The goal of this program is to provide students with an opportunity to study and specialize in criminal law, a one-year qualification from a narrow criminal law area, as need to prepare future lawyers for the labor market, as well as for their further education at doctoral and research levels.
Student Learning Objectives:
• To be able to apply successfully his/her knowledge obtained from the criminal law field in various context where relevant practical or theoretical problems are surveyed;
• To assess problems based on their context, relevancy and significance, and be able to interrelate relevant information and primary sources through electronic tools and other means;
• To evaluate and analyze problems and find solutions in relation to the application of criminal law in the country;
• To be able to formulate arguments related to the main and controversial issues in criminal law area, and be able to provide a rational opinion based on relevant facts and evidences;
• To be aware of potential alternative arguments and contradictory evidences, and be able to present them in the context of people’s welfare and rule of law principles;
• To demonstrate free and creative thinking as well as the ability to foster critical thinking behind their gained knowledge and individual problems so they become constructive in their scientific progress.
The second cycle of the criminal law study program will provide substantial knowledge and semantic understanding on institutional structures, key legal principles and certain contexts of the criminal law. This program provides students valid qualification for post university contexts, especially for those who intend to take a leading role in combating crime, especially combating modern forms of organized crime and corruption.
Upon successful completion, students will be able:
• To provide advanced original commentaries, which meet the highest scientific standards, and develop critical, analytical and research skills to be applied in certain areas of law;
• To develop skills in the area of criminal law studies, at international level, academic advancement, especially through written presentation of arguments and in the spirit of standardized relevant academic regulations, as well as create a sound basis for use of necessary research techniques and methods, which are part of specialized courses;
• To continue their career and advancement in criminal law area both at academic and practical levels;
• To contribute to the advancement of approaches and solutions to prevent and combat criminality, especially of modern forms such as cybercrime 32
• To analyze and provide proper solutions related to modern challenges of security, by providing professional expertise and advice to rule of law agencies;
• To contribute to the advancement of criminal law, and provide their help in public debates and provide professional counselling for the harmonization of the criminal national legislation to that of the EU and other international laws.
Master of Laws (LLM) in Criminal Law
These studies will continue for 1 academic year in two semesters, while the total number of accumulated ECTS will be 60. 30 ECTS credits for each semesters.
In this course, students will learn chapters from the criminal law; they will be exposed to reading materials that cover general topics, with special focus on thematic issues related to joint criminal offences and other criminal offences committed by young persons. Discussion of topics will have the following order: Criminal Law (general part), the science of criminal law, methods and its relationship with other criminal sciences, criminal law scope, interpretation of criminal law, extradition and the right to asylum, criminal offences, criminal responsibility, criminal offence phases, sanctions, punishments, juvenile delinquencies and how they are treated by criminal law,the aim and types of criminal sanctions against juvenile, definition, significance, the matter, content and the system of specific parts of criminal law.
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In this course, students will learn about the criminal procedures, scope of criminal procedure, best practices and novelties in the criminal procedure in Europe and elsewhere. The following topics will be discusses: the subject of criminal procedure; basic types of criminal procedure and its historic development in Kosova; the relationship between criminal procedure and other scientific disciplines; sources for the criminal procedure law; principles of criminal procedures; Kosova’s criminal procedural code, entities of criminal procedure; scope of criminal procedure; the trial process in the criminal procedure; in general about the trial process; dealing with some evidences, stages of the criminal procedure; court consideration and court judgment; the procedure and legal instruments; accelerated procedure, procedures against juveniles; special procedures, procedures for application of measures for compulsory consideration, for confiscating and revocation of alternative punishments.
In this course students will learn about the latest achievements in heuristic criminalistics, especially about sociological criminalistics and its importance to other disciplines in discovering and proving crime. Thematic structure of this course will be as following: scientific foundation of identification in criminalistics; understanding, scientific foundation and the system of forensic techniques; methods for operational measures; initial methods of discovery and investigation of criminal acts; techniques for discovering the motives of criminal offences, patrolling, observations, bluffing; investigation activities; facing technique; basic of investigative psychology; simulation and its identification; Syllogistics and its importance in contemporary criminalistics, forensic experiment; forensic expertise; discovery methods and explanation of smuggling and organized crime; methods for discovering terrorism; methods for discovering murdering acts.
In this course, students will learn and gain in depth knowledge about criminology, about the origin of crime and other forms of crime, especially its forms in modern times, as well as determinant factors contributing to such forms of crime. The structure of topics will follow generally this order: Understanding of the science of criminology; study methods of crime, the relationship of criminology with other sciences, theories on criminality, and the history of criminological thinking; volume and structure of crime, organized crime and its basic characteristics, crimes and types of crime, juvenile delinquencies; understanding the role of criminogenic factors (criminal etiology); criminality and its manifestation, internal factors (subjective) of criminality.
In this course, students will learn about modalities of organized crime, its structure, organizational forms, as well as the legal basis to prevent and combat organized crime. The following topics are: Understanding the course on organized crime as a new course, theoretical and scientific definition of organized crime, legal definition of organized crime, institutional framework to combat organized crime, organized crime and terrorism – similarities and differences.
In this course, students will learn about computer crime, its forms, cyber skills and their use for activities in violation to law. They will also gain knowledge and information related to the prevention of this type of crime, as well as how to prevent it. They will learn about electronic blockades, and other preventive measures as a set of skills and techniques to protect information of strategic character. The topics to be discussed in this course include: what is cybercrime, challenges to law enforcement agencies, national legislation and international standards, cybercrime as a criminal offence within the national legislation, criminal offences against data and computer systems, fraud and falsification related to computers, criminal offences related to contents (child pornography, xenophobia, racism), criminal offences related to intellectual property, related to electronic evidence – designations and characteristics, requirements for electronic evidence, computer expertise, Convention on Cybercrime, mutual legal support and the role of competent authorities.
In this course, students will learn about the new and more advanced criminological approaches, where the victim is in a more advanced stage than the damaged party used to be earlier. They will learn about other novelties in this field, specifically about restorative justice and the tendency to reach an agreement between the wrongdoer and the victim. The following topics will be discussed: victimology, victim typologies, victims as an active and passive source of information, the importance of victimology for criminalistics, genocide and war crime victims, justice for victims, primary and secondary victimization, victims’ rights.
In this course, students will learn about international cooperation in the field of criminal law, best practices of this cooperation, harmonization of the national legislation with the international one. The following topics will be discussed: international penal law in the context of international law, and of the international human law, international crimes; genocide, aggression, general principles of international law responsibilities (individual and national), torture, terrorism, money laundry, human trafficking, corruption in international context, prosecution of crime before national courts.
In this course, students will learn about the importance of the penitentiary system in Kosovo, and its role for the re-socialization and reeducation of convicted persons, especially of those at a younger age. They will also learn about international standards related to the rights of persons serving their sentence. The topics include: Understanding Penology (a science on the execution of criminal sanctions); reaction against criminality in history – forms of reaction against criminality; understanding and types of criminal sanctions; criminal sanctions according to the new criminal legislation of Kosova; the system for the execution of prison sentences; the role of international organizations and associations for the development and advancement of the criminal sanction execution system; methods for group treatment with sentenced persons; implementation of educational measures against juveniles.
There is a diploma thesis which contains 20 ECTS. After completion of all exams, students presents his/her project proposal, selects (proposes) a topic and a mentor, and finally at the end defends it in front of a commission.