The Advanced Master in Public Notary Law enables those who have gained the Belgian ‘licence’ degree or Master in Law to further their training in the specific areas related to the profession of a public notary and the requirements of the law on public notaries.

The Advanced Master in Public Notary law is therefore designed to provide students with :

the necessary training to go on to work as public notaries ;
the necessary training to go on to work as public notaries’ assistants ;
the necessary training for those who wish to acquire specialized training in the subjects relating to inheritance law in the widest sense of the term.

There are two reasons for offering an Advanced Master in Public Notary Law : first, the law requires that the profession can only be exercised by those who have obtained the Belgian degree of ‘licence’in Public Notary Law ; second, special training is needed to carry out the activities of a public notary.

The Advanced Master Public Notary Law is therefore a condition of entry to the profession of public notary.
Article 35 of the Ventôse law, as amended by the law of 4 May 1999, stipulates that in order to be nominated as a candidate for a public notary, a degree in public notary law is necessary.

General presentation of the programme

The programme is made up of nine compulsory courses and a final assignment. A work placement, which puts into practice the subjects that have been taught, completes the training.

Programme de cours obligatoires du Master complémentaire en Notariat

See the general admission requirements

Specific procedures :

Special procedures :

The special admission conditions for this programme are as follows :

have gained a Belgian ‘licence’ degree or Master’s degree in Law from a Belgian university ;
hold a foreign degree which has been recognized as equivalent to a Belgian ‘licence’ degree or Master in Law, satisfying the requirements for recognition of equivalence.

Mature students

An increasing number of students are Belgian ‘licence’ holders/Masters in law who are already working professionally and wish to acquire further training in inheritance and notarial law. The courses of the Advanced Master are held on two days of the week, making it possible for adults with professional duties to attend. In the past, students have been allowed to stagger their courses: this will continue.

Strong points of the pedagogical approach
Evaluation

Students on this programme must do a notarial work placement with a public notary who can act as their placement supervisor who either is on the list of public notaries approved by the Committee for the Master in Public Notary Law, or, having been chosen by a student, is approved by the Committee.

The objectives of the placement are to :

complete and deepen training at Master level ;
form a connection between teaching and practice, particularly through the examination of different kinds of cases and actions covered in class ;
maintain the links between the different subjects taught ;
enable students to carry out research required by the lecturers ;
help the dissertation ;
enable students to appreciate the human situations which notaries have to deal with in their daily activities.

The placement is therefore a learning activity which draws on the syllabus in such a way thatclasses, work and placement are all closely linked.

Conversely, the courses for the Master in Public Notary Law are shaped to take account of the individual work that students must do during their placement, both in understanding how legal rules are applied in practice and to bring together practical experience which sheds light on the theory.

The placement takes place at the beginning of the academic year and ends with the Easter holidays. It lasts for 75 working days, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with a break for the Easter holidays and official holidays.

Students on the Master programme may be exempted from the placement if they can demonstrate previous or current activities or professional duties which are sufficiently close to the areas which feature in the programme for the Master in Public Notary Law.

Students who are exempted from the placement are nevertheless required to find elements in their professional duties which enable them, on one hand, to make the links between each of the courses and the practice of law and, on the other hand, to produce a dissertation drawing on their relevant professional activity or experience.

Assessment varies depending on the course. It may take the form of a traditional examination, continuous assessment or handing in assignments.
Students must also produce a dissertation and do a placement.

Apart from the elements of comparative and international private law examined in the different courses, the lecturers usually organize a study visit abroad every year. Although not compulsory, students are strongly recommended to go on this visit given the individual and educational benefits.
During this visit, training activities are organized with universities, public authorities and notarial institutions.

Legend

	Mandatory		Optional
	Courses not taught this academic year		Periodic courses not taught this academic year
	Periodic courses taught this academic year		Two year courses