Course 2024-2025

Family law - Partim [DROIB212]

  • 5 credits
  • 30h
  • 2nd quarter
Language of instruction: French / Français

Learning outcomes

Subject specific skills : - Understand and assimilate the rules of Belgian positive law that concern vertical family relationships (parent-child relationships); - Understand the links with other branches of law and the humanities; - Based on the light of legislative, jurisprudential and doctrinal sources, construct a rigorous analysis and critically reflect on the solutions that family law reserves for different situations; - Make comparisons and develop a critical view of legal mechanisms; - To move from the abstraction of the norm to the concrete fact and, conversely, to transform a field problem into legal questions, notably through illustrations drawn from case law and the resolution of practical cases; - To become aware of the relative and evolving nature of legal solutions and the controversies they may generate in family law; - Take an interest in current family issues and understand the issues at stake. Cross-cutting competences : - Ability to develop a rigorous and reasoned analysis of jurisprudential solutions, adding a personal and critical perspective; - Build a structured, well-founded and convincing argument; - Projecting oneself into concrete situations, designing good examples, identifying the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions; - Public speaking (by answering questions in class and in the monitors) ; - Defend a point of view in an argumentative way (when solving cases) ; - Enriching the material taught by personal interventions (orally in class); - Use the French language as a tool for legal thinking and master legal terminology; - Mobilise specific language skills in Dutch, at least receptively; - Valuing the commitment to the defence of fundamental rights, including the rights of the child.

Objectives

The part of the family law course relating to children aims to introduce the main questions posed to the lawyer by the complexity of vertical family relationships (parent-child relationships) and to describe in sufficient detail the answers that Belgian law tries to provide, without forgetting the critical approach of the proposed solutions. The course insists on the concrete aspects of the implementation of family law. It also aims to make students aware of the new challenges of contemporary family law (new modes of procreation, evolution of the place of the father, advent of the rights of the child, etc.).

Content

The part of the course relating to children is devoted to filiation (establishment, contestation, effects) and adoption.


Teaching methods

Even if the course is mainly given in the form of a lecture, due to the number of students, it is supplemented as much as possible by other teaching methods, possibly involving prior reading or exercises by the students. Various teaching techniques are also used to get students involved: use of Wooclap, projection of videos to launch a debate or introduce a point of the subject, illustration by recent case law decisions, etc. A great deal of space is given to discussion with the students. Interactivity is certainly one of the conditions for transforming a passive audience into a real actor in its learning. Moreover, the teaching of law in general and family law in particular must necessarily be rooted in reality and be based on concrete situations, which is what students currently expect. With this in mind, external speakers are invited each year, with a variety of profiles (magistrate, lawyer, adoption professional, youth worker, etc.), in order to illustrate the subject matter and to enable students to understand that family law is a living, useful and exciting law. The teaching of the course is thus, as far as possible, part of an active and participatory approach. The idea is to involve the student as much as possible in the co-construction of knowledge. The participation of the students is solicited in the form of questioning, the aim of which is not to evaluate the student but to personalise the dialogue in a large audience and to facilitate the acquisition of the skill of legal oral expression. Students are welcome to ask any questions related to the subject during or at the end of the course. An assistant is also available to answer any questions related to the course during her office hours.

Evaluations

The assessment takes the form of a 1.5 hour written examination on the content of the Family Law Handbook and the material developed in the oral course, exclusively concerning the third part of the course on children. The assessment is closed book. The student may, however, bring the legal texts with him/her during the examination. Method : The evaluation takes the form of a multiple-choice questionnaire to check the perfect mastery of the concepts seen in the course. Evaluation criterion : Understanding and mastering the concepts and rules applicable to filiation and adoption.

Recommended readings

- Manuel de droit de la famille, Collection de la faculté de droit de l'UNamur, Brussels, Larcier, 1st edition, 2022 (Part 3 - Children) - Powerpoint slides to summarise the material, available on Webcampus - Useful documents to illustrate the subject and to deepen certain questions (articles of doctrine, decisions of jurisprudence, procedural documents), available on Webcampus

Language of instruction

French / Français

Location for course

NAMUR

Organizer

Faculté de droit
Rue de Bruxelles, 61
5000 NAMUR