General provisions

Determined on May 29, 2015 by the Faculty of Law’s Educational Committee, Uppsala University, by virtue of Chapter 6 Section 14 and 15 of the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100). The course plan enters into force on August 1, 2015.

General

The course amounts to 15 ECTS credits and is an optional course at advanced level in the studies for the degree of Master of Laws, in accordance with the degree requirements adopted by the Board of the Faculty of Law of Uppsala University on 16 April 2007. The course is held in English with some optional components in French.

Entry requirements

Students on the Master of Laws programme (juristprogrammet) must have passed all compulsory semester courses except one and completed all compulsory components on the basic level. Students on international exchange programmes must have passed two years of studies in law. They must also have basic knowledge of EU Law. All students must master spoken and written English. The Board of Exemption may grant exemptions from these prerequisites.

Learning outcomes

After this course students should be able:

• to find and work with EU legal material
• to apply EU legal material and formulate relevant questions
• to present, orally as well as in writing, complicated problems and arguments for objective-oriented solutions
• to discuss, in a qualified manner, the characteristics of EU-law and the challenges it offers for judges in national courts

Examination Criteria

AB 1) extensive use of a spectre of relevant legal sources, 2) independent and focused analysis of questions posed and 3) unambiguous and convincing application of law in a given context

Ba 1) extensive use of relevant legal sources, 2) independent and useful analysis of questions posed and 3) useful application of law in a given context

B 1) modest use of relevant legal sources, 2) useful analysis of questions posed and 3) useful application of law in a given context

Fail Failure to satisfy one or more of the criteria for B

Content

The central theme of this course is the in-depth study of modern EU-law and the challenges it offers for judges in national courts. The course does not only aim at students interested in a judicial career but at all students who seek profound understanding of the influence from EU-law on national legal systems and the preconditions for application of law. The content of the course is built around three themes: The EU legal system: emergence and explanation, The EU legal sources: new approaches to method, The EU legal process: remedies and cultural change. The teaching will combine problem-based and theoretical seminars with lectures by national and international practitioners. It will also comprise empirical study of, for example, the use by the EU courts of travaux preparatoires, national courts requests for preliminary rulings and horizontal cooperation between courts at national level and their interplay with courts at European level.

Instruction

Teaching will take the form of lectures and seminars. All students are expected to be well prepared, to work with the problems presented in the course material and to engage in discussions. The seminars are prepared in two stages: through individual study of relevant material (literature, case law and other legal texts) and through joint discussion and problem-solving in study-groups. In addition to the regular lectures and seminars some optional seminars will be held in French. These seminars are designed for those students who have some knowledge of French and wish to develop their understanding and use of legal French.

Attendance to the regular lectures and seminars is compulsory. Relief from the requirement of attendance may be granted by the Course Directors if there is a valid excuse.

Further information about teaching can be found in the attached study plan. The teaching is based on material indicated in the attached list of literature and use of Internet-based sources.

Assessment

Examination is based on an examination portfolio including a written exam, a written paper studying in depth a specific issue, and the oral presentation of that paper in a course conference. The final grade obtained for the course is based on a balanced assessment of the examination portfolio. All students will have the option to choose between English, Swedish and French for the indicative exam and the paper. The course conference will be held in English.

The grades given are Fail (U), and the passing grades Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba) and Pass with distinction (AB). Students at international exchange programmes are also given grades from A to F. A student who has not achieved the result required to pass the course will be offered re-exam.

It is prohibited to attempt to use deceptive means to influence the outcome of an exam or other ways of evaluating student performance such as essays. So, for example, may students not use non-permitted aids or materials during a written exam. It is also prohibited to pass off another person’s work as one’s own work, in other words, to engage in plagiarism. In addition to the result of the exam or other way of evaluating student performance being reduced or declared null, a student who, in the above or other ways engages in cheating will be reported to the University Disciplinary Board. The Board can issue formal warnings or disbar the student from studying at the university for a period of up to six months.