Duration
24h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English 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
This course will offer a panoramic perspective of the state of European Union law today. As the EU intervenes in ever more domains, we have to make a selection in doing so. Given their increasing importance, we made the choice in that respect to approach the European Union and its law from the particular point of view of 'fundamental rights'.
The importance of fundamental rights can no longer be denied at the European Union level. Having gained gradual recognition up to a point where an EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has been adopted, fundamental rights have come to play a major role in the design, interpretation and application of European Union law. This course uses the presence, possibilities and limits fundamental rights offer as an inroad into studying European Union law in a somewhat more advanced manner.
The course will comprise a general introduction on the role and status of fundamental rights in the European Union (sessions 1 and 2), before questioning whether a specific hierarchy exists between different types of fundamental rights as recognised throughout the European Union (sessions 3, 4 and 5). The final part of the course zooms in on specific fundamental rights that can be considered typical of the EU: the right to transparency and openness (sessions 6 and 7) and the right to the protection of one's personal data (sessions 8, 9 and 10).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of this course, students will have gained a deeper understanding of specific themes in which EU law has played a role or in which it can be invoked.
Students will have a better command of legal English. They will be able to understand the English version of a European Court case or a European legislative instruments. They will be capable of explaining points of law by writing different assignments in English within the subject matter of this course.
Students will capable of developing arguments based on a problem of EU law and will be able to reflect more critically on the state and future of EU law.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Basic knowledge of EU institutional and substantive law. Ability and willingness to follow a lecture in English and to submit written assignments in English.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
10 two-hour lectures will be organised, which will take place during our regular time-slot on Thursdays from 14h00 to 16h00 in the Marx classroom, B31.
The syllabus for this course will be available in both printed and electronic version. More information will be posted on eCampus.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
Ex cathedra class sessions.
In addition, students will be required to prepare two written case notes. They will receive individual written feedback on their first case note in the second half of November.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Cases and materials as well as course outlines will be available in a printed reader, as well as online via eCampus.
The cases and materials largely contain Court of Justice case law and EU legislation. Links to doctrinal articles will be posted on eCampus.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Further information:
The course is the subject of two evaluation mechanisms.
Firstly, each student will have to prepare a written assignment in the forrm of a case note. The case note will count for 4 points out of 20. Individual feedback will be given, allowing students to improve their writing skills throughout the semester.
Secondly, a written open book exam will take place during the January exam period. As part of that exam, students will be given a case from the Court of Justice of the European Union which has not explicitly been covered in class, but which contains topics related to the issues explored in the course lectures. Students will have to summarise and comment on the case in accordance with a format explained in the course syllabus. The exam will take 3 hours.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
10 lecture sessions (in the Marx classroom, B31) will be organised on Thursdays from 14h to 16h:.
- The emergence of fundamental rights in the European Union (19/09)
- Fundamental rights in the European Union and beyond: the relationship between EU fundamental rights and other fundamental rights regimes (26/09)
- Fundamental rights in the EU internal market (I): free movement rights as/and fundamental rights (3/10)
NO CLASS ON 10 OCTOBER
- Fundamental rights in the EU internal market (II): citizenship rights as fundamental rights? (17/10)
- Fundamental rights in the EU internal market (III): fundamental rights applying horizontally? (24/10)
- EU-specific fundamental rights: openness and transparency (I) (7/11)
Submission of your case note - Friday 8 November at 16h00 at the latest, paper version to be submitted at IEJE secretariat (B33)
-NO class on 14 November - Jobday facultaire
- EU-specific fundamental rights: openness and transparency (II) (21/11)
- EU-specific fundamental rights: data protection (I) (28/11)
NO CLASS ON 5 DECEMBER
- EU-specific fundamental rights: data protection (II) (12/12)
- EU-specific fundamental rights: data protection (III) = Q&A (19/12)
Written (or oral) feedback on your case note at the latest in the week starting 16/12
Contacts
Professor: Pieter Van Cleynenbreugel (pieter.vancleynenbreugel@ulg.ac.be)
Secretariat: Caroline Langevin (caroline.langevin@ulg.ac.be)