Bachelor of Laws in Laws

Despite being one of the oldest university programmes, students nowadays are still interested in the study of law. The reasons are obvious: with one domain after another becoming ‘judicialised’, the ever-increasing complexity of today’s society has a clear impact on the law. Most important decisions require sound legal advice, and legal experts take on key positions in society. In the olden days, a student of law was almost certainly predestined to becoming a lawyer, a magistrate or a notary public. The focus of law studies was on civil law and criminal law.

Nowadays, the focus of our study programme has become much broader. Our graduates no longer exclusively make it into the magistracy, the notarial or legal profession, but also find their way into the private sector, in government services or international organisations. Our programme can also be the perfect stepping-stone towards a political career. The study of law, in other words, is so much more than “learning stuff by heart”. It is an interesting, versatile discipline with favourable career opportunities.

Bachelor

The Bachelor's programme offers a broad overview of most of the branches of law. In addition to the purely legal course units, the curriculum also contains a broad range of political-philosophical, historical, economic and humanities course units. We expect you to be a smooth talker and have a facile pen. You will hone these skills (written and oral) further during exercises and the Bachelor’s dissertation. These exercises have as additional asset that they are an ideal preparation for the exam.

Master

Our two-year Master’s programme has a highly flexible curriculum. It contains six mandatory course units and room for twelve-odd electives. There are several lists of electives to choose from: ‘course units with a skills component’ (work placement, international moot court, a legal clinic...), ‘in-depth course units’ (in-depth study of a branch of law), and ‘broadening course units’ (specific legal or metalegal subjects). Your choice of electives depends on your personal interests, your future career choices, the teaching style, etc. The programme allows you to specialise to a certain extent, while your diploma still remains generally applicable to all legal professions. The two-year Master’s curriculum contains a Master’s dissertation, for the purpose of which you will set up and conduct independent legal research. At the end of the programme you will present your findings in the form of a written thesis.

• A Bachelor’s degree in Law also gives access to other Master programmes than the ones mentioned here. Please take a look at the tab “Postgraduate Studies”.

The labour market is ever-changing. Still, there are a number of trends we have observed and want to point out. First, only a small group of graduates makes it into the magistracy, the notarial or legal profession. Second, there is a growing need for corporate lawyers. And third, more and more ‘polyvalent’ positions are taken up by legal experts. This disconnection between diploma and future profession is a trend that has been establishing itself for some time now. Those so-called polyvalent positions are becoming increasingly complex, in which case a legal background comes in handy. That is why these positions are now often taken by legal experts. Last but not least, our programme is an ideal starting point for a political career.

Take a look at our faculty website for career testimonials by legal experts (in Dutch). Other interesting testimonials can be found at www.durfdenken.be (in Dutch).