Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Civil and Trade Litigation
Other languages of instruction: Catalan, English
Teaching staff
Reyes Alcón: ralcon@uic.es
Office hours: Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. In all cases an email should be sent in advance to arrange an appointment.
Any queries regarding the progress of the module, its content or its assessment should be addressed to the course coordinator, Prof Carlos de Miranda at cdemiranda@uic.es.
Introduction
The Civil and Commercial Litigation course deals with the different civil and commercial judicial processes. It also deals with the basic principles of civil procedural law.
Pre-course requirements
None required.
Objectives
The fundamental objective of this subject is to provide students with the necessary tools to prepare procedural documents, master the civil procedure and apply the rules established by the legal system.
Likewise, it is intended that students apply the basic principles of commercial judicial processes and prepare the required procedural documents for commercial judicial defence using case methodology.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- CA02 - Know the techniques used to ascertain and establish the facts in the different types of procedures, especially with regard to the production of documents, cross-examinations and expert testimony.
- CA03 - Know and be able to integrate the defence of clients’ rights within the framework of national and international jurisdictional protection systems.
- CA10 - Develop skills and abilities to choose the correct strategy for defending the rights of clients, taking into account the demands of the different areas of professional practice.
- CA13 - Know how to present facts orally and in writing, extracting and arguing their legal consequences, taking into account the context and who they are being addressed to in accordance with the methods applicable to each procedural area.
- CB06 - Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and/or application of ideas in a professional context.
- CB10 - Possess the learning skills that allow them to continue studying in a mainly self-motivated and self-reliant way.
- CG01 - Acquire the ability to work individually and as part of a team as well as the communication and leadership skills required to progress in the legal profession.
Learning outcomes of the subject
Students will learn how to:
- Recognise and value the arguments on which civil judicial processes are based and to identify emblematic references for each case.
- Prepare all the required procedural documents for the civil judicial defence of a client.
- Apply the basic principles of civil procedural law; Identify the main problems that may arise in the course of the case.
- Apply the rules of evidence in civil process.
Syllabus
Civil process: Principles of the process; types of lawsuit; civil process phases; evidence; resources; precautionary measures; preliminary proceedings; execution; special declarative proceedings; special summary declaratory proceedings.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The University Master's Degree in Advocacy bases its methodology on the “case method” which consists in studying real-life scenarios and problems that law firms deal with. Students prepare and analyse cases, identify issues and, once in class together with the teacher, either individually or in groups, look for solutions and share the possible alternatives available.
Our intention with the case method is to help students acquire the main skills of a good legal professional such as logical reasoning, ease of oral expression and language proficiency, among others.
The module on Civil and Commercial Litigation consists of 5 ECTS of which 50 hours are teaching and then a minimum of 60 hours work by each student on which they will be assessed.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The evaluation consists of two parameters:
• Participation in class: Accounts for 60% of the final mark.
• Written examination consisting of a test and a case study: Accounts for 40% of the final mark.
RULES AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES CORRESPONDING TO THE PRESENT STATUS OF ALARM AND THE MANDATORY HOME CONFINEMENT (PANDEMIC COVID-19)
1.- What is prescribed below does not alter the essential content of the standards and evaluation procedures of this subject, contained in the original version of this same section of the Teaching Guide, in its original version (this is at the end of this text).
2.- The final exam of the subject continues to represent 40% of the final grade.
3.- The changes concern, fundamentally, the way of taking the final exam, in a scenario of general and mandatory home confinement.
4.- These standards respond to the need to continue seeking academic excellence, but adapting the evaluation system to current teaching circumstances, in which classes are being taught in their online and non-face-to-face mode.
5.- Two tests will continue to be carried out, as the final exam, on the date established in the MUA Study Guide 19-20: one, type "test", and the other, type "individual practical case".
6.- The mark of both tests will average and this will be what the student will obtain as a grade for the final exam (40% of the final grade for the course).
7.- Test type examination:
(i) Same format as in the exams of the first call (number of questions, multiple statements and answers, discount due to errors, etc.).
(ii) On the day and time set for the final exam of this subject, students will take the test using the tool provided by UICbarcelona (according to the email from the Rector's Office on April 17, 2020). Students will receive detailed information in this regard.
(iii) The exam will last 30 minutes.
(iv) During the exam, all students must be connected to the videoconference platform indicated through an ad hoc collective invitation to the exam session. It is about being able to observe them - and listen to them - while they carry out the test (UICbarcelona has an anti-fraud device called "Smowl").
(v) Regarding the origin of the test-type questions (past editions of the State exam and / or questions designed by the teachers), each subject will apply what the coordinating teacher of the subject has and, in any case, what he manifested to the students in class about this extreme.
8.- Case study exam:
(i) At the beginning of the test, an e-mail will be sent to the entire group with the statement of the case in "pdf" format.
(ii) Simultaneously with the shipment (at the scheduled time and communicated to the students), all of them will have to connect to a videoconference platform (which is indicated by the MUA Coordination), upon invitation to all students to join the communication.
If a student already knows that they do not have internet access, they must notify the coordinating teacher of the subject immediately and the means of communication to take the exam will be the WhatsApp videoconference platform, on the date, time and other circumstances. that the professor prescribes, although the defense of the case will be oral.
(iii) At the scheduled time, students will connect. During the entire videoconference, the student's microphone must be open and the camera activated.
(iv) The student will be able to have the technical-legal support material (standards, notes, etc.), in paper or digital format, which the coordinating professor of the subject would have initially consented to in this Teaching Guide or, in its defect, that communicates to the students in due time. It is expressly and specifically pointed out that the legal rules, all those that are wanted, the student must have downloaded in "pdf" format (it is recommended to use the source: BOE.es) in a folder on their computer or electronic device that use to take the test, prior to the exam.
(v) No communication may be maintained in any way with anyone during the course of the test, or talk. The teacher may request any student to activate the "screen sharing" mode at any given time. The teacher will record the video conference. UICbarcelona has the anti-fraud tool "Smowl".
(vi) The test will have the duration that each coordinating teacher of the subject has expressly stipulated or provides, and with due notice, to the students. During the development of the test, the student will solve the case and write the handwritten answer in a maximum of two pages on both sides.
(vii) When the student has finished or, in any case, after the given time, the student must photograph with his mobile the four faces of the page and must immediately send them to the professor of the subject (with a copy to Doña Reyes Alcón, as mere guarantee mechanism), so that it can be corrected. If you have scanning mechanisms, you will prefer and must follow this system for registering and sending the exam.
(viii) The photographs of the faces of the exam will be converted into a pdf document, on which the teacher will correct, introducing the correction marks in «comment» format.
9.- Regarding possible incidents, the following are considered as possible, together with the way in which they could be resolved:
(i) In case the student is unwell, for health reasons, a medical receipt will be required.
(ii) If you have any incident with access to the official examination platform and / or the video conferencing platform, you must immediately take as many screenshots as necessary and send them to Reyes, Anna Marín and Carlos de Miranda (the technical services of UIC will enable mechanisms for these incidents). Likewise, the recovery test or exam for the first failed student will be oral and via videoconference.
(iii) Students who, from now on, know their internet connection problems, must inform them, as soon as possible, including, from now on, the indication that, in such case, they will be examined individually, orally and through Audiovisual communication available on mobile phones (facetime, etc.).
10.- If a student is detected who, individually or collectively, carries out any suspicious process of fraud during the exams - any procedure of those not specified at the time of carrying out the test - he will be suspended in both tests of the final exam, regardless of whether fraud has been detected in only one of them.
The exams will be corrected with special caution and subjected, where appropriate, to the plagiarism control tool "Turnitin". In case the teacher has doubts about a possible plagiarism, he / she will be able to contact the student so that they can proceed to make an oral justification of their answers. In the event that the suspected fraud is confirmed, the student (s) involved will be immediately suspended.
Bibliography and resources
As a main resource, students should have a current copy of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil). In addition, an updated version of the Commercial Law (Leyes Mercantiles) code is required.
As a supporting bibliography, the following is particularly recommended:
-Ramos Méndez, F., El juicio civil, 2nd ed., Edit. Atelier, Barcelona, 2015.
-Ramos Méndez, F., Enjuiciamiento Civil. Como gestionar los litigios civiles, 2 volumes, edit. Atelier, Barcelona, 2008.
-VVAA, Práctica Procesal Civil (Brocá-Majada-Corbal), 10 volumes, 23rd ed., Edit. Bosch-Wolters Kluwer, Barcelona, 2014.
Notwithstanding the above references, a generic referral is made to the different manuals and monographs dedicated to the disciplines of Civil Procedural Law and Commercial Law that form part of the bibliographic collections of the UIC Barcelona library.
Finally, the teaching staff of the module provide students with some additional materials as the course progresses.