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| DROI1101-2 | Introduction to public law
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| Duration : | 75h Th |
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| Holder(s) : | Christian Behrendt |
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| Language : | Langue française |
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| Course contents : | This course aims to familiarise students with the main principles of public law and, subsequently, with the way the State functions and its mechanisms for taking decisions and actions. The overall plan of the course can be downloaded here (http://www.droit.ulg.ac.be/docs/Introduction_droit_public_pg.pdf.)
The classes attach a great deal of importance to the development of thought relating to the State. Today's view of the State is significantly different to the one held in the middle of the 19th century, and even more different from the one that prevailed under the Ancien Régime and in the Middle Ages. At the same time, a certain number of key notions have been retained their relevance over the centuries (such as 'sovereignty', 'power', 'internal organisation', 'citizenship' and 'the police'), and everything leads us to believe that it is on the basis of these 'invariables' that the true transformation of the concept of the State can be the best understood.
Since this is a university course, we consider it better not to introduce 'filters' between the student and the raw material, i.e. the written works of great public law specialists, political scientists or historians who summarise the transformation of the notion of the State between the 16th and the 21st century (such written works condemn students to a purely passive attitude, since the course does relate not to the original texts but only to the commentaries of the original texts: hence, students are prevented from using their critical sense and from assessing the validity of the commentaries). On the contrary, we believe that students must be directly exposed to the basic written works (BODIN, GROTIUS, HOBBES, MONTESQUIEU, ROUSSEAU, MADISON, CARRE DE MALBERG, KELSEN, etc.), without passing through the 'filter' of illustrious commentaries, and we ask them to form their own opinions.
This educational approach is both more demanding and more interesting for students. It is more demanding because it requires students to first read the texts carefully and attentively, which will then be analysed in the oral class. These texts, some of which - especially those by BODIN - date from the 16th century, generally need to be read several times to be properly understood. Therefore, students do not benefit from a pre-orientation - 'pre-judgement' in the neutral sense of the term - of the contents of the texts they are preparing to read at this point. However, it is precisely this 'journey through uncharted waters' that is intellectually very stimulating and enriching for students. Once the text has been read (a text which can then be annotated at the students' discretion), it will then be discussed during the following oral class; this discussion will be based on the interventions and thoughts of the students relating to the texts to be read for the session in question; the lecturer will then summarise, complete and structure - but only afterwards: i.e. after the texts have been read - the students proposals and will present the results in the form of a summary paper, which, with the text to be read, will form the material for the exam. |
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| Course objective : | See supra, "General overview". |
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| Prerequisites : | /. |
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| Workshops : | /. |
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| Organization : | The course is taught throughout the academic year, i.e. both in the first and second semester.
In the first semester of 2008/2009, it will be held on Mondays from 10:15 to 12:15 in lecture theatre 604. The first class will be held on 22nd September 2008.
There will be no test during the January session. |
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| Written notes : | In terms of written material for the course, there is an information pack that students are asked to buy for EUR 15, from the Léon Graulich bookshop (open Monday to Friday, mornings only), from Mr Sven BREVERS, head of the photocopying department; this pack is part of the exam material as indicated in the oral class.
Furthermore, students are requested to read certain passages from Jean-Jacques ROUSSEAU's Contrat Social (1762), which do not feature in the information pack. The text from the Contrat Social can be obtained in paperback for approximately EUR 4 from bookshops; it can be annotated at the student's leisure and can be brought to the exam. The text written by ROUSSEAU is an integral part of the exam material, except for the following passages, which students are not required to read:
- book 2, chapters 5, 9, 10 and 12,
- book 3, chapters 2, 8, 13, 14, 15 and 17,
- book 4, chapters 4, 7 and 8.
The version of the Contrat Social sold in bookshops contains a certain number of other texts (in particular a historical introduction); these complementary developments must not be read; only the text written by ROUSSEAU is relevant within the framework of this course. |
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| Assessment : | The exam will be held at the end of the academic year, in May/June; there is no partial exam in January. The exam in both the first and second session is purely oral. During the exam, students are asked to bring:
- their identity card or passport, whichever is appropriate,
- their student card issued by the University of Liège,
- their information pack,
- ROUSSEAU's Contrat Social as well as
- the text of the Belgian Constitution (in this respect, the text of the Belgian Constitution is only of interest insofar as it will have been studied in class: for the exam, only the text of some twenty articles is relevant. The numbers of these articles are indicated in the Overall Course Plan. However, from an educational point of view, it seems somewhat inappropriate to take the text of the Constitution apart and only take the articles analysed in class to the exam: the Constitution is a complete document and deserves to remain as such).
All the texts can be annotated at the student's discretion.
There will be no retakes for the first or second session. |
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| Contacts : | During the academic year, Miss Hélène ORBAN, assistant (horban@ulg.ac.be; tel. 04/366.30.28), is available to students for any questions relating to the course, in room R 30 (located on level 0 in the Faculty of Law).
During the first four-month period, there will be a member of staff on duty on: Thursdays from 15:00 to 16:00. The times for the second four-month period will be provided at the appropriate time.
As from the beginning of the exam period, there will be no member of staff on duty and the assistant is no longer available to provide information. |
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| Remarks : | /. |
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| Items online : |
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| Introduction au droit public - syllabus provisoire - chapitre 01 à 05 |
| Chapitres 1er à 5 |
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| introduction au droit public - syllabus provisoire - chapitre 06 à 10 |
| Chapitres 06 à 10 |
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| Introduction au droit public - syllabus provisoire - chapitre 15 et 16 |
| Chapitres 15 et 16 |
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