Global Law LLB (Hons) personal statement example

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

The case that drew me to law began with a short notice in a Spanish newspaper about a property auction to recover a man's social security debts. Years later, Mario Costeja González wanted search results linking to it removed. His complaint went from the Spanish data protection authority to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which decided in 2014 that Google, an American company, had to answer to European data protection rules. A Spanish citizen, a court in Luxembourg and a firm in California were all bound up in one decision about an old newspaper page. That is what interests me most: the law no longer stops neatly at a border, and someone has to work out whose rules apply and how they fit together. I want to study law in a way that treats this as central rather than an optional extra. I am keen to learn the foundations of a single legal system properly while comparing it with others, and to understand how international and transnational rules shape the everyday choices of businesses and ordinary people.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare?

My Extended Project compared how Spain and the UK responded to the Google Spain ruling. Reading Spanish news coverage alongside English commentary showed me how differently the same judgment was framed: Spanish reports often stressed personal dignity, while many English pieces focused on press freedom. I had to read parts of the judgment slowly to separate what the Court decided from what newspapers claimed it decided, and I learned to cite carefully. I presented my findings at our school project evening and received an A*, which I was proud of because the topic was harder to pin down than I expected. History has trained me to weigh sources written for different audiences; studying the Nuremberg trials made me think about how a legal process gains authority when there is no single state behind it. In Politics, comparing the UK and US constitutions taught me that an unwritten system is not a lawless one, and essays on judicial review made me practise building an argument from precedent. Spanish is the subject I work hardest at. Translating formal texts has shown me that a single word, such as derecho, can carry meanings English splits between law and right. That comparison made accuracy in describing a judgment as important to me as the argument built from it.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

On Saturdays I work at the travel money counter in a large supermarket. Most transactions are routine, but customers often ask questions I cannot answer for them, such as how much cash they can carry abroad or whether they need to declare it. I have learned to explain what our procedures require, show them where official guidance is, and stay clear about where my role ends. Checking identification for larger orders means following anti-money laundering rules exactly even when a regular customer finds it tedious, and I have come to see why consistency matters more than convenience. My manager now asks me to show new staff how the end-of-day reconciliation works. Away from work, I referee under-11 matches at my local football club after completing a basic referee course last year. Children and parents both have firm views about the offside rule, and applying it fairly to a seven-a-side game with small pitches needs judgement as well as knowledge of the laws. Explaining a decision calmly to a coach who disagrees has made me more confident speaking to adults. I also run every week with a friend from the club, which keeps me organised around exams. Each of these has given me practice in reading rules closely and dealing with real people, which I hope to build on at university.