Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course continues the study of fundamental rights that the students started in other legal disciplines and aims to present a general overview of the questions raised by the fundamental rights in Belgian legal practice. Special attention is paid to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
After a short introduction to the history of the evolution of fundamental rights, the first part of the course will be devoted to the presentation of the relevant legal sources (constitutional provisions, European Convention on Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, etc.), the mechanisms for protection of fundamental rights and a certain number of general concepts specific to the issue.
In the second part of the course, the emphasis will be on a selection of fundamental rights (right to life, freedom of expression, right to respect for private life, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and so on). For each of these, we will look at presenting key lessons that emerge from Belgian and European jurisprudence.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The course aims at developing the understanding of the principal issues connected to fundamental rights and at familiarising students with the reasoning of the national and European jurisdictions that monitor compliance.
At the end of the semester, students should be able:
- to answer general theoretical questions about human rights,
- to show that they have understood the main stakes of the field,
- to analyse summarily judgments of courts like the Belgian Constitutional Court of the European Court of Human Rights,
- to produce, on the basis of given facts, an appropriate reasoning in order to suggest a suitable legal solution to the matter.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
A basic knowledge of public law (in particular, constitutional law) and of the fundamental mechanisms of international law (in particular, treaty law) is recommended.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
This course combines lectures and personal work of the students on the e-campus system.This system provides the students with required and recommended readings (Belgian and European case law). The students become familiar with a certain number of judicial decisions and are expected to talk about these decisions during classes. Participation of the students is welcome.
Some sessions may be complemented by guest speakers.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Face-to-face combined with e-campus.
Recommended or required readings
Required readings are extracts of judgments. They are accessible on e-campus (see above) and in a compendium of cases published at the "Presses universitaires" of the University of Liège.
Others readings (beyond the required ones) are suggested on the e-campus system.
An overall outline for the course will also be given to the students.
Assessment methods and criteria
The evaluation is based on two elements.
- Firstly, students must submit, by 14 December 2018 at the latest, their analysis of a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. The decisions to be analysed will be distributed among the students at the beginning of the quadrimester. The analysis may be carried out in the form of a written note (maximum two pages) or a video (maximum five minutes). This exercise is valued for 25% of the final score.
- Secondly, students take a written exam that includes several questions during the January session. Among the questions that are submitted to the students, at least one consists in solving a practical case (casus) by using theoretical knowledge and drawing inspiration from the case law studied. During the examination, students can use a code containing the relevant primary sources (Constitution, international treaties, laws, etc.) as well as the collection of case law referred to in the section "Recommended or required readings". These texts may be underlined or highlighted, but may under no circumstances be annotated. This test is valued for the rest of the final score, i.e. 75% of the final score.
Students who are required to present a second session as part of the Human Rights course may decide to resubmit the version of the work they had submitted in the first quadrimester or choose to submit a new version by 10 August 2019 at the latest. If no new work is filed by that date, it is assumed that the student has chosen to keep the previous version of his or her work. Any student enrolled in the second session must take the written exam or he/she will be considered absent.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
The Academic sessions will be held in the first term, every Tuesday from 2 to 3pm.
Contacts
Students may contact the professor directly (f.bouhon@ulg.ac.be).