Historical foundations of private law [DROIB105]
Learning outcomes
A good knowledge of French is necessary to understand the course and pass the examination.
Objectives
The course of Historic foundations of the private law has for objective to familiarize the students with the concepts, the vocabulary, the distinctions and the reasonings of the private law. It aims to arrest and understand notions and basic rules of the law of property, the right of persons and the law of contracts in a historical perspective which covers the period from the former roman law to the current law.
It also intends to underline the relativity of the legal institutions and their insertion in time. The law being the fruit of the history, any understanding of rules governing life in society has to take into account their genesis. At the end of the course, the student will so have to be capable of understanding and of explaining the links between the roman law and the current law.
The study of the roman law is imperative in the lawyers’ university education as far as by its object, it is the foundation of our private law.
Content
Part one (60 hours – 1st quadmester)
After an introduction dedicated to the historical environment of the roman law, the course deals with the basic concepts and institutions regulating the right of the properties (classification of things and rights, ownership and detention, property, manners of acquisition of the property, property rights in thing belonging to another) and describe its evolution through some chosen themes like the medieval property.
We will then analyse the right of people (such as capacity, marriage, filiation, will and testament). In particular, the legal structures of the antique Roman family, which were used as model to our system of family law, are studied.
Second part (30 hours – 2nd quadmester)
Afterwards, we will discuss contract law (general theory, classification of contracts) and some questions relative to the sale contract.
The course finally details requirements prior to the design of the Civil code of 1804 and some of its guiding principles. The family model in force in the 19th century will conclude our remarks.
Table of contents
See the manual.
Exercises description
Six sessions of practical exercises are planned and allow the students to apply the subject seen in the course in concrete situations. They are distributed by an assistant in front of reduced groups.
For further information, see above under the tab pedagogy.
Teaching methods
Lecture course
The teaching exempted by the professor in public aims at supplying the fundamental theoretical knowledge and giving a practical vision of diverse questions of rights. The various problems are approached in an illustrated way and tend to favor, as far as possible, an interaction between teacher and students.
In the event of a further deterioration in the health situation, the teaching methods could be modified and consist, for example, in an audiovisual recording made available online. Students will be notified by the WebCampus platform of the new modalities in application.
Hands-on exercises
The education is extended by practical exercises, which allow the students to apply the substance and basic principles in concrete situations. Distributed by an assistant in front of restricted groups (70 students), six sessions are organised during the year and are intended to strengthen the learnings of the lecture and to help students in understanding course content.
Every session includes two parts : the first one is dedicated to a theoretical reminder of the material, the second is dedicated to the resolution of practical cases. Before every session, the students are invited to acquaint with statements of the exercises and, as far as possible, to prepare a draft reply. Case studies and problem-solving are important parts in the learning process.
Evaluations
The material seen in the lecture establishes, in the same way as that of the sessions of practical exercises, the material of the examination. A list of questions supplied from the beginning of the new academic year notes the main tackled issues and allows to confine exactly the contents of the examination.
The evaluation will be made by a written examination. More specifically, each of both parts of the course is the object of a different examination. The maximal duration of each exam is of two hours. The part exempted in the 1st four-month period must be presented from the session of January and represents 60 % of the final outcome. The second part given in the second term will be estimated during the session of June and accounts for 40 % of the final note. The student whose final note is lower than 10/20 will have to represent both parts during the second session of September.
No course material, code or dictionary is allowed to present the exam.
The evaluation criteria are the following ones :
- concepts clearly defined and strengthened,
- logical structure of the answers (reasoning, justifications and internal consistency),
- quality of the presentation (vocabulary, spelling and syntax)
If the health situation deteriorates again and does not allow for a face-to-face examination, the evaluation methods could be modified. Students will be notified via the WebCampus platform of the new modalities in application.
Recommended readings
- René ROBAYE, Le droit romain, 5th ed., Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia - L'Harmattan, 2016
- Small additional syllabus
- Diverse useful supports (media) are put at the disposal of the students through the platform WebCampus : PowerPoint of the practical exercises, synthetic plan, etc.
Language of instruction
French / FrançaisLocation for course
NAMUROrganizer
Faculté de droitRue de Bruxelles, 61
5000 NAMUR
Degree of Reference
Undergraduate Degree| Block | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelier en droit | 1 | 9 |
