Dissertation

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

The thesis in law is a personal and detailed work involving research and reflection and which testifies to the student's mastery of a specific legal subject. It pursues the objectives indicated above. The follow-up of the thesis work is an individual effort as early as the second year of the Master's programme. In total autonomy, the student is completely responsible for the progress of his research and his thesis; he will receive exactly the advice and guidance that he requests from his sponsor. The student and his sponsor will generally meet at least three times a month during the second year of the Master's programme. The student must respect the various progress deadlines that his sponsor may impose upon him apart from those stipulated by the Thesis Regulations. The thesis work involves two tasks to be completed by all students even if they undergo an exchange stay abroad. These two distinct tasks are the object of an overall assessment (cf. infra): a written work of about 60 pages with 1.5 line spacing. The last written work in the course of the thesis requires the student to express his thoughts in precise and mastered language using arguments supported by research corresponding to the normal methodological patterns of legal science. The written thesis work is to be submitted to the sponsor by no later than 10 May (or the next working day) of the second year of the Master's programme. The students enrolled for the September examination submit their theses no later than the first day of the September session. - A half hour viva starting with a 10-15 minute presentation by the student on the object and results of his research followed by a question and answer session. During this session, the student will endeavour to explain clearly the interest of his research by putting it in a context that is understandable to the other students. This viva will take place during the  exam session. The viva is public and comprises in one or more sessions all the students linked to the same thesis support seminar who have submitted their theses and who have been invited to take part in the discussion. The sponsor may invite a third party to attend the vivas.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	The objective of the thesis is to highlight the student's autonomy, critical understanding, other personal qualities and skills.

Other information

The marks allocated to the thesis cover all the student's tasks: attending the thesis supervisory seminar, written work and the viva. The assessment of written work accounts for at least three quarters of the final mark for the thesis. The mark allocated to the thesis is based on 20 points but represents 25 per cent of the points for the Master 2 examination. The possibility may be left to two students (maximum) to carry out all their thesis work together on the same subject. Each of these students will in this case be entitled to request an individual mark but it will rest with the students to split their written work into two individual parts. The two students will inform their sponsor if they accept a joint mark. The thesis will be assessed based on its scientific content and not on the opinions or beliefs that the student expresses in it. The assessment criteria relate in particular to the: - understanding of the concepts and the accuracy of arguments; - analysis and summary of a situation or problem; - clarity of the outline of the rules applying to this situation or problem; - adequacy of decisions taken at each phase of completing the thesis; - capacity to compare all observations and criticism offered by the sponsor and the other students in order to improve the work; - quality of the viva; - quality of the text in the thesis, which includes respect for the various formal demands (quotations, references, etc.); - originality of the subject; - mastery of the lege lata and ability to hold a discussion on the lege ferenda, etc. The student who has missed the June session in Master 2 will retain the mark received for the thesis in the June session for the September session. He may only be re-enrolled for the thesis in the September session if he received a mark below 10/20 for his thesis during the June session. In this case, his/her sponsor will stipulate the exact content of the additional written work that the student will be required to complete. The mark allocated to the September session will take account both of the previous oral and written work and the additional written work. If need be, the sponsor may decide to listen to the student as regards this additional written work.

Faculty or entity

BUDR