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Postgraduate Diploma in Law The PG Diploma in Law is offered in the fields of Commercial and Business Law, Corporate Law, Environmental Law, General, Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation, Information and Communications Law, International Law, International Economic Law, Labour Law, Pensions Law, and Tax Law.
Postgraduate Diploma in Law The PG Diploma in Law is offered in the fields of Commercial and Business Law, Corporate Law, Environmental Law, General, Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation, Information and Communications Law, International Law, International Economic Law, Labour Law, Pensions Law, and Tax Law.

Qualification: PGDipLaw

Faculty: Commerce, Law and Management

Duration: 1 - 2 years

School: Law

Study mode: Full-time; Part-time

Overview

The Postgraduate Diploma is the successor to the highly popular Higher Diploma in Law, and is an advanced postgraduate qualification aimed at the busy legal professional who wishes to gain specialised knowledge in their chosen area of law but does not want to commit to the extensive independent research element involved in the LLM by Coursework and Research Report.

Both the PGDip and LLM by Coursework and Research Report can be taken in a wide variety of specialised fields. Graduates from these programmes have found that advanced, specialised postgraduate study has enhanced their research skills and knowledge, giving them an edge in the legal workplace.

The duration of the programme is one year on a full-time basis or two years on a part-time basis.

Most of the courses are held once a week throughout the semester. Lectures are typically held after 5pm during the week or on Saturdays, enabling even the busy legal professional to gain an advanced postgraduate application while continuing in full-time employment.

The following courses are held as block releases where participants attend daily lectures from 08:30 to 16:30 for a week during semester 1 or 2. Please consult the Mandela Institute website for dates and duration of the course: • Labour Arbitration • Mediation and Conciliation

The programme may be pursued as a general Postgraduate Diploma in Law, or may be taken in a specialist field. 

Students take four advanced courses, either in one of the designated fields, or they may choose from the available courses to suit their interests and professional needs. 

Fields of study: (Note that not all fields are offered in a particular year). Please click to see curriculum for each course.

  • A graduate who holds a Bachelor of Laws degree of this or any other university and who has obtained an average of at least 65% in the Bachelor of Laws degree

Entry to the programme is limited. The Law School admits only law graduates and legal professionals who have demonstrated their ability to undertake and complete advanced academic study.

Please note that the Entry Requirements are a guide. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee a place.

Please check with School

  • Applications are handled centrally by the Student Enrolment Centre (SEnC). Once your application is complete in terms of requested documentation, your application will be referred to the relevant School for assessment. Click here to see an overview of the Wits applications process.
  • Please apply online. Upload your supporting documents at the time of application, or via the Self Service Portal.
  • Applicants can monitor the progress of their applications via the Self Service Portal.
  • Selections for programmes that have a limited intake but attract a large number of applications may only finalise the application at the end of the application cycle.

Please note that the Entry Requirements are a guide. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee a place. Final selection is made subject to the availability of places, academic results and other entry requirements where applicable.

International students, please check this section.

For more information, contact the Student Call Centre +27 (0)11 717 1888, or log a query at www.wits.ac.za/askwits.

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.