EXAMINATION COMMITTEE MASTERS REGULATIONS as of 1st September 2015 For information regarding the interpretation and application of these regulations, please contact the Secretary of the Committee via: [email protected]

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EXAMINATION COMMITTEE MASTER REGULATIONS CHAPTER 1 Article 1.1 Article 1.2 Article 1.3

GENERAL PROVISIONS Definitions Applicability of the regulations Examination Committee and Assessors

CHAPTER 2 Article 2.1 Article 2.2 Article 2.3 Article 2.4 Article 2.5

SITTING ASSESSMENTS AND INTERIM ASSESSMENTS Participation in assessments Content of assessments Course of events for written assessments in a specified location Multiple-choice assessments Annotations in law collections

CHAPTER 3 Article 3.1

FREE MASTERS EXAMINATION Programme for Free Masters Examination

CHAPTER 4 Article 4.1 Article 4.2

EXEMPTIONS Exemption request Components outside of Law

CHAPTER 5 Article 5.1 Article 5.2 Article 5.3 Article 5.4 Article 5.5 Article 5.6

ASSESSMENT OF COMPONENT AND EXAMINATION Assessment of a component Assessment of the examination Examination date Annex to the diploma Honours Ranking

CHAPTER 6 Article 6.1 Article 6.2 Article 6.3

FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS Amendments Publication Effective date

ANNEX

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CHAPTER 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.1

Definitions In these Regulations, the following terms mean: a. The Act: the Higher Education and Research Act (de Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek); b. Department: the Department of Law, Economics, Management and Organisation of Utrecht University; c. Education and Examination Regulations (EER): the Education and Examination Regulations of the Master of Laws of Utrecht University; d. Student: anyone who is registered at the university to take courses and/or sit interim assessments and the examination of the Programme, as mentioned in Article 1.2 of these Regulations; e. Course: the entirety of teaching and assessment of a given component; f. Assessment: examination as referred to in Article 7.10 of the Act; investigation into the knowledge, the insight and the skills of the examinee, as well as the assessment of the results thereof; g. Examination: the final Masters examination of the study programme that is passed if all obligations of the entire Masters study programme have been fulfilled; h. Examinee: anyone who sits an assessment or examination; i. Component: a unit of teaching (course) in the study programme as referred to in Article 7.3 of the Act; j. ECTS (European Credit Transfer System): study points as referred to in Article 7.4 of the Act.

Article 1.2

Applicability of the Regulations These Regulations apply to the assessment and examination of the Masters Study Programmes Criminologie (Criminology), European Law, Law and Economics, Nederlands recht (Dutch Law), Notarieel recht (Notarial Law), Public International Law, Recht en onderneming (Law and Business) and Legal Research of the Department.

Article 1.3

Examination Committee and Assessors 1. The examination Committee votes by simple majority voting. If the votes are tied, the vote of the chair is decisive. 2. The chair of the Examination Committee is charged with the course of events of the Examination Committee. 3. An administrative secretary is charged with the execution of the tasks of the Committee, but does not form part of the Committee. 4. All lecturers charged with teaching in a given component are appointed as assessors for the purposes of assessments. In special circumstances, the Examination Committee can appoint others as assessors for a given course.

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CHAPTER 2

SITTING INTERIM ASSESSMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS

Article 2.1

Participation in assessments Participation in the assessments of a course is only open to those students that are registered for a given course and have not been excluded from participation in accordance with Article 4.4 of the EER.

Article 2.2

Content of assessments 1. An assessment represents the teaching aims in terms of content and form. 2. The questions, tasks and/or assignments do not exceed scope of the examination material based on the subjects made previously known. These subjects are notified in general terms prior to the commencement of the teaching for the assessment. The exact scope of the material is to be finalised and notified no later than two weeks prior to the assessment. 3. The questions, tasks and/or assignment are clear and consist of sufficient indications for the necessary detail of the answers and/or execution of the assignment.

Article 2.3

Course of events with a written assessment in a specified location 1. The assessor assumes responsibility for the appointment of invigilators who ensure that the assessment proceeds well. 2. When the first participant of the assessment leaves the assessment room, the assessor and/or the invigilator is entitled to deny entry to all those who arrive thereafter. 3. The examinee is obliged to provide identification upon request using a student card, passport or driving licence. 4. The examinee is obliged to follow the instructions of the assessor during oral and written assessments. 5. The examinee who does not follow one or more of the instructions of the assessor, may be excluded from further participation in the relevant assessment. Exclusion results in an NA designation for the grade of the relevant assessment.

Article 2.4

Multiple-Choice assessments In determining the boundary for satisfactory/unsatisfactory on multiple-choice assessments, account will be taken of the chance of guessing correctly.

Article 2.5

Annotations in law collections Insofar as law collections and/or case collections and/or other literature may be used during an assessment, and insofar as it is not indicated on the exam that more is allowed, it is only allowed to

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underline, highlight, add legislation references or case law references for the purposes of the assessment.1

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This means that only the names of cases or the numbers of other legislative provisions may be written in the law collection alongside the relevant legislative provision. This also means that the mentioning of subjects and/or other text alongside cases or alongside legislative provisions is not allowed.

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CHAPTER 3

THE FREE MASTER PROGRAMME

Article 3.1

The programme of the free Masters Examination 1. Prior to commencement of the study programme, the student shall provide a written study proposal to be approved by the Examination Committee.2 On the basis of this study proposal, the Examination Committee shall determine to which study programme the free Masters Examination belongs with a view to admission to the study programme and the registration for the study programme with Utrecht University, as well as for the application of the Act 2. The programme shall be approved if each of the following conditions is satisfied: a. The programme contains 60 ECTS; b. The programme overlaps for a maximum of 30 ECTS with the programme of the study programme as described and approved in the EER; c. The programme has a clearly described theme, within which all aspects of the programme (including the thesis) are contained in the opinion of the Examination Committee; d. The programme comprises a thesis of 15 ECTS The programme should be submitted for approval of the Examination Committee prior to the commencement of the study programme. 3. Given the specific nature of the Legal Research Study Programme and the options that are possible within this programme, it is not possible to apply for a free Masters programme within the Legal Research Masters.

2 The aim of the free Masters Programme is to provide structure to a given theme that does not fit within the study programme as described in the EER. It is not the aim to use this programme when one wishes to avoid one or more compulsory components or optional compulsory components, or after having failed such a component.

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CHAPTER 4

EXEMPTIONS

Article 4.1

Request for exemptions 1. A request for an exemption shall be submitted to the Examination Committee in writing by the student using the purpose-made forms and supported with evidence. 2. A request for an exemption will only be dealt with if the student is entitled to take part in the component for which an exemption is requested. 3. The Examination Committee shall acquire content-related knowledge from the assessors involved prior to reaching a decision on the request for exemption. 4. The Examination Committee decides as far as possible within two months (excluding the academic holidays) subsequent to the receipt of the complete request. The Examination Committee shall inform the student as quickly as possible of its decision. 5. Utilisation of courses provided for within the Department, obtained in the context of a different study programme, is possible for the examination via the exemption procedure.

Article 4.2

Courses outside law 1. The following conditions apply when utilising components outside of law for the Masters Examination on the basis of Article 3.7 EER: a. the component is at Masters level; b. the component is legal in nature. This is the case when the component deals with subjects entirely or mainly in the legal field. This condition is not applicable when utilising the component for the examination in the Master Study Programme Criminology (Criminologie), the Master Study Programme Law and Economics, the Master Study Programme Law, Administration and Management (Recht, Bestuur en Management) or the Master Study Programme Legal Research. c. if it involves a component from abroad: the component was taken in the context of an official exchange programme of the Department/university; d. if it involves a summer course: this was organised in part by the Department. 2. The Examination Committee provides permission if the following conditions are satisfied: a. the request was submitted in writing to the Examination Committee prior to the first assessment date of the component in question; b. a description of the component is included from which the course load (ECTS), level, legal nature and content of the component are evident, as well as the name of the institution where the component was taken.

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CHAPTER 5

ASSESSMENT

Article 5.1

Assessment of a component 1. Assessment of a component is expressed on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest score. Hals scores may be awarded above a 6; whole scores below a 6. For the rounding off of the grades, see the annex. The component internship and the component RGMAJU100 Academic Writing/RGMAAC100 Academic Writing Skills are graded with a “unsatisfactory” or “satisfactory” instead of a numeric grade. 2. A component is regarded as satisfactory if the grade is higher than a 6, or the assessment has received a “satisfactory”. 3. If a final grade can be awarded in accordance with the rules of the component, the final grade for the component shall be determined using the weighted averages of the results of the various interim assessments (including assignments, presentations etc.), as indicated in the Education Catalogue of Utrecht University and OSIRIS. Results of interim assessments may be rounded off to a maximum one decimal place. 4. When retaking a component, the latest grade shall be regarded as the assessment, even if this grade is lower than an earlier grade.

Article 5.2

Assessment of the examination 1. The student shall be deemed to have passed the Masters Examination if all components for the examination have been successfully completed and the date of the examination is still valid in accordance with the provisions of Article 5.12 EER. All those successfully completed components that can be used for the Examination at the moment of completion form part of the Examination. 2 The assessment of the examination only occurs upon the written request of the student in accordance with the rules published by or on behalf of the Examination Committee. 3. As proof of the successful completion of the examination, a diploma shall be provided as well as a list of the components completed, in the form of a grade list or diploma supplement.

Article 5.3

Examination date The last working day of the month in which the request is submitted shall be regarded as the date for the Masters Examination, if and insofar as the request is complete.

Article 5.4

Annex to the diploma 1. No bachelor subjects are listed on the grade list or the diploma supplement of the Masters Examination. 2. The previous paragraph may be departed from if the Admissions Committee Master has indicated that a bachelor subject must be

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followed in the Masters programme due to a deficiency in the prior education of the student concerned. 3. Grades are listed in accordance with Article 5.1 of these Regulations; an exemption is recorded as ‘VS’ (vrijstelling) or ‘EX’ (exemption). Article 5.5

Honours 1. The designation ‘cum laude’ shall be awarded to the Masters Examination if all of the following conditions are met: a. an average of at least an 8.00 has been achieved for the final grade for the components of the Masters Examination; b. no component has been awarded an unsatisfactory3 result during the course of the Masters Study Programme and a satisfactory grade has never been redone; c. a maximum of 15 ECTS has been awarded for exemptions that do not count towards the grading.3 2. Calculation of the average grade occurs on the basis of those grades achieved in accordance with Article 5.1(1) of these Regulations. The average is calculated by adding together the final grades for all completed components for the examination and dividing this by the number of final grades. The result calculated is not rounded-off. Differences in the size of the separate components are not taken into account in the examination. 3. This provision applies to students who were registered for the first time on 1st September 2008 or registered after this date as a student with Utrecht University for the relevant Masters Study Programme of the Department. The provision included in the Examination Committee Master Regulations 2007/2008 is applicable to earlier cohorts.

Article 5.6

Ranking 1. At the request of a student who has completed a Masters examination of the Department, his or her ranking can be determined. 2. The ranking is determined on the basis of the average of all final grades of the Master components (including unsatisfactory results). The calculation of the average grade occurs analogously to the method described in Article 5.5(2). The average final grade calculated in this manner is compared with the average final grades achieved by all students of who have completed the Masters programme the previous academic year. 3. The ranking is listed in the following categories:

3 For example, for an optional component or a foreign component that has never been retaken or for a compulsory component that subsequently successfully retaken. An unsatisfactory result that is the consequence of a NA or ND assessment does not count as an unsatisfactory in the context of these Regulations. 3 Exemptions that do not count towards the grading are listed as ‘EX’ (Exemption) or ‘VR’ (Vristelling) in OSIRIS and on the diploma annex. If the grade achieved exemption is granted If an exemption is awarded a grade and the grade is listed, this grade will count towards the determination of the average grade for the designation of honours.

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top 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and other graduates. Students who have been awarded the designation ‘cum laude’ are deemed to belong to the best 5% category. 4. The ranking cannot be determined if the so-called Grade Point Average has been determined and recorded on the annex of the diploma.

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CHAPTER 6

FINAL AND TRANSISTIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 6.1

Amendment 1. Amendments to these regulations shall be taken in a separate resolution by the Examination Committee. 2. Amendments that apply to the current academic year can only occur if the interests of the students are not reasonably harmed. 3. Furthermore, amendments can not have an adverse effect on a student with respect to any decision, either with regard to an individual request or on behalf of the Examination Committee.

Article 6.2

Publication The dean will provide for the publication of these Regulations, as well as each amendment, on the Internet.

Article 6.3

Effective date This version of the Regulations take effect on 1st September 2015. As approved by resolution of the Examination Committee Master of the Department of Law, Utrecht University.

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Annex Examination Committee Regulations, Master of Law Rounding-off The assessment of 5.5 is rounded-off to a 6; no scores under a 6 are rounded-off. The following applies for scores above a 6:n.00 up to n.24 are rounded off as n.0 n.25 up to n.74 are rounded off as n.5 n.75 up to n.99 are rounded off as n+1.0 This method of rounding-off applies both to courses of the Department itself, as well as courses taken outside the Department.

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