The Faculty of Law's "Fil Rouge": a unique educational project!

This article was produced for the "Tomorrow learn" section of Omalius magazine #29, July 2023.

Such was the theme of this first edition of the Fil Rouge de la Faculté de droit. The project's starting point was the "Mawda affair", named after the 2-year-old daughter of Kurdish migrants, who died in May 2018 as a result of police gunfire, while the van in which she was travelling with her parents and around twenty migrants was being chased by the police. To date, this tragedy has been the subject of three trials.

Throughout the year, this theme ran through most of the Law School's activities. Meetings with legal professionals, plays, film screenings and debates were all part of the program, allowing students to fully immerse themselves in the world of law. "We're fundamentally convinced that to be a good lawyer, you have to rub shoulders with reality. This can be done through field experience or internships, but you can't experience everything. I think that through reading, social involvement or even the cinema, we can be confronted with certain realities that enable us to complete our legal baggage", explains Élise Defreyne, pedagogical coordinator and one of the project's driving forces.

To approach the subject in a concrete way, using topical issues, to give concrete expression to the subjects taught, to meet and exchange views with professionals in the field, and to discover their professions: "With the Fil Rouge, students were plunged into practice thanks to concrete cases linked to current events. This experience also enabled students to discover that the law is a (good) tool at the service of values, encouraging them to become committed jurists", explains Marie Amélie Delvaux, professor of judicial law and the project's driving force.

As part of the criminal law course, Fil Rouge took part in a mock trial exercise.Based on a real case involving the reception of migrants, the students were coached to acquire all the qualities required to deliver quality pleadings. Equipped with an introductory notebook listing all the facts and offences alleged, and dressed in a lawyer's gown, they took on the roles of public prosecutor, defense counsel and civil parties for the duration of the trial. "This was a major first, as we brought together students from both the daytime and evening classes," explains Nathalie Colette-Basecqz, professor of criminal law. "This exercise highlighted in a concrete way how law studies can actively contribute to the defense of human rights. We wanted to give meaning to law studies. Here, students have become actors".

From the teaching team's point of view, this approach helped to break down the barriers between different subjects by creating links between each course, thus adopting a cross-disciplinary approach. The aim was also to capitalize on collaboration between law, humanities and language teachers. A sentiment shared by Aude Hansel, English teacher in four UNamur faculties. "Fil Rouge has enabled me to forge links with colleagues in the faculty and to feel genuinely involved in the project," she says. "As a language teacher, I used this theme to demonstrate to students the value of English for lawyers wishing to work in an international context." The result? A revitalized team, and teachers who were able to improve their individual practices through regular exchanges.

"This first Fil Rouge experience proved to be particularly positive, not only in educational terms, but also on a human level, with the collaborative work it generated between students, teachers, legal professionals and players from the associative and cultural worlds", enthuse Marie Amélie Devaux and Élise Defreyne. The event was such a success that it will be repeated next academic year on the theme of harassment in all its facets, encompassing harassment at school, in the workplace, towards minorities... whether physical, moral and/or sexual, and whether it occurs live, by computer or otherwise.