The University of Essex ground-breaking LLM Economic, Social and Cultural Rights builds on Essex's distinctive expertise, reputation and experience of working on the protection of economic, social and cultural rights internationally and domestically in countries around the world. Essex combines cutting-edge scholarship and practice on the legal aspects of the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, with the latest thinking in the operationalization and implementation of these rights through public policy. The course focuses on: international human rights law protections of economic, social and cultural rights; constitutional and administrative law; how human rights law is operationalized in practice; public policy making; new tools and methodologies for achieving these economic and social rights.

Essex includes a range of key law courses to enable any non-law students to develop an understanding of public international, constitutional and administrative law.

The majority of Essex's students go on, or return, to work in human rights as litigators, in NGOs and international organizations like the UN, in government (particularly Ministries of Foreign Affairs) and in academia. They are a conspicuous presence in all the key human rights hubs in the world.

Essex's School of Law graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers in international and intergovernmental organizations or employment with governments across the world, in commerce and banking, in non-governmental organizations and, as might be expected, in the legal profession and the judiciary.

Essex is the first university in the UK to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This creates internship and research opportunities for postgraduate students and is based on Essex's long-established expertise in international humanitarian law.