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HDDR1312 - Contract law and civil liability law
[2 Q. • 45 Th. • 6 ECTS - credits]
| Lecturer :
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Delforge Catherine |
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| Language of instruction :
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This course is given in French.
Some decisions of jurisprudence or documents analysed in class or during tutorials may however be written in Dutch.
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| Learning outcomes :
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This course provides the students with a general background in special contract (civil) law and civil liability law.
The understanding and mastery of the concepts, their application to concrete situations, and the development of a critical mind are the main objectives of the course.
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| Prerequisites :
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The students should have followed the “Law of obligations” course in BAC2 (60 hours).
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| Course contents :
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The first part of the course, the most significant, will be devoted to the study of the main special contracts.
It extends the study of the extra contractual obligations regime (BAC2 DRT) based on the contracts named by the Civil Code, and focusing on the sale, lease and service contracts (business and mandate).
Through the analysis of the regime of these contracts, we will draw the students' attention, as a future legal practitioner, on the fact that every specific contract is necessarily at the junction of “general” norms (which constitute what is usually called “common law of contractual obligations” and are intended to govern the conclusion, implementation, interpretation and dissolution of every contract; as confirmed in the article 1107 of the Civil Code) and “special” norms, which constitute more specifically the subject matter of this course.
The aim is also to highlight the practical importance that can exist for the parties to complete, adjust or exclude this “general” or “special” law with the help of even more specific norms. The study of clauses emanating from legal practice enables us to understand the actual implications of contractual freedom and the significance of protective legislative interventions.
This first part of the course will have the following structure:
- A general introduction will review in a structuring and transversal perspective:
• the distinction between nominate and innominate contracts;
• the main principles of the junction between general law and special law of contracts;
• the issue of legal qualification;
• the main legal and doctrinal classifications of contracts;
- The sale and exchange;
- the lease of things, and more specifically, the “common law” lease and the main residence lease;
- the contract for services or contract for the supply of services;
- the mandate.
The second part of the course will be devoted to the study of extra-contractual civil liability.
Initially, the aim will be to define the general frame of such a liability, through a critical assessment of the foundations on which it may rely and by focusing on the evolutions that such a choice necessarily induces: Fault or risk? Individual behaviour or collective risk? Individualism or solidarity? Commutative or distributive justice? Influence of insurance, etc.
Several liability regimes will then be studied in more detail:
- the objective liability regimes, or without fault, namely through the study of three of them:
• compensation for the damages suffered by vulnerable road-users (article 29bis of the law of 21 November 1989 relating to the compulsory insurance for motor vehicles);
• compensation for industrial accidents, or for accidents that happen on the way to work in the private sector (law of 10 April 1971);
• liability for defective products (law of 25 February 1991)
- the liability for personal fault regimes (articles 1382 and 1383 of the Civil Code), through its application conditions (fault, damage and causal link) and the grounds for exemption that the liability defendant may invoke (justification causes and extraneous exonerating causes);
- the presumption of liability regimes owing to acts of a third party or acts of things under the control of a third party (articles 1384 to 1386 of the Civil Code).
Generally speaking, the course will insist on the importance of establishing theoretical links between general law and special law of contracts, between special liability regimes and common law, this in order to better understand the concrete implications of the legal rules that affect them and to develop a critical mind.
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| Mode of delivery :
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This course is taught as a lecture.
It is completed by (mandatory) exercise sessions in small groups and supervised by Mr C. Eyben.
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| Assessment methods and criteria :
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1. Course material subject to evaluation
The examination will cover the subject matter studied in lectures, possibly completed by a syllabus, as well as the documents and decisions analysed in class and during the tutorials, in accordance with the guidelines stated by the professor during the course.
Students repeating their year will make sure their notes are up to date: the evaluation is, of course, related to the subject matter taught during the academic year in which the examination takes place.
2. Evaluation methods:
Written examination (3h30)
Can include questions of knowledge (through the definition of concepts and institutions studied in class), of reflection (through a comparison exercise or a theoretical “open” question), and when appropriate, the solving of a practical case, the commentary of a jurisprudential decision or the analysis of documents taken from legal practice.
3. Authorised documents and references
During the entire examination the students may have at their disposal:
- their code(s) as well as the special laws related to the subject matter (see below “supports”);
- the jurisprudential decisions that were referred to in class, providing, however, that the students have the complete /original versions of the said decisions (excluding the excerpts of jurisprudence, summaries, etc.).
The codes that include summaries of jurisprudence are not authorised.
The authorised documents may:
• be underlined or highlighted (fluorescent)
• include a reference to a law or regulation (e.g. see article 1134 of the Civil Code) and/or to a decision of jurisprudence (in this case, only the mention seized court and de decision date are authorised, nothing more)
The use of keywords and other annotations is not allowed, unless they refer to the name of the relevant Code or a specific legislation.
A check of all documents is carried out at the start of the examination. Any non-compliance with the instructions mentioned here above will be brought to the attention of the President of the Jury (see spec. article 28 of the General Examination Regulations), regardless of the intent or good / bad faith of the student. It is, indeed, the responsibility of each student to personally ensure compliance with these instructions.
4. Students entitled to exemptions
Students who were formally exempted from one or several sections of the subject matter are invited to:
- Send an email to the professor no later than two days before the exam date so that special arrangements can be made for the evaluation;
- On the day of the exam, bring a copy of the official exemption document.
Are only taken into account the exemptions recognised by the knowledge assessment Commission that reports to the jury of the programme: no unofficial exemption will therefore given by the professor and that, whatever the circumstances or grades previously obtained by the student.
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| Recommended or required reading :
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1. Lecture supports:
Books :
A. Cruquenaire, C. Delforge, I. Durant et P. Wéry, Droit des contrats spéciaux, Waterloo, Kluwer, 2012, 1ère édition (à paraître en octobre 2012)
Obligations et contrats spéciaux - Principaux textes juridiques, C. Delforge et P. Jadoul (coord.), Limal, Anthemis, 2012, 2e édition
Responsabilité civile et réparation des dommages - Principaux textes juridiques, C. Delforge et P. Jadoul (coord.), Limal, Anthemis, 2012, 2e édition
The lectures are completed by five course syllabuses, covering the following subjects:
Syllabus I: General introduction to contacts law
Syllabus II: The sale and exchange
Syllabus III: The lease of things
Syllabus IV: The company and the mandate
Syllabus V: Aquilian liability
These syllabuses each covering a specific section of the course material are available for the students at the copy service of FUSL, and this gradually, according to the progress of the lecture.
They are to be considered as “supports” that should facilitate note taking and studying for the examination. Therefore they need to be completed by notes taken during the lecture, as the final assessment will be based on the contents of the lecture (see above "Evaluation").
2. Legislation supports
The student is invited to bring cods covering the entire course material.
The purchase of the following codes, tailor made for academic purposes, is recommended:
- Code « Obligations et contrats spéciaux », Anthémis, 2010
- Code « Responsabilité civile et réparation des dommages », Anthémis, 2010.
The codes are available at the copy service of the FUSL.
They can (and should...) be used during the examination, in accordance with the instructions set out above.
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