It's in the nature of law to work in the long term. But when the very object of that law is inherently shifting and constantly evolving, it's sometimes hard to keep up.

"Technology is evolving very rapidly, and that's why all the courses taught during this Specialized Master's Degree in Digital Law are linked to the research we carry out here at CRIDS (see box), clarifies Élise Degrave, Professor of Law and Director of the Master's Degree. All the professors give courses linked to their research themes, and these evolve according to the results we obtain and share with the students."

Lasting one year, and accessible to holders of a first Master's degree by application, this specialist Master's program covers a wide range of subjects: commerce, communications, privacy, intellectual property, international governance, information, artificial intelligence...

"The Master's program is dense, with a very up-to-date range of courses, which really gives us a 360° vision of our future professions, believes Emma Belot, a recent graduate who has already been hired by a law firm. It shows as soon as we enter the world of work, and particularly in the technical field. You can't call yourself a specialist in new technology law without understanding the technology you're talking about. And the latter accounts for a large part of our training, in conjunction with the Faculty of Computer Science."

In addition to theoretical courses, students can also count on a pedagogy whose innovative character was emphasized by Rectrice Annick Castiaux. "In addition to the work-immersion internship, students take part in the Namur Legal Lab, which provides legal advice to start-ups, as well as a seminar that trains them in teamwork, she declared.

These are issues of which those in charge of the Master's program are fully aware, as they are committed to training jurists who are very attentive to the safeguards necessary for the functioning of a liberal and democratic society.

Minister Vanessa Matz, meanwhile, stressed the importance for Belgium and Europe of training experts capable of responding to these pressing issues. "Controlling the exploitation of personal data, protecting copyright in the face of the use of generative artificial intelligence, or regulating platforms and GAFAMs are not theoretical questions, she considers. They require a delicate balance between progress and ethics, and it will be up to the new Master's graduates to respond by writing the future rules of the game."

The creation of a site for selling goods online or a social network, the development of AI-based IT tools, the provision of a self-help platform between students or an application for exchanging information between a healthcare professional and his or her patient, and so on. What these different types of project have in common, of course, is that they are innovative and exciting, but they also raise legal issues that are not so obvious to the project leaders and yet so exciting to our students, who are only too happy to lend their support!

E-commerce law, intellectual property law, AI and data regulations, etc., are all areas in which our students can offer their help.

By seeking advice from Namur Legal Lab students, start-ups have the opportunity to protect themselves against the violation of certain regulations applicable to their business sector and integrate various legal approaches and constraints into their business model as early as possible.

For Master's students, the Namur Legal Lab represents real educational and professional added value. They find themselves on the front line with players in economic life whom they will have to advise and guide to help them bring their project to fruition. They will have to make the link between the theory they have acquired during their training and the realities on the ground. In other words... to be able to take the plunge... but not without a safety net, since they will still be supervised by the Master's teaching staff.

To be in with a chance of being selected, interested start-ups must submit their applications as soon as possible, and before September 15, 2025, via the online form.

Contact: camille.bourguignon@unamur.be

After tackling childhood and migration in 2022-2023, then harassment in 2023-2024, this year the Faculty devoted its Fil Rouge to a fundamental topic: inclusion. With the slogan "Let's live inclusion!", the 2024-2025 edition raised everyone's awareness of the importance of a society where everyone finds their place, whatever their origin, gender, social class, age, physical or mental abilities, sexual orientation...

Look back at some of the highlights of this second quadrimester.

On February 19, 2025, the final of the eloquence tournament took place, featuring powerful messages and inspiring performances. The tournament saw eight brilliant finalists compete, starting with Stephen Hawking's quote, "Disability cannot be a handicap".

• First prize and the audience prize were won by Aude Cavillot (student in BLOC 1)
• Second prize was won by Soraya El Kajjal (student in BLOC 3)
• Third prize was won by Natéo Carnot (student in BLOC 1)

On February 27, Benjamin Gisaro, a Belgian performer of Congolese origin, accompanied by Marie Dusingize, a doctoral student in socio-anthropology and specialist in Afro-descendant identities at ULiège, met with students in the Logic and Argumentation course taught by Thibault de Meyer. After enlightening them on the mechanisms of trivialized racism, anchoring the presentation with topical elements, and inviting them to write about their experiences, two of the actors from her show "Évidemment, c'est fâcheux" presented extracts from it, to then debate with the audience racist discourses and their deconstruction.

From March 10 to 14, the Faculty hosted an academic event of international stature: the European Moot Court Competition. Supervised by Jean-Marc Van Gyseghem, lecturer at UNamur and deputy director of the Centre de recherches Information, Droit et Société (CRIDS), this initiative was organized as part of the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) and brought together five European universities: the Catholic University of Lyon, Poitiers, Aristotle of Thessalonica (Athens) and ELTE Eötvös (Budapest), in addition to UNamur.

The aim of such a project was to immerse students in an immersive and formative experience, through a French-language pleading competition, articulated around human rights and preceded by an online preparatory course lasting around 25 hours.

In close collaboration with the City of Namur, the Faculty organized a competition for video creations to raise awareness of inclusion and non-discrimination on campus, in town and everywhere... Open to two categories of artistic creations, from students or staff members, it highlighted the talents of four winners.

In the student category:

• First prize: The digital divide, by Maya Bernard, Jade Botton and Lou de Potter
• Second prize: Blinded by digital advances, by Léna Lampasona, Chloé Petron, Achille Dewez and Romain Gilsoul
• Third prize and audience award: BREF, le numérique c'est génial... ou pas, by Louise Defrang and Violette Davreux

In the staff member category:

• Sarah Larielle, assistant and PhD student

The thread that will weave its way through the Faculty of Law in 2025-2026 will be dedicated to the theme of "Reenchanting the Earth!". Many more motivating activities in prospect!

Marilyn : Diplomacy is a way for state representatives, like ambassadors, to exchange and defend their country's interests on the international stage. The idea is always to seek compromise and cooperation between states. Each country has its own history, its own values, its own politics, but the aim is to put our differences aside to find common solutions.

Delphine: I've always been interested in international relations. It's a field I'm passionate about and I really wanted to do something concrete with it. Participating in this type of experience is an incredible opportunity.

Marilyn : What I love about my studies is all the theoretical part of law, but I was missing a more practical aspect. Diplomacy precisely allows me to develop speaking, debating and negotiating skills: skills that will be essential for me later on, particularly when working in law.

Marilyn : Listening is really essential. You have to be able to understand the reasoning of others, especially in a context where everyone comes from a different country, with their own way of approaching problems. The aim is to arrive at a solution that can benefit everyone, and to do that, you have to know how to listen, follow the arguments of others and build a common response.

Delphine: You also need to be able to put yourself in the other person's shoes, to understand their point of view. And then, self-confidence is important, especially when you're speaking or debating. You also need to know how to adapt, in particular by listening to what others have to say, so you can adjust your own speech accordingly.

Marylin: During these conferences, each party arrives with its own issues. The challenge is to succeed in integrating all these perspectives into a common solution, and that really comes down to listening and adaptability.

Marilyn : I learn a lot from her, especially in speaking and negotiating, which are key skills for practicing as a judge or lawyer. Knowing how to defend someone requires more than theory. I'm also doing further training in political science and have a course in the history of international relations. The lectures allow me to apply what I'm learning, but also to better understand how things work in practice.

Delphine: It also helps us make the connection with certain courses, like European or international law. It's a good way to start familiarizing ourselves with these subjects, while approaching them in a more concrete way.

Delphine: This year, the competition was held in Manila, in the Philippines, for a week. We received the theme a few weeks before the competition, which enabled us to prepare well, to understand the position of the country we were representing, so that we could best defend our point of view during the debates. Personally, I represented Egypt in the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee (SOCHUM). The topic was access to universal healthcare.

Marilyn: For my part, I represented Colombia, in the social development committee. The theme was global poverty reduction. It's quite a broad topic, with a multidimensional approach, both cultural, social and economic, which made the research and negotiation work particularly interesting.

Marilyn: What I really like is all the personal development it's given me. I've gained a huge amount of self-confidence, I've got to know my strengths and weaknesses better. It's also really motivating to see how far you've come. I think that, in a few years' time, that's what I'll remember most of all: how much this experience has made me grow.

Delphine: MSB pushes us as much academically as personally. You develop as a person, gain confidence and become more efficient. All this with a group of friends who are living the same adventure as we are. You also get to meet people from all over the world, which really opens up your mind.

Marilyn: This year was also MSB's 20th anniversary. I think our real strength is diversity. Within MSB, there are students from all over Belgium, as much from Wallonia as from Flanders and from a wide variety of backgrounds: law, engineering, medicine, political science... And then above all, there's an incredible friendship between us.

Delphine: We're all highly motivated and we're living this adventure to the full, together. During the conference, we rely heavily on our ability to listen and adapt. We're not here to impose our ideas, but to build collective solutions with the other delegations.