Teacher(s)
Language
French
Main themes
- Description of the methods giving access to the main legislative, precedent and doctrinal tools, both national and international. - Articulation of the different stages of legal research, from defining the subject to writing the text. - Reflection on the relevance, classification and presentation of the sources gathered. - Implementation of the teaching by carrying out documentary research exercises as well as by composing a paper focusing on a legal issue. Indispensable theoretical information forms the subject of lectures given to all students. The lecture can be, if necessary, supplemented by other methods. The teaching favours both traditional ways (publications in print) and information technology (use of databases and the Internet). The mark assessing the practical exercises is included in the overall mark for the course. Students are provided with the course notes at the beginning of the term.
Content
Legal methodology is the discipline concerned with studying and learning techniques for researching, understanding and referencing the sources of the law, and then, on the basis of these sources, writing a legal study.
In the light of this definition, the first task will be to identify and distinguish between the sources of law - legislation, case law and legal writings - and to endeavour to understand the multiple and complex relationships between them.
Students will then become familiar with the methods used to search for and locate legislation, case law and legal writings relating to a given legal problem, at both domestic and international level, using - in particular but not exclusively - the powerful computer tools now available.
If they are to be used properly, the sources of law must be correctly understood: we will therefore endeavour to highlight the principles governing the reading and analysis of legislative texts, decisions handed down by the courts and tribunals and contributions from legal doctrine.
It will also, of course, be necessary to familiarise oneself with the many conventional rules governing the way in which sources of law are cited in a legal study, without which the absolutely fundamental objectives of scientific rigour and intellectual honesty cannot be met.
Finally, the aim will be to provide students with a wide range of instructions and advice on how to produce a rigorous legal study that is likely to be favourably received by the legal community.
In the light of this definition, the first task will be to identify and distinguish between the sources of law - legislation, case law and legal writings - and to endeavour to understand the multiple and complex relationships between them.
Students will then become familiar with the methods used to search for and locate legislation, case law and legal writings relating to a given legal problem, at both domestic and international level, using - in particular but not exclusively - the powerful computer tools now available.
If they are to be used properly, the sources of law must be correctly understood: we will therefore endeavour to highlight the principles governing the reading and analysis of legislative texts, decisions handed down by the courts and tribunals and contributions from legal doctrine.
It will also, of course, be necessary to familiarise oneself with the many conventional rules governing the way in which sources of law are cited in a legal study, without which the absolutely fundamental objectives of scientific rigour and intellectual honesty cannot be met.
Finally, the aim will be to provide students with a wide range of instructions and advice on how to produce a rigorous legal study that is likely to be favourably received by the legal community.
Teaching methods
At UCLouvain, the teaching of legal methodology consists of two closely complementary components:
They will provide an opportunity to illustrate and apply the rules and methods taught in the lectures through a wide range of personal and group exercises. They culminate in the drafting of an initial legal study submitted by each student at the end of the academic year.
- a fifteen-hour 'lecture' course given in an auditorium, during which the rules and methods for achieving the objectives described above are taught, or at least the most essential of them ;
- a series of exercises carried out as part of the tutorials on legal methodology and introduction to law.
They will provide an opportunity to illustrate and apply the rules and methods taught in the lectures through a wide range of personal and group exercises. They culminate in the drafting of an initial legal study submitted by each student at the end of the academic year.
Evaluation methods
The assessment for the legal methodology course takes the form of an oral exam held outside the regular examination period, in December.
The knowledge and skills acquired during the course are also applied and assessed in the legal methodology and introduction to law tutorials.
The knowledge and skills acquired during the course are also applied and assessed in the legal methodology and introduction to law tutorials.
Online resources
In order to achieve the course objectives and successfully complete the assessment tests, students have access to the following pedagogical tools:
- the Moodle page for the legal methodology course: students will find the course and assessment procedures there;
- the PowerPoint presentations made available to students on the Moodle page and used to support the lectures;
Teaching materials
- G. Willems, S. Wattier, E. Ceci, M. Spitaels et A. Toussaint, Leçons de méthodologie juridique, 3ème éd., Précis de la faculté de droit et de criminologie de l'UCLouvain, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2024.
Faculty or entity
