Text about acceptance
On 5 October 2007, the Senate for Accreditation at the Council of the Republic of Slovenia for Higher Education gave its consent to the introduction of the 1st cyclel law study program.
Advancement criteria of a study programme
Conditions for progression through the programme for Study programme Law are as follows:
a. Conditions for progression from 1st to 2nd year
To progress from the first to the second year, a student must fulfil his study obligations to the extent of at least 45 ECTS from the set of the first-year subjects. For progression, it is compulsory to meet examination obligations for the following subjects:
1. Theory of Law and State (8 ECTS)
2. Constitutional Law (9 ECTS)
3. Roman Law (8 ECTS)
4. Eu Legal System and Institutions (7 ECTS)
b. Conditions for progression from 2nd to 3rd year
To progress from the second to the third year, a student must fulfil his study obligations from the first year ((in the amount of 60 ECTS and the study obligations of the second year in the amount of at least (additional) 38 ECTS. It is compulsory to meet examination obligations for the following subjects:
1. Family and Succession Law (7 ECTS)
2. Property Law (6 ECTS)
3. Civil Procedure (8 ECTS)
4. Law of Obligations (8 ECTS)
Study advancement options
Graduates have the opportunity, taken by the majority, of further studies in the second cycle of legal programme, as well as the second cycle of other social sciences and humanities programmes (business law and management, labour and organizational sciences, security, economics, etc.). Graduates mainly continue their studies in the field of law, and complete a second Bologna cycle in order to be able to take the state legal exam and have access to all the jobs in legal professions. The latter is especially important, and this fact highly affects the decisions of graduates to continue their studies in the second cycle. This fact is also obvious from student surveys. Continuation of studies in the Master's study programme of the second cycle is a real priority. In smaller numbers, students are opting for second Bologna cycle in other, especially social science, programmes. Anyway, both the PF and other higher education institutions and programs provide graduates of the Study program Law with an opportunity for continuing education.
Employment possibilities
The study program Law lasts three years and is designed as a unified study with a set of subjects that enable the graduate to use basic legal knowledge, which enables him to work in the economy and administration. With a first-degree diploma, a graduate cannot take the state bar exam but can perform some ancillary tasks in the judiciary (eg various court clerks or assistant judges). Lawyers with a first-degree diploma can, after three years of study, be employed in business, administration, and the judiciary in performing less demanding legal work. However, they can continue their studies in the Master's study program of the second level of Law. There, they upgrade their legal knowledge by deepening the existing knowledge acquired at the first level, adding knowledge that enables them to develop the legal skills of a lawyer. In this way, they acquire the necessary knowledge for the approach to conducting the state bar exam, which is the basis for all classic and basic positions of lawyers, especially in the entire field of justice and independent legal professions. Data on employability shed light on various aspects of the employment of lawyers with a degree in Law.
Graduates of the Law Study Program are largely employable in the field of non-economy, especially within the judiciary and public administration.
These activities include in particular the following:
- the judiciary (including the prosecutor's office, the judicial administration, the administration for the execution of criminal sanctions, the attorney's office, etc., including the legal profession, which also works for non-economic entities);
- public administration and defense activities;
- compulsory social security activity;
- activity of state administration and economic and social policy of the community;
- specific activities for the whole community;
- education;
- health and social care;
- cultural, entertainment, and recreational activities.
The field of justice is an area where the most typical legal professions otherwise operate; Graduates of the Law Study Program cannot otherwise be employed in positions where the state bar exam is required (because only graduates who meet the condition of five years of law or the first and second Bologna degree of law, or a uniform five-year law) can take part in this) , but maybe employed in other jobs that do not normally require independent decision-making, but include less demanding work with clients (jobs of various clerks and assistants in judicial bodies, jobs in the court register, land register, support work of various court departments, eg central enforcement department, etc.). They can also hold positions in the legal profession that do not require a state bar exam (eg to represent clients).
The field of public administration is an activity in which lawyers are often employed, also in those positions that require independent decision-making and mastery of written and oral communication skills in proceedings with clients, especially in administrative proceedings.
The law study program gives graduates broad and high-quality competencies, so they have good employment opportunities, not only in the economy but also outside it. Acquired competencies and improved communication skills enable them to take on various important functions in small, medium, and large companies. Graduates are also employed in public administration, auditing companies, consulting companies, public institutions, public companies, etc.
According to statistics, PF graduates are employed in the following economic activities:
- financial and insurance activities;
- real estate business;
- agriculture and hunting, forestry, fishing;
- mining;
- manufacturing;
- transport and storage;
- electricity, gas, and steam supply;
- water supply;
- sewage and waste management;
- environmental remediation;
- construction;
- catering;
- trade;
- information and communication activities;
- maintenance and repair of motor vehicles;
- information and communication activities;
- professional, scientific and technical activities, etc.
Assesment criteria
The method of examination and assessment of knowledge at the University of Maribor is uniformly regulated by the Statute of the University of Maribor and the Rules on examination and assessment of knowledge at the University of Maribor, no. A4 / 2009-41 AG as amended.
The rules and curricula of the subjects list the forms of checking and assessing students for each study unit of a specific study program. Methods of continuous assessment and assessment of knowledge are encouraged, thus enabling students to monitor their own progress in their studies.
All curricula are publicly published in the catalog of Bologna subjects.
Students can monitor the results of approaches to exams through AIPS and in the context of personal data protection on the PF bulletin board and on the PF website.
Main study programme objectives
The basic objective of the Study programme Law is to develop a profile of an expert who will be able to work independently in those areas of law where there is no need for an in-depth legal knowledge or state legal exam . Law study in the first cycle is therefore a substantive single unit, intending to educate legal experts that can be employed in positions which, in addition to general legal education, also require applicative knowledge that allows for specific processing of certain legal relationships and solving of less complex legal issues (e.g. court clerks, business secretaries and legal assistants to the notary, lawyers, administrative officers, general lawyers in the economy).
Basic goals of the Study programme Law are therefore as follows:
- to train law students for transfer and application of theoretical knowledge in practice and to solve professional problems;
- to educate law students for independent, professionally-critical and responsible performance in legal profession;
- to provide law students with knowledge necessary to understand functioning the judiciary, state administration and other relevant legal institutions;
- to provide law students with knowledge necessary to understand legal grounds for functioning the economic system and commercial entities;
- to provide law students with specific knowledge in narrower fields of law in addition to general contents;
- to develop awareness of the importance of law as an instrument for regulation of social relations;
- to develop a sense of fairness and professional ethics;
- to develop a sense for the correct perception and interpretation of legal norms;
- to teach law students the correct use of legal sources, depending on the content of the particular relationship;
- to develop a critical attitude in law students towards social happenings;
- to train law students for search of new sources of knowledge and application of scientific methods;
- to train law students in rhetorical skills;
- to train law students in the culture of dialogue;
- to educate lawyers for communication and interaction with people in the profession and with non-legal professions (between disciplines) and to promote mobility of law students;
- to enable students to successfully create their professional profiles with their decision in choosing legal content from a set of elective subjects;
- to teach law students the use of relevant databases with legal contents.
General competences of graduates, gained at a study programme
Given the fundamental objectives of the Study programme Law, graduates gain the following general competencies:
- Ability of independent, responsible and creative work in the profession,
- ability correctly to use legal sources (acts, regulations, international acts, directives, implementing regulations, judicial decisions, autonomous sources of law, etc.), depending on the content of the particular relationship,
- ability of decision-making when defining and resolving disputes related to these relationships,
- ability of effective oral and written expression and communication on legal topics,
- knowledge of the system, authorities and functioning of the institutions of the judiciary and public administration,
- ability to analyse comparative legal sources
- ability of critical thinking and critical attitude towards various social events,
- ability of scientific research,
- ability of efficient application of computer databases with legal content when searching for legal sources, theoretical perspectives and case law.
Subject specific competences of graduates, gained on a study programme
Graduates of the Study programme Law gain the following subject-specific competencies:
- ability to transfer theoretical knowledge into practice when dealing with expert legal questions;
- knowledge of the theory of state and law, legal system and institutions in the Republic of Slovenia and the EU;
- ability to use appropriate legal sources in accordance with rules of argumentation, such as: special legal act applies before the general, the later act applies before the previous, analogous application of rules, etc.,
- ability of high-quality representation of a system of the state or EU organizations to users of law;
- understanding of the operations and relationships between the EU institutions, especially familiarity with their competencies while exercising one’s rights;
- understanding of the relationship between the EU and national law, namely familiarity with the hierarchy of sources of law;
- knowledge of the system of civil substantive law, viewed as a set of different legal disciplines (property law, succession law, law of obligations, family law, etc.) and of civil procedural law. Graduates are therefore able to: prepare an offer, statement about acceptance of an offer, invitation to present an offer, call for a public auction, draw up a contract, prepare a bill, draw up a claim for damages, etc.; prepare a land registry proposal, review and assess a land registry status, are familiar with a procedure for regulation of borders between land parcels, etc.; prepare a will, determine a forced hereditary share, etc.; prepare simple actions, defences, written submissions, etc.; they are familiar with business law as a system of rules that regulates status of commercial companies, with specific commercial legal transactions (drafting acts on formation of companies, registration of the establishment, modification or dissolution of commercial companies, etc.), they are able to draft a proposal for initiation of bankruptcy, liquidation or compulsory settlement, etc. They are trained to solve problems in the field of competition law, registration of industrial property rights (e.g. preparation of an application for the registration of trademarks and service marks), to understand rules of the securities market, to prepare commercial contracts, etc.;
- knowledge of criminal law in institutional, substantive and procedural terms (preparation of criminal complaints, private actions, claims for compensation of the injured party, familiarity and understanding of the legal character of individual criminal offences, etc.);
- knowledge of labour law and social security (drafting employment contracts and other acts, conduct of disciplinary proceedings, participation in trade unions, etc., knowledge of procedures for enforcement of social, health and pension protection and preparation of acts in this regard, etc.);
- knowledge of the system of public administration and administrative law, including administrative procedures;
- knowledge of civil registers and gaining extracts from such registers;
- preparation of an application for a building permit, understanding of the importance of planning information, etc.;
- knowledge of public international law as a set of rules governing relations between states, and knowledge of the role, system of functioning and structure of international organizations (e.g. The United Nations);
- knowledge of foreign legal terminology (preparation of contracts, applications, offers or other records in a foreign language).
Access requirements
The enrolment in university study programme Law is possible if:
a) the student has passed matura examination,
b) the student has completed any secondary school programme before 1st June 1995.
Selection criteria in the event of limited enrolment
If only a limited number of students are admitted, the criteria are as follows:
a) Candidates, who passed matura examination, are selected according to:
- general performance in matura examination - 60 % points,
- general performance in the 3rd and 4th year - 40 % points.
b) Candidates, who completed any secondary school programme before 1st June 1995, are selected according to:
- general performance in secondary school leaving examination – 60 % points,
- general performance in the 3rd and 4th year – 40 % points.
Transfer criteria between study programmes
Transitions between study programs are possible under the Higher Education Act and the Criteria for transitions between study programs and other regulations.
Candidates enroll according to the Criteria for transitions between study programs:
- in the second or higher year of the University study program 1st level Law, when it comes to termination of education according to the first study program and continuation of studies according to this study program of the same level, or enrollment of a higher education graduate in a new study program at the same level.
They can move from the field of law (0421) and related fields: business and administrative sciences (0488), social sciences (0388) and security (1032).
Transitions from higher education professional programs are not possible.
Transition is possible if the candidate meets the following conditions:
- meets the conditions for enrollment in the 1st year of the University study program 1st level Law;
- transfers from the study program, which at the end of the study ensures the acquisition of comparable competencies or learning outcomes;
- according to the criteria for recognition of knowledge and skills acquired before enrollment in the program, at least half of the obligations under the European Credit Transfer System (hereinafter: ECTS) from the first study program, related to compulsory subjects of the second study program, ie University study program 1st level Law.
Upon transition from one study program to another study program, the competent commission of the faculty senate decides on which the candidate intends to continue his / her studies.
In the event that, according to the Transition Criteria, more candidates apply than enrollment places, the candidates will be selected according to the performed selection procedure, where the general success in the general matura or final exam (60% points) and general success in the 3rd and 4th year (40% points).
Criteria for recognition of knowledge and skills, gained before the enrolment in the study programme
In process of education in the Study programme Law, on basis of Rules on recognition of knowledge and skills obtained before enrolment in the study programme, the PF recognizes candidate’s knowledge and skills in various forms of formal education acquired prior to enrolment that are demonstrated by the student with certificates and other documents. The scope and content of the invested work are evaluated according to the ECTS system with up to a maximum of 30 ECTS, which can substitute comparable obligations in the proposed Study programme Law.
The PF recognizes candidate’s realization of obligations in process of education in the Study programme Law on basis of provided documents related to non-formal education or accomplished professional work (project, study, scientific and professional articles). The scope and content of the invested work are evaluated according to the ECTS system with up to a maximum of 30 ECTS, which can substitute obligations from the elective subjects of Study programme Law.
A candidate submits an application for recognition of knowledge to the Commission for Study Affairs of the Senate of the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor. Knowledge can be recognized in full, partly, or not at all. If it is partly recognized, a student is required to undergo partial examination of chapters determined by the lecturer.
Criteria for completing the study
A student completes the Study programme Law when he/she fulfils all the study requirements amounting to 180 ECTS (he/she passes all the exams determined by the Study programme Law).