## 1.2 Advocacy Study Guide

Purpose course

In the Pleading course, students argue against each other for the first time (in front of a multiple chamber of the Court), after they have written substantive documents in anticipation of this on the basis of a specific case (criminal, private or constitutional/administrative law).

The course is regarded as one of the most important and toughest skills training courses in the legal bachelor's degree programme. Because a lawyer cannot do without presentation skills and persuasiveness, those who do not opt for the gown professions will also benefit greatly from this profession. Advocacy therefore provides skills that are indispensable in any legal environment.

The course has as learning objectives for the student:

- The practical application of acquired theoretical knowledge about the applicable law, by applying this knowledge to issues derived from legal practice.
- Being able to assess these issues on their legal, constitutional, social and ethical value.
- The ability to take a well-founded position, to be able to formulate this point of view in a clear manner and to present it both in writing and orally on the basis of a logically valid, sound structure of arguments, with which an attempt is made to convince a judge or other body.
- The effective and efficient use of relevant and current sources from legal (digital) libraries and databases to substantiate a plea.
- Being able to connect legal practice with the social context in which the law manifests itself.
- Being able to (adjust) control one's own and others' learning process, by giving and receiving feedback and then applying this feedback to improve one's own writing and advocacy.

Content

Students register for a field of law (criminal law, private law or constitutional/administrative law) and are divided into groups of 12 students per jurisdiction. They are then presented with a case, on the basis of which they first write a procedural document as a group and then individually a pleading note. Feedback on these written documents is given by a subject teacher, who supervises the student during the entire process. In addition to writing these substantive documents, the student is required to participate in three skills training courses, which are given by experienced psychologist-trainers. The course is concluded with a plea before a multiple chamber of the Court.

Assessment

The student is assessed on the procedural document written as a group, on the individually written pleading note and on the pleading in court. The written part (procedural document and pleading note) counts for 50% for the final grade and the oral part (advocacy in court) counts for the other 50%. If a pass is not obtained for the written component, the student will not be able to participate in the pleading at the hearing. To successfully complete Advocacy, the student must obtain a pass for both parts.

Literature

Ankie Broekers-Knol and Bart van Klink, "Pleitwijzer, succesvol pleiten in de praktijk". Bert Bakker, Amsterdam, last press.

Required prior knowledge

- at least 100 Bachelor's credits, including the Legal Skills course

Other information

- For questions for which the answers cannot be found in the study guide or in the syllabus: pleitoefening.rch@vu.nl.
- Subscription procedure:

The course is taught twice per academic year: in the first semester (period 1 and 2, September-December) and in the second semester (period 4 and 5, February-May). Students register themselves via VUnet and choose a jurisdiction when registering. If the jurisdiction of choice is already full, another jurisdiction must be selected. There will be no post placement. After all, due to the entry requirement, the student is able to handle a case from any area of ​​law, regardless of personal preference.

Please note: there is a registration deadline! You can register for the first semester until August 31, 2014, and you can register for the second semester until January 5, 2015.

For the first round of this course (first semester), the following applies: FULL=FULL. After the registration deadline has passed, registration for and participation in the course is no longer possible. Exemption requests for this course must be submitted to the Examination Board before the registration period closes.