2023-2024 / DROI0181-2

Foundation of Belgium law : private law aspects.

Duration

20h Th

Number of credits

 Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) (Faculty of Law, Political Science and Criminology)5 crédits 

Lecturer

Céline Joisten

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The lectures series « Fondements de droit belge : aspects de droit privé » aims to give Erasmus students a general overview of the principles of Belgian private law.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

The aim of this course is to enlighten students on how the Belgian legal system deals with certain private law issues (contract law, civil liability, property law, etc.). At the end of this teaching unit, students will have a cross-sectional overview of Belgian private law and will be able to respond to simple legal problems they may be faced with.


Incidentally, this course gives law students whose mother tongue is not French the opportunity to enrich their legal vocabulary.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

This course is dedicated to international or Socrates-Erasmus Law students; a sufficient knowledge of the French language is required.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course will cover the following topics:

1 - The first course will begin with a general overview of Belgian private law, to enable students to learn more about their host country and to better understand the context in which the laws were adopted;

2 - The next three courses will be devoted to Belgian contract law. The general system of obligations will first be studied (How is a contract formed? What rules govern a contract? When can I terminate a contract?) before considering certain specific types of contract (sale, lease, etc.).

3- The fifth lesson will be devoted to the law of extra-contractual liability in Belgian law;


4- The next course will deal with ownership and its transfer in Belgian law. An overview of the various rights in rem and the land registration system will also be given;

5 - Individual relations in Belgian labour law will be dealt with in the seventh class. As this is a specific contract, it can be usefully compared with the contracts we have already studied;

6 - The eighth session of the course will offer a general approach to the functioning of the courts and tribunals in Belgium (judicial organisation, general principles of the Judicial Code, status of the various players in the justice system, etc);

Finally, the floor will be given to the students themselves, who will have to give a 15 minutes presentation on a topic related to Person or Family law and subsequently moderate a brief debate with the other students.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

The course consists of 12 lectures taking place every Wednesday at the University (campus Sart-Tilman). I am expecting active participation from all students; this way, we will be able to both improve your French oral expression and to have rewarding exchanges and confront the norms from your own legal orders with Belgian law.

Recommended or required readings

Prior to each lecture, a power point presentation including the essentials of the studied topic will be uploaded (expect for the first lesson).

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam


Additional information:

Students will be evaluated on two bases:

  • First, they will receive a grade for giving a presentation in class on a topic of their choice related to Person or Family law (a list of topics' suggestions will be submitted during the first lecture) in both their national law and Belgian law (comparative law), and moderating a brief debate on that same topic with the rest of the class;
  • Second, they will have to present an oral exam in June. The topics covered during this oral exam will be those examined during the lectures. Students must be able to solve case studies similar to those they have done in class.
Attendance in class is highly recommended to all students.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Céline Joisten
Professeure invitée ULiège
Référendaire près la Cour de cassation

Faculté de droit
Service de droit des obligations
Quartier Agora
Place des Orateurs, 1
Bât. B31, bureau R.9
4000 LIEGE

Courriel : celine.joisten@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs