Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Final Master's Degree Project
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Introduction
The Master's Thesis is structured as follows:
- the resolution, to be carried out individually and in writing, as well as its subsequent oral defense, of a practical case that encompasses the subjects covered by the students during the master's program and reflects real scenarios of consulting and litigation.
Pre-course requirements
Given that it is convenient for the student to have received training from external internships to provide ample evidence of the utilization of acquired competencies and skills, the Thesis will be conducted in advance of the semester in which students have completed 30 credits of external internships. Additionally, this assessment will be contingent upon the successful completion of previous modules in the Master's program.
Objectives
The objective of the Master's Thesis is:
- to develop a research activity that allows students to familiarize themselves with the most recent case studies on the topics covered during the master's program, to understand the doctrinal and jurisprudential research tools in the academic field of legal sciences, and to draft an opinion on the proposed practical case, which they will subsequently have to present clearly and concisely in an oral defense.
- for students to confront a series of real, complex, and cross-cutting factual scenarios and attempt to resolve them using all the conceptual, theoretical, and practical apparatus acquired during their undergraduate and master's studies.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- CN03 - The students will be able to determine the administrative or jurisdictional instance and the action or procedure undertaken to defend the rights of the client.
- CN04 - The students will be able to determine the legal instrument appropriate to represent the interested parties before third parties, before public administrations and before the courts.
- CP04 - The student will respect the fundamental rights of equality between men and women, and the promotion of human rights and the values inherent in a peaceful society of democratic values.
- HB01 - Students will be able to correctly and adequately apply the specialised knowledge acquired in the bachelor's degree to professional practice before courts or public authorities, as well as in the advisory functions with respect to the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination.
- HB02 - Students will be able to use techniques aimed at ascertaining and establishing the facts in a range of different proceedings, particularly in regard to the preparation of documents, interrogations and expert evidence.
- HB03 - Students will be able to integrate the right to defence and the procedural postulation of clients appropriately within the framework of the national and international jurisdictional systems of protection.
- HB05 - Students will be able to appropriately apply procedural techniques for the implementation of acts that take place in different jurisdictional ordinances with special attention to the deadlines, communications, implementation and proceedings for collection.
- HB07 - Students will be able to clearly and precisely differentiate the private interests represented by legal professionals from those of a public nature which have been entrusted to them by the law and the courts when collaborating with the courts in the implementation of judicial decisions.
- HB08 - Students will be able to incorporate the rights and deontological duties of the person exercising the law or practising it in relation to clients, other parties, courts, public authorities and other professionals.
Syllabus
The Master's Thesis consists of:
- The oral and written resolution of a practical case that encompasses different subjects related to the specialties of Law studied by students during the master's program, and in connection with paradigmatic or real scenarios of consultancy and litigation.
The thesis should demonstrate the application and integration of the learning received in the modules of Professional Organization, Legal Counseling, General Litigation, Special Litigation, and Professional Practice, as well as the effective use of available resources to efficiently solve the problems arising from its preparation.
The thesis should present an exposition of the problem considering the current legal-doctrinal reality, with a proposal from the student of the ways of resolution and/or interpretation of the analyzed topic.
Each thesis will consider all possible alternative solutions applicable to the case. For its development, the student must demonstrate autonomy, initiative, and the ability to apply acquired knowledge, as well as the ability to communicate their conclusions and the underlying knowledge and reasons supporting them, orally and in writing, to a specialized audience, in a clear and unambiguous manner.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
Each work must consider as broad a vision as possible of the legal issue being analyzed and the different approaches to it; all possible alternative solutions applicable to the case. For its elaboration, the student must demonstrate autonomy, initiative, and the ability to apply acquired knowledge as well as the ability to communicate their conclusions, and the ultimate knowledge and reasons that support them, orally and in writing, to a specialized audience, in a clear and unambiguous manner.
In the first half of June, the master's management will make available to the students the practical case to be analyzed.
The publication of the practical case, the style guide, as well as all communications to the students about the Master’s Final Dissertation will be made through the specific Moodle created on the UIC website. Likewise, the deposit of the practical case by the students will be done via Moodle.
At the same time, each student will be assigned a tutor, who will support the student during the Master’s Final Dissertation realization process. Support can be provided through face-to-face meetings, video conferences, or other forms of communication agreed upon by the parties.
The tutor assignment will be made from among the professors at the UIC and/or external professionals linked to the UIC, based on their knowledge of the subject matter of the case.
Students must meet a minimum of 3 sessions with their respective tutors in order to be considered eligible to deposit their Master’s Final Dissertation and access its oral defense.
The Master's Thesis Work includes 20 hours of presence, during which the following will be carried out during the course aimed at presenting the practical case:
- A course presentation session, where the practical case will be presented along with the specialist tutors responsible for its drafting. Likewise, in the same session, the style and writing rules will be explained to the students, and advice and indications will be provided on how to access bibliographic sources and their use.
- In the final stretch of the course, before the deposit of the written part of the Master’s Final Dissertation, a session of Q&A will be organized with the different specialists who drafted each section of the case, so that students can make inquiries about the contents of each specific part of the case, which could not have been resolved directly with the assigned tutor.
The Q&A session will be held in person at the UIC, with each student having 15 minutes to consult with the specialist professor, it being essential to have previously singed up for the session and to have submitted the questions to be asked that day to the respective professor in advance.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
In the evaluation of the work, the following aspects will be taken into account:
Written work:
The written version of the
Master’s Final Dissertation must be deposited before the deadline published on the course calendar on the UIC's Moodle platform created exclusively for the Master’s Final Dissertation.
In its assessment, the following will be considered, especially:
- Conceptual aspects: especially the application of acquired knowledge and concepts as well as the coherence and clarity of writing, as well as the specificity of its conclusions. This will involve an evaluation of the quality of the resolution of the work in terms of its depth, and the handling of legal, jurisprudential, and bibliographic sources, also assessing the degree of consultation and the relevance of the doubts raised by the students to the tutors during the Master’s Final Dissertation completion.
- Formal aspects: presentation of the work according to the standards established in the style guide of the UIC Law Faculty.
Oral defence:
In its assessment, the following will be considered, especially:
- Communication skills, especially the precise use of legal language, as well as the order and clarity of the presentation.
- Regarding content, different questions will be formulated by the tribunal members about the content of the work. The quality of the responses will be evaluated to the extent that they reflect the knowledge acquired in resolving the cases.
The student will carry out the oral defense individually, which will have a maximum duration of 25 minutes. This maximum duration will be monitored by the tribunal members and should not be exceeded.
The defense will be conducted before a tribunal composed of three members, chosen by the master's management among UIC professors, and/or external professionals considered knowledgeable in the area of the work to be evaluated.
The student will have a maximum of 10 minutes to present their Master’s Final Dissertation, and may use presentation tools such as PowerPoint, PDF, or others deemed necessary, subject to prior authorization from the master's management.
Subsequently, a question period will be opened by the tribunal, with a reply turn for the student. The maximum time for this part will be 15 minutes, with the student being given the first 5 minutes to prepare their responses.
The order of intervention of the students will be by lottery, and will be communicated to the students with a 72-hour notice.
Evaluation criteria:
The written part of the Master’s Final Dissertation accounts for 40% of the final grade.
The oral defense of the Master’s Final Dissertation represents 60% of the final grade.
In both cases, the evaluation will be carried out according to the criteria established in the Master’s Final Dissertation
evaluation rubric.
In the written drafting of the Master’s Final Dissertation, the standards established in the Faculty's style guide must be followed, which has been made available to the students.
The delay in the submission of the written part of the Master’s Final Dissertation within the first 24 hours after the deadline subtracts 5% from the final grade of the Master’s Final Dissertation; if the delay exceeds this period, it subtracts 10%.
The delay in the start of the oral session subtracts 5% from the final grade.
Bibliography and resources
Specific to each module.