Introduction to Business Law (20829)

Degree/study: degree in Business Management and Administration 
Year: 1st
Term: 2nd and 3rd
Number of ECTS credits: 8 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 200 hours
Teaching language or languages: Catalan, Spanish 
Teaching Staff: Neus Torbisco, José Luís Pérez, Alberto Carrió, Pablo Salvador, Carlos Gómez and Marian Gili

First block: theory of law (second term)

1. Presentation of the subject

The subject Introduction to Company Law is taught over two terms. The teaching is divided into two different knowledge areas. Despite there being a single final mark for the subject, the lecturers responsible for teaching each term will structure their part according to the demands of the material to be taught. Each of the blocs in the subject must be passed, with a least 5 points being required to pass. For this reason, the course plan is structured in two blocs, covering the two parts: the first bloc is for the first term of teaching of the subject and the second is for the second term's teaching.

The first bloc of the subject provides a general introduction to the law as a social phenomenon in the context of contemporary societies. The main objective is to analyse a range of concepts and ideas that are essential for studying the law in general, and understanding the Spanish legal system in particular. The student's objective in this part of the course is to obtain a minimum level of knowledge before moving on to an in-depth study of company law.

In specific terms, this first part of the course is structured in five basic areas: in the first unit, we look at the role of law in social organisation and its basic functions. We consider questions related to the relevance of regulations for social cooperation and the relative autonomy of the law from the government and the economy. In the second unit, we analyse the concept of legal regulations and the differences between these and other types of regulations such as moral or social regulations. We also make a distinction between the various types of legal regulations in order to identify the characteristics of legal systems and understand the specific features of the various areas or branches of law. The third area of the programme examines a series of basic legal concepts such as law and obligation, legal personality and liability. In the fourth section, we focus on studying the basic aspects of the legal systems in democratic states and the main sources of law. Among other concepts, we will look at the meaning of concepts such as the "rule of law", "separation of powers", "legal order of priority", "constitution" and "law". Lastly, the fifth and final unit introduces considerations relating to the moral valuation of the law and a critical analysis of judicial institutions. The objective is to provide tools to enable an understanding of how legal structures are justified and how they must be designed to meet their social objectives. This includes a critical discourse on law and a thorough consideration of the differences between legality, legitimacy and efficiency. This consideration will provide a comprehensive and reasoned perspective on the law.

Study of the subject will lead to the development of competences related to the ability to understand and analyse legal texts and materials of various types with various contents, and the ability to apply and relate the concepts and theories we examine, while developing structures of legal argument. In overall terms, at the end of the course the student will have acquired the conceptual means and knowledge of the conceptual tools used in all branches of the law, which will enable them to continue onto the second part of the subject, which focuses specifically on company law.

2. Competences to be attained

General competences

Specific competences

Instrumental • Ability to analyse and synthesise. • Assessed based on seminars, written presentations and oral contributions. • Oral and written communication in the student's own language. • Assessment will take place during the seminars, based on written presentations and oral contributions. • Problem solving. • Theoretical and practical problems will be considered throughout the course. Assessment will take place during the seminars and the final examination. • Ability to manage information. • The subject integrates knowledge and fosters the ability to interconnect the concepts and ideas analysed. This will be assessed in the seminars and the final examination.  Interpersonal • Critical reasoning. The aim of the subject is for the students to learn to reason in the manner of a jurist, and to express reasoned opinions in public and in the context of dialectic exchange. This will be assessed in the seminars based on discussion, argument and participation. • Teamwork. Encouraged in the seminars. Systemic • Autonomous learning. • Students must be able to take responsibility for their own learning process, based on directed reading and bibliographic research. • Sensitivity towards legal and political subject matter. Encouraged in the seminars.

• Identification of the legal aspect of problems and conflicts and to use legal tools properly. Understanding the functions of the law. • Knowledge and analysis of the basic characteristics of contemporary legislative frameworks.  • Ascertain the various parts of the law, identify legal regulations and distinguish between the various types. • Comprehension of basic legal, jurisprudential and doctrinal texts. • Development of argumentative and reflective skills, with the ability to identify and articulate various arguments. • The ability to interrelate basic legal concepts and their application to specific legal problems. • The ability to identify the problems of relationship between the law and justice and to use basic theories of justice to consider critiques of the law.

3. Contents

Unit 1. Introduction to the law

a) The law as a distinctive social phenomena. b) Problems of collective action. Regulations and cooperation. c) Law and social control. Regulation and integration. d) Law and security. Security in legal relations and security as regards the State. e) Law, power, government. Legality, legitimacy, efficiency. f) Can we do without the law? Ubi societas ibi ius.

Unit 2. Regulations and the legal system

Social, moral and legal regulations. Characteristics of legal regulations. b) Primary regulations and secondary regulations. Institutions and legal validity. c) Public law regulations and private law regulations: criteria for distinction and relativisation of the specific nature of the various areas of the law in the modern context. d) The law as a regulatory, coercive and institutionalised system.

Unit 3. Basic legal concepts

a) The concept of legal personality. b) The concept of civil rights. c) Legal duty. Obligations and sanctions. d) Legal liability: concept and type.

Unit 4. Law in contemporary democratic states

a) Basic aspects: rule of law, democracy and separation of powers. b) The sources of law: law, custom, and general principles. c) Judicial decisions and legal traditions d) The supremacy of the Constitution and the role of constitutional courts. e.) Suprastate integration and globalisation. The example of the European Union.

Unit 5. Law, legitimacy and justice

a) The moral valuation of law and regulatory ethics: the distinction between legality, legitimacy and justice. b) Some theories of justice: utilitarianism and liberalism (egalitarian and conservative). c) The limits of state interference in personal autonomy. The liberal principle of damage and its limits. Paternalism and moral perfectionism.

Contents of seminars by topic

Four seminars will be undertaken as a subgroup activity. Attendance is compulsory and preparation for the sessions is essential. The titles of the exercises to be done and all the information on the reading involved will be uploaded onto the Moodle classroom and available at least a week before the seminar. An oral presentation or written hand-in of the exercise will be required in some cases. In others, assessment of the seminar will involve a reading check. The subject matter in each seminar is listed below.

Seminar 1. Need for and functions of the law. We will debate this subject based on the topic of the payment of bonuses by financial institutions in a context of financial crisis.

Seminar 2. Rules and principles. The session will focus on an analysis of this difference and we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of regulation by means of rule or by means of principles. Basic materials: the text by R. Dworkin specified in the bibliographic material for Unit 2 and the following ruling: Supreme Court of the State of Montana, State v. Stanko, 1998.

Seminar 3. Constitution and democracy. We will analyse the texts by Víctor Ferreres and Roberto Gargarella Robert listed in the bibliography of Unit 4, in the light of the recent debate on the Statute of Catalonia due to the Ruling of the Spanish Constitutional Court on the appeal filed by the People's Party (Partido Popular).

Seminar 4. This seminar will focus on the subject of the legitimacy and limits of the State's intervention in the private sphere and personal autonomy. We will analyse the implications of liberal, paternalist and perfectionist theses based on debates such as the right to death with dignity (euthanasia).

4. Assessment

The final mark for this first bloc of the subject is calculated based on the following proportions: the final examination will be worth 60% of the overall mark, and the seminar activities, together with the presentation of a short final essay, will be worth 40%. The final examination must be passed with a mark of at least 5 points to obtain a pass in the subject.

The final examination has two parts. The first test assesses the level of understanding of the central concepts of the subject. It consists of 15-20 statements requiring true/false answers, with a justification for the answer required. A minimum number of correct answers will be required to pass this test. The answer will not be considered valid if not adequately justified. The second part of the examination will consist of four or five specific questions based on a real or hypothetical case. The first part of the examination accounts for 60% of the mark; the second accounts for 40%.

Assessment of the seminars (40% of the final mark) will take place as follows. A preliminary observation is that attendance is compulsory in order to obtain a positive mark. Failure to attend any of the sessions without justification will entail the automatic loss of 50% of the final seminars mark. The grade obtained will depend first on the results of the assessment of the reading checks and the programmed activities (50%) and second, of the participation and active involvement of students in the sessions according to the guidelines of the lecturer leading the session (50%). Presentations and work must be original and personal. Plagiarism of others' work or two or more pieces of work being copied will lead to failure in the seminar part of the subject.

5. Bibliography and teaching resources

5.1. Basic bibliography

Notes:

(*) Except for the chapters or extracts from textbooks that are easy to access in the library, the other materials will be available when the course begins, either in the Moodle classroom or through the reprography service.

(**) The lecturer will provide information on which reading is compulsory when necessary. Some of this bibliographic material will be the focus of specific work during seminars.

Study materials for programme units

Unit 1

N. Torbisco Casals. Les funcions del dret. EDIUOC, 2008. Pages 20-42.

A. Font Barrot and J. L. Pérez Triviño. El derecho para no juristas. Barcelona: Deusto, 2009, chap. 1. Pages 48-54.

J. J. Moreso and J. M. Vilajosana. Introducción a la teoria del derecho. Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2004, chap. 1.

Unit 2

M. Atienza. El sentido del derecho. Barcelona: Ariel, 2001. Pages 62-70.

R. Dworkin. Los derechos en serio. Barcelona: Ariel, 1984. Pages 72-80.

A. Font Barrot and J. L. Pérez Triviño. El derecho para no juristas. Barcelona: Deusto, 2009. Pages 35-48.

Unit 3

A. Font Barrot and J. L. Pérez Triviño. El derecho para no juristas. Barcelona: Deusto, 2009. Pages 105-122.

Marisa Iglesias Vila. Els conceptes jurídics bàsics. EDIUOC, 2008. Pages 13-23 and 37-47.

Carlos Santiago Nino. Introducción al análisis del derecho. Barcelona: Ariel, 1983. Pages 190-195 and 168-173.

Unit 4

Alfred Font Barrot and José Luis Pérez Triviño. El derecho para no juristas. Barcelona: Deusto, 2009, chap. 3.

C.. Viver Pi-Sunyer. Constitución. Barcelona: Vicens Vives, 1994, chaps. 8, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

V. Ferreres. "En defensa de la rigidez constitucional", Doxa, 23. 2000.

R. Gargarella. "La dificultad de defender el control judicial de las leyes", Isonomía, 6. 1997.

D. Held. La democracia y el order global. Barcelona: Paidós, 1997, chap. 12.

Unit 5

A. Font Barrot and J. L. Pérez Triviño. El derecho para no juristas. Barcelona: Deusto, 2009. Pages 59-72.

R. Gargarella. Las teorías de la justicia después de Rawls. Barcelona: Paidós, 1999, chaps. 1 and 2.

E. Garzón Valdés. "¿Es éticamente justificable el paternalismo jurídico?", in E. Garzón Valdés. Derecho, ética y política. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Constitucionales, 1993. Page 1.

E. Fossas, J.; Pérez Francesch, L. Lliçons de dret constitucional. Pòrtic, 2001.

S. Holmes, Cass R. Sunstein. The Cost of Rights. Why Liberty Depends on Taxes. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. Pages 35-48; 204-219.

6. Methodology

Theory classes in groups. Face-to-face work. The objective of the classes is to consider the main concepts and ideas on the syllabus and explain in more detail the more complex questions in the subject, which are difficult to understand during individual work. It is important for students to have completed the compulsory reading before class, in order to raise the questions and doubts arising from reading these materials with the lecturer.

Seminars in subgroups. This activity will take place in small groups and will focus on discussing specific topics or problems. It is important to prepare for these sessions beforehand. The titles of the exercises and the instructions for completing them will be uploaded onto the Moodle classroom and the lecturer will explain them before and after each seminar. Students play a central role in the seminars. The objective is that they develop skills in comprehension, argument and critical analysis by means of the application of theoretical concepts to specific theoretical and practical problems.

Autonomous work. Prior to every session, both theoretical and practical, students must complete the compulsory reading in the teaching material for each unit and prepare for the class by following the instructions of the lecturer concerned.

In general, the learning methodology for the subject is based on participation and active involvement by the students in their learning process, consisting mainly of work and preparation of the bibliographic materials and exercises or subjects required autonomously or in a group, as appropriate. Critical reflection on the reading and concepts explained will be encouraged. It is also important for students to prepare and highlight their specific doubts regarding the activity.

7. Planning of activities

N.B. (*) This schedule is a guideline for the anticipated progess on the course. The activities and exercises that students have to prepare for each session will be shown as necessary in the Moodle classroom.

Week	Theory sessions	Seminar lectures
Week 1	Session 1. Subject presentation. Clarification of doubts. Session 2. Start of unit 1. Introduction to the law. The compulsory reading must have been completed.	---
Week 2	Session 1. Introduction to the law. Continuation of unit 1. Session 2. Completion of unit 1.	Beginning of the scheduled seminar on the need for and functions of the law.
Week 3	Session 1. Start of unit 2. Social, moral and legal regulations. Primary and secondary regulations.  Session 2. Unit 2 continued. Regulations of public law and private law. Concept of the legal system.	---
Week 4	Session 1. Start of unit 3. Basic legal concepts.  Session 2. Continuation of unit 3. Basic legal concepts	Session 3. Continuation of the seminar on the need for and functions of the law.
Week 5	Session 1. Completion of unit 3.  Session 2. Start of unit 4.	---
Week 6	Session 1. Continuation of unit 4.  Session 2. Continuation of unit 4.	Session 3. Seminar on rules and principles.
Week 7	Session 1. Completion of unit 4.  Session 2. Start of unit 5.	---
Week 8	Session 1. Continuation of unit 5.  Session 2. Continuation of unit 5.	Session 3. Seminar on democracy and the constitution.
Week 9	Session 1. Continuation of unit 5.  Session 2. Completion of unit 5.	---
Week 10	Session 1. Summary of the main ideas covered on the course. If necessary, completion of seminar number 3.  Session 2. Recapitulation and doubts.	Session 3. Seminar on liberalism, paternalism and perfectionism.

 

Second block: introduction to private law and its institutions (third term)

1. Presentation of the subject

The second part of the subject Introduction to Company Law will be taught in the third term. Students have had the opportunity to consider issues related to the justification fro the legal system, its links with economic institutions and the tools for creating law and legal regulations. 

The objective is now to focus on the specific regime of legal institutions for private law that have the most direct effect on economic activities. 

The subject provides the student with the legal foundations and the basic operations of the legal institutions enabling goods and services to be exchanged and provides a general overview of property law.

2. Competences to be attained

General competences

Specific competences

Instrumental • Ability of analysis and synthesis: Assessed based on seminars, written presentations and oral contributions. • Oral and written communication in the student's own language: assessment will take place during the seminars, based on written presentations and oral contributions. • Problem-solving. • Theoretical and practical problems will be considered during the course: assessment will take place during the seminars and the final examination. • Ability to manage information. • The subject integrates the knowledge and fosters the ability to interconnect the concepts and ideas analysed. This will be assessed in the seminars and the final examination. Interpersonal • Critical reasoning. The aim of the subject is for the students to learn to reason as lawyers do. It also aims for the opinions reasoned to be expressed in public and in the context of dialectic exchange: this will be assessed in the seminars based on discussion, argument and participation. • Teamwork. Encouraged in the seminars. Systemic • Autonomous learning. • Students must be able to take responsibility for their own learning process, based on directed reading and bibliographic research. • Sensitivity towards legal and political subject matter. This will be fostered by the materials and cases selected by those attending the seminars.

• Learn to identify the legal aspect of problems and conflicts and to use legal tools properly. Understanding the functions of the law. • Knowledge and analysis of the basic characteristics of contemporary legislative frameworks. • Ascertain the various parts of the law, identify legal regulations and distinguish between the various types. • Comprehension of basic legal, jurisprudential and doctrinal texts. • Development of argumentative and reflective skills, with the ability to identify and articulate various arguments. • Ability to interrelate basic legal concepts and their application to specific legal problems. • The ability to identify the problems of relationship between the law and justice and to use basic theories of justice to consider critiques of the law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Contents

The subject contents consists of the units listed below. The bibliography and teaching resources necessary to obtain the knowledge for the subject is shown in each case. 

1. Contracts

1.1. The contract as a tool for economic cooperation.

Cándido Paz-Ares. "Principio de eficiencia y derecho privado", in Estudios de Derecho Mercantil en Homenaje al Profesor Manuel Broseta Pont. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, volume 3, 1995. Pages 2843-2900.

Ward Farnsworth. "Agency", "The Prisoner's Dilemma", in Ward Farnsworth, The Legal Analyst. A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law". Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007. Pages 87-108.

1.2. Contract creation and interpretation. Capacity to enter into contracts and representation.

Hans-Bernd Schäfer; Claus Ott. Manual de análisis económico del derecho. Madrid: Tecnos, 1991. Pages 258-278.

Steven M. Shavell; Louis Kaplow. "Contracting", in Howell E. Jackson, Louis Kaplow, Steven M. Shavell, W. Kip Viscusi, David Cope. Analytical Methods for Lawyers. New York: Foundation Press, 2003. Pages 63-18.

1.3. Contractual compliance and breach. Cases of contractual invalidity.

Fernando Gómez Pomar. "El incumplimiento contractual en derecho español". InDret, 3/2007.

1.4. Standard contractual figures: purchase, leasing, loan and deposit.

1.5. Personal guarantees

Complementary reading:

Francisco J. Infante Ruiz. Las garantías personales y su causa. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2004. Pages 31-49.

2. Market regulation

2.1. Contracts between entrepreneurs and consumers.

Jesús Alfaro Águila-Real. "Cláusulas abusivas, cláusulas predispuestas y condiciones generales", Anuario Jurídico de La Rioja, 4, 1998. Pages 53-70.

Complementary reading:

Jesús Alfaro Águila-Real. "Consumidores y derecho de contratos", Anuario de Derecho Civil, 1994. Pages 305-324.

2.2. Defence of competition and unfair competition.

José Massaguer. Comentarios a la Ley de Competencia Desleal. Civitas, 1999. Pages 109-118.

2.3. Advertising regulations.

Antoni Rubí i Puig. Publicidad y libertad de expresión. Madrid: Thomson Civitas, 2008, chap. one: "Régimen jurídico de la publicidad y otras comunicaciones comerciales en el derecho español". Pages 29-91. 

3. Property

3.1. Property law and property rights. Rules of property, responsibility and inalienability.

Pablo Salvador Coderch. "Los derechos de propiedad (property rights)", in Ricardo Robledo (coord.). Historia de la propiedad en España: siglos XV-XX, 1999. Pages 509-532.

Ward Farnsworth. "The Coase Theorem", in Ward Farnsworth, The Legal Analyst. A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law". Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007. Pages 75-86.

Ward Farnsworth. "Public Goods", in Ward Farnsworth, The Legal Analyst. A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law". Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007. Pages 109-116.

Ward Farnsworth. "Property Rules and Liability Rules", in Ward Farnsworth, The Legal Analyst. A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law". Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007. Pages 188-197.

Complementary reading:

Guido Calabresi; A. D. Melamed. "Propiedad, responsabilidad e inalienabilidad. Una perspectiva de la catedral", Anuario de Derecho Civil, I, 1997. Pages 187-235. (Translation by Pedro del Olmo García of the original "Property Rules, Liability Rules and Inalienability: One view of the Cathedral", 85 Harvard Law Review 1089 [1972]). 

3.2. Transfer of ownership and distribution of risks.

Francesco Galgano. "La transmisión de la propiedad en civil law y common law", in Francesco Galgano (coord.). Atlas de derecho privado comparado. Madrid: Fundación Cultural del Notariado, 2000. Pages 187-194.

3.3. Property, possession and acquisitive prescription.

3.4. Limited rights in rem and the Property Register.

3.5. Collateral.

Luis Díez-Picazo; Antonio Gullón. Sistema de derecho civil, vol. III: Derecho de cosas y derecho inmobiliario registral, 7th ed. Madrid: Tecnos, 2001. Pages 424-453.

3.6. Industrial and intellectual property rights.

Antonio Pérez de la Cruz. "La propiedad industrial e intelectual: invenciones y creaciones técnicas, creaciones intelectuales", in Aurelio Menéndez (dir.). Lecciones de derecho mercantil, 7a. ed. Navarra: Thomson Civitas, Cizur Menor, 2009. [Lesson 8].

Complementary reading:

Comisión Nacional de Competencia. "Informe sobre la gestión colectiva de derechos de propiedad intelectual", December 2009. 

4. Legal personality and companies

4.1. Legal personality. The legal importance of the profit motive. Associations and foundations.

Cándido Paz-Ares. "Las sociedades mercantiles", in Aurelio Menéndez (dir.). Lecciones de derecho mercantil, 7a. ed. Thomson Civitas, Cizur Menor, 2009. [Lesson 10].

4.2. Non-profitmaking organisations and trading companies. The Register of Companies.

Jesús Alfaro Águila-Real. "La responsabilidad de los socios de las sociedades de capitales por las deudas sociales: el estado de la discusión", w.p. 79, UAM-Área de derecho mercantil, September 2007.

4.3. Partnerships.

Francisco Vicent Chulià. Introducción al derecho mercantil, vol. 1, 22a ed. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2010. [Lesson 5, part].

4.4. The public limited company.

Francisco Vicent Chulià. Introducción al derecho mercantil, vol. 1, 22a ed. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2010. [Lessons 6-10].

4.5. Responsibility of administrators.

Cándido Paz-Ares. "La responsabilidad de los administradores como instrumento de gobierno corporativo", InDret 4/2003. 

5. Creditors' meeting and protection of credit

5.1. Insolvency.

5.2. Types of meeting and effects.

5.3. Bodies of the meeting.

5.4. Composition of creditors.

For the entire subject:

Ángel Rojo; Emilio Beltrán. "Regulación jurídica de la insolvencia: la legislación concursal", in Aurelio Menéndez (dir.). Lecciones de derecho mercantil, 7a ed. Navarra: Thomson Civitas, Cizur Menor, 2009. [Lesson 39].

- "Los efectos del concurso de acreedores", en Aurelio Menéndez (dir.). Lecciones de derecho mercantil, 7a ed. Navarra: Thomson Civitas, Cizur Menor, 2009. [Lesson 40].

-- "Las soluciones del concurso de acreedores", en Aurelio Menéndez (dir.). Lecciones de derecho mercantil, 7a ed. Navarra: Thomson Civitas, Cizur Menor, 2009 [Lesson 41].

4. Assessment

The final mark for subject is calculated based on the following proportions: the final examination accounts for 60% of the overall mark and the seminar activities for 40%. The final examination must be passed with at least 5 points to obtain a pass in the subject.

The examination (60%) will consist of a group of questions related to concepts or institutions analysed during the term, to confirm that they have been assimilated by the student.

Assessment of the seminars (40%) will take place as follows. Each student must do five practical activities, o which only two will be corrected: the first seminar activity and another chosen at random by the lecturer. The average of the two activities will account for 35% of the final mark (87.5% of the seminar assessment mark). The remaining 5% (12.5% of the seminars mark) is for active participation in each seminar.

Practical activities must be original and personal. They must contain a bibliography section, showing all the sources used, including websites. Plagiarism of others' work or two or more pieces of work being copied will lead to failure in the subject. 

As teaching of the subject takes place over two consecutive terms with different lecturers, but with a single final grade, some of the most frequently asked questions on the grading system for this subject are answered below: 

1. Is it necessary to pass the seminar activities to sit the end of term examination?

It is not necessary. As mentioned above, in these cases, the final mark for the term is calculated by Seminars *00.4 + Examination*0.6.  

2. Can a student that has not passed the second term of the subject sit the examination for the third term?

Yes, student can sit the examination for the third term even if they failed the second term. If the third term examination is passed, the failed half must be passed by sitting the September resit examination. Finally, if the third term examination is failed, the September resit examination must be sat in order to pass the two failed halves. 

3. Can a student pass the subject in the September resit examination only by passing the examination?

Under no circumstances can a student pass the subject only by passing the September examination, whatever the reason for failing to pass the examination at the ordinary sitting (failure to attend seminars, failure of seminars or the ordinary examination, cancellation of the sitting, etc.). Grades for activities must also be assessed with the resit examination. The final mark for the subject will therefore be calculated as:

 0.5*(Seminars 2nd T*0.4 + Examination *0.6) + 0.5*(Seminars 3rd T*0.4 + Examination _b*0.6)  

4. How is the subject assessed when a student annuls the sitting?

See the answer to question 3. Even when the ordinary sitting is annulled, the grades for seminars are taken into account in the assessment in September. 

5. How is the total (two-term) mark of this subject calculated?

There is a single final mark, which is calculated as the average of the two terms. Taking into account that the workload is the same in both terms, the two parts are weighted with 50% of the total assessment. 

6. How are marks with honours awarded?

In subjects officially split over two terms, only one total (two-term) mark will be given. Likewise, it is only possible to register one mark for the entire course, which if appropriate will be agreed upon by the two lecturers when the final examination of the third term has been completed. Marks with honours cannot be given for just one term of the course.

5. Methodology

The five themed blocs of the subject will be taught during the term at a constant pace of two weeks per bloc. The entire contents of the syllabus should thereby be covered over the ten teaching weeks of the term.

Each bloc will be explained in a theory class, with support from the appropriate bibliographic materials and resources. Meanwhile, during the two weeks spent on each bloc, the practical sessions will focus on some of the practical aspects associated with the theory discussed in the general sessions. The objective is to provide the students with the theoretical tools necessary to resolve the practical conflicts analysed in the seminar lectures.

6. Planning of activities

Week	Theory sessions	Seminar lectures
Week 1	Session 1. The contract as a tool for economic cooperation. Session 2. Capacity to enter into contracts and representation.
Week 2	Session 1. Contract creation and interpretation. Session 2. Contractual compliance and breach. Cases of contractual invalidity.	Efficient breach and contractual redress.
Week 3	Session 1. Standard contractual figures: purchase, leasing, loan and deposit. Session 2. Personal guarantees.
Week 4	Session 1. Contracts between entrepreneurs and consumers. Session 2. Defence of competition and unfair competition. Advertising regulations.	Restrictions on advertising and commercial practices.
Week 5	Session 1. Property law and property rights. Rules of property, responsibility and inalienability. Session 2. Transfer of ownership and distribution of risks. Property, possession and acquisitive prescription.
Week 6	Session 1. Limited rights in rem and the Property Register. Session 2. Collateral.	Intrusions. Rules of property and rules of inalienability. Transaction costs.
Week 7	Session 1. Industrial and intellectual property rights. Session 2.
Week 8	Session 1. Legal personality. The legal importance of the profit motive. Associations and foundations. Session 2. Non-profitmaking organisations and trading companies. The Register of Companies.
Week 9	Session 1. Partnerships. Public limited company. Session 2. Responsibility of administrators,	Responsibility of administrators and corporate governance.
Week 10	Session 1. Insolvency. Types of meeting and effects. Session 2. Bodies of the meeting. Composition of creditors.