NDU Faculty of Law: Policy and Curriculum

• News
• April 29, 2014

I. Applied Legislation
We aim to focus on currently applicable Lebanese Laws, namely:
1- Private Education Law, issued on December 26, 1961, amended by Decree Law no. 2642, dated November 25, 1963.
2- Decree Law no. 2642, issued on September 21, 1965, with all amendments
Decree Law no. 4222, issued on October 23, 2000.
II. Adoption of Said Legislation in the FLPS Curriculum, as per the following:
1- Part One: An initiation of the relevant institution, i.e. the FLPS at NDU.
2- Part Two: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education set 10 mandatory core courses to be learned in the Arabic language.
3- The Curriculum includes basic courses in tutorial or applied tuitions. The reason is that the above-mentioned legislation takes into account the necessity of teaching these tutorial courses and has a grade weight of 30% of the final grade. The evaluation of the applied work teaching modalities is left to the discretion of the Faculty’s academic administration.
III. Basis of the FLPS Education Curriculum and its Objectives
Essentially, the education curriculum, which I organized, includes the following Objectives:
1- Study of compulsory core Lebanese Law courses, as per the recommendations of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
2- Study of core legal courses, which entitle the student to obtain an official degree in Lebanese Law.
3- Study of legal courses, which keep the student abreast with investment evolution and the diversity of its sources and methods.
4- In-depth study of Lebanese Law, the French legal system (Romano-Germanic), and Anglo-Saxon law.
5- The Curriculum includes a course titled, “Graduation Research.” This course is mandatory for students in their last academic year and is to be disserted in one of three languages: English, French, or Arabic.
6- The Curriculum includes the study of legal methodology in two languages (Arabic and English).
7- The Curriculum includes the study of “Legal Terms” in three languages (English, French, and Arabic).
8- The NDU Curriculum is consistent with the public curriculum, which includes:
a- Major requirements;
b- Core requirements;
c- Faculty elective courses; and
d- General requirements.
(The number of general requirements course credits is relatively low, because the Curriculum contains 10 mandatory legal courses, which form the program of Part Two established by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.)
9- Study duration is four years.
10- The number of study hours at the FLPS does not exceed any number of hours in other faculties of law in Lebanon.
IV. Skills and International Learning Outcomes
- At the end of the four-year study period, students acquire many skills, the most important of which are:
- Global legal culture;
- Legal specialization in various fields;
- Stipulate contracts, legal consultations, legal research, and legal verdicts;
- Art of oral argument;
- In-depth study on the types of contracts, in particular recent contracts as F.I.D.C. and B.O.T.;
- All kinds of in-depth study on obligations (commitments);
- In-depth study of properties;
- In-depth study of natural and legal entities in the law;
- In-depth study of constitutions and political systems in different countries: Lebanon, France, England, Germany, USA, United Arab Emirates, etc.;
- In-depth study of laws and administrative regulations in different countries: Lebanon, France, England, Germany, United Arab Emirates, etc.;
- In-depth study of all fields of commercial law: Commercial enterprise, trader, trade companies, commercial instruments, trade contracts, commercial bonds, bankruptcy, international trade relations;
- In-depth study of all Lebanese, Islamic and comparative, financial, and banking laws;
- In-depth study of public international law, international humanitarian law, international criminal justice;
- In-depth study of private international law;
- An in-depth study of Civil Status Law, Inheritance, Testaments, and Donations in all Lebanese confessions;
- An in-depth study of Real Estate Laws, Personal and In-kind Sureties;
-An in-depth study of criminal laws and criminal procedure rules;
-An in-depth study of the civil procedure and execution procedures;
-An in-depth study of the air and maritime laws;
-Study of medical laws;
-Learning the legal terminology in three languages; and
-Learning these skills in the Lebanese Laws, Romano- Germanic, and Anglo Saxon laws.
V. Professional Life
The study of the program, the resulting skills acquisition and readiness of students prepares them for a promising professional life by enabling them to:
1- Join the Beirut or Tripoli Bar Association in Lebanon and the Institute of Judicial Studies in Lebanon, and to apply to become a notary.
2- Apply to any public or private job-whether administrative, advisory, or diplomatic.
3- Continue to study the law in both Lebanon and abroad at higher levels of study (D.E.A, L.L.M., and PhD.).
4- Work as a legal advisor or a university professor in both Lebanon and abroad.
5- Work in the trade sector and the private investment sector in both Lebanon and abroad.
6- Work in official international organizations or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
VI. Examination System
There is a double examination system:
First: The Faculty defines the examinations system of the Part One of the Curriculum. The University applies the system of a two-session exam and the double correction that is suitable for the exam systems of the second section curriculum.
Second: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education defines the examinations system of Part Two of the Curriculum as follows:

1- The examinations take place in coordination with the Faculty of Law and Political and Administrative Science in the Lebanese University.
2- Two professors correct the exams: The first is the course professor at the FLPS, and the Lebanese University assigns the second marker.
3- The duration of the main courses exams is three hours in length.
4- The exam papers should comply with the Lebanese University samples.
5- On the day of the examination, the Lebanese University sends a representative on its behalf to participate in the invigilation process and to seal and stamp the exam papers.
I have communicated in writing with the Dean of the Law and Political and Administrative Science in the Lebanese University in order to cooperate within the legal frameworks.
VII. Admission Conditions – Faculty of Law
1- Lebanese baccalaureate Part II.
2- Exempted from the above condition are Lebanese students who live abroad, and whose parents have worked outside Lebanon for more than two years, and have acquired a high school certificate during their stay abroad, which is equivalent to the Lebanese Baccalaureate Part II.
3- The French baccalaureate is equivalent to the Lebanese baccalaureate.
4- The International baccalaureate is also recognized in Lebanon.
VIII. Lebanese Bar Association and Lebanese Institute of Judicial Studies Admission Conditions
The above-mentioned students accepted in law faculties are entitled to join the Lebanese Bar Association in Beirut or Tripoli and the Lebanese Institute of Judicial Studies if in compliance with the other required conditions, such as nationality status, Lebanese Law studies, and clean civil status record.
IX. The Faculty is establishing an advisory committee formed by academic, economic, professional, and official figures.
X. Due to the academic recognition system (accreditation), the Faculty imposed contracts on full-time professors. The expected number for the next five years is three to four professors, whose specialization and academic expertise cover most of the main legal branches. The difficulty regarding this sector lies in the fact that law specialists usually work, in addition to their academic activity, in other professional fields as public function, bar, and magistrate. That is why; I suggest establishing a system to introduce part-time professors, as in the case at Saint Joseph University (USJ).
XI. The FLPS grants the student a University certificate referring to the specialized legal material of choice. In case the student chooses legal materials that are a part of the Common Branch (Tronc Commun), such as the General Law, or Labor Law or Contracts Law…
XII. Organizing legal lectures, seminars and conferences, as well as publishing and releasing a specialized legal magazine.
XIII. The University undertakes to establish research centers in many legal sectors that aim to strengthen legal research, legal advice, authorship, publishing and organizing legal lectures, seminars, conferences and training sessions.
XIV. The University is organizing internship training sessions for its students at external specialized institutions.
XV. The University is working on getting short-term scholarships and trainings that help qualify students to familiarize themselves in the legal reality without paying any fees.