Constitutional Law III: Public freedoms + Exercises session with casus

Teacher(s)

Hachez Isabelle; Mossoux Youri (compensates Hachez Isabelle);

Language

French

Main themes

Presentation of the concepts, rules and principles of the law of fundamental rights
Analysis of legal issues connected with fundamental rights (in particular the protection of the environment and inclusion)
Presentation of the methods of reasoning used to review compatibility with fundamental rights

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

Having regard to the learning outcomes framework of the programme, the teaching unit contributes to the development and acquisition of the following competences: I. Acquiring general cultural knowledge II. Acquiring specifically legal knowledge III. Acquiring the methods and tools of the scientific approach IV. Acquiring skills of analysis, reflection and argumentation on the basis of concrete situations V. Mastering written and oral communication Developing transferable skills: developing a sense of autonomy in carrying out varied tasks (organisational capacity, work planning, compliance with deadlines, etc.), refining a personal ethic, both in the completion of one’s programme and in one’s dealings with others (personal positioning consistent with one’s own values, sense of the general interest, respect for others, etc.). More specifically, at the end of the Constitutional Law III course, students should essentially be able: a) to understand and assimilate the meaning or meanings of the elementary legal concepts taught, for example and among others: fundamental rights (or public freedoms or human rights), generations of rights, positive obligations; negative obligations; primacy; direct effect; the standstill principle; consistent interpretation; preventive regime; repressive regime; restrictions; derogations; forfeiture of rights in the event of abuse of rights; general comments of the United Nations committees; b) to demonstrate rigour and precision in setting out these concepts; c) to understand the connections that link these fundamental concepts to one another; d) to apply these legal concepts in a practical case; e) to understand and assimilate certain rules of Belgian positive law (in particular the rules establishing the review mechanisms and bodies in fundamental rights matters and determining their powers; the rules governing the regime of limitations on fundamental rights; those specifying the scope of application and the reach of certain fundamental rights …); f) to handle the code reproducing the texts of positive law commented on in the course; g) to read and understand a portfolio of decisions handed down by the principal review bodies in fundamental rights matters, and to be able to develop a legal reasoning based on the principles emerging from them; h) to provide elements of critical evaluation of the legal regimes studied; i) to analyse current events reported in the daily press in the light of the concepts and rules studied.

Content

The course plan is, in summary, as follows:
Title I: General theory
Chapter I: The concept of public freedom and its historical context
Chapter II: The sources of public freedoms
Chapter III: The beneficiaries of, and the duty-bearers under, public freedoms
Chapter IV: The regime of public freedoms and the determination of their limits
Chapter V: The enforcement of rights and freedoms (in the domestic legal order)
Title II: Analysis of specific public freedoms: the principle of equality and non-discrimination
The emphasis is placed on fundamental rights litigation and on the modes of reasoning used to determine whether a norm or an act is compatible with those rights. The course focuses principally on Belgian fundamental rights law, even though European fundamental rights law occupies an important place in it. Certain themes are addressed in a cross-cutting manner, such as the protection of a healthy environment and inclusion. Other cross-cutting themes may be included in the teaching depending on the students’ professional experience and interests.

Teaching methods

Ex cathedra, in-person lectures.
The lectures are based on the lecturer’s professional experience (bar, research, Constitutional Court). Mainly theoretical, the classes also include the resolution of practical cases. A critical approach to the use of generative artificial intelligence tools is also taught.
Teaching materials offered to students: a syllabus (entitled “Droit constitutionnel III. Les libertés publiques”) and a portfolio of appendices to be completed with class notes. The syllabus, which is more comprehensive on certain points than the oral presentation, includes bibliographical references and invitations to “go further”. Students must also acquire a compilation of texts containing all the normative texts commented on in the course. Reference handbooks are recommended.
The lecturer is available to answer any question.
Practical work (TP) is organised in order to introduce students to the techniques of solving cases falling within constitutional law.
The practical work comprises six sessions of one and a half hours. The practical work is organised in several stages, which enable the teachers to mark out the students’ progress. From the first session onwards, students are given a set of specifications setting out the approach to be followed and providing bibliographical guidance. An intermediate stage invites the student to submit a state of the question, enabling the teacher to adjust the direction taken by the student. Office hours are held, which enable students to ask any relevant question and the teachers to assess their approach.
Attendance at the practical work sessions is compulsory.
Students are expected to be punctual, to bring the required documents and, where applicable, to have carried out the preparatory work requested by the teaching assistant.
Reference is made to the instructions set out in the specifications specific to the constitutional law practical work

Evaluation methods

Type of assessment. The mark for the practical work represents ¼ of the mark for the teaching unit, while the mark for the lecture course represents ¾ of it.
The examination on the lecture course takes the form of an oral examination in French. Everything that has been said in the lecture course is subject to examination, but nothing more than what has been said in the course. Oral examination of 20 minutes per student. Two questions are drawn at random. Students have 20 minutes’ preparation time.
At the examination, students are allowed to bring the normative texts commented on in the course and the portfolio of appendices, both annotated within the strict limits specified in the first pages of the syllabus.
In the codes, students are permitted only:

• to underline or highlight words or sentences;
• to circle words (and not isolated letters);
• to note cross-references from article number to article, accompanied where appropriate by the title of the corresponding instrument.

The use of sticky notes or other removable dividers is permitted, but only the title and the date of the normative instruments appearing on the marked page may be indicated there.
The use and annotation of collections of texts published internally in the form of a syllabus are left to the discretion of each professor but, where such a collection is the equivalent of a code, the foregoing rules apply to it. Any annotation, even a single word, exceeding the limits indicated here will be considered fraud. The student’s mark will then be reduced to 0/20 (cf. Article 107s et seq. of the General Regulations for Studies and Examinations).
As part of the practical work, students must write a paper intended to allow an assessment of the originality and quality of their intellectual approach, their capacity to analyse the relevant sources of law as well as their proper use and referencing of those sources, their understanding of the legal concepts concerned, their capacity to reason and to argue rigorously, as regards both substance and form, and their compliance with the constraints.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is not prohibited as such in the context of the practical work, but must be limited to occasional support for students in carrying out certain tasks, such as linguistic revision of the text, translation of a fragment of text, etc. Such AI support in no way exempts students from carrying out by themselves the research and drafting tasks required, which presupposes that they exercise discernment and critical judgement and that they scrupulously reference their text by making reference to the use of AI. Students shall take scrupulous care as to the accuracy of legal references.
Students are required to comply with all the principles inherent in academic work, which must be personal and genuine, among other things in accordance with what is specified in the specifications for the practical work, which remain fully applicable.
Students are asked:

• to comply with the principles upheld in this respect by the Faculty (cf. the document “Utilisation responsable de l’intelligence artificielle générative” https://oer.uclouvain.be/jspui/bitstream/20.500.12279/1079.2/1/IAGenerative_Groupe_de_Travail_UCLouvain_2024_06.pdf);
• to append to every written production the Integrity Commitment adopted by the Faculty Board, duly completed and signed. Failure to submit the Integrity Commitment, completed and signed by the student, as an annex to the paper is penalised by the deduction of two (2) points from the overall mark (calculated out of 20);
• to comply with the Code of ethics and deontology applicable to users of the UCLouvain information services

Attendance at the practical work sessions – as well as submission of the genuine work that the practical work entails – is compulsory (cf. Article 17, § 1, of the Regulations of the Faculty of Law).
Under the faculty rules, late submission of the paper is penalised by:

• the loss of 2 points per 24 hours of delay in the submission of the paper;
• an overall mark of 0A/20 where the paper is submitted more than 5 days late (or is not submitted) or is not genuine work.

In addition, Article 17, § 3, of the said Regulations states that “[t]he justification of absences or of the failure to submit genuine work (…) must be provided no later than the day following the end of the impediment, failing which it is inadmissible. It shall be notified to the Faculty administration in accordance with Article 103 of the RGEE”. Under the latter provision (first paragraph), students “shall submit to the Faculty administration the original of any supporting documents, that is to say a medical certificate or any other document the probative value of which is left to the sovereign assessment of the president of the Board of Examiners. However, where that day is a Saturday, a Sunday, 27 September or a legal public holiday, the day for submitting the documents is postponed to the next day which is not one of these”.
In terms of consequences, unjustified absence from more than one session, or unjustified failure to submit any genuine written work (state of the question and final paper) within the prescribed time limits, is penalised by an overall mark of 0A/20. Any challenge in that respect may be made exclusively by way of a subsequent appeal brought against the decision of the Board of Examiners adopted at the deliberation relating to the session concerned (cf. Articles 155 et seq. of the RGEE).
Language of assessment: French
Assessment criteria. Students are assessed against the learning outcomes described above.

Other information

Nature of the Course: Lectures.
This course is intended for students of the second year of the Bachelor’s programme (evening classes) in law.

Online resources

A Moodle page is provided for the course. It contains the PowerPoint presentations of the classes (published after the class has been given) as well as other useful documents. Messages intended for students are posted there.

Bibliography

Teaching materials

• Droit constitutionnel III. Les libertés publiques » (syllabus et portefeuille d’annexes)
• Code bac

Faculty or entity

> DRTB