Administrative Law and dispute resolution

Duration

60h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Michel Delnoy

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The main subject of this course is administrative law, a branch of public law which regulates the work of the executive and decentralised authorities, organises public services, and regulates private activities. The course also covers the principles of administrative litigation, which aims at ways of preventing and resolving disputes with the administration. After outlining the broad brushstrokes of administrative law, its characteristics, and legal sources, the following themes will be addressed: the organisation, missions, means of action, and control of the administration.

The course will primarily take the form of two-hour long lectures on Mondays and Fridays in the first term, from 8.15am to 10.15am. In principle, these will be in person but may take place via Teams.

One reference book is compulsory: M. Pâques, Droit Administratif, Brussels, Larcier, 2024. Because this book is also used in other classes (such as F. Georges's class in the first year of the Bachelor's), the parts that should be studied for the exam will be specified orally in class, with the relevant pages also usually being given.

On any given legal issue, more information may be given during the lectures than is contained in the book, and vice versa. Questions may be addressed in lectures following a different structure from that used in the book or with slightly different content to explain things in a different way. Very rarely, it is possible that an opinion given in class will be opposed to that expressed in the book. The lectures will indicate the best way to use the book. What is covered orally in class is essential and is enriched with the content in the book.

Information given in small characters in the book will, in principle, not form part of the exam, unless it relates to topics covered during the lecture. The same holds for footnotes, although they may be used to aid understanding of the statements to which they relate.

To avoid the impossible task of trying to do everything during the exam session, students are advised to proceed as follows after each oral class: before the following class, expand the notes taken during class using the content - additional or explanatory information - from the corresponding pages in the written text.

Other publications students may consult for a greater understanding of the subject include:

• Pâques and L. Donnay, Contenieux Administratif, Brussels, Larcier, 2024;
• Delnoy, Les autorisations administratives, Brussels, Larcier, 2024;
• Renders, Droit administratif général, 4th edition, Brussels, Larcier, 2022;
• Goffaux, Dictionnaire de droit administratif, 3rd edition, Brussels, Larcier, 2022.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

With a view to the exam, students must:

- Know and understand all concepts, regulations, and issues mentioned during the oral class (and hence also in the reference book, as indicated above);
- Connect all these elements and identify the presence of the same element in different parts of the course;
- Be able to:
* Recite these elements correctly;
* Rigorously present an issue in administrative law, which requires not only a mastery of the terminology but also the ability to structure the various arguments in a line of reasoning;
* Respond to a practical question, ideally by following legal syllogism;
* Critique an administrative act in a clear and convincing way.

The simplest way to structure a response to a legal question is to follow legal syllogism. After identifying the content of an question (which means correctly identifying the relevant facts), legal syllogism the following stages: major premise (identification + interpretation of the applicable norm), minor premise (correct, relevant and admissible facts; legal qualification of the facts; possible appreciation of the facts) and conclusion (response to the question).

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Following the course implies having followed and passed the exams for the Introduction to Public Law and Constitutional Law courses. The content of these courses is assumed to be already known.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Each lecture corresponds to a given theme, following a plan distributed to the students. Twenty themes are covered, corresponding to only 40 hours of lectures, leaving additional time to connect the lectures and the written text. Themes are presented according to a plan which will be sent to students no later than the day before the class, in Word format to allow for note-taking.

Each class will start with one student recalling the subject covered to date and one student responding to a question about the previous class. The lecturer will send the question no later than the previous day. These two students will be named at the end of the previous class.

The lecture will include illustrations from jurisprudence - at least two per lesson - the practical details of which will be examined not only to ensure students have a good understanding of the issues but also to demonstrate that administrative law is rooted in practice.

The judgements themselves will not be examined. They are presented to:

• Shed light upon and understand the theory;
• Help grasp the theory;
• Check understanding through practical application.

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

Blended learning


Further information:

In principle, the course is given in class, but may occasionally be given remotely via Teams.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Further information:

See the "Learning unit contents" section.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam


Further information:

The exam is written and includes around four to six questions, some on pure knowledge, some on understanding, and some in the form of questions linked to practical cases. Answers will be restricted to text which can fit in the boxes. It is recommended to prepare draft answers using the paper provided.

During the exam, students must only bring something to write with, their ID card, the file of legal and regulatory texts mentioned above, and a copy of the Code of Public and Constitutional Law (La Charte or Kluwer edition) containing no notes or acronyms. Highlighting is permitted as are non-annotated post-it notes indicating the start of texts are allowed.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Students may ask questions during or after the lecture.

Questions about the previous lesson (see above) should be submitted to the lecturer no later than the day before the following lesson to: michel.delnoy@explane.be or michel.delnoy@uliege.be.

Questions may be sent to the assistants by email to: justine.hubert@uliege.be; sophie.charlier@uliege.be or asked in person at an appointment made by email. A session of practical exercises will be organised at the end of the term to answer any questions students may have on the subject.

Association of one or more MOOCs

The MOOC entitled 'Introduction au Droit (D3)' is associated with this course.


Additional information:

2.3 Droit administratif : https://f.io/GJ7GU9iK

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