Faculty of Law exchange programme (2024)

The fall semester starts in period 1 and ends at the end of period 2 or period 3 (It is up to students and their home universities to decide which end date of the fall semester they prefer . Taking into account the amount of credits students need to achieve during their exchange and when they need to return to their home universities to resume their studies. Keep in mind that in period 3 only bachelor courses are offered).

The spring semester starts in period 3 or period 4 and ends at the end of period 5.(It is up students and their home universities to decide which start date of the spring semester they prefer. taking into account the amount of credits they need to achieve during their exchange and when they are able to start their exchange, this in regards to their studies at their home universities. Keep in mind that in period 3 only bachelor courses are offered)

Monday August 28th – Friday September 1st

Thursday February 1st and Friday February 2nd

Each semester starts with the introduction days, which are in the week preceding the start of the semester; except for students who choose to start the spring semester in period 3 (these students will get the chance to join the introduction days of the spring semester, before the start of period 4). During the introduction day(s) you will receive your UM student card and certificate of enrolment. You will also receive information regarding the Problem Based Learning system, the Electronic learning systems of the Faculty (the student portal and Canvas), the University library and other practical matters. The introduction days are not mandatory, but we do highly recommend students to be present. It is free of charge.

You will receive an official invitation by e-mail in time from the marketing department of the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University.

A nomination letter or an e-mail from the home university, with the names, study period and e-mail addresses of the students that have been nominated for an exchange to the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University, has to be sent to the following e-mail address: iro-incoming-law@maastrichtuniversity.nl

15 April for the Fall semester and Full year
15 September for the Spring semester

• A copy of a valid passport (passport must be valid until at least one month after the end date of the student’s exchange at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law). EU citizens are allowed to upload a copy of their Identity (ID) Card, ID card must also be valid until at least one month after the end date of the student’s exchange at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law).
• Portrait picture (the same size as the one displayed on the passport or ID card).
• Latest Official list of grades/academic transcript from current study, signed and stamped by home university. If you are a master student at your home university and you are applying for the law master exchange program, make sure to upload your law Bachelor's degree and your bachelor official list of grades (in English) as well, indicating that you have obtained at least 180 ECTS in Law courses.
• ECTS statement signed and stamped by the home university, indicating how many ECTS (credits) the student has completed at the home university (this form is provided to students by us, together with the application instructions).
• English language certificate, only for students who are nominated to participate in the master exchange program.

15 May for the fall semester and Full year
15 October for the spring semester

Certificate in Comparative, International and European Law (CIEL)
Maastricht Law School participates in the CIEL network which comprises the universities mentioned below. The CIEL network cooperates in the field of European, International and Comparative Law. One of its aims is to encourage the mobility of master students studying comparative, international and European law.

These universities yearly select a small group of graduate students for the CIEL programme.Students who succesfully complete this programme are awarded the CIEL certificate of ‘European Master in Comparative, International and European Law’.

As a CIEL student, you will be at Maastricht University for one semester. During this semester you need to take 30 ects worth of courses offered at Master's level. You can find the courses that will be offeredat the course offer section.

In addition you need to find a second supervisor for your master's thesis. Mind that you have to write the thesis under the rules of your home university. Your home supervisor is the first to address with questions; the supervisor from Maastricht will have limited time for supervision. Make sure that you start searching for a supervisor at an early stage. Not all Maastricht staff will be aware of the CIEL programme, but if extra information is needed you can refer to the international office.

Only students from the universities mentioned above qualify for the CIEL programme, provided they have been nominated as such. If you want know if you can participate, please contact your home faculty.
Once nominated, students will be contacted by Maastricht Law Faculty with application instructions.

Language requirements
Students who are nominated to participate in the CIEL program will have to provide proof of English language proficiency. More information regarding the language requirements can be found on the entry ‘English language requirements’ on this webpage.

Our general information for incoming exchange students applies to CIEL students as well. So information on issues such ashousing, academic calendar, teaching method etc. can be found on the corresponding entries on this webpage.

- Courses offered to exchange students 2023-2024[Pdf]

For CIEL students

- Courses offered to CIEL students 2023-2024[Pdf]

For THEMIS students

- Courses offered to THEMIS students 2023-2024[Pdf]

For Double Degree UAM students

-Courses offered to DDg UAM students 2023-2024[Pdf]

For Double Degree UniversitàBocconi students

- Courses offered to DDg Bocconi students 2023-2024 [Pdf]

Exchange students are advised to follow a maximum of two courses of 6 credits, each, or one double course (12 credits) per period. Keep in mind that if you take more than 2 courses (or more that 12 credits) per period, you will have to deal with a study load that is above average!

It is possible to change from courses, only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

Students taking bachelor's courses
We do not require formal proof of fluency if a student will take only bachelor's courses. However, the programme responsible (coordinator) at your home university has to state that your level of English is sufficient on order to actively participate in English taught courses by signing the ECTS statement (send by the Faculty of law of Maastricht University, together with the application instructions to the student).

Students taking master’s courses
Students who are nominated to participate in the master exchange programme and will take master's courses, will have to provide proof of sufficient English language proficiency.

Maastrichthousing
You can arrange accommodation withMaastrichthousing. The faculty does not act as an intermediary, so you need to make your ownreservation.

Maastrichthousingis a cooperation between two student housing organizations: Guesthouse UM and the Foundation for Student Housing in Maastricht. It’s their shared goal to service housing for students, employees and guests from Maastricht University, Hoge School Zuyd and Jan van Eijck Academie.

Reservations are made on a 'first come, first served' basis so you needto arrange your accommodation as soon as possible!! Please check the website for more information and reservations.

Please keep in mind that you have to pay a 35-euro subscription fee, to open an account on Maastrichthousing.

Please take the following dates into account when booking housing
Note that you need to make sure you arrive in Maastricht at least one day before the introduction days. The last day you have to be present at our school is the last day of the exams week. If you want to take a re-sit (=second chance to pass the exam) you have to be present in Maastricht. In this case, the last day you have to be present at our school is the last day of the re-sit week. Please consult the academic calendar for the corresponding dates.

Warning
It is up to you to try and find a room on the private market, but if you do then keep the following in mind:

Useful information for international students in Maastricht on 'get settled' and 'go explore'
www.mymaastricht.nl

Master's programmes at Maastricht University faculty of law
If your experience as an exchange student makes you interested in enrollment in one of our master's programmes you can find all information on ourmaster webpages.

Living expenses
Information about Living expenses.

Studying with a disability
Tips for (incoming exchange) students who have a disability, chronic illness or dyslexia.

The city of Maastricht
You will find more information about the city of Maastricht here:www.vvvmaastricht.nl

ESN (Erasmus Student Network for international exchange)
To find out what ESNcan do for youvisit theESN website.

Maastricht University uses Problem Based Learning (PBL) as its key method of instruction. Students work together in small groups to tackle the subject matter, which is offered in the form of real life problems from the field of study.

PBL was adopted by Maastricht University in 1976. PBL tries to overcome the weaknesses of traditional education by giving the students a very active role. Students do not spend hours listening to lectures – although there are some, usually at the start of the study period - but instead, per course, attend two-hour tutorial group meetings twice a week. These meetings form the core part of the study programme and are the driving force for learning. Within the tutorial groups, problems are presented as cases and researched. The international classroom underlines the benefits in the learning process of students when they work in small tutorial groups with people from different cultural backgrounds. By approaching problems from a variety of perspectives students are acquainted with different ways of seeing things and that enhances the quality of discussions. In this way, the international classroom prepares students for the rapidly globalising labour market.

A tutorial group is composed of 18 to 20students plus a tutor: a staff member who guides the group process but who does not automatically give answers to the problems. It is up to the students to discover where their knowledge falls short and to fill in the gaps. To do so, students will have to spend a lot of time between tutorial meetings to read articles and books, and to do research in the university library. After one or two days of individual studying you meet again with the group to discuss your findings.

More in-depth information about the Problem Based Learning can be foundhere.

Requirements for students taking master's courses
Exchange master students participating in the master exchange programme can choose freely from both bachelor's and master's courses, depending on home requirements
All the courses offered to exchange students are taught in English
If your home university does not distinguish between bachelor and master, the following applies: a minimum of 180 ECTS of a university law programme will give you access to master courses
The credits must be obtained before the application deadline
Students from (post-)graduate law programmes have access to master's courses
Master exchange students are advised to follow a maximum of two courses of 6 credits, each, or one double course (12 credits) per period. Keep in mind that if you take more than 2 courses (or more that 12 credits) per period, you will have to deal with a study load that is above average!
Please note that it is not possible to write papers or do any research in addition to the courses
Students have to follow classes right from the start of the block period. Only in exceptional cases students are admitted to course meetings until one week after courses have started. Students who arrive later will not be admitted to the course meetings of that particular block period - they will have to wait until the courses of the next period start

Students who are nominated to participate in the master exchange programme and will take master's courses, will have to provide proof of sufficient English language proficiency.

These universities yearly select a small group of graduate students for the THEMIS programme which comprises a semester abroad, internship and participation in a THEMIS seminar. Students who succesfully complete the programme are awarded the THEMIS certificate.

As a THEMIS student, you will be at Maastricht University for the fall semester. During this semester you need to take 30 ects worth of courses offered at Master's level. You can find the courses that will be offered at the course offer section.

Only students from the universities mentioned above qualify for the THEMIS programme, provided they have been nominated as such. If you want know if you can participate, please contact your home faculty.
Once nominated, students will be contacted by Maastricht Law Faculty with application instructions.

Students who are nominated to participate in the THEMIS program will have to provide proof of English language proficiency. More information regarding the language requirements can be found on the entry ‘English language requirements’ on this webpage.

Transcript
Please keep in mind that once you have registered for a course it will always show up on your transcript at the end of your exchange,unless you deregister for the course before the course (de)registration deadline.

If you take a language course during your exchange at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University this will not be mentioned on your transcript, as these courses are not part of the curriculum of the Faculty of Law, but are taught at UM’s Language Centre, who will provide you with a separate Proof of Participation after you have completed the course. Before you enroll in a language course please contact your home university to find out whether or not they acknowledge the grade/credits earned for a language course.

When will I get my transcript?
Once all results have been processed in the system, the transcript can be created. Do note that this is time consuming. We kindly ask for your patience.

If you need to receive your transcript of records urgently, please inform us once you have received all your grades (by sending an e-mail to iro-incoming-law@maastrichtuniversity.nl). We will try to send your transcript as soon as possible.

If you failed a course and do not want to take part in the resit, make sure to deregister yourself for the resit via Student Portal to avoid a delay in processing your transcript. This can be done through a contact form (My UM > My links > My Law > contact form law)

How will I get my transcript?
An electronic version of your grade transcript will be sent directly to both you and your home university.If for any reason, you or your home university, needs a hard copy then this will be issued on request.

Grading system of the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University
Every course has its own requirements students need to meet in order to pass the course. These requirements are mentioned in the course manual.

All courses are assessed with a whole grade on a scale from 0.0 to 10.0 or a no grade. It should be noted that a 10.0 is very rarely scored (fewer than 1% of students). A grade of 5.5 is considered a pass. The grading scale applied is to be interpreted as:

Depending on your nationality, you may have to apply for a special entry visa and/or a residence permit.Once you have completed the online exchange application, the International Relations will check if you need a visa/ residence permit. If so, your details will be forwarded to the Maastricht University’s Visa Office, who will get back to you via email.As soon as you hear from them, you should take action immediately and provide them with the necessary documents for you visa/ residence permit.

It is vital to respond quickly to the Visa Office, since you will otherwise seriously delay your visa application. If your visa is not ready in time, before the introduction days and the start of the semester, donottravel to the Netherlands, anddo never apply for a short-stay or tourist visa. If you do so anyway, the Dutch Immigration Law enforcement will force us to deregister you as law exchange student, which means that you will not be allowed to start your exchange at our Faculty anymore.

For more information regarding immigration requirements and procedures clickhereor contact theMaastricht University’s Visa Office(please mention your name, student ID number, nationality and home university).

Student Portal
The Student Portal is your one-stop location for accessing and managing your personal university information. It has been designed to work on alldevices,so that you can access the information you need, wheneveryou need it, be it on your laptop, tablet or smartphone. Use the Student Portal to sign up for courses, access your course material, answer your email, check your calendar, latest announcements, upcoming deadlines, grades, deregister for exams.

To access the portal go to Student Portal and login with your student ID number (i6*****) and password.

Intranet
Use intranet to find academic related information, information about procedures, rules and regulations (e.g. academic calendar, information on registration for education and exams, information concerning exams, examinations and results. To access the intranet first login to Student Portal.

Webmail
After registration you will receive an email containing your Student ID number and your password, which you need to login to your Maastricht University email.
The IRO will only send emails to this address after the start of the semester. Before that the time we will use the e-mail address that was provided to us by your home university, when you were nominated.

You can check your webmail on your student portal too.

Access remains possible until 60 days after your exchange has ended.

The Erasmus+ learning agreement, statement of stay, arrival and departure form are provided by your home university.

To get your Erasmus+ learning agreement, statement of stay, arrival or departure form signed you can send them by email to iro-incoming-law@maastrichtuniversity.nl

The learning agreement (Table A in the learning agreement) includes all the educational components (course code + title + number of ECTS) to be carried out by the student at the receiving institution.

The date of arrival or start date of the study abroad period is the first day the student has to be present at the law faculty (first introduction day). The date of departure or end date of the study abroad period is the last day the student has to be present at the law faculty. The last day could be the last day of the exam week. Please consult the academic calendar for the corresponding dates.

Information regarding the receiving institution
Name: Maastricht University
Faculty: Faculty of Law
Erasmus code: NLMAASTRI01
Department: International Relations Office (IRO)
Address: Bouillonstraat 1-3, 6211 LH Maastricht
Country: The Netherlands (NL)

Mr. Silvester Conduto, Exchange officer Incoming students
Contact and responsible person for learning agreements and forms such as: statement of stay, arrival and departure forms
Contact email-address: iro-incoming-law@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Phone number: +31(0) 43-3882028