CH · Master's
University of Lausanne
LL.M. in International Business Law
University of Lausanne
Deadline detail: May 31 for the September intake and January 15 for the February intake — but March 31 and September 30 respectively if you need visa support
Course Overview
The University of Lausanne's LL.M. in International Business Law is run by the Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration at the Internef building on the UNIL campus above Lake Geneva. It is built for lawyers who already have a first legal qualification and want a commercial specialisation with a Swiss and European frame. You either take one of five specialisations — International Business Law and Innovation, International Business Law and Sports, International Business Disputes, International Business Transactions, and International Business Regulation — or assemble a bespoke pick-and-choose track from the same course catalogue.
The format is the unusual part and worth understanding before you apply. Courses are taught in intensive blocks of two to three days for a 3-credit course and four to six days for a 6-credit course, generally clustered on Thursdays and Fridays, which lets working lawyers fit the degree around practice and lets full-time students concentrate the year. The whole programme can be completed in twelve months or stretched over a longer period. Teaching is by UNIL's own commercial and comparative law faculty alongside practitioners from Geneva and Zurich firms — this is a practice-facing degree, not a research one.
Two specialisations make this genuinely distinctive for a Sri Lankan applicant. The sports law track sits in the same canton as the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and the International Olympic Committee, which is unmatched anywhere else in the world — relevant if you are interested in the governance and arbitration side of cricket and sport. The disputes track connects to Switzerland's position as the default seat for international commercial arbitration, which matters directly to Sri Lankan commercial practice: cross-border contracts involving Sri Lankan apparel, tea, shipping, construction and telecom counterparties routinely name Swiss arbitration clauses. Note honestly that the LL.M. is a specialisation, not a licence — it does not admit you to a Swiss cantonal bar, and Swiss legal practice remains largely closed to foreign-qualified lawyers.
Entry Requirements
Academic
- check_circle A law degree — Bachelor's or Master's — from a recognised institution. A Sri Lankan LL.B. from Colombo, Peradeniya, Jaffna or OUSL, or a recognised UK-affiliated LL.B., meets this.
- check_circle Applicants holding a non-law Master's, or a Bachelor's only, must show additional relevant legal training of roughly 30-60 ECTS credits or equivalent professional experience — Sri Lanka Law College study or years in commercial practice can be argued here.
- check_circle Attorneys-at-Law admitted in Sri Lanka with corporate, banking or commercial practice experience are the strongest fit for this cohort.
- check_circle CV, transcripts, degree certificates and a short motivation letter naming the specialisation you want and why.
- check_circle The block-teaching timetable makes it possible to combine the degree with part-time work in Switzerland within the limits of your permit — but do not build a budget that assumes it.
- check_circle Apply by the earlier visa-support deadline (March 31 for September, September 30 for February) if you are applying from Sri Lanka — the later dates leave no room for a Swiss national D visa to be processed.
- check_circle Proof of funds covering tuition and living costs is required for the student visa and for the cantonal residence permit on arrival.
English Proficiency
- check_circle IELTS Academic: 7.0 or above.
- check_circle TOEFL iBT: 100 or above.
- check_circle Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) or C2 Proficiency (CPE) is accepted.
- check_circle The stated benchmark is B2 or higher; the tests above are the standard evidence.
- check_circle A waiver is normally available where your prior degree was taught and examined entirely in English — a Medium of Instruction letter from a Sri Lankan English-medium LL.B. usually suffices, but get the waiver confirmed in writing before you skip the test.
- check_circle The programme is taught in English. French is not required for the degree, though it makes daily life in Lausanne considerably easier.
Estimated Cost of Study
| Expense Category | Amount (CHF) | Approx. LKR |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition Fee (full programme, payable in instalments) | CHF 18,000 | Rs. 6,660,000 |
| Living Expenses in Lausanne (12 months) | CHF 21,600 | Rs. 7,992,000 |
| Health Insurance & Residence Permit | CHF 2,000 | Rs. 740,000 |
| Visa, Books & Airfare | CHF 1,600 | Rs. 592,000 |
| Total Programme Investment | CHF 43,200 | Rs. 15,984,000 |
*LKR conversion based on current bank rates. Subject to change.
Career Outcomes & PR
Non-EU graduates of a Swiss university can apply for a six-month permit to seek work related to their field of study, though converting it into a Swiss work permit is quota-limited and genuinely hard for foreign-qualified lawyers. The realistic value of this degree is portable rather than Swiss-resident: an internationally recognised commercial law specialisation that reads well to cross-border practices anywhere. Graduates work in international arbitration and commercial practice, in-house legal and compliance functions at multinationals, sports governance bodies, banking and financial regulation, and international trade. In Sri Lanka the return is concrete — corporate and commercial partners at Colombo firms, in-house counsel and company secretarial leadership at John Keells, Hayleys, MAS Holdings, Brandix, Dialog Axiata, Aitken Spence, Commercial Bank and HNB, compliance roles across the licensed banks, and the small but growing Colombo arbitration bar. The sports law track is the natural route into governance and disciplinary work with cricket and Olympic-movement bodies.
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