Learning outcomes

Specific competences
- Explain the purpose and consequences of the rules and mechanisms that organise the different relationships to property.
- Identify in a correct way the questions which arise in concrete situations relating to property, and propose the most adequate solutions by exploiting in an optimal way the applicable rules.
- Understand the legislative evolutions as well as the social and economic stakes linked to a more flexible, creative and responsible approach to property and its dismemberments.
Cross-cutting skills
- Conduct a rigorous and reasoned analysis of jurisprudential solutions, adding a personal and critical viewpoint.
- Demonstrate a sense of synthesis, precision and discernment.
- Build a structured, supported and convincing argument.
- Project yourself into concrete situations, devise judicious examples, identify the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions.

 

Goals

- The course aims to enable the student to understand the legal and jurisprudential mechanisms that organise the relationship to property.
- It invites the student to discuss the material in a reasoned and critical manner.
- It helps the student to project him/herself into concrete situations that require a rigorous and creative application of theoretical rules.
- It offers the student a global reflection on the evolution of the subject and on the margin of progress offered to it in view of the challenges of society. Among these, particular attention is devoted to sustainable development and to more participatory models likely to make property rights more flexible.

 

Content

The lessons are generally organised as follows, subject to change.
Lessons (1) and (2) are devoted to a general introduction to the new law of property, as remodelled by the Act of 4 February 2020 within the new Civil Code. They aim to explain the orientations and methods that have been adopted by the legislator. The fundamental notions of the subject will then be presented, including: types of property, the right of ownership, dismembered real rights, as well as the modes of acquisition of these rights.
From the third lesson onwards, each lesson will follow a participatory teaching model. Nine (9) topics will be discussed, which will largely correspond to the titles of Book 3 of the new Civil Code, namely: (3) the classification of property and, among these, the different kinds of immovable property (4) movable property, (4) movable property, its modes of acquisition and proof of ownership (5) [neighbourhood relations (part 1)] the extent and limits of real property in space (6) [neighbourhood relations (part 2)] neighbourhood disturbances (7) [neighbourhood relations (part 3)] easements (8) usufruct and habitation (9) emphyteusis (10) surface area (11) co-ownership
Lesson (12) is devoted to publicity concerning real property and to legal proceedings concerning ownership and possession. In addition, if circumstances permit, it will give students the opportunity to submit questions in preparation for the examination.
Particular attention will be paid to developments and reforms in the subject, including a more socially and environmentally responsible approach.
The students are invited to discuss the most relevant issues in an argumentative manner, to take a position on certain legal proposals, and even to present certain parts of the subject themselves (reversed class). The teacher takes care to provide as many examples as possible which implement the mechanisms explained in order to allow students to project themselves into concrete situations and to proceed to a rigorous or even creative application of the theoretical rules.
Students will be presented with judicial decisions.
Students will be invited to prepare the material and the judicial decisions that will be examined in the course, in order to take part in the debates and possible votes either in class or at a distance. The decisions to be prepared are posted on Webcampus according to a schedule that takes into account the order of the courses.

 

Table of contents

A detailed table of contents will be available on Webcampus.
Courses are usually structured as follows, subject to change.

1.     COURSE 1
General introduction: purpose of the course, societal issues, presentation of the new property law code, working method (participatory model, work plan, timetable), sources and materials, evaluation method, information on monitorships and permanences.
2.    COURSE 2
Fundamental concepts: the right of ownership, its definition, its relationship to possession, its characteristics, its prerogatives, its objects, its modes of acquisition, its dismemberments, its regulation.  Presentation of the participatory courses and instructions for their preparation.
3.    COURSE 3
Analysis of the types of property (immovable versus movable, tangible and intangible, the condition of animals, common property). Focus on the different types of real estate (real estate by nature, real estate by destination, real estate by perpetual attachment). Link with the course and practical cases.
4.    COURSE 4
Focus on movable property: modes of acquisition of ownership, role of possession, incidence of prescription, presumption of ownership (link with the monitorat and practical cases).
5.    COURSE 5
Study of real property in a neighbourhood context: object and spatial extent, delimitation, demarcation, fencing, encroachment situation, cases of accession, joint ownership; links with practical cases.
6.    COURSE 6
Studies of neighbourhood disturbances; links with practical cases.
7.    COURSE 7
Study of easements; links with practical cases.
8.    COURSE 8
Study of usufruct: links with practical cases.
9.    COURSE 9
Study of emphyteusis; links with practical cases.
10.    COURSE 10
Study of surface area; links with practical cases.
11.    COURSE 11
Study of co-ownership: types of co-ownership; modes of regulation; links with practical cases.
12.    COURSE 12 and 13
Real estate ownership and publicity. Legal actions concerning ownership and possession. The flexibility of the legal framework of property law. Questions and answers.



 

Exercices

A monitoring session (in principle two sessions) is organised during the four-month term.
During the monitoring, the emphasis is on practice and a more in-depth examination of certain points in the subject. 
Students are invited to take part in a reasoned analysis of leading case law decisions under the guidance of the lecturer. 
Where appropriate, one or two written assignments will be required of the student in connection with the supervision. 


 

Teaching methods

 Lessons are delivered in a lecture format, with the integration of devices promoting interactivity, normally in a face-to-face setting, and by default at a distance.
- As far as possible, a significant part of the lessons will be designed according to a model requiring the active participation of students. The practical arrangements will be communicated to the students during the first lessons and via webcampus.
- The teacher analyses and comments on judicial decisions, with the participation of the students. Students are invited to prepare the material and the judicial decisions that will be discussed in the course, in order to take part in the debates.
- The teaching may use the flipped classroom process to integrate one or more parts of the material.
- Monitoring sessions (in principle two) are devoted to a practical and in-depth approach to certain points of the subject through a reasoned analysis of leading case law decisions.

- If circumstances permit, at the end of the teaching period, a training module is offered to students to prepare them for the assessment and the questions that may be submitted to them during the examination.

Assessment method

 Assessment will normally take the following form: an oral examination, either face-to-face or via distance learning; where appropriate, one or two written assignments will be requested from students during the four-month term.   

- The oral examination takes place in January and/or August-September. 

- The evaluation also takes into account the students' participation during the four-month period.
- The content of the examination is designed to check whether the student has integrated the learning outcomes. In particular, the questions are designed to assess respectively:
i.    i. Accuracy in rendering and legal justification (reference to law and case law)
ii.    Judgement
iii.    A sense of synthesis
iv.    Quality and articulation of reasoning
v.    Ability to put into practice and situation
vi.    Receptive knowledge of Dutch terminology and key concepts.

- The sources that the student is allowed to use during the examination, as well as the modalities of use, are specified by the teachers at the end of the teaching period, according to the subjects studied and the methods used. In any case, the student will be able to use a code, which cannot be annotated except for article-to-article references.

- The final grade is not purely arithmetical and depends on the overall assessment of the performance by the teachers.



 

Sources, references and any support material

 

  • Before each class session, students will be provided with a topic file.
  • In principle, the topic file consists of the following documents:
    • Synopsis (key concepts of the course)
    • Relevant legal provisions 
    • Reference case law

Language of instruction

French
Training Study programme Block Credits Mandatory
Bachelor in Law Standard 0 3
Bachelor in Law Standard 3 3