Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The Introduction to public law is built on two main axes.
On the one hand, it enables the students to learn - on an abstract perspective - the fundamental concepts of public law such as State, sovereignty, constitution, democracy, federalism, monarchy, government, separation of power or human rights. This approach will be reinforced in particular by references to classical authors of the theory of the State, but also by the comparison of the constitutional systems of different States.
On the other hand, the Introduction to public law draws up - in a more concrete perspective - the schematic portrait of the Belgian state's current institutions. We will focus on the outlines of the federal system, on the main organs of the state and on the relationships existing between one another. Considering the importance taken by the international aspect, we will also discuss the main European institutions and some other international organisations. One chapter specifically concerns human rights.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The addition of both of the here above described perspectives aims to inculcate the students with the faculty to understand the modern states main rules of working with the benefit of an historical and philosophical hindsight. The course aims to provide the students with the tools to better understand the political news and to develop a critical analysis while keeping up with them.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
This course is an introduction which does not require any particular prerequisite.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Le cours accueillant chaque année entre 200 et 300 étudiants, il laisse une place importante aux exposés de l'enseignant.
Cependant, des moments d'interactions avec les étudiants seront aussi régulièrement proposés. Whenever possible, the teacher will try to start from what the students know, through their high school courses or their general culture, to build the subject chapter by chapter.
En marge du cours, des permanences seront tenues par un assistant pour permettre aux étudiants de poser toutes leurs questions sur la matière.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face.
Recommended or required readings
Students must be in possession of the Belgian Constitution, the "loi de réformes institutionnelles du 8 août 1980" and the European Convention on Human Rights. To this end, they can either buy a code that includes these texts (examples will be given during the oral course) or print these texts themselves after collecting them on the Internet.
Slides are projected during the course sessions to show the detailed course outline and some diagrams or documents that are used to support the presentation. These slides are available to students and are accessible through the following link: https://hdl.handle.net/2268/294956
A detailed textbook covers all 10 chapters of the course. Students are encouraged to get it, even if the oral course content is the material for the examination. The textbook enables students to check their understanding, discover additional examples and, if they wish, go further into certain aspects of the course. The textbook is available at a reduced price for students. Reference : F. BOUHON et X. MINY, Introduction au droit public. Considérations générales et particularités belges, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2021.
Any session :
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
- Remote
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire )
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred in-person
Additional information:
The evaluation of students will be organised in the form of a written exam for the January, May-June (the latter session being open only to students enrolled in the first year of their bachelor's degree) and August-September sessions.
During these tests, students may bring the legislation referred to in the section "recommended or compulsory readings". These documents may be underlined or highlighted, but in no case annotated.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The course will be attended on the first semester, every Wednesday from 1 to 4 pm (Thiry, Opera, in the city centre).
Contacts
Des séances de questions/réponses seront organisées par Madame Lena GERON, doctorante, selon un horaire à déterminer.
Les étudiants peuvent prendre contact avec l'enseignant (f.bouhon@uliege.be) ou avec l'assistante associée au cours.
Association of one or more MOOCs
The MOOC entitled 'Introduction au Droit (D3)' is associated with this course.
Additional information:
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