Students Tilburg University

Study Abroad Study Plan - Law

Would you like to lend color to your Bachelor’s degree? Why not opt for studying a semester abroad! Tilburg University Law School thinks it is important that all students are given this unique opportunity during their studies. Below you will find more information on how you can incorporate a Study Abroad experience in your program.

How do I fit an exchange into my study program?

Most students opt for a study abroad experience in the Bachelor phase. However, there are also each year a few Master students who apply for an exchange. To enable you to include a study abroad experience into your study program without (too much) delay, the academic directors of all programs formulated the following arrangements.

Global Law

Each student is expected to take a minimum of 30 ECTS worth of courses abroad. If you would like to substitute courses from the fifth semester of your bachelor program, the courses must meet the following requirements:

  1. In principle, courses should be from the field of Law.
  2. If you don’t choose law courses, the courses need to form a coherent package*.
  3. 1st-year courses or practical skills are not allowed. 
  4. Courses must not overlap in content with your Global Law courses.
  5. Courses must not overlap with each other in terms of content. 
  6. Dutch Civiel Effect courses and the GLB: Final Essay course cannot be substituted.

*Not every partner university allows law students to take courses in non-law related fields. Students should check this with the partner university. 

You can consult the Global Law Canvas page for study program-specific questions related to going on exchange.

Note for Global Law Fast Track students:

Global Law Fast Track students can apply for an exchange in the same way as regular 2nd year Global Law students.

You will meet the eligibility requirements for an application of a minimum of 60 ECTS, since you have received 60 ECTS in exemptions upon entrance in the Fast Track program. Furthermore, the same Study Abroad Study Plan applies to you as to 2nd year Global Law students. If you apply as a Fast Track student and do not yet have a grade average at Tilburg University, we will ask you to submit a transcript from your previous studies to rank the applications by grade average.

Fast Track students can find an example course approval request for the fast track on the Global Law Canvas page.

Bestuurskunde

Parts of the fifth and sixth semesters (the Fall or Spring semester of the third year of the Bachelor’s program Bestuurskunde), with the exception of the Bachelor’s Thesis (630502; second, third and fourth block of the third year), may be replaced by courses taken at the university abroad with a study load of at least 24 credits. It is possible to undertake Bachelor’s Thesis trajectory through distance learning. The courses must meet the following requirements:

  1. Courses need to be from the field of Public Administration.
  2. Courses need to be at least at second year level, but preferably at third year level.
  3. The totality of selected courses needs to show the multidisciplinary character that is specific to the Bachelor's program Bestuurskunde (i.e. there should be some diversity in the selected courses with regards to the basic disciplines of Bestuurskunde (law, sociology, political science and organization studies)).
  4. The content of the selected courses should not overlap with the courses in your study program at Tilburg University.
Public Governance

Parts of the fifth and sixth semesters (the Fall or Spring semester of the third year of the Bachelor’s program Public Governance) with the exception of the Research Proposal Bachelor Thesis (fifth semester) and the graduation project (sixth semester) may be replaced by courses taken at the university abroad with a study load of at least 24 credits. It is also possible to undertake Research Proposal Bachelor Thesis and the graduation project through distance learningThe courses must meet the following requirements:

  1. Courses need to be from the field of Public Governance.
  2. Courses need to be at least at second year level, but preferably at third year level.
  3. No overlap within the selected courses (they need to be diverse).
  4. The content of the selected courses should not overlap with the courses you’ve already obtained in your program.
Law (Rechtsgeleerdheid)

You can substitute the courses from the fifth semester of the program except for ‘Rechtsfilosofie B’ and ‘Bachelor thesis’. This means that the minor (18 ECTS credits) and ‘Recht en Maatschappij’ may be substituted by exchange courses. In total you may substitute 22 ECTS - but remember that during your exchange, you always have to follow at least 24 ECTS.

The courses ‘Rechtsfilosofie B’ and ‘Bachelor thesis’ can be followed from abroad. When you have been selected for an exchange and you are in your pre-departure phase, you will receive more information about this option. If your semester abroad overlaps with the exams of Rechtsfilosofie B, you can apply for a replacement exam. Please note that you are only eligible to participate in a replacement exam if you have academic obligations at your host university which prevent you from being present in Tilburg. You are not eligible for this arrangement if, for example, you are extending your semester abroad by travelling. 

The substitute courses must meet the following requirements:

  1. The courses should be in principle from the field of law.
  2. If you don’t choose Law-courses, the courses need to form a coherent package*.
  3. No overlap within the selected courses.
  4. No first-year courses.
  5. The content of the selected courses may not overlap with the courses of your Tilburg University study program.

*Not every partner university allows law students to take courses in non-law related fields. Students should check this with the partner university.

Tax Law (Fiscaal Recht)

You can substitute the courses from the fifth semester of the program except for ‘Rechtsfilosofie B’ and ‘Bachelor thesis’. This means that ‘Introduction Tax Technology’, ‘Omzetbelasting’ and ‘Grondslagen Europees en Internationaal Belastingrecht’* may be substituted by exchange courses. In total you may substitute 16-22 ECTS.

*‘Grondslagen Europees en Internationaal belastingrecht’ can only be substituted by a course on European and International Tax Law, which can be difficult to find. If it isn’t possible to take such a course, you  need to take ‘Grondslagen Europees en Internationaal Belastingrecht’ before or after your exchange. This course can’t be followed by distance learning (when you’re on exchange).

The courses ‘Rechtsfilosofie B’ and ‘Bachelor thesis’ can be followed from abroad. When you have been selected for an exchange and you are in your pre-departure phase, you will receive more information about this option. If your semester abroad overlaps with the exams of Rechtsfilosofie B, you can apply for a replacement exam. Please note that you are only eligible to participate in a replacement exam if you have academic obligations at your host university which prevent you from being present in Tilburg. You are not eligible for this arrangement if, for example, you are extending your semester abroad by travelling. 

The substitute courses must meet the following requirements:

  1. The courses must be in the field of law.  
  2. No overlap within the selected courses.
  3. No first-year courses.
  4. The content of the selected courses may not overlap with the courses of your Tilburg University study program except for ‘Grondslagen Europees en Internationaal belastingrecht’ .
Business Law (Specialisatie Ondernemingsrecht)

Students from the Bachelor Law, specialization Business Law are not allowed to replace courses of their study program with courses abroad. In the fifth semester, most of the specific Business Law course take place and we expect our students to follow these courses. Therefore, for these students it is not possible to go on exchange without a study delay of one semester. When you do go on exchange, you may follow the exchange courses ‘on top of’ your program. You can also discuss the timing of your exchange with your Education Coordinator.

BSc Data Science

Please discuss your study plan with your Education Coordinator.

Master programs

In most Master programs, the exchange is “on top” of your regular degree program, i.e., the credits you obtain are not counted towards the 60 ECTS needed to graduate. Some Master programs have room for free electives (vrije keuzeruimte). In case your Master program contains a free elective course that is not bound by restrictions (vrije keuzeruimte), you can use one of your exchange courses as a substitute. This does not apply to e.g. students of the Master Rechtsgeleerdheid, as your electives should all be taken from the offer of the Master Rechtsgeleerdheid. For more information, check with your Education Coordinator.

Additional: Top class

Your Top Class Coordinator can give you more information about the possibility to replace your Top Class courses.

In case you are unsure how to fit in your exchange into your study program and the above information is unhelpful, please contact your Educational Coordinator. The Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinators are unable to help you with questions regarding your study plan and study program.

Selecting courses at the Partner University

When looking for courses at the Partner University, there are some rules to keep in mind:

  1. Each student is expected to take a minimum of 24 ECTS credits worth of courses abroad. It does not matter whether you need the credits for your study program at Tilburg University or not. A language course starting before the official exchange period will not count towards the 24 ECTS credits you are required to obtain.
  2. Master students are allowed to substitute the free elective (6 ECTS credits) if this is part of the program. Additional courses (on top of) are not subject to any further conditions, except that they must be Master subjects. Consult your Education Coordinator for more information about the possibilities.
  3. Courses need to be at the appropriate level. Master students can only take courses at Master level, while Bachelor students should take courses at Bachelor level. If it's not possible to fulfill a complete workload with Bachelor courses, Master-level courses can be approved for Bachelor students as long as the partner university approves of this too.
  4.  Any course that covers practical skills (including language courses) will not be approved as a free elective, and can only be approved as 'on top of' your Tilburg University study program.
  5.  Courses that overlap with courses you already took or will take at Tilburg University will not be approved.
  6. First year courses will not be approved.

All courses you will take abroad will need to be approved by the TLS Education Coordinator of your study program. This happens during the pre-departure phase, after you find out which host university you have been selected for. You can find the instructions for your course approval on our Courses at the partner university page, and in the pre-departure instructions in your Mobility Online workflow.