Fil Rouge de la Faculté de droit, a look back at a four-month period of activity

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

The launch evening, organized in September 2024, made a lasting impression thanks to the speech by Serge Van Brakel, who shared his life experience as a person with a disability with a touch of humor and a great deal of humanity. Since then, numerous activities have punctuated this first four-month period, offering moments rich in reflection and exchange.

Among the highlights, the mock trial, held on November 19, 2024, tackled a landmark case: a murder with homophobic and racist motivations, based on a tragedy that occurred in 2020. "This case raises major issues of inclusion, which fits perfectly with the theme of our Fil Rouge. Criminal law provides for harsher penalties for crimes motivated by forms of discrimination, such as homophobia and racism," explains Emma Bourcelet, assistant at the Faculty of Law and co-organizer of the event.

Seven students (Emmanuël Falzone, Justine Voss, Gwen-Gaël Gabrielli, Arsène Banza, Guillaume Warnon, Jean-Marc Seka and Victoria De Gregorio) took part in this ambitious project. Each took on a specific role and prepared his or her contribution carefully. "This year, we benefited from the support of Amani, a student in his final year of the Master's program, as well as third-year students from ELSA Namur (European Law Students' Association). Their speech coaching and past mock trial experience were invaluable. There's a great team behind this adventure! ", emphasizes Emma Bourcelet. Solène, from ELSA Namur who coached the students shares, "It was extremely rewarding. Accompanying the students in their preparation enabled me to see their involvement and their progress. I was impressed by their ability to assimilate the advice given, whether on the substance or on the more practical aspects, such as oral argumentation and posture. It was a great opportunity to exchange with them and contribute to their future professional development."

Beyond a professionalizing exercise, the mock trial is a real human adventure. "The magical thing is to see the evolution of the participants between their selection and D-day. They surpass themselves, both individually and collectively. It's a challenge that brings people together and welds them ", adds Emma Bourcelet. The result: the students brilliantly rose to the challenge and impressed the jury with the quality of their performances. Participating student Victoria De Gregorio agrees: "The mock trial was a great experience. We felt a bit (a lot) of stress, both in terms of substance (writing a trial argument, working on a real case) and form (speaking in front of an audience). I loved learning about the case and immersing myself in my role as defense lawyer. When it came time to open the Pedro's doors, I rehearsed my text one last time in my head, drank at least a liter of water (terrified for some reason of having a coughing fit) and set off. The result of a month's preparation was a magnificent evening! This kind of experience in the field of law is an opportunity to make the studies we've chosen more concrete, to step out of the theoretical world for a moment and come down to earth. Not all the data we need is always to be found in the syllabus..."

At the end of the mock trial, the audience had the privilege of attending a presentation by Aline Fery, a criminal lawyer involved in this case in defense of one of the two protagonists. Her intervention highlighted the practical challenges associated with this type of case and offered an enriching professional insight for participants and audience alike.

The mock trial is a perfect illustration of the Faculty of Law's desire to decompartmentalize subjects and offer a cross-disciplinary pedagogy. "The experience sent shivers down the spine of the entire Pedro Arrupe: between the extraordinary pleadings of the participating students (daytime and staggered schedules), the Court's impressive verdict and Maître Aline Fery's impassioned sharing on the practice of law, there was enough to have stars in the eyes and hearts... What joy and happiness to witness this evolution and collective momentum, in the service of the law and its role in society. I would like to reiterate my congratulations and thanks to everyone who helped make this event another happy memory in the history of the Faculty of Law. I remain convinced that this type of project is more than just a formative and necessary part of a student's career. They challenge codes, bring out the best in our students and inspire an ideal of justice for which we must all strive. We can't wait for the next one!", concludes Emma Bourcelet.

On November 7, three members of the Ihsane Jarfi Foundation were invited to take part in Professor Jean-Michel Longneaux's Foundations of Ethics course. Committed to the fight against discrimination linked to religion, gender and love preferences, the Foundation gave students the opportunity to discuss these sensitive issues. Hassan Jarfi, its founder, gave a moving account of his experience as the father of a young man tortured and killed in 2012 for his sexual preferences, and invited students to reflect on the place we give to everyone and the right to be oneself, while Danaé Kakudji, the Foundation's coordinator, presented a reflection on disobedience and the quest for a more inclusive world, echoing the organization's core values.

On November 27, Simon Gronowski, a survivor of Nazism during the Second World War, spoke as part of the Clinical and Criminological Approaches course. The lecture, led by Bertrand Renard and Johan Kalonji, both professors of criminology at UNamur and UCLouvain, gave Simon Gronowski the opportunity to share his life story and convey a message of optimism for the future. This poignant testimony offered the students, who had previously viewed the film American History X about the rise of Nazism in the United States, a unique opportunity to explore this ideology while making enriching links with their criminology course.

• February 19 - Law School eloquence tournament
• February 2025 - Intervention by Josef Schovanec, philosopher-saltimbanque of autism and difference, as part of Professor Elise Degrave's Sources and Principles of Law course
• February 27, 2025 - Benjamin Gisaro's show entitled "Évidemment, c'est fâcheux" tackling racist discourse, as part of Thibault de Meyer's logic and argumentation course in collaboration with DELTA
• Intervention by Sophie Pirson, author and parent of a victim of the 2016 Brussels attacks, as part of Professor Nathalie Colette-Basecqz's criminal law course
• Until March 15, 2025: Video capsule competition open to UNamur students and staff on the theme "Live inclusion! ". Learn more
• April 16 - Fil rouge closing party at an improvisation match pitting two teams of jousters against each other to benefit the Ihsane Jarfi Foundation