The course enables the student to broaden his knowledge from an interdisciplinary point of view on the:
- legal structures of the company;
- components and rules to evaluate its assets;
- resources necessary for organization and the optimal structure.
The student is required to address a certain number of questions:
- How is the company organized?
- How does it function?
- How does it adapt to its economic and social environment?
- What are the legal and tax implications for its forms of financing?
- Which are the fixed and intangible elements of its assets?
- How is the transparency of its finances and accounts ensured?
- How are relationships controlled between the various stakeholders within and outside the company?
More precisely, the objectives are the following:
- to thoroughly understand the concepts applicable to the company;
- to have a thorough knowledge of legal provisions and general principles taught;
- to analyse their ethical, sociological and economic justifications;
- to be able to analyse the case-law applications of these rules and principles and to apply them to concrete situations;
The course takes the form of lecture sessions where the implications and principal difficulties of the subject matter are explained. The students' personal commitment is also favoured; they are expected to have completed some preliminary reading (from the syllabus or handbook, legal texts, other documents, etc.) so that they can ensure for themselves that the whole of the subject matter mentioned in this specification has been covered.
Main themes
The subject of the course is the company, as a social institution and as an economic agent which endeavours to achieve the ideal form, structure and organization in the marketplace.
This implies, in particular, the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of the rules as applied in practice by the decision-making bodies and management of a business which has a legal company structure second to none, as well as appropriate policies for any reorganization and/or the mobility of the business.
The question of the financing of the company and the resources available is also important.
Moreover, the student is made aware of how any transformation in company structure, in the context of the "new economy", is often accompanied by an increased flexibility in the organization of work, which the employment regulations take into account. Employment law provides for information procedures and consultations prior to any restructuring. Furthermore, outsourcing, the recourse to forms of subcontracting or the collaboration of freelancers ("parasubordination") is a legal reality that coexists with work under an employment contract. This course on company law enables the student to better understand these developments.
For example, the company law covers the following topics:
- notion and characteristics of a company;
- legal structures and governance of the company;
- company reorganization and restructuration ;
- guidance and protection of a company in difficulty;
- business assets;
- fixed and intangible company assets;
- company financing;
- intangible elements within the company;
- the transparency (financial information and data in the accounts);
- the compliance by the company with social rights and revenue requirements;
- the legal framework governing the contractual arrangements carried out within the same corporate network;
- a description of techniques and constraints governing outsourcing, subcontracting and freelance work.