Undergraduate Study Program
Study Programme Structure
Undergraduate Academic Legal Studies (UALS) are accredited study programme of the Union University School of Law in Belgrade (UUSLB).
UALS last is a four-year (eight-semester) programme amounting to 240 ECTS points. It is designed as a general academic studies programme (covering the entire legal profession) and focuses at acquiring of Bachelor in Law (Honors) academic title (BA in Law (Hons); professional qualification level 6.2).
The study programme focuses on students actively involved in the educational process. Teaching in small groups contributes to a quality and efficient cooperation between students and teachers, as well as to monitoring of students’ progress. The process is interactive, with ex cathedra lectures relying on the case study method as a starting point for discussions or debates aimed at building students’ legal reasoning skills, instigating critical thinking, perfecting their general academic writing and oral presentation competences, equally important as the specific legal competencies.
Curriculum
The UALS has been designed to meet the academic and professional goals of a university-degree legal studies programme. Its structure encompasses subjects by semesters, the total No. of active teaching and ECTS score for each subject. Students must pass all of their 35 exams during the course of their studies, nine of which are from elective subjects (out of the total of 18 elective subjects, students choose one of the two offered). A semester bears 30 ECTS points, a school year 60 ECTS points. Internship is an integral part of the study programme and is also expressed in ECTS points.
UALS have been designed exclusively as a single-semester-based programme. The total student engagement during one semester is around 30 ECTS points. It comprises of active teaching (lectures, practice and other forms of teaching), pre-exam mandatory colloquia, exams and other forms of student engagement.
Foreign language – Students choose to attend one of the two languages (English or Italian) as a mandatory subject. They are also more than welcome to take the other foreign language as an elective subject.
The UALS curriculum is compatible with that of the Serbian Bar Exam and other expert exams pertaining to the legal profession.
Preconditions for enrolling individual subjects are to be found under Curriculum / Subjects.
Eligibility
All persons having completed a four-year high school education and having passed a general knowledge and legal studies inclination test are eligible to enroll UALS. Ranking of the applied candidates based on their high school average grade and the aforementioned test results is done by a special enrollment committee. Enrollment terms and conditions are printed in a Student Information Brochure, as well as posted on the UUSLB official website. UALS terms and conditions have been defined in accordance with the law, bylaws and general legal acts of both Union University in Belgrade and UUSLB.
Transfer to UALS from other study programmes within the same or related study fields is possible under conditions proscribed by the general legal act of the Union University in Belgrade regulating the transfer of ECTS points.
UALS Aim
The aim of UUSLB UALS is to equip students for a legal profession. The study programme is designed as a general one, covering topics pertaining to the entire legal profession and the ways in which the public administration, the judiciary, other public institutions and commercial entities operate. UALS curriculum is compatible with that of the Serbian Bar Exam and other expert exams pertaining to the legal profession, providing for acquisition of necessary theoretical knowledge, legal reasoning and applied law skills required for passing such exams.
The study programme also offers a quality theoretical base and the possibility to develop academic and scientific research skills necessary for continuation of the second- and third-degree studies of law or other related humanities and social sciences.
UUSLB legal studies have an additional purpose, too: to prepare students for a successful continuation of their professional development or specialization abroad.
UALS Goals
The overall goal of the study programme is to provide students with general and specific theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in order to equip them for individual quality services provision to clients of the judiciary, public administration, commercial entities and other institutions and organizations, as well as their own clients once they have qualified for the Bar and/or become sole practitioners.
UALS-Provided Competencies
- Upon completion of the study programme, UALS students will have developed the following general and specific competencies:
- General knowledge in borderline fields of selected social sciences and law, increasing students’ general knowledge and creating a precondition for development of critical thinking concerning social phenomena and acquisition of democratic culture values;
- Specialist knowledge concerning basic notions and institutes of the actual (public and private) law, harmonized with the contents of the Serbian Bar Exam and other expert exams pertaining to the legal profession;
- Capacity to interlink theoretical and practical knowledge, case-handling and legal documents/acts writing skills;
- Application of legal texts interpretation techniques as a necessary component of legal reasoning;
- Well-developed logical thinking and concluding capacities by applying legal syllogism;
- Basic academic and scientific legal research implementation skills, including identifying relevant research sources;
- Correct and clear written and oral expression skills whilst using the already acquired legal terminology;
- Communication, negotiation, teamwork and compelling public presentation skills;
- Conscientiousness and demeanor reflecting ethical standards of the legal profession;
- Independence in application of the acquired knowledge and decision-making integrity.