In accordance with its mission, the assessment committee presents in this report its opinion on the six subjects from the reference frame for accreditation and a global opinion, which will be the basis for the NVAO to accredit the study programme. In addition, the assessment committee makes recommendations for further improvement of the quality of the education delivered by the programme. The Universiteit Gent (Ghent University, hereafter ‘UGent’) participates in an Erasmus Mundus1 programme, called the ‘European Master in Law and Economics’.
The European Master in Law and Economics is an Advanced Master’s Erasmus Mundus programme. It has a unique international and interdisciplinary character through the intensive cooperation between lawyers and economists from at least ten universities. In each of the three trimesters of the programme, students study at another university. In the fi rst trimester, courses are offered at the universities of Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bologna. In the second trimester the programme is organised at the universities of Ghent, Hamburg and Bologna. In the third trimester courses are offered in Aix-en-Provence, Bologna, Hamburg, Linköping/Stockholm, Madrid, Manchester, Rotterdam and Vienna. Each participating university awards an LL.M. degree or a Master’s degree which is equivalent to an LL.M.
1 | The Erasmus Mundus programme is a co-operation and mobility programme in the fi eld of higher
education which promotes the European Union as a centre of excellence in learning around the world. It supports European top-quality Masters Courses and enhances the visibility and attractiveness of European higher education in third countries. It also provides EU-funded scholarships for third country nationals participating in these Masters Courses, as well as scholarships for EU-nationals studying at Partner universities throughout the world.
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UGent: European Master in Law and Economics Section 2The European Master in Law and Economics started in 1990 at the Universities of Rotterdam, Gent, Oxford and Paris IX, with 20 students from different European countries. It received - from the very beginning - recognition and financial support of the ERASMUS Bureau of the European Community (i.e. yearly awards for student mobility and the development of an international curriculum). The partner universities exchanged multilateral agreements to continue their joint venture and got included in the Erasmus framework between the European Commission and the European universities.
At first students only could follow the third trimester at another university, later both the second and third trimester offered that option, and, since 2002, students can choose between different universities for each of the three trimesters. The number of partner universities has increased continually and the network now comprises 10 teaching centres within the EU (Rotterdam, Gent, Hamburg, Bologna, Aix-Marseille, Manchester, Madrid, Linköping, Stockholm, and Vienna) and Haifa. The self-evaluation report contains the necessary information related to how the European Master in Law and Economics is organised at the different institutions. During the interviews with both the staff, the students and the alumni, the quality of the programme at the different locations has been discussed. In addition the assessment committee has used the reports of previous external assessments as a background to evaluate the quality of the programme as a whole.
The assessment committee visited the Erasmus Mundus: European Master in Law and Economics programme at the UGent from 22nd till 24th November, 2006. The assessment committee has formed its judgement about the programme based on the self-evaluation report of the particular Advanced Master’s programme, the conversations and interviews with the co-ordinators, teaching staff, students and alumni of the programme, the people responsible for the study counselling and internal quality assurance, the documentation of the programme and its Board meetings, the additional information requested during the assessment site visit, the study and evaluation materials, and the Master’s theses. The assessment committee has visited the lecture rooms, PC accommodation and the library during the assessment site visit.
The evaluation described in this report is mainly based on the inspection of the Erasmus Mundus programme at the UGent, with a large input of the international student body (the students who were studying in Rotterdam at the time of the assessment visit came to Ghent to talk to the assessment committee) and its alumni present during the assessment site visit.
It goes without saying that the facilities at the partner universities could not be studied although the assessment committee formed an opinion about the overall facilities, based on the interviews with all stakeholders during the assessment
site visit as these issues were discussed with the students, the alumni (who all have studied at various other partner universities), the academic staff and the programme directors.
With respect to the other partners of the programme, the assessment committee also refers to the other existing evaluations of the partner universities taking part in this Erasmus Mundus programme (the NVAO report about the programme in 2004, the report by the European Commission and the TEEP II evaluation in 2005, evaluating the entire Erasmus Mundus programme). Furthermore the assessment committee draws the attention to the fact that two of its members also took part in the earlier assessment of the Erasmus Mundus in 2005 (TEEP II). Consequently, the assessment committee is of the opinion, in view of its expertise, that its report fairly takes account of that assessment of this Erasmus Mundus programme as a whole.
Nonetheless, the assessment committee recommends that the NVAO should base its accreditation exercise for these criteria, in addition to the assessment committee’s report, on the one hand on the accreditation it gave to the Rotterdam part of the study programme in 2004 and on the other hand on the basis of article 60sexies of the Decree of 4 April 2003 concerning the restructuring of higher education in Flanders on the 2005 accreditation report of the Central Evaluation and Accreditation Agency Hanover (ZEvA) of the Hamburg part of the programme and on the 2006 outcomes for this study programme of the second Transnational Educational Evaluation Project (TEEP II) of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).
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UGent: European Master in Law and Economics Section 2Subject 1: Objectives of the study programme
In the self-evaluation report the aims, objectives and the final qualifications of the European Master in Law and Economics are described. These aims and objectives are summarised hereafter.
European Master in Law and Economics (60 ECTS)
The self-evaluation report describes the aims and objectives of the European Master in Law and Economics as follows:
“The Masters Course intends to provide students with advanced knowledge in the field of Law and Economics. The discipline is also known as ‘Economic Analysis of Law’. […] The Master’s Course is truly interdisciplinary and international. Lawyers are trained to look at legal problems through economic spectacles. Economists are informed about the legal framework in which economic transactions take place. Since students from several European and non- European countries participate in the Master’s Course, it is also possible to compare different rules and evaluate alternative legal solutions in various countries using an economic methodology. These comparisons contribute to a better understanding of the economic foundations of the law and will offer insights as to the desirability and contents of a new common law (ius commune) for Europe.”
The European Master in Law and Economics prepares students for the following professional profiles:
- lawyers working in multinational law firms practicing in economically oriented areas of law (such as competition law, corporate governance, financial markets law, and insurance law), advisors to national governmental bodies and inter- national organizations (in particular competition authorities and economic regulators);
- consultants in Law and Economics.
The major qualifications of the programme are, described in the self-evaluation report are:
Students will:
- learn the main concepts, methods and techniques of economic analysis of law; - become familiar with ‘the state of the art’ in the major fields of Law and Economics;
- learn to grasp and assess differences between national legal systems from an economic perspective.
These qualifications can be further specified in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude. The learning goals are specified in the following table.
Knowledge Students will learn:
(1) the precise meaning of economic concepts used in different fields of law (including competition law);
(2) economic regulation, corporation law and environmental law);
(3) the economic interpretation of legal concepts in various fields of law (including property law, tort law and contract law);
(4) the economic methods to explain and assess the effects of the law, including an introduction to cost-benefit analysis.
Skills
Students will learn to analyze legal problems using an economic methodology. This will enable them
(1) to use economic insights in solving real-life cases in various fields of the law; (2) to assess proposals to change the law on their economic merits;
(3) to explain why the law does not always reach its publicly stated purposes and/or may even produce counterproductive effects;
(4) to recognize trade-offs of the law (in particular between different efficiency goals and between economic efficiency and possibly conflicting goals of justice);
(5) to assess the need and possibilities for harmonization of laws, relying on the common economic
1. basis of the laws of the EC member states and the economic benefits of centralized decision-making.
2. students will equally learn how to write a scientific paper on a topic of Economic Analysis of Law.
Attitude
(1) Students will develop a critical attitude towards the legal system based upon economic knowledge. Since students enter the Masters Course from different backgrounds, they will learn to understand the basics of another discipline, making it easier to engage in interdisciplinary work in the future.
(2) The teaching periods at three different universities will also enable students to work in different cultural environments, which will promote the development of a pan-European culture.
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UGent: European Master in Law and Economics Section 2Criterion 1.1. Level and Orientation of the objectives of the programme
The assessment committee evaluates the level and orientation of the objectives of the European Master in Law and Economics as excellent.
The assessment committee finds that the aims and objectives of the programme are in agreement with the aims and objectives formulated by the assessment committee in its reference frame.
The objectives of the European Master in Law and Economics clearly aim to develop general competences and general academic-oriented competences at an advanced level, as well as to develop an advanced understanding of and insight into academic-disciplinary knowledge. The achievement of advanced understanding of and insight into the academic-disciplinary knowledge of the discipline is very clear in the aims and objectives. The newest developments are adhered into the programme and incorporated into the lectures, amongst others by the experiences of the numerous practitioners and professionals who teach in the programme. There is excellent care and attention in the aims and objectives for the international dimension through the student intake policy and the international academic staff. There is good attention paid to how new theories are built, as there is to developing the ability to make an original contribution to the knowledge in one or more parts of the domain. A rich variety of active work forms is used to achieve a strong focus on the development of research and professional skills, and the development of elements of collaborative work and communicative skills (both in speech and in writing). The programme strongly aims to give the graduates a good entrance position to attain a high-profile position in the academic or out of academic professional world. The Faculty of Law of the UGent has assured the assessment committee that it is committed to this Advanced Master’s programme.
The European Master in Law and Economics is – by its very nature – a highly international programme, both with respect to the student population and the staff. Economic insights are applied to the laws of different countries as well as to international law. Furthermore, both the American and the European economic literature is covered. The staff of the Ghent ‘Law School Faculty’ who teach in the programme have international teaching experience. Most of them have been visiting professor in foreign universities (e.g. Harvard, George Mason) and actively participate in international conferences. Often, distinguished law and economics professors from the USA have been visiting professor at Ghent University. In addition, some partner universities cooperate with law schools from the USA (e.g. the Erasmus University of Rotterdam with Berkeley, the University of California). The students and staff are familiar with the aims and objectives of the study programme, through various channels for communication (brochure, websites for
the programme as well as for all participating universities, alumni association) and the informal exchange of information e.g. through personal contacts with alumni and staff.
The university is very much in favour of the existence of the European Master in Law and Economics with respect to its policy for International programmes. The programme, being an Erasmus Mundus certainly is favourable for the appeal of the Law School and its status of an ‘Erasmus Mundus’ programme further diminishes the (additional) costs for the Faculty of Law and the university to sustain the programme.
Criterion 1.2. Domain-specific requirements
The assessment committee evaluates the domain-specific requirements of the European Master in Law and Economics as excellent.
The domain-specific requirements of the European Master in Law and Economics are clearly explained in the self-evaluation report and are of a high quality standard. The curriculum is specifically designed for an international audience, with emphasis on the comparative study of domestic law of European countries and covers a broad range of subject matters relevant to current issues in law, economics and social science. There is good alignment in the aims and objectives of the programme with the requirements set by colleagues and a good responsiveness of the programme to the needs of the intended professional field. The final qualifications are derived from the academic discipline, with respect to the international academic practice. Many of the visiting and resident staff at the various partner universities is connected in one way or another to legal practice and the professional field. The programme directors have high quality informal contacts with the staff members and with the professional field.
The very nature of the Erasmus Mundus programme – being a joint initiative of at least 10 European universities – contributes to the distinct profile of the programme, in comparison to other Advanced Master’s programmes in Law. The assessment committee is of the opinion that the aims and objectives of the programme are well considered, well materialised and that the staff involved has a high interest in providing high quality education about the Economic Analysis of Law. This programme is particularly strong in bending possible competition into constructive cooperation resulting in a high quality programme, joining all forces in the field. With respect to the distinct profile of the programme, the European Master in Law and Economics was selected to participate in the Joint Masters Project of the European University Association, based on the following criteria: evidence of good practice in relation to the Bologna objectives, a well-structured programme,
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UGent: European Master in Law and Economics Section 2transparent quality assurance procedures, a clear language policy and innovation in addressing issues in trans-national cooperation. In September 2004, the programme has been recognized as an ‘Erasmus Mundus Master’s Course’.
General conclusion related to subject 1:
Objectives of the study programme
Since the level and orientation and the domain-specific requirements of the programme are both scored as ‘excellent’, the assessment committee evaluates ‘the objectives of the European Master in Law and Economics programme’ positively.
Subject 2: Curriculum
European Master in Law and Economics
The whole European Master in Law and Economics programme extends over three trimesters and comprises:
- compulsory courses (30 study credits = ECTS-credits) (see figure 1) - optional courses and tutorials (20 ECTS-credits) (see figure 1) - the Master’s thesis (10 ECTS-credits).
All courses are awarded 5 ECTS-credits, leaving 10 ECTS-credits for the Master’s thesis.
The curriculum of the European Master in Law and Economics introduces students gradually to the field of law and economics in three stages. In the first stage (in the first and in some part of the second trimester), student are taught the precise meaning of economic concepts used in different fields of law; initiated in the economic interpretation of legal concepts in various fields of law and exposed to economic methods that explain and assess the effects of the law, including an introduction to cost-benefit analysis. In the second stage (i.e. the second trimester) more emphasis is put on the development of reasoning skills in law and economic courses. The courses in the second trimester will enable students to use economic insights in solving real-life cases in various fields of the law; to assess proposals to change the law on their economic merits; to explain why the law does not always reach its publicly stated purposes and/or may even produce counterproductive effects and to recognize trade-offs of the law. In the third stage (i.e. third trimester) the student’s scientific capabilities and research methodology is further developed through writing the Master’s Thesis.
Fi rs t Tr im es te r B ol og na (Un iv er si ty o f B ol og na – F ac ul ty o f E co no m ic s) H am bu rg (Un iv er si ty o f H am bu rg – F ac hb er ei ch R ec ht sw is se ns ch af t) R ot te rd am (E ra sm us Un iv er si ty R ot te rd am – L aw F ac ul ty ) - P ub li c L aw a nd E co no m ic s - F ou nd at io n s o f L aw a nd E co no m ic s (m ic ro ec on om ic s/ co m pa ra ti ve l aw a nd e co no m ic s) - T or t L aw a nd E co no m ic s - C om pe ti ti on L aw a nd E co no m ic s - T ut or iu m - F or m al M et ho ds - B as ic C on ce pt s L aw a nd E co no m ic s I (M ic ro ec on om ic s) - B as ic C on ce pt s o f C iv il L