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| DROI1240-2 | Methodology and legal documentary research
- Legal methodology
- Legal documentary research
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| Duration : | Legal methodology : 45h Th
Legal documentary research : 6h Th, 9h Pr
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| Number of credits : |
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| Lecturer : | Legal methodology : Pierre Moreau
Legal documentary research : Pierre Moreau
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| Coordinator : | Pierre Moreau |
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Language(s) of instruction :
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| French language |
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Organisation and examination :
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| All year long |
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Course contents :
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 | | Legal methodology |
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| It then focuses on only one aspect of the application of the law, namely what consequences the law ascribes to actual or intended facts or behaviour. As legal reasoning must follow a rational path, the course develops the outline of a method for legal reasoning.
One of the stages in legal thinking consists of the search for the applicable law. In our legal system it is almost entirely contained in texts. Jurists must then bring out their meaning: they must interpret them (methodology of the invention - discovery - of the law).
Next they have to apply the law to the actual or intended facts (methodology of the application of the law stricto sensu). After the facts hve been established (on a physical and legal basis) jurists must look for relevant rules using legal qualification and systemics. Then they must check whether the rules they found are legal. |
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Learning outcomes of the course :
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| | Legal methodology |
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| The course of legal methodology, argumentation and logic aims at introducing the process principles and technique involved in rigorous legal reasoning, in the search for and interpretation of legal rules as well as in their application.
Beyond such immediate objectives which consist of providing students with the necessary expertise to carry out the kind of research required in their university training, the coursee contributes to develop students' capacities to analyse and investigate [formulating questions (inscribing a research object within a branch of law), locating them within a legal or documentary typology (what kind of sources or documents are we looking for? Where and how can they be found ?), finding the logical links that connect moments in the argumentation]. It leads students to present the outcome of their research with great scientific rigor. It calls upon notions that have been introduced in the coursee of positive law, and gives them some substance. |
| | Legal documentary research |
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| The coursee of methodology in legal documentary research aims at empowering law students in their search for written standards, court decisions, or doctrinal literature: they are shown how to use available tools within the Graulich library (written documents and databases, whether indexing documents within or outside the university); they are also shown how to properly reference the outcome of their research. This learning process is mainly applied to Belgian, European law and International law is merely touched upon.
Beyond such immediate objectives which consists of providing students with the necessary expertise to carry out the kind of research that is required in their university training, the coursee contributes to develop students' capacities to analyse and investigate [formulating questions (inscribing a research object within a branch of law), locating them within a legal or documentary typology (what kind of sources or documents are we looking for? Where and how can they be found ?), finding the logical links that connect moments in the argumentation]. It leads students to present the outcome of their research with great scientific rigor. It calls upon notions that have been introduced in the coursee of positive law, and gives them some substance. |
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Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :
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| | Legal methodology |
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| For the course on legal methodology students are expected to have a good knowledge of the French language.
They should also like reading and analysing texts, and appreciate rigorous reasoning. |
| | Legal documentary research |
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| For the coursee on methodology of documentary research a good knowledge of those institutions that produce standards and of the hierarchies in the sources of the law, as well of some knowledge of the machinery of justice and of legal vocabulary, are required. |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
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| | Legal documentary research |
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| See below next point. |
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Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
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| | Legal methodology |
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| The course on legal methodology is taught during the second term. It combines theoretical lectures and specific illustrations (text interpretation, practical applications). For the oral part of the course students must have the collection of texts with them, and nothing else is required.
Learning assistance.
P. Moreau is available for students who'd need more explanation at the end of each class.
At least one examination will be organised. Students' grades relating to the part of the exam on legal methodology and drafting legal references will benefit from an additional 2 points out of 80 for each exam which achieves a grade of 10 or 11 out of 20, an additional 4 points out of 80 for each exam which achieves a grade of 12 or 13 out of 20, 5 points out of 80 for each examination which achieves 14 or 15 out of 20, and 6 points out of 80 for each examination which achieves 16 or more out of 20.
The grade thus calculated will include the two sessions for the part of the examination on legal methodology and drafting legal references. |
| | Legal documentary research |
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| The course on documentary research will be given in the first term.
This teaching will consist of two main, distinct parts.
The first part will consist of lectures aiming to present the main sources of law, their written form (printed or digital) and the instruments which enable research to be conducted.
The second part will be practical in nature and will involve the support of student-monitors who will initiate students, in small groups, to documentary research, in the library and in the IT room. |
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Recommended or required readings :
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| | Legal methodology |
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| For the legal methodology course students can buy a course book published by the University P. DELNOY, Eléments de méthodologie juridique, 3nd edition, Larcier, Bruxelles, 2008 (version 2009). They can also buy a collections of illustrative texts (Larcier, Bruxelles, 2009. They do not have to buy any code. |
| | Legal documentary research |
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| For the course on Methodology of legal documentary research, students can be a course book that will be available at the first term: E. Geerkens, P. Delnoy, A. Bruyère et A.-L. Sibony, Méthodologie juridique. Méthodologie de la recherche documentaire juridique, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2014. |
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Assessment methods and criteria :
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| | Legal documentary research |
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| The course on legal methodology and documentary research will have a single grade out of 20. This is calculated in the following way.
The part of the examination relating to the methodology of legal interpretation, application of the law and legal documentary research as well as drafting legal references is graded out of 80, and the part covering legal documentary research techniques graded out of 20. The sum of these points (out of 100) is divided by 5 to give a final grade out of 20.
However, students who have achieved less than 7/20 in the part of the examination relating to legal documentary techniques will receive a maximum final grade of 9/20, for the entire methodology and legal documentary research course.
The first session of the exam relating to legal documentary research techniques will be organised in January 2015.
The first session of the part of the exam relating to the methodology of legal interpretation, application of the law and legal documentary research as well as drafting legal references, will be organised in May or June 2015.
Students who are not present for both parts of the examination will be marked "absent".
Exempt from the second session.-
Any student who, in the first session, has presented the two parts of the exam or one of them will be exempt from presenting, in the second session (August-September), the part of the exam for which they obtained a grade of at least 10/20. |
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Work placement(s) :
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Organizational remarks :
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Contacts :
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| | Legal methodology |
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| For methodology of the law :
Pierre MOREAU, Faculty of Law, Boulevard du Rectorat, 7 B31, 4000 Liège, Phone number :0032/4/366.30.84, email : pmoreau@ulg.ac.be
Fanny CREVECOEUR, Faculty of Law, Boulevard du Rectorat, 7 B31, 4000 Liège Phone number : 0032/43665763, email : fanny.crevecoeur@ulg.ac.be(pmoreau@ulg.ac.be
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Marjolaine DESSARD, Faculty of Law, Boulevard du Rectorat, 7 B31, 4000 Liège Phone number : 0032/43663084, email : marjolaine.dessard@ulg.ac.be(pmoreau@ulg.ac.be) |
| | Legal documentary research |
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| For Methodology of legal documentary research :
Pierre Moreau
Fanny Crevecoeur
Marjolaine Dessard
Cécile Nissen
Aurélie Quintart
Victoria Palm
Brieuc Geuzaine
Julie Huynen |
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