Requirements

The Faculty of Law awards the degree of Doctor of Law (doctor iuris) based on a high-level academic qualification. Typically, applicants are required to have passed the First Law Examination or the Second State Examination with the grade “fully satisfactory”. Acceptance as a doctoral candidate is also possible on the following conditions:

• Completion of an equivalent law programme abroad
• Successful completion of a postgraduate or Master’s programme at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bremen or an equivalent programme at another faculty
• Completion of a non-law degree programme and fulfilment of the respective requirements for acceptance as a doctoral candidate, two semesters of law studies at the University of Bremen equivalent in scope to studies in the chosen field of specialisation and submission of a written seminar paper in law, graded at least ‘good’. 
• Completion of a degree at a university of applied sciences with a specialisation in law; two semesters of law studies at the University of Bremen equivalent in scope to studies in the chosen field of specialisation and submission of a written seminar paper in law, graded at least ‘good’.

As a rule, the grade achieved has to be at least equivalent to the grade “fully satisfactory” in the First Law Examination. A missing grade can be replaced by:

• submission of a written assignment graded „good“ drawn up within the context of a seminar or a doctoral colloquium at the Faculty of Law at the University of Bremen or passing of the university examination in the chosen field of specialisation with the grade “good” or better.
• presentation of a draft dissertation proposal
• the favourable votes of two professors with the substantiated prognosis that the doctoral candidate will achieve the high-level academic qualification

Candidates can also be accepted who are employed as research assistants at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bremen or who have carried out independent research at a legal institute associated with the University of Bremen or who have been employed as jurists at another institute of the University of Bremen or in a third-party funded project directed by a professor of the Faculty of Law at the University of Bremen.