1. “Bachelier en Droit”- Bachelor in Law at the University of Namur Robert Queck « Maître de conférences » at the Law Faculty Deputy Director CRID LEFIS General Assembly Firenze 10-11 February 2006 http://www.fundp.ac.be/facultes/droit/

2. 2 Outline I.The « Bachelier en Droit » in its context II.The “Bachelier en Droit”: objectives and characteristics 1. Some figures 2. General objective of the curriculum 3. Balance between legal and non-legal courses 4. Languages 5. Clusters of optional courses 6. Pedagogical support 7. Student mobility III.The “Bachelier en Droit” and ICT

3. 3 I. The « Bachelier en Droit » in its context Bachelor in Law Master in Law Complementary Masters * Law and Management of ICT * Human Rights Doctorate Research DF&LS Projucit Crid Decree of FC of 31.03.2004 on defining higher education and favouring its integration in the European higher education space

4. 4 II. The “Bachelier en Droit”: objectives and characteristics

5. 5 II.1. Some figures Number of students: - First year: 365 - Second:180 -Third: / TOTAL:546 Success ratio in 2004-2005: - First year: 47,14 % - Second:84,34 % Staff:  Teaching staff: 12 equiv. FT ( some 25 persons + non faculty optional courses)  Assistants: ± 25 equiv. FT  Total: some 90 persons

6. 6 II.2. General objective of the curriculum “To train good general practitioners in law” => the Bachelor curriculum aims at providing a complete coverage of the necessary basic legal topics = the “basics” e.g. Constitutional Law, Obligations / Contract Law, Sources and Principles of Law, Criminal Law, Family Law, Legal Methodology, Legal Terminology, Procedural Law, EU Institutions, property, Administrative Law, Commercial Law, Social Law, Liberties, Roman Law => courses aiming at specialization are in principle reserved for the Master programme e.g. Tax Law, Private and Public International Law

7. 7 II.2. General objective…, ctd. Does the Bachelor degree allow direct access to labour market? It is foreseen that it should, but - modalities and professions concerned are not yet very clear - basically, Law is thought as a 5 years curriculum

8. 8 II.3. Balance between legal and non-legal courses On the one hand, the programme offers from the very first year courses on essential topics of law e.g. Constitutional Law, Obligations On the other hand, a good lawyer needs to understand and take into account the environment in which law is created and applied => multidisciplinary education including complementary disciplines e.g. Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, History of Constitution and of Belgian Institutions : 1st + 2nd year + optional classes

9. 9 II.4. Languages Mandatory courses: At least half of Belgian case-law and publications are in Dutch – English is the language of international institutions PassiveDUTCHENGLISH 3 rd yearLegal Terminology 2 nd yearLegal Terminology "Every day" English 1 st year"Every day" Dutch Optional Courses: e.g. German Legal Terminology, Specific issues of State and Administrative Law (NL), Legal Culture of the English Speaking World (UK)

10. 10 II.5. Clusters of optional courses Optional courses (1 – 2 nd y; 3+ - 3 rd y) : => students have 2 possibilities : “free choice” - “clusters” “Clusters” = “grouping of optional courses ( ± 15 ECTS) around a discipline complementary to law enhancing the student’s legal education by a solid knowledge in those discipline “ + bridge to other curricula  Criminology  Economics and Management  Foreign languages  Philosophy  Political and Administrative Sciences

11. 11 II.6. Pedagogical support Principle: Support and accompaniment towards success and autonomy in studies First year:  September: preparatory classes (2)  November: tests allowing first assessment  January: exams (only positive results count) + copies + assessing discussion  June: access to copies and assessing discussion  August: coaching sessions  All over the year : “practical works” sessions, tutoring sessions 2 nd and 3 rd year:  All over the year: “practical works” sessions (2 nd ), tutoring sessions, papers

12. 12 II.7. Student mobility “ERASMUS Belgica” - Launched by “Prince Philippe Fund” to enhance exchange between Belgian Communities - Similar working than EU Erasmus programme - Currently agreements with Universities of Antwerp (bachelor) and Leuven (Master in Law and Management of ICT) ERASMUS - No agreement yet, but - Looking for partners ( but only for the 3 rd year)

13. 13 III. The “Bachelier en Droit” and ICT

14. 14 III.1. ICT and Information Society Law as a subject of courses General bachelor courses: ICT aspects are increasingly integrated as specific aspects within general courses e.g.: Contract Law – digital signature Criminal Law – computer crime Intellectual Property – DRM Legal Methodology – course includes the finding of up to date acts, case-law and other documents by using legal databases and web-sites

15. 15 III.1. ICT and Information Society Law …, ctd. Specific optional courses – 2 nd or 3 rd year  Computer Law (30 h – 30 credits) : Overview of legal issues raised by development of informatics and communications networks (software protection, liability of intermediary Internet service providers, electronic commerce, electronic signature, computer crime)  Introduction to Legal Informatics (30 h – 30 credits) : Introduction to computer science terminology, basic concepts of hardware (how does a computer function?), software, networks and databases => learn to understand and work with basic tools useful to lawyers ( esp. legal databases and network tools)

16. 16 III.2. ICT as a support for courses http://www.fundp.ac.be/etudes/cursus/page_view/bdroi/: => description of the different courses (objectives, contents, semester, method of teaching and of practical works) http://webcampus.fundp.ac.be/ => materials (slides, readings, questionnaires, cases,…)