The course is delivered primarily through seminar-based directed activities aimed at developing transversal competencies related to legal research, the critical analysis of texts, oral and written communication, legal argumentation and collaborative work.

Directed activities include seminars, legal text commentaries, exercises involving the search and analysis of legislation, case law and legal scholarship, written and oral communication activities, as well as the preparation and delivery of legal debates. The course also includes an introduction to the use of legal databases, specialised electronic resources and artificial intelligence (AI) and LegalTech tools applied to the study and practice of law.

Supervised activities consist of the guidance provided by teaching staff regarding the individual and group activities carried out by students, particularly those related to the preparation of assignments, text commentaries, research activities and debates.

Autonomous activities include individual study, consultation of legal sources, legal research using specialised databases, preparation of written assignments and presentations, as well as the preparation of debates and other activities developed throughout the course.

The schedule presented below is indicative. The order of sessions and their specific distribution may vary according to teaching needs, the internal organisation of each group and the development of the planned activities, while always maintaining the learning objectives and contents of the course.

Indicative Schedule of Sessions:

1. Introduction to the course, organisation of course activities and completion of an initial diagnostic assessment.
2. The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, its governing bodies and student participation.
3. Study techniques, time management and autonomous learning strategies.
4. Legal language and specialised communication, with particular attention to the gender perspective.
5. Commentary and critical analysis of legal texts.
6. Methodology of academic and legal work: structure, sources, citation and legal writing.
7. Preparation of academic reviews and introduction to academic writing.
8. Legal sources and specialised databases: research in legislation, case law and legal scholarship.
9. Digital competencies for the legal field: electronic resources, artificial intelligence (AI) and LegalTech applied to the study and practice of law.
10. Written communication in the legal field.
11. Oral communication, legal argumentation and public speaking techniques.
12. Teamwork organisation and preparation of legal debates.
13. First round of legal debates within each group.
14. Second round of legal debates within each group.
15. Final round of the Legal Debating League and closing activities of the course.
16. 
    

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Continuous Assessment System

Assessment in this course is based exclusively on continuous evaluation and on the monitoring of students’ work throughout the semester. The assessment activities are as follows:

• Legal Language Portfolio: up to 1 point.
• Exercise on the methodology of academic research and legal essays: up to 1 point.
• Legal writing exercise (written legal argumentation): up to 1.5 points.
• Commentary and critical analysis of a legal text: up to 1.5 points.
• Exercise on study techniques and time management: up to 1 point.
• Exercise on legal sources, specialised databases and digital resources applied to legal research (searching legislation, case law, legal scholarship and the critical use of digital tools): up to 2 points.
• Group work (legal debate and oral communication): up to 2 points.

The activities related to the Legal Language Portfolio and to legal sources, specialised databases and digital resources applied to legal research shall be completed outside the classroom and submitted electronically within the deadlines established by the teaching staff.

Compliance with deadlines constitutes an essential competence in legal education. For this reason, assignments submitted after the deadline will not be accepted, except in duly justified and documented cases. Likewise, classroom-based activities may not be replaced by alternative activities completed outside the classroom.

Attendance and active participation in seminar activities form an essential part of the learning process. Students are expected to participate actively in classroom activities, particularly those involving text analysis, collaborative work and legal debates.

Not Assessed

Students will be considered assessable provided that they have completed activities corresponding to at least two thirds of the total course grade. If the value of the completed activities does not reach this threshold, the teaching staff may classify the student as “Not Assessed”.

Reassessment

Assessment activities carried out in the classroom, including those related to participation, oral presentations and legal debates, form part of the continuous learning process and are generally not eligible for reassessment.

However, in cases of duly justified and documented absence, students must inform the teaching staff as soon as possible and expressly request the conditions for making up the activity. The teaching staff will determine, taking into account the nature of the activity and the circumstances involved, whether an alternative activity or another form of reassessment may be provided.

Students may be eligible for reassessment only if they have previously completed assessment activities representing at least two thirds of the total course grade.

Single Assessment

This course does not provide for a single assessment system.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively as a support tool for bibliographic or documentary research, information retrieval, language correction, translation and other tasks specifically authorised by the teaching staff.

Students must clearly identify the parts of their work in which these technologies have been used, specify the tools employed and include a critical reflection on their impact on both the preparation process and the final outcome of the activity.

Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI systems will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total reduction of the grade awarded for the activity concerned.

Academic Integrity

IMPORTANT: In the event that a student copies, commits plagiarism or is found using a prohibited device during an assessment activity, the teaching staff will award a grade of 0 for that assessment and will notify the Dean’s Office of the Faculty by submitting a report describing the circumstances and evidence of the incident, with a view to the possible initiation of disciplinary proceedings.

This assessment activity will not be eligible for reassessment. If more than one irregularity occurs in the assessment activities of the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0.