Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Final Degree Project
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Teaching staff
Any questions should be addressed to the email tfgdret@uic.es and will be answered by the subject coordinator.
Introduction
The Law Final Degree Project (TFG) involves the autonomous development by the student of a research project and legal analysis under the supervision of a tutor. It is aimed at facilitating the integration of the teaching delivered over the course of the programme and ensure that the competences of the degree have been acquired.
The TFG course represents 6 credits and can be undertaken as one of the following options:
a) An opinion on a practical case
b) A report (doctrinal or jurisprudential) on the state of the art of a legal problem
c) A research paper on a legal topic
The TFG is carried out individually and independently, following the style guidelines established by the Faculty of Law. It is done under the guidance of a tutor, who acts as a catalyst and facilitator of the learning process. The tutor guides the student in the definition of the TFG, within the framework of a specific subject area; resolves doubts about its development; and ensures that it has the required scientific quality by periodically reviewing the written work.
Lastly, the project is defended orally before an examination panel of three lecturers.
Pre-course requirements
The defence is carried out after the student has passed at least 80% of the credits for the previous year’s subjects (3rd year of the Degree in Law) and all the credits corresponding to the previous academic years.
Objectives
Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which sets out the organisation of university education, modified by Royal Decree 861/2010, of 2 July, indicates that official undergraduate degree programmes aim to providing the student with general training, in one discipline or in preparation for the exercise of the profession. Article 12.2 specifically states that the TFG has to be part of the study plan; Article 12.3 refers to the preparation and defence of the TFG, and Article 12.7 specifies that it must have between 6 and 30 credits, must be carried out in the final phase of the course, and must be oriented to the evaluation of the competences associated with the degree.
Therefore, the general characteristics of the TFG are derived from the provision of Royal Decree 1393/2007, according to which the TFG is not designated to be research work of a large scale and importance, original and unpublished, which are characteristics more fitting of master's, doctorate or postgraduate studies. Nonetheless, it may involve to some extent a research project with the intrinsic characteristics of a degree, in line with the credits assigned to this subject.
The objectives established for the Law degree TFG are as follows:
• To check the student has acquired the general and interdisciplinary legal concepts, a mastery of the terminology and a perception of the unitary nature of the legal system.
• To gain familiarity with the methodology of scientific investigation
• To research a monographic legal issue, which is of scientific interest in one area of the Law. Therefore, one of the main objectives is to develop skills in the management of doctrinal and jurisprudential databases, as well as to master the use of manuals and bibliographic material and systematize the object of study, identifying the points to be studied and the legal problems that they raise.
• To produce written work, with rigor and formal precision, where the student reaches their own conclusions, which may be abstract or practical, depending on the subject of study.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 02 - To acquire the ability to understand, analyse and synthesise
- 03 - To be able to express one's ideas and arguments in an orderly and coherent way both in oral and written form (written and oral techniques)
- 04 - To turn in documents that have been formally and thoroughly prepared to high standards
- 11 - To acquire skills for autonomous learning
- 15 - To develop a perception of the united nature of the legal system and the required interdisciplinary vision for legal issues
- 17 - To understand and have knowledge of public and private institutional principles in their origin and as a whole
- 19 - To develop the ability to write legal texts
- 20 - To have knowledge of the basic aspects of legal argumentation
- 23 - To identify the state, doctrinal and legal framework of a complex legal issue
- 24 - To acquire the skills to resolve problems and make decisions using relevant information and by applying correct methods while placing the issue within a legal system context
- 30 - To master computer techniques for obtaining legal information (legal databases, jurisprudence, and bibliography)
Learning outcomes of the subject
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To develop skills for speaking in public.
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To develop the ability to relate concepts, analyse and synthesise legal problems.
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To acquire argumentation skills.
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To develop the habit of formally and thoroughly preparing documents to a high standard.
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To develop the ability to draw up a work schedule with a fixed and preclusive deadline.
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To use legal terminology with precision.
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To develop the ability to write in legal language.
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To be able to search for information, interpret it, and use it to solve practical cases or carry out work related to this matter.
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To be able to accurately identify the normative, doctrinal and jurisprudential status of a related legal problem.
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To develop skills to detect the legal problems underlying a specific case.
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To work independently and to plan and organise their learning.
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To establish the essential concepts of the subjects of the degree.
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To acquire the ability to specify the claim in a complex legal case.
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To acquire skills in the use of ICT in relation to obtaining legal information (databases of legislation, jurisprudence, etc.).
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The teaching methodology used is based on the student's autonomous work, supported by the TFG tutor.
Role of the tutor:
1. To provide guidance, advice and support to the student during the project.
2. To supervise the project and give the necessary assistance to ensure that the initially set objectives are achieved within the set time-frame.
3. To give the required approval for the presentation of the TFG and its defence.
Obligations of the student:
1. To prepare the work based on the format and length established in this teaching guide.
2. To meet and regularly inform the tutor of the progress of the work.
3. To structure the work taking into account the established objectives.
4. To present the work properly and within the deadline to the tutor and the coordinator in each of its phases.
The TFG subject includes a face-to-face introductory session that will take place during the first half of October.
The time devoted by the students to the TFG must be 150 effective hours of work (corresponding to 6 ECTS credits). These hours include the search for material (bibliographic and jurisprudential), data collection, discussion with the tutor regarding the work, the writing of the project itself and its defence. Failure to comply with the work plan agreed between the student and the tutor could lead to the tutor not giving their approval for the submission of the work.
Timetable for the TFG
The TFG has three main stages:
PHASE DATE CONTENT
PHASE 1 September to November Information session and choice of tutor and topic
PHASE 2 January to May Preparation of the TFG and interim submissions
• Project and bibliography submission
• Submission of the first draft 20 pages
• Final submission for assessment by the tutor (SATISFACTORY, SATISFACTORY WITH MODIFICATIONS, NOT SATISFACTORY)
PHASE 3 May and June Deposit and defence
PHASE 1: INITIAL PHASE. In September or early October an information session is given by the coordinator, where the overall plan, the timeframe, the procedure for choosing the tutor and the topic, etc. are explained. There is then a two-month period for choosing the subject of the TFG and the tutor, following the procedure that will be explained. By 30 November, the student must have proposed three possible topics and tutors. In December the students will receive confirmation of the TFG topic by the subject coordinator.
PHASE 2: INTERMEDIATE PHASE. During the second semester, the student will have to carry out a series of partial submissions and follow-up sessions with the tutor (minimum 3), who will give them guidance to help the project to progress well. The deadline for submitting the TFG is 6 May 2022 (for the second examination sitting, the deadline will be decided in July). The TFG will be sent by the student through Moodle. Upon final delivery, the tutor must evaluate the project and designate it as SATISFACTORY, SATISFACTORY WITH MODIFICATIONS, NOT SATISFACTORY.
During this phase the following training sessions will also be offered:
- Session 1: Use of research tools, Bibliography
- Session 2: Formal and style issues
- Session 3: Oratory (applied to the TFG defence)
PHASE 3: FINAL PHASE. With the authorisation of the tutor, the TFG must be deposited in the established format, and submitted, in pdf, through Moodle. The deadline for submitting the final report and submitting it through Turnitin (first examination sitting) is 20 May 2022 (for the second examination sitting, the deadline will be decided in July). The defence will be held on 9 and 10 June 2022 (for the second examination sitting, the date will be decided in July). The date of the defence will be notified to the email provided in the registration. For the defence, the student can use any supporting material they consider necessary.
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | COMPETENCES |
|---|---|
| Presenting concepts and their practical application in the classroom | 15 23 24 |
| Student independent study | 02 03 11 17 20 24 |
| Tutorials | 02 24 |
| Individual and group projects | 02 04 19 20 23 24 30 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The evaluation of the Final Degree Project will take into account three different aspects and phases thereof, based on the following parameters:
• 30% Preparation phase: the tutor will evaluate this first phase. The proactivity of the student, the time spent, the rigor in carrying out the investigation and access to sources, etc. will be taken into account.
• 40% Written work: The evaluation of the written work will take into consideration (with equal value): formal questions (compliance with the style rules, spelling and syntactic correction, rigor in the use of language, the method of citing sources, etc.) and the content (development of the chosen topic, analytical, synthesis and argumentative capability, originality and interest of the conclusions reached, etc.)
• 30% Oral defence: The content and form of the presentation and defence of the TFG will be evaluated.
Each of these three phases will be evaluated by different teachers and all of them require the completion of the previous phase.
• To submit the written work for grading, the tutor must have previously approved the correction of the preparation phase after having passed the entire work schedule.
• To orally defend the TFG, the evaluating lecturer must have previously approved the submission and correction of the written work.
If the tutor considers the work UNSUITABLE, the student cannot continue with the process, and must undertake the second examination sitting.
Style rules
The TFG must be written following the approved style standards, which are available to students in Moodle. These rules establish the structure that the work must follow, the style norms of the Word document, and the way of citing doctrine and jurisprudence.
Copyright and plagiarism
The TFG are works protected by Copyright, which correspond to their authors.
The projects must be original and must not contain plagiarism. Texts can and should be cited, but indicating the sources, as will be explained in the TFG Training Sessions. With the delivery of the TFG, the Declaration of Originality (available in Moodle: Template 1) signed by the student will be submitted stating that they have not committed any plagiarism. In addition, the final document will be delivered through the Turnitin software to detect possible plagiarism.
Copying, plagiarism, or other fraudulent procedures will result in a grade of 0 (fail).
Bibliography and resources
There are numerous manuals dedicated to research in legal and social sciences. Either of the two below are a good starting point to become familiar with the development of research papers and the methodologies and methods that exist in the legal field:
- FONDEVILA, Joan Francesc; ARRIAGA, José Luis. El trabajo de fin de grado en ciencias sociales y jurídicas: guía metodológica. Madrid: Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias, 2013.
- MIRON, José Antonio. Guía para la elaboración de trabajos científicos: grado, máster y postgrado. Salamanca: Gráficas Lope, 2013.