Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.

Second term
Monday from 10:45 to 12:45 at 119 Marais 1200

French

The cost and the duration of the procedure, the uncertainty on the outcome of the decision from each party's point of view as well as possible troubles to enforce State Courts' decisions, but also the fact that the State Courts' decisions are not able to ease tensions between the parties, led to the development of the so-called alternative dispute resolution processes in Belgium and abroad. It must be mentioned that this development has been supported by the Belgian Lawmaker.

The purpose of the course is the following:
- Make the students aware, as of their bachelor degree, of the existence of non-judicial dispute resolution processes in order to make them understand that actions before State Courts are not always the right reaction in case of dispute;
- Some ADR, such as the mediation, can easily be taught via practical exercises, which allows the lecturers to make the lecture very practical (cfr. the pillar “link to the practice”). Moreover, the know-how got from this course is “transferable” since some negotiation techniques may be useful in other professional contexts (prevention and management of dispute in general).

None

For the Bachelor in Law :

The decrease of the traditional dispute resolution via State Courts - sometimes called the "contractualisation" and the "privatisation" of dispute resolution - leads to the interesting question of the place of the Judicial Power - and of the State - in our modern Societies, and makes us think about the current privileged regulation process (horizontal regulation vs. vertical regulation). This reflexion shows a manifest evolution of the relationships between individuals and the State. The Society seems to be less litigious and more willing to promote relationships, but also less confident in the capacity of the State institutions to meet the needs of the Society. This particular issue is per se worth being presented and discussed together with the students, in a general but also critical approach.

Presentation of the main techniques qualified as ADR: negotiation between the parties, conciliation, mediation, collaborative law, mandatory third-party decision, arbitration and Med-arb.

This course is based on ex cathedra lectures but with a lot of interactivity (trough free communications between the lecturers and the students); sharing of experiences thanks to the intervention of experts in ADR (conciliating judge, certified mediator, lawyer having signed the collaborative law Chart, “institutional” mediator, arbitrator); for the mediation, practical exercises and analysis of documents from the practice (mediation clause, confidentiality agreement, mediation protocol, mediation agreement).

The assessment consists in a paper to be submitted as well as an oral presentation of this paper before the lecturers during the examination period. The topic of the paper is linked to the ADR and can be chosen by the student with validation by the lecturers beforehand.

Practical modalities of the exam will be presented during the first course.

Various topics are also proposed by the lecturers.

There is no recommended bibliography but the lecturers are available to assist students in their research of relevant sources.
There is no syllabus available (before the lectures), namely because some lectures are given by external experts and it is on the basis of these external lectures that the theory is subsequently taught, critical discussions take place and even practical exercises are organised. The materials used during the lectures are uploaded on Moodle website a few days after each lecture.