a. Specific skills
- To appropriate the concepts, rules and principles of the law of obligations (Tort law).
- To make the student understand the issues and the various sources on which the law of obligations is based.
- Develop the ability to conduct a rigorous and critical analysis of the law of obligations.
- To move from the abstract norm to the concrete fact and, conversely, to develop the ability to ask relevant legal questions, in particular through the resolution of cases and practical work.
b. Cross-cutting competences
- To make the student aware of the relative and evolving nature of legal solutions and the controversies they may generate.
- Defend a point of view in an argumentative way.
- Use the French language as a tool for legal thinking and master legal terminology.
- Introduce language skills in Dutch legal terminology, at least in a receptive way.
- Develop soft skills during practical work (group management, cooperation, creativity, oral expression, etc.)
- To train the student in a legal discipline considered essential for a good understanding of the whole of private law, by ensuring rigorous mastery of the learning outcomes.
- To inculcate in the student the concepts, principles and institutions of the law of obligations, to confront him with the legal texts and the principal jurisprudential decisions in the matter, to make him perceive the evolutions in progress and their range, finally to develop his aptitude to apply the principles and texts to concrete cases.
The course opens with an introduction that briefly reviews the history of tort law, highlights its foundations and functions, and examines the relationship between tort law and criminal law.
In this context, the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) has adopted the principle of "civil liability" and "criminal liability", highlighting in particular rules such as the res judicata effect of the criminal decision on the civil proceedings or the principle that the criminal is responsible for the civil proceedings in the first place. The regime of articles 1382 and 1383 of the former Civil Code will first of all be explained by structuring the presentation around the three conditions of application. Civil fault will also be presented through its three constituent elements. The causal link will then be developed by highlighting the principal theory retained by the Court of Cassation, namely the equivalence of conditions, as well as its implications and the possible arrangements.
Finally, the damage will be discussed by presenting, firstly, its definition and its characteristics.Secondly, the reparation of this damage will be examined through the main principles of reparation and the presentation of the main categories of prejudice.
After having reviewed the three conditions of article 1382 of the former Civil Code, it will be a question of the means of defence which can be invoked by the person responsible. It will be a question of exposing the various causes of justification, but also the exonerating foreign causes, namely force majeure, the fault of a third party or the fault of the victim.
The presumptions of liability will then be detailed. The very principle of presumption will be explained before turning to the presumptions of vicarious liability. The rules common to these presumptions will be explained. The three presumptions will thus be reviewed. For each of them, the conditions of application will be explained before highlighting their specific effects. Next, the presumptions of liability in respect of things will be analysed. The presumptions relating to things and animals will be considered, while the presumption relating to ruined buildings will be presented only as a reminder because of its limited practical interest.
Special compensation regimes will still be examined. The aim will be to make the student understand that there are other bases for civil liability than fault. Emphasis will be placed on the particularities of these regimes by showing how they derogate from the ordinary law. Article 29bis of the law of 21 November 1989, which sets up a system of automatic compensation for weak users in the event of a traffic accident, will be explained. The law of 25 February 1991 on defective products will also be presented, as will the theory of neighbourhood disturbances.
Assessment method Written examination (June/ September)
It lasts three hours and consists of four types of questions:
- Definitions (to check the assimilation of concepts) or small "true-false" question ;
- a reflective question: comparing related concepts, explaining a theory, commenting on an extract from a decision, etc. (to test critical thinking and the ability to synthesise);
- targeted questions that require precise but succinct answers: analysis of a clause, of a doctrinal opinion, ... (to check that the theoretical principles are well understood) (to check the correct understanding of the theoretical principles);
- one or two cases (to check the ability to apply the principles).
Evaluation criteria :
1. emphasis on - the precision of definitions - the rigour of the reasoning and its legal justification (reference to the Code in particular) - the conciseness of the answers (it is not a question of restating the whole course)
2. the quality of expression is taken into consideration as well as the structuring of the answer
3. the ability to refer to the Code and key case law to support and argue one's response is essential. At the examination, students have their Code, their collection of legislation and any other legal or regulatory texts. They may not be annotated, subject to article-to-article cross-referencing. No other documents are allowed.
The final mark is not purely arithmetical and depends on the teachers' overall assessment of the paper.
- Course syllabus (F. George, R. Jafferali (coord.), Handbook of Civil Liability Law, Limal, Anthemis, 2022) ;
- Casebook (available on Webcampus) ;
- Recueil de législation (available on Webcampus) and Civil Code ;
- Self-learning modules (available on Webcampus) ;
- Summary powerpoint (available on Webcampus).
| Training | Study programme | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor in Philosophy | Standard | 0 | 6 | |
| Bachelor in Law | Standard | 0 | 6 | |
| Bachelor in Law | Standard | 1 | 6 | |
| Bachelor in Philosophy | Standard | 2 | 6 | |
| Bachelor in Philosophy | Standard | 3 | 6 |