UCL - Foundations of Law

[DROI1003]

[60h + 12h] 6 credits

This course is taught in the 2d semester.

Teacher(s): René Robaye

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

The Roman law course aims to familiarise students with the institutions and vocabulary of private law, and the way it has developed. The course insists on the relativity of legal institutions and the way they depend on their context. At the end of the course, students will be able to understand and explain the connections between Roman and modern law.

Main themes

The teaching aims to prepare the students for the study of private law. For a long time, Roman law has been considered as written reason, the only valid legal system. It is the foundation of most current European legislation. It supplies the legislations with general theory and principles, reasoning and definitions, method and terminology. Roman law has left a deep mark on European legal thought and has had an influence on the drafting of our civil law.
The relationships between Roman law and current law are emphasised. The lectures are complemented, if necessary, by other teaching methods.

Content and teaching methods

The course begins with an introduction to the historical background of Roman law, the classification and precise origin of law. It goes on to consider property law (the classification of things and rights, ownership and control, property, ways of becoming an owner, rights to somebody else's property). The course subsequently examines the law of obligations (general theory, classification of contracts) and a few questions about the sales contract.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisites. There are no prerequisites. Knowledge of Latin is not required. The student must have a good command of French in order to succeed in the examination.

Evaluation. At the end of the course there is a written examination consisting of many open questions. It is not multiple choice. There are also a few practical cases. Maximum duration : 90 min. Assessment criteria: definitions have to be precise; answers have to be logically structured, coherent and justified; legal writing must be of good quality.

Course materials. All the necessary information is in my book: René ROBAYE, Le droit romain, Academia-Bruylant, Bruxelles, 2005. You will find it in good bookshops and at the Faculty of Law (Student Services).

Practical training. Practical training is organised under the leadership of an assistant, in small groups, to enable students to apply the legal principles and concepts to concrete cases. In this way, it is possible to check whether students have understood the principles of the course. students may also raise questions about the course content.