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2025-2026 / 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

Quentin Leboutte

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 topics covered will be as follows:

The first class will begin with a brief overview of the history of Belgium, from its historical origins to its current institutions, in order to enable students to learn more about their host country.

The second class will be devoted to the history of private law in Belgium since its independence. From the Code Napoléon to the 'new' Civil Code, this section will give students a better understanding of the context in which the standards studied were adopted and their place within Belgian law as a whole.

The following six classes will be devoted to various Belgian legal topics: contract law, extra-contractual liability law, property law, family law, labour law, and finally a general overview of the functioning of the judicial system in Belgium.

Finally, during the last two or three class sessions, each student will be required to give a ten- to fifteen-minute presentation (depending on the number of students giving presentations) on a legal institution of his/her choice, comparing their national law with Belgian law, before moderating a short debate with the whole class.

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

Face-to-face course


Further 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.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- MyULiège


Further information:

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


Further 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 (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

Quentin Leboutte
Assistant

Faculté de droit
Service de droit romain et de droit privé comparé
Quartier Agora
Place des Orateurs, 1
Bât. B33, bureau 1/36
4000 LIEGE

Courriel : quentin.leboutte@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs