2023-2024 / SPOL2335-1

Judiciarisation of political and social systems

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Master in political sciences : general (120 ECTS) (Even years, not organized in 2023-2024) 5 crédits 
 Master in political sciences : general (60 ECTS) (Even years, not organized in 2023-2024) 5 crédits 

Lecturer

Geoffrey Grandjean

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

One of the characteristics of the 21st century is the "juridification" of society. This notion relates to the extension of the power of judges, which are required to deal with a growing number of political and social problems. If this is the case, would "excessive legalisation" be likely to call into question the organization of our political systems? Would this not ultimately lead to the transformation of judges into "producers of standards"?

Based on two books (Pouvoir politique et audace des juges et Pour une commune justice) and a large collection of judgments, the course consists of three main learning stages. First, the political power of judges and the phenomenon of judiciarisation are defined through the scientific literature. Secondly, the three main political functions of judges (the production of norms, the arbitration of moral values and the perpetuation of the political system) are identified through numerous judgments (see the collection of judgments). In a third step, the legitimacy of judges' decisions is examined in its organic, procedural and substantive dimensions.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

- define the phenomenon of excessive legalisation;

- contextualise and understand the growing place of judges in political and social systems;

- identify and analyse the political functions of judges based on the reading of numerous court decisions;

- cast a critical look at the place of judges in political and social systems.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Prerequisites include knowledge of the Belgian and European institutional systems.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Learning activities and teaching methods are as follows:

- Ex cathedra lessons;

- Readings and presentations of court cases by students (see the collection of judgments), followed by argumentative discussions;


- A lecture by a guest speaker.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

Face-to-face. Attendance is compulsory. Any unjustified absence will result in the withdrawal of one point from the final grade for each day of absence. Each week, students are required to read a number of judgments which they present during the course sessions, according to an order determined during the first class.

Recommended or required readings

Compulsory readings :

Grandjean Geoffrey, Pouvoir politique et audace des juges. Approche européenne et comparée, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2018, 335 p.

Grandjean Geoffrey, Pour une commune justice, Bruxelles, Liberté j'écris ton nom, 2022, 90 p.

Grandjean Geoffrey, Judiciarisation des systèmes politiques et sociaux. Recueil d'arrêts. 4e édition revue et augmentée, Presses Universitaires de Liège, 2022-2023, 832 p., disponible à l'adresse suivante : http://hdl.handle.net/2268/249909.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Continuous assessment


Additional information:

For the first exam session, there are two types of assessment within the framework of this course.

Firstly, continuous assessment (50% of the final score), which consists of assessing the active participation of students during classes, through readings and presentations of court decisions (see the collection of judgments). The following criteria apply to the assessment: 1) presentation of the facts based on the decision, 2) argumentation and judges' decision and, 3) critical assessment of the decision.

Secondly, an oral exam (50% of the final score). During this exam, students are invited to answer a question asking them to discuss the phenomenon of the excessive legalisation of political and social systems. There is no time to prepare for the question. The following criteria apply to the assessment: 1) knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of excessive legalisation (based on the work Les juges: décideurs politiques?), 2) analysis of this phenomenon (mainly based on the collection of judgments) and 3) a critical look at this phenomenon. For the oral exam, students can have access to compulsory texts as well as their personal notes.

For the second exam session, assessment consists of an oral exam only, according to the terms described above.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

This course is only offered on even years (2024-2025, 2026-2027, 2028-2029...).

 

Contacts

I am present at the University every day. Do not hesitate to contact me to meet me. You can contact me by email as I respond quickly.

When a question deserves, in my opinion, a collective answer, I will answer it during the next class session.

Here are my contact details:

Pr. Dr Geoffrey Grandjean
Professeur

Faculté de Droit, de Science politique et de Criminologie
Place des orateurs, 3
4000 Liège
Boîte 11
Bureau 2.17
Tel. : +32 (0)4/366.96.60
Courriel : Geoffrey.Grandjean@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs