MSc in Law, Governance and AI
Overview
Lead the governance of AI
Where law, governance and AI meet
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the institutions, professions and systems through which society is governed. Its growing use creates major opportunities, but also raises difficult questions about accountability, fairness, public value, legal responsibility and democratic oversight.
The MSc in Law, Governance and Artificial Intelligence brings together the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Law and Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR). It offers an integrated programme for students who want to understand how AI systems operate, how they are regulated, how they affect legal and political decision-making, and how responsible approaches to their design and use can be developed.
The course combines rigorous study of law, governance, politics and regulation with practical computational learning. Students will develop a shared vocabulary across disciplines, engage critically with the ethical and institutional implications of AI, and apply their learning through a practical group project focused on a real-world legal, governance or social challenge.
The programme is intended for applicants from a range of academic and professional backgrounds. It will be particularly relevant to graduates and professionals in law, public policy, government, regulation, risk, compliance, consulting, technology, data, international organisations and responsible innovation.
Course Directors
Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions, Department of Politics and International Relations
Rebecca Williams, Professor of Public Law and Criminal Law, Faculty of Law
Jointly delivered by:
Course in brief
MSc | Full-time | In-person | 12 months | First entry expected 2027 to 2028 academic year | Jointly delivered by the Faculty of Law and the Department of Politics and International Relations
Artificial intelligence is changing law, public institutions, regulation and the way societies make decisions. Oxford’s MSc in Law, Governance and Artificial Intelligence is designed for graduates and professionals who want to understand that change and help shape it responsibly.
Sign up for more information
Register now to receive course updates, admissions information, invitations to future events and notification when applications open.
Why study AI governance now?
AI is no longer only a technical or commercial issue. It is increasingly shaping access to services, legal practice, public administration, organisational decisions and democratic life. Future leaders will need to understand both what the technology can do and how law, regulation, politics and public institutions should respond. This MSc is designed to build that interdisciplinary fluency and prepare students to contribute to the responsible governance of AI.
Professor John Armour
Dean of the Faculty of Law and Professor of Law and Finance
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping every sector, from law and finance to healthcare, education and public services. This new MSc in Law, Governance and AI is designed to prepare graduates and professionals to lead in that changing environment. By combining legal, governance and technical understanding with practical project work, the programme will help students develop the skills, confidence and interdisciplinary fluency needed to address some of the most important challenges of the AI age.
Professor Ben Ansell
Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions and Director, Centre for Advanced Social Science Methods
AI raises fundamental questions about how societies make decisions, how institutions respond to change, and how democratic systems can remain accountable in the face of new technological power. This programme gives students the tools to think seriously about those questions, combining law, politics, governance and technical understanding so they can contribute to the responsible development of AI in public life.
| Course length | 12 months |
| Study mode | Full-time and in-person |
| First entry | Expected academic year 2027 to 2028 |
| Academic delivery | Joint programme of the Faculty of Law and the Department of Politics and International Relations |
| Core course design | Three complementary streams covering approaches to law, governance and AI; computational social science; and a practical Capstone Group Project |
| Electives | Approved options from the Faculty of Law or Department of Politics and International Relations, subject to annual availability and any prior qualification requirements |
| Applicant background | Open to strong applicants from a range of disciplines, subject to final published admissions criteria |
| Action now | Register your interest for course updates, admissions information and invitations to future events |
Structure of the course
The course is structured around three connected streams. Together, they move students from concepts and critical analysis to computational practice and the delivery of a multidisciplinary project. Click on each numbered component to learn more.
1. This first stream introduces the legal, political, ethical, regulatory and institutional questions raised by AI. Students will examine how AI affects legal, social and political systems; how different countries and institutions seek to govern it; and how law and public policy can promote accountability, fairness and public benefit.
Teaching will develop students’ ability to analyse regulation, institutional design, legal interpretation and decision-making, before applying those perspectives to substantive examples of AI in law, government and society.
2. This second stream develops practical understanding of machine learning, data and modern AI methods, including large language models. Students will learn how to frame legal, political and governance problems as computational questions, assess the strengths and limitations of different methods, use existing tools critically and begin to develop applications.
The aim is not to turn every student into a computer scientist. It is to build the technical confidence and shared vocabulary needed to work effectively across legal, policy and technical teams.
3. The Capstone Project brings the legal, governance and computational streams together. Working in balanced multidisciplinary teams, students will identify a real problem in law, governance or society and develop an AI or computational response.
Projects may address issues such as access to justice, public administration, regulation, legal practice, organisational decision-making or responsible innovation. Students will move through problem definition, research design, user-centred and inclusive design, technical development, testing, presentation and reflection. They will receive feedback from tutors and support from industry mentors as their projects develop.
The capstone is a key feature of this course; students do not only study AI governance, they work collaboratively to address a practical challenge.
4. Students will also select approved elective courses from the Faculty of Law or the Department of Politics and International Relations. These options will allow students to deepen their knowledge in relevant areas of law, politics, public policy or governance. The final list of electives will be confirmed annually and some options may have prior qualification requirements.
Advisory Board
The MSc is supported by an exceptional external Advisory Board whose members bring senior experience across law, justice, artificial intelligence, regulation, public policy and professional practice. The Board includes Professor Richard Susskind, an internationally recognised authority on AI, legal services and the future of justice; Shruti Ajitsaria, Head of Fuse at A&O Shearman, with extensive experience connecting legal practice with LegalTech and FinTech innovation; Connor Griffin, who works in AI policy at Google DeepMind and brings expertise in the relationship between AI engineering, economics and public policy; Sofia Adams-Bhatti, a public policy and AI specialist whose experience includes the United Nations, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority and the Law Society; and Sir Ernest Ryder, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, whose previous role was as Senior President of Tribunals and a Lord Justice of Appeal.
Drawing on this breadth of expertise, the MSc will remain closely connected to the rapidly evolving realities of AI, law, policy and professional practice. Students will benefit from a course informed by how leading organisations, regulators and practitioners are responding to emerging opportunities, risks and questions of accountability. These insights will strengthen the MSc and the Capstone Project, helping students test their ideas against real-world priorities, develop informed professional judgement and build the interdisciplinary understanding needed to shape the responsible governance of AI.
The Advisory Board will comprise the following members:
Richard Susskind (Chair)
Richard is the IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, holds a visiting professorship at the University of Oxford, as well as professorships at Gresham College and Strathclyde University and is president of the Society for Computers and Law. He has written a number of books on AI and the future of the justice system including Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future (Oxford University Press, paperback 2013); The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts (Oxford University Press, 2015) (with D. Susskind); Online Courts and the Future of Justice (Oxford University Press, 2019) and most recently How To Think About AI: A Guide For The Perplexed (2025).
Stuart is a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Law. He chairs the industry mentor panel for the existing Law & Computer Science course. He has 30 years’ experience as a qualified lawyer practising in the City of London and offshore in the British Virgin Islands, as Director of Knowledge for the Global M&A Practice at Baker McKenzie, Director of Practice Development, Knowledge & Innovation at Dentons and as a Director of Consulting at Elevate and at Lexington Consultants.
Shruti is the Head of Fuse, A&O Shearman’s tech innovation space which was one of the first to open, in 2017, to identify and collaborate with LegalTech and FinTech companies relevant to its lawyers and their clients.
Today, Fuse is the sole entry in the ‘Global-wide LawTech Incubators & Accelerators’ category in the Chambers and Partners’ Guide and to date, has included over 60 different companies from across the globe, yielding several successful collaborations. A&O via Shruti, were external project partners for the UKRI grant Unlocking the Potential of AI for English Law which led to the setting up of the current Law & CS course.
Sofia is a public policy and AI expert who specialises in the intersection of policy, law, AI and democracy alongside work in sustainablity. She has worked for the UN, the Financial Conduct Authority, Competition and Markets Authority, Office of Fair Trading and the Law Society of England and Wales (where she led the Society’s programmes on the guture of legal services, innovation and AI) as well as in various private sector settings. She has publised a report on the use of AI in the Justice sector, jointly with Justice, a rule of law and human rights NGO.
Ruth has been one of the industry mentors for the existing Law & CS course for a number of years. While she was at A&O as the Head of Knowledge and Collaboration Technologies she also took part in the Unlocking project and continued her connection with the Law Faculty’s work in Law and CS once she moved to the Government Legal Department as their Director of Knowledge, a position she held from 2019-2023. She is now Global Director of Knowledge and Expertise at Ashurst, a Global Law Firm.
Sir Ernest is Master of Pembroke College and a member of the Faculty of Law. His previous role was as Senior President of Tribunals and a Lord Justice of Appeal. He has worked on the modernisation of family and tribunal justice in particular and is the author of a number of publications on this topic and on family law more generally.
Julia Black is Professor of Law and Regulation at Oxford and is the Warden of Nuffield College. She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology, a non-executive director at the Financial Conduct Authority, an External Member of the Bank of England’s Financial Markets Infrastructure Committee and from 2021-2025 she was President of the British Academy.
Connor works on AI Policy at Google DeepMind in London after a career at the Economist Intelligence Unit, where he produces the AI Policy Perspectives publication. Conor brings substantial experience of the intersection between artificial intelligence engineering and its implications for economic and other policies.
Stephen is Founder & CEO of Starling Trust Sciences. Stephen spent a 25-year career in risk management and corporate intelligence, providing clients with insights into the causes of organizational dysfunction or under-performance. Starling Trust Sciences develops AI products for analysing business and institutional culture.
Tom is a co-founder of the existing course in Law & Computer Science where he was instrumental in setting up the practical projects. He is a member of the Editorial Board for the Cambridge Forum on Law, AI and Governance and has produced reports for LawTech UK on online dispute resolution.
The Board will be able to advise on general policy and direction relating to the course, as well as being able to raise the profile of the course outside Oxford.
Teaching and assessment
Teaching is expected to combine lectures, discussion seminars, small-group tutorials, supervised computational labs, project work and mentoring. Assessment will use a varied range of methods designed to test legal and policy analysis, technical understanding, practical application, teamwork and reflection. Final assessment details will be published in the official course information.
Professor Rebecca Williams
Professor of Public Law and Criminal Law
The governance of AI cannot be understood through law, technology or politics alone. It requires people who can move between disciplines, ask the right questions about accountability and public value, and work collaboratively on practical problems. This MSc in Law, Governance and Artificial Intelligence brings those elements together, giving students the opportunity to understand how AI systems operate, how they are regulated, and how law and governance can respond to technological change.
More about the course
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Integrate legal, political, governance and technical perspectives when analysing the use and regulation of AI.
- Evaluate legal, regulatory, ethical, economic and institutional approaches to governing AI.
- Compare how AI governance tools and frameworks are used across different countries and contexts.
- Analyse the political economy of AI and its relationship with public institutions, markets, society and public opinion.
- Assess the benefits, risks and governance challenges associated with AI in legal, public, commercial and other settings.
- Apply computational and data-driven methods to legal and political questions and assess their technical and ethical implications.
- Begin to develop practical applications or tools that respond to legal, governance or social challenges.
- Work effectively in multidisciplinary teams, including across different academic and professional backgrounds.
- Use user-centred, inclusive and iterative approaches to project design and development.
- Communicate complex legal, policy and technical ideas clearly to academic, professional, public and client audiences.
The MSc is designed for graduates and professionals who want to work at the intersection of law, governance, politics and technology. It may be particularly relevant to:
- law graduates, practising lawyers and in-house counsel seeking greater confidence in AI governance, regulation and legal risk;
- policy professionals, civil servants, regulators and public sector leaders working with technology and institutional change;
- consultants, risk and compliance specialists, public affairs professionals and strategic advisers;
- graduates or professionals in data, technology, analytics or digital transformation who want greater depth in law, policy and governance;
- people working in international organisations, civil society or responsible innovation;
- career transitioners seeking to move into AI governance, technology policy, legal innovation or related fields;
- graduates who may wish to progress to further academic research.
Students will study full-time and in-person as members of Oxford’s postgraduate community. The programme is designed to combine the intensity of interdisciplinary study with the wider Oxford experience, including college membership, access to the Bodleian Libraries, academic seminars, public lectures and engagement with researchers and practitioners across the University.
The cohort will bring together students from different academic, professional and international backgrounds. Discussion seminars, computational labs and the Capstone Project will create opportunities to learn from those different perspectives and build the shared language needed for effective interdisciplinary work.
Project teamwork, academic events and contact with industry mentors will help students connect classroom learning with practical challenges in law, government, regulation, technology and public life.
AI governance is becoming increasingly important across law firms, regulators, government departments, consultancies, international organisations, technology-enabled businesses, civil society and research institutions. The course is designed to help students build the interdisciplinary understanding and practical experience needed to operate in this emerging field.
The programme will support progression towards roles involving AI governance, technology policy, regulation, legal innovation, responsible AI, public sector transformation, risk, compliance, consulting, strategic advisory work or further research.
Students will also be able to access Oxford careers resources, professional events and relevant networking opportunities.
The programme will be open to applicants with strong academic achievement from a wide range of disciplines. A prior law degree will not be required for admission to the MSc, although access to some Law electives may depend on previous legal study.
Experience of working with data or in a relevant professional field may be desirable, but is not expected to be essential. Applicants should be able to demonstrate a clear interest in the intersection of AI, law and governance, together with the academic ability and willingness to work across disciplines and contribute to collaborative projects.
The official entry requirements, application materials, deadlines, English language requirements and application process will be published on the University of Oxford graduate admissions website. Until those details are live, prospective applicants should register their interest for updates.
Confirmed course fees, living costs, scholarships and funding information will be published shortly on the University of Oxford graduate admissions and graduate funding webpages.
The MSc in Law, Governance and Artificial Intelligence is a joint programme of the Faculty of Law and the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR).
Academic leadership will be provided by a Course Director and an interdepartmental Course Committee with equal representation from Law and DPIR. The Committee will oversee admissions, teaching, assessment, student support, quality assurance and the continuing development of the programme. Student representatives will contribute to the course’s feedback and governance arrangements.
The programme will also benefit from an external Advisory Board bringing together expertise from law, justice, regulation, technology, public policy, professional practice and responsible innovation.
Who is the MSc in Law, Governance and AI for?
Hear from Professor Ben Ansell, Course Director, on who the MSc in Law, Governance and AI at the University of Oxford is for.
Benefits of the course
Law, politics, governance, regulation and computational understanding are integrated throughout the programme rather than presented as disconnected subjects.
Develop enough technical and data fluency to engage confidently with AI systems and technical teams while evaluating legal, ethical and institutional choices.
Apply knowledge through a Capstone Project in which a multidisciplinary team identifies a real problem, develops a response and tests, refines and presents its work.
Benefit from joint delivery that brings together leading thinking on legal systems, public institutions, politics, accountability, regulation and technological change.
Receive feedback from tutors and engage with industry mentors who can bring practical perspectives on project development, responsible design and professional communication.
Join a programme intended for strong applicants from a range of disciplines. Prior experience with data or relevant professional work may be helpful.
Build the judgement and interdisciplinary capability needed to contribute to accountable, fair and socially beneficial uses of AI in law, government, business and public life.
Study within Oxford’s collegiate University, with access to libraries, academic events, professional networks and a diverse postgraduate community.
Frequently asked questions
No law degree is expected to be required for admission to the MSc. The course is intended for applicants from a range of disciplines, although some individual Law electives may have prior qualification requirements.
The course is not designed only for computer scientists. Previous experience of data or relevant professional work may be helpful, but the programme is intended to build the technical confidence needed to work across legal, governance and computational perspectives. Final admissions criteria will confirm any requirements.
No. The planned programme is full-time, in-person and delivered over 12 months in Oxford.
The Capstone is a practical group project in which students identify a real legal, governance or social problem and develop an AI or computational response, supported by academic feedback and industry mentoring.
The first cohort is expected for the 2027 to 2028 academic year. Application dates and deadlines will be published through the official University of Oxford graduate admissions website.
Registrants will receive course updates, admissions information, details of future webinars or events and notification when official application information becomes available. Register your interest below.
Register for more information
Ready to lead the governance of AI?
Register now to receive course updates, admissions information, invitations to future events and notification when applications open.