Bachelor in Law (Evenings and Weekends Schedule)

3 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

University of Namur

Program Overview

The Bachelor in Law (Evenings and Weekends Schedule) is specifically designed for working adults who want to earn the same rigorous law degree as daytime students while balancing professional and personal commitments. With classes organized around ten hours per week—typically Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 9pm, plus Saturday mornings—you'll gain a comprehensive foundation in legal studies without sacrificing your career.

Curriculum Structure

Year One: Building Foundational Legal Knowledge

Your first year introduces you to the core pillars of law through courses like Constitutional Law and Sources, Principles and Methods of Law, which provide essential grounding in how legal systems work. You'll also engage with Civil Liability Law, exploring how legal responsibility functions in everyday situations, alongside Historic Foundations of Private Law to understand the evolution of legal principles. From day one, you're working with real legal concepts and practical exercises, setting you up for success in subsequent years.

Year Two: Deepening Specialization and Methodology

The second year shifts toward more specialized areas with intensive courses in Criminal Law and Procedure and Law of Obligations and Contracts, giving you deeper expertise in how the legal system addresses disputes and criminal matters. You'll develop critical professional skills through Methodology and Law Work, which teaches you how lawyers actually approach legal problems and research. This year emphasizes directed personal work and practical legal exercises to build your confidence in real-world applications.

Year Three: Capstone and Advanced Topics

In your final year, you'll complete your studies with an End of Cycle Work project that synthesizes everything you've learned, while also exploring specialized areas like Economic Law and Principles of Private Judicial Law depending on your interests. This culminating experience ensures you graduate as a well-rounded legal professional ready for master's studies or professional practice.

Focus Areas

The program emphasizes practical legal skills through mock trials and case study analysis, bilingual legal competency in Dutch and English, and a progressive learning approach that respects your schedule while maintaining academic rigor.

Learning Outcomes

You'll develop the ability to understand and apply core legal principles across multiple disciplines, conduct independent legal research and analysis, and communicate complex legal ideas clearly—skills that employers value across all legal sectors.

Professional Alignment

The degree is fully equivalent to the daytime program, giving you access to the same Master's degrees in Law, Criminology, and Political Science, ensuring your qualification opens the same professional doors as traditional students.

Reputation & Employability

The University of Namur's Faculty of Law is recognized for its cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research through its specialized research centers (CRIDS and Vulnérabilités et Sociétés) and commitment to training legal experts, including specialists in emerging fields like digital law. Graduates gain practical experience through internships with lawyers, magistrates, notaries, and in-house counsel, directly supporting employability.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The Bachelor in Law program at University of Namur goes far beyond traditional lectures, integrating practical experience from your very first year. You'll engage with real legal scenarios through case studies solved during classes, mock trials held at the Palais de Justice de Namur, and inter-university competitions in international humanitarian law and constitutional law. The program's pedagogy is specifically designed to be more interactive, more concrete and practical, making abstract legal concepts tangible through hands-on exercises rather than theory alone.

Throughout your three years, you'll build essential professional skills through a structured progression of experiential opportunities:

- Practical legal exercises integrated into each year of the program, starting from year one
- Directed personal work in the second year to deepen your independent legal research and analysis
- End-of-cycle assignment in your final year that brings together everything you've learned in a comprehensive capstone project
- Internship placement at the end of your bachelor's degree where you work directly with lawyers, magistrates, notaries, bailiffs, and in-house counsel, allowing you to see concepts in action within real legal environments
- Simulated trials and mock court proceedings at the Palais de Justice de Namur to practice argumentation and rhetoric in authentic settings
- Writing assignments and pleading exercises woven throughout your coursework to develop professional communication skills
- Language-focused legal vocabulary training in Dutch and English, integrated progressively across the three-year cycle, preparing you for multilingual legal practice
- Support services including pedagogical accompaniments, tutorials, and special teacher availability designed specifically for working students

Progression & Future Opportunities

The Bachelor in Law program at UNamur isn't just about memorizing statutes—it's designed to build real lawyers who can think on their feet and solve actual legal problems. From your very first year, you'll engage with practical, real-world legal work that bridges the gap between classroom theory and courtroom reality.

The program emphasizes interactive, concrete, and practical learning through case studies solved during courses, practical exercises embedded in every year of study, and directed personal work that develops your independent legal thinking. Teaching focuses on real applications rather than abstract concepts, ensuring you develop the critical thinking skills employers actually want.

The curriculum builds progressively, starting with foundational practical legal exercises in your first year, advancing to more complex methodology and legal work training in your second year, and culminating in an end-of-cycle assignment that synthesizes everything you've learned. This structured progression means you're constantly applying what you study to realistic scenarios.

Here's where you gain hands-on experience and access valuable resources:

- Simulated trials at the Palais de Justice de Namur, where you practice rhetoric, argumentation, and courtroom procedure in authentic settings
- Inter-university competitions in international humanitarian law and constitutional law, allowing you to test your skills against peers from other institutions
- Professional internships at the end of your bachelor's degree with practicing lawyers, magistrates, notaries, bailiffs, and in-house counsel—giving you direct exposure to how law actually works in professional settings
- Mock trials and pleading exercises integrated throughout your studies
- Writing assignments that develop your legal drafting and argumentation skills
- Faculty support ecosystem including pedagogical coordinators, assistants, tutorials, and specialized mentoring designed specifically for working adult learners
- Language training in Dutch and English with focus on legal vocabulary, preparing you for international legal practice

What makes this program truly special for working professionals is that it delivers genuine legal education—the same degree as daytime studies—without compromising on quality despite the compressed evening and Saturday schedule. The Faculty of Law conducts cutting-edge research through centers like CRIDS and Centre Vulnérabilités et Sociétés, meaning your instructors are at the forefront of legal innovation.

You'll study approximately ten hours per week in the evenings, normally on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 9pm, and Saturday mornings—designed so you can maintain your current work while building your legal career.