6 ECTS credits
180 h study time
Offer 2 with catalog number 1022114BEW for working students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.
This course consists of two major parts: Law of Persons and Family Law.
The Law of Persons deals with which persons are allowed to participate in civil law transactions to what extent. This includes the following topics: the concept of "person", the categories of persons, the creation and termination of legal personality, the status of the person, personality rights, and the civil registry.
The focus then turns to the status of the person and his legal protection as an individual, as a member of the family group and as a citizen in society. This includes the concepts of legal capacity and the protection of minors and adult incapacitated persons.
Law of Persons aims to familiarize the student with fundamental legal concepts and doctrines such as legal personality, legal subjectivity and status and capacity. The student is also initiated in legal protection law with regard to physical persons. This component provides the student with the basic knowledge necessary to enable him to understand the subject content of Family Law and Family Property Law.
Family Law deals with both vertical and horizontal family relationships. The vertical Family Law includes the law of parentage (incl. adoption) and its consequences, including parental authority and maintenance obligations. Alternative forms of authority, such as guardianship, are also dealt with.
Horizontal Family Law discusses the different forms of cohabitation (marriage, legal cohabitation, actual cohabitation), whereby both entering and the dissolution of the relationship (including the different forms of divorce), and the consequences of the choice for a form of cohabitation (including the primary marriage and cohabitation regime) are treated. Finally, this section also deals with the rules regarding our relations with our relatives.
This course ‘Law of Persons and Family Law’ focuses on the existing positive-law regulation, as well as on the evolutions in legislation, the legal doctrine and the case law, both on a national and an international level. The main focus is on substantive law, but without losing sight of the most important procedural aspects. It is taught how the relevant legal provisions must be found, analyzed, interpreted and applied. The applicable legal rules are hereby placed in a broader legal-historical, -sociological and societal, -economical, -philosophical and -theoretical context: ‘What is the origin of the relevant legal texts?’; ‘Which situations are regulated and which not?’; ‘What objectives had the legislator in mind and are these objectives being achieved?’; ‘Are the legal rules consistent with social reality?’, ‘Are there perverse consequences (such as gender discrimination) associated with these legal rules?’; … Finally, the legal methodology is taught, which allows to situate, legally analyze and solve a problem in its context. This methodology is made concrete through real-life case situations and exercises.
Finally, legal methodology is also taught, which allows to situate a problem regarding the law of persons and family law in its context, to legally analyze and solve it. This methodology is put into practice through real case studies and exercises.
3 hours of classes per week will be taught. The lectures can take place on campus and/or online/digitally (whether or not via livestream).
For each class, the following materials are available: the class recording, slides and handbook.
The course material is supplemented with documents concerning possible changes in the law or important evolutions in case law and legal doctrine, which occur during the course weeks and which are provided during the lectures.
Students must use an up to date Civil Code and Judicial Code.
The student:
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
A written exam will be organized for the two sections ‘Law of Persons’ and ‘Family Law’ together. The exam will be organized on campus or online/digitally.
The exam contains both open and closed questions, whereby knowledge, insight and application are assessed. The questions test purely theoretical knowledge as well as the ability of the student to apply theoretical learning content to real life hypotheses. Different types of questions are asked, including: defining basic principles and fundamental principles, explaining legal rules, answering multiple choice questions (no correction for guessing) and 'true or false' questions with motivation, interpreting a certain statutory provision and determining the scope of it, expressing a personal opinion and critically reflecting about legal rules or gaps in law and resolve cases. Examples of exam questions are given during the lectures or can be consulted with their solution on Canvas.
The use of the handbook, course materials, documents, cell phone or phone during the exam is prohibited. The use of scrap paper is permitted. The use of an unannotated legal Code and/or printed legislation is also permitted. Underlining, fluorescent markings, unmarked post-its, and cross-references to other legislation are permitted. Annotation by the student (except cross-references) or by the publisher is not permitted.
To pass the exam, it is sufficient to obtain an overall final result of 10/20. It is not necessary to pass each individual exam part in order to pass the course. Thus, students can use the marks from one exam part to make up for/compensate for a deficit on the other exam part.
No partial exemptions will be granted for any second sitting. A student who did not pass the course (overall final result) but did pass one individual exam part, will therefore have to retake both parts of the exam in the second sitting.
Students can, after the exam and upon simple request, receive individual feedback.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Laws: default (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Laws: Verkort traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Adult Education: Profile Social Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Adult Education: Profile Education Studies (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Laws: Verkort traject (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Laws: Default track (only offered in Dutch)
Preparatory Programme Master of Laws: Default track (only offered in Dutch)