General provisions

Determined on August 30, 2007 by Faculty of Law's Teaching Committee, Uppsala University, by virtue of Chapter 2 Section 5 a of the Higher Education Act and Chapter 6 Section 14 and 15 of the Higher Education Ordinance. The course plan enters into force on September 1, 2007.

In General

The course is 30 university points (30 ECTS credits) and an optional course at advanced level in the studies for the degree of Master of Laws, according to the degree requirements adopted 16 April 2007 by the Board of the Faculty of Law of Uppsala University. The first 15 university points is held in English.

Entry requirements

In general, Swedish students must have attained five passes out of the six courses given at level 1 of the LL.M programme. All the obligatory phases of the course in which the student has not attained a pass must have been fulfilled. Swedish students must have passed the exam for Term course 4 and 6.

If special reasons exist the board of exemption may grant exemption from the acceptance requirements.

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing advanced knowledge in the procedural handling of European law, particularly concerning the interaction between European law and national law and Swedish procedure and law. An indirect aim is to provide knowledge on the content of European law.

The course is set out to provide every student with means to develop skills in oral and written presentation (individually and in group, and from various legal traditions and cultures) when solving complicated legal tasks. This includes providing every student with a deepened understanding of unfamiliar views and the pluralistic feature which characterises the application of European law in court. The course is also set out to develop a skill to communicate with other (e.g. foreign) students and find constructive solutions to common European legal questions.

Content

The subject of study is the application of European law – mainly EU and EC law – before courts. The emphasis is put on the application of EC law in national courts and the European Court of Justice but also the adjudication in The Court of First instance, the Commission and domestic administrative agencies is touched upon.

Instruction

The main part of the teaching is seminars. Some of these deal specifically with case law, involving close readings and discussions of precedents by the ECJ. Other seminars involve practical and hypothetical situations, requiring the students to use their acquired skills. In addition there are a number of traditional lectures. During the first half of the course, the students are integrated with students taking the course European Law and Procedure (15 university points). The first half of the course is held in English and completed by a written exam, the second is held in Swedish and completed with an individually written essay.

Further information on the teaching can be found in the attached study plan.

Participation in the seminars, except two for the student optional seminars, is mandatory. The course contents an individually written essay. In addition, every student must make a protocol during one seminar or lecture. The protocol must be typed and be 2 pages long. The protocols must be delivered within three days from the seminar or lecture.

It is possible to get relief from the mandatory requirements.

The teaching is based on the literature and the cases which are referred to in the list in the attachment.

Assessment

During the course the student may collect a maximal number of 45 points, which are the basis for the grade achieved. Out of these 45 points, 20 may be attained at a written examination by the end of the first half of the course. Another 20 may be attained from the written essay. A student who has fulfiled the compulsory items of the course – i.e. presence at all lectures and seminars but two and deliverance of a protocol in time – will have an additional 5 points. Absence or failure to deliver protocol may be remedied for the purpose of obtaining a grade, but the 5 points will be lost.

During the written exam students may use law texts, literature and other material which has been used during the course.

The grades given are Fail (U), and the passing grades Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba) and Pass with distinction (AB). A student who does not pass the written exam will be offered another try.