By the end of their bachelor's degree, students will have acquired:
I. General knowledge and interdisciplinary skills
- A solid grounding in the humanities and social sciences so that they are able to decode legal phenomena in a comprehensively inter-disciplinary perspective.
Examples: Philosophie, Critique des sources de l’information et séminaires de sciences humaines, Sociologie, Psychologie, Histoire des institutions et du droit I et II, Philosophie morale, Économie, as well as all optional course units.
II. Specific legal knowledge
- A command of the concepts, rules and principles of the majority of the branches of Belgian and European law, as well as a familiarisation with a few key concepts in branches of law studied in a master’s programme, such as international private law, international public law and tax law.
Examples: Fondements romains et éléments d’Histoire du droit privé, Droit constitutionnel I, II et III, Droit des biens, Droit pénal, Procédure pénale, Fondements institutionnels du droit européen, Droit des obligations, Droit des contrats et de la responsabilité civile, Droit du travail, Droit administratif, Droit des personnes, de la famille et des régimes matrimoniaux, Droit de l'entreprise, Droit judiciaire ; les unités d'enseignement optionnelles à composante juridique, le Stage d’observation de la pratique juridique; les Travaux pratiques sans casus.
- A command of the secondary principles which connect the formal sources of law and an understanding of law as a ‘system’.
Examples: Sources et principe du droit, Droit constitutionnel I et II, Introduction critique à la pensée juridique contemporaine.
- Critical analytical skills with respect to the law through a grounding in the theory and philosophy of law and an awareness of the relative and changing nature of legal remedies and the controversies which they can generate.
Examples: Droit naturel, Introduction critique à la pensée juridique contemporaine, Séminaire de théorie du droit, Exercices pratiques de droit (travaux pratiques avec casus), Law Clinic, Moot Courts.
III. A grounding in the scientific method
- A command of the methods and tools of legal documentary research (legislation, case law and doctrine) so as to be able to use them for personal academic work.
Examples: Séminaire de méthodologie juridique, Critique des sources de l’information et séminaires de sciences humaines, Séminaire de théorie du droit
- The ability to conduct independent academic research in compliance with scientific ethics.
Examples: l’ensemble des travaux rédactionnels menés dans : les Séminaires de sciences humaines, le Séminaire de méthodologie juridique, le Séminaire de théorie du droit, les Exercices pratiques de droit (travaux pratiques avec casus)
IV. The skills required for analysis, reflection and argumentation based on concrete situations
- The ability to analyse a situation (individual or group) by making use of legal and/or non-legal knowledge acquired elsewhere, identify possible solutions, evaluate their relevance and choose the most appropriate one.
- Critical thinking skills.
- The ability to construct a reasoned argument.
- The ability to elaborate independent, coherent and relevant thinking in a legal context, as well as creative/original thinking.
Examples: Exercices pratiques de droit (travaux pratiques avec casus) en droit constitutionnel, en procédure pénale, en droit des obligations, en droit des contrats et de la responsabilité civile, en droit administratif, en droit des personnes, de la famille et des régimes matrimoniaux, ou encore, en Fondements institutionnels du droit européen, Moot Courts.
V. High-level written and oral communication skills in French and a target language
- The ability to communicate an idea and/or a legal argument in writing and orally, and to defend it convincingly.
Examples: examens oraux et écrits de type « questions ouvertes », les Séminaires de sciences humaines, le Séminaire de méthodologie juridique, le Séminaire de théorie du droit, les Exercices pratiques de droit (travaux pratiques avec casus)
- The ability to understand, study and render theoretical content in a language other than French (English and Dutch).
Examples: Year 1: Langue néerlandaise; Year 2: Néerlandais juridique; Year 3: trois UE obligatoirement en anglais (EU Law: Foundations, Intellectual Property Law et Natural Law).
- Knowledge of the specific cultural and legal environment of the target language.
Examples: Introduction to the Culture of the English-Speaking World, Economics, Common Law.
- Ability to conduct legal research and present it in a well-argued manner, both orally and in writing, in the target language(s).
Examples: Seminar in Legal Theory, Law Clinic
Transferable skills
More broadly, in terms of transferable skills, at the end of the regular bilingual French-English bachelor's degree in law, students will have:
- perfected their command of the French and English language, both spoken and written;
- developed a sense of autonomy in carrying out a variety of tasks (organisational skills, work planning, meeting deadlines, etc.);
- refined their personal ethics, both in the course of their studies and in their contacts with others (personal stance consistent with their own values, sense of general interest, respect for others, etc.).