3 ECTS credits
90 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 6016810FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.
The course aims at providing advanced Master students with an in-depth understanding of EU Constitutional Law and Judicial Protection.
Part I is devoted to EU Constitutional Law (taught by Prof. S. van der Jeught in 2022/23). It aims at providing students with insight in the following key subjects:
a) the evolution of the EU Treaties (revision, membership, withdrawal);
b) the principle of conferral, the primacy of EU law, the autonomy of the EU’s legal order and the legal relationship between the EU and its Member States;
c) upholding the EU’s founding values and fundamental rights;
d) the categories and areas of EU competence;
e) an insider’s view of the functioning of the EU institutions and their decision-making practice;
f) the various types and layers of EU legal acts.
Part II concerns EU Judicial Protection (taught by Prof. D. Arts). It aims at familiarising the students with:
a) the structure of the EU judicial machinery and collaboration between national courts and the Court of Justice of the EU;
b) the enforcement of EU law against Member States;
c) the judicial protection against unlawful action by EU institutions; and
d) an insider’s view of the procedural aspects of lodging and pleading an action before the General Court and the Court of Justice.
The course, which is taught in English, is based on a careful reading and discussion of the EU Treaties and the pertinent case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU and relevant Constitutional Courts of the Member States. The advanced insights gained during the course are aimed at enabling students to independently reason as experts on the current and future EU constitutional controversies, EU decision-making processes and EU judicial protection, and to participate in an active manner in the specialised courses on sub-topics of EU law (EU External Relations Law, EU Economic Law, etc.).
In Part I:
- students gain a in-depth knowledge and practical legal insights in the constitutional law and decision-making processes of the European Union, and acquire the competence to understand and interpret past developments and current events shaping European integration and the creation of new EU law in an independent manner;
- students acquire the technical competence to read and understand EU primary and secondary law, and case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU in an independent manner; and
- students acquire the knowledge and skills to understand and use the specialised vocabulary on EU constitutional law.
In Part II, students will acquire knowledge and practical legal insights in:
- the institutional setup of judicial protection in the EU, also in connection with the Member State level;
- the procedural rules of the EU (in particular the preliminary rulings) and their influence on Member States;
- the means to enforce EU law against Member States (e.g. actions for infringement);
- the judicial protection against unlawful actions by Union institutions;
- the procedural requirements of lodging and pleading an action before the EU courts; and
- the special procedures and appeals.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
PART I: The assessment of Part I puts the focus on knowledge and understanding of EU constitutional principles, EU competence division, EU institutional law and practice, the EU decision-making process, and EU legal instruments. The exam is written. Students may use the Treaties (TEU/TFEU), provided no annotations are made in these Treaties.
PART II: The exam is written and closed-book.
Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of International and European Law: Standaard traject