Law Clinic "Les Surligneurs"

The clinic is set against the backdrop of the rise of fake news and ‘alternative facts’, and the emergence of what some call the ‘post-truth era’, referring to ‘circumstances in which objective facts are less influencial in shaping political debate or public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’ (Oxford English Dictionary[DC1] ). Between 2022 and 2024, these phenomena were the subject of a collaborative research project carried out within the Interdisciplinary Seminar on Legal Studies (SIEJ), entitled ‘The (post-)truths of law’. Students, who are invited to undertake practical work analysing and providing legal insights into current political events, will be able to draw on this scientific research by the SIEJ, which focuses on the relationship between law and truth, to inform their work from a theoretical perspective.
The clinic also embodies the spirit of the Manifesto for Legal Education, ‘Free and Responsible Future Lawyers!’, which aims to train students to become active members of society by fostering autonomy, critical thinking, creativity and individual responsibility. In the same vein, it aligns with Objective 2 of the University’s 2024–2029 Strategic Plan, which calls for the integration of transformative teaching approaches aimed at developing students’ critical thinking, cooperation and capacity to take action in the face of the complexity of contemporary challenges, particularly social ones.
 
Here is a brief overview of the key themes at the heart of the clinic: 
- Current political affairs
- Public debate
- Legal-checking

The clinic has two main objectives: to scrutinise and shed light on political debate. In practice, these objectives are achieved through students writing short articles under the supervision of lecturers. Two distinct processes are involved:
- ‘Legal highlighting’, whereby statements that are legally incorrect, problematic, open to interpretation, incomplete, etc., are ‘highlighted’.
- ‘Legal analysis’, whereby politically debated topics are ‘analysed’ from a legal perspective.
Once finalised, the articles are then published online on the Belgian section of the website founded by ‘Les Surligneurs France’ (https://lessurligneurs.eu/), and subsequently shared on social media to stimulate public debate. The students themselves manage the communication materials, designed to ensure the visibility of their work amongst the general public.
In doing so, the legal clinic forms part of the legal design movement, as conceptualised in particular by Margaret Hagan (Stanford University, USA), which aims to improve the understanding, visibility and accessibility of the law from the perspective of its users (user-centered).

In order to fully meet these multiple objectives, it seems appropriate to limit the number of students to 20 and to give priority to students in their final year of study. Particular value will be placed on the ability to write legal texts, especially in a way that is accessible to a wider audience.

This is an assessment of each student's involvement in the project. However, everyone must have submitted at least two articles over the course of the year (one ‘Legal highlighting’ article; one ‘Legal analysis’ article). The overall assessment also takes into account: media-monitoring activities, participation in formatting the articles, their publication and dissemination, as well as, more broadly, participation in sessions and engagement in the life of the clinic. The final grade results from an overall assessment of all these elements, with no predetermined weighting between the written articles and the other forms of participation in the clinic.
Language of the assessment
Articles must be written in French.
Assessment criteria
The assessment is comprehensive. It is based not only on the articles written, but also on the completion of the various tasks to be carried out before and after their writing, such as those mentioned above (media monitoring, formatting, publication, etc.). Involvement and continuity of follow-through are also taken into account.
Specifically regarding the written articles, the assessment is based on the quality of the research and analysis carried out, as well as the ability to incorporate feedback from the lecturers. In terms of form, the elements taken into account include the structure and style of the article, spelling, and the quality of the bibliographic references. Regarding spelling and command of the French language, points may be deducted, up to a maximum of 10% of the total grade for the written articles.
Attendance at sessions and the submission of genuine written work are compulsory and form an integral part of the assessment for the module mark.
Penalties for absence and/or failure to submit original written work:
- Unjustified absence from more than one session or the unjustified failure to submit any genuine[DC1]  written work may result in a mark of 0A/20 being awarded for the module;
- Justification for absences or failure to submit genuine written work must be provided no later than the day following the end of the impediment; otherwise, it will not be accepted.
Research and Academic Writing Ethics
Each student must attach to every piece of written work the Declaration of Contribution regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence, duly completed and signed. Failure to submit the Declaration of Contribution, completed and signed by the student, as an appendix to the work, will result in the deduction of two (2) marks from the overall mark (calculated out of 20).
Lecturers accept the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), provided that those using it indicate how they have used the AI, as well as all the sources that have been consulted.
Further details
In the event that a student fails in the first assessment period, they will be assessed solely on the basis of two essays (one ‘Legal highlighting’ article; one ‘Legal analysis’ article). [DC2] The assessment will cover topic research, writing, formatting, publication, and dissemination of the articles written. The topics for the articles will be determined during the week following the marking session. In this case, the final mark will be based on the assessment of the two articles, with each article accounting for half of the mark.