches
- Cyber law
- Data protection
- Digital economy
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- European Convention on Human Rights law
- Environment and energy law
- Equity and trusts
- EU law
- Family law
- Feminist legal theory
- Financial crime
- Food law
- Global health law and non-communicable diseases
- Health and medical law and ethics
- Immigration law
- Intellectual property law
- International human rights
- International law
- Insolvency law
- Investment law
- Judicial behaviour and decision-making
- Labour law
- Land and property law
- Law in armed conflict
- Law in Asia
- Law and development
- Law and poverty
- Law and technology
- Legal history
- Legal philosophy
- Legislation and public policy
- Marxist approaches to the law
- Music law
- National human rights action planning
- Right to a clean and healthy environment
- Sports law
- Tort
- Trade law
- Trafficking and modern slavery
- Transnational justice and criminal justice
- Whistleblower protection.
How to apply
1. Identify potential supervisors
View the staff list for the Liverpool Law School for details of potential supervisors in this area.
You can also view a list of research interest areas on our research expertise page. Members of academic staff are listed under all topics that they would be happy to hear proposals around.
If you’d like any help finding a supervisor, please email Dr Andreas Karapatakis (A.Karapatakis@liverpool.ac.uk) or Dr Raed Alnimer (ralnimer@ruw.edu.bh).
2. Prepare your application documents
You may need the following documents to complete your online application:
- A research proposal (this should cover the research you’d like to undertake)
- University transcripts and degree certificates to date
- Passport details (international applicants only)
- English language certificates (international applicants only)
- A personal statement
- A curriculum vitae (CV)
- Contact details for two proposed supervisors
- Names and contact details of two referees.
3. Apply
Finally, register and apply online.
Fees and funding
International fees
Full-time place, per year - £25,350
Part-time place, per year - £12,650
Fees stated are for 2026/27 and may be subject to change for academic year 2027/28. The University may administer inflationary rises to international fees in subsequent academic years as you progress through the course.
Careers and employability
Unlock your potential
Once you graduate after completing your PhD, you’ll gain free access to Prosper to help you unlock your potential and kickstart your postdoctoral research career.
Prosper provides structured career development and support, designed specifically for postdocs, in close collaboration with employer partners and principal investigators.
Opportunities include coaching, workshops, webinars and a buddy scheme designed to help you realise the next step in your career journey.
You can also access online resources including the Prosper portal so you can manage your personal and professional development at your own pace.
Enhance your skills
As a postgraduate researcher at the University of Liverpool, you have access to an exciting portfolio of development opportunities, designed to support your ongoing success and help you realise your ambitions.
These development opportunities, available through The Academy’s PGR Development Hub, are suitable for all subject specialisms. You might be just commencing your research or in the final stages of completing your PhD.
An initial Development Needs Analysis will encourage you to reflect on your abilities. This exploration of your personal, professional and career development needs will form the foundation of a bespoke development plan you’ll agree with your supervisor.
The aim is to immerse yourself in new experiences, engage in development opportunities designed exclusively for postgraduate researchers, and reflect on your progress.
Entry requirements
You’ll typically need to hold both of the following:
- A UK undergraduate degree (BA or LLB) at 2:1 or above, or overseas equivalent, in a relevant subject
- A UK master’s degree, or overseas equivalent, in Law (LLM).
English language requirements
Students admitted to this programme will be based entirely at the RUW campus in Bahrain and will not be required to study or undertake research at the University of Liverpool campus in the UK. Applicants must demonstrate a sufficient level of English language proficiency to undertake and complete a higher-level research degree in English. English language proficiency will be considered as part of the assessment of the research proposal and interview process.
Contacts
- Dr Andreas Karapatakis (Karapatakis@liverpool.ac.uk)
- Dr Raed Alnimer (ralnimer@ruw.edu.bh).