Dirk van den Auweele and Randall Lesaffer 266 a collapse of public trust in the juridical system, it became fashionable to plead for the restoration of the general and humanistic character of the juridical curriculum and to stress the meta-juridical reflection on the effects of the law system on society. Some basic awareness of the past would learn jurists involved in these discussions that this concerns nothing else than the tension between law and justice and a discussion first started by Athenian sophism and already expressed in Sophokles’ Antigone. The lukewarmness and the shallowness with which these arguments are mostly met and all too often presented, can only be deplored. Nevertheless, these small reactions are indicating that a consciousness does exist about the danger the ongoing changes represent. For historians in general, and for romanists and legal historians in particular, thev offer the opportunity to lance a broad and fundamental discussion on the evolution of the law school curricula and the place of Roman law and legal history therein, both on the educational and the research level. In order to grasp this opportunity in an effective way, romanists and legal historians should not refrain fromquestioning their c')wn work and approaches both in research and in education and adapt them to the requirements of our present society. Firstly, a brief survey of education in Roman law and legal history at Belgian law schools will be presented, followed by - secondly — a status quaestionis of the research activities. The situation in the Netherlands will be only marginally discussed. Thirdly, some comments on the present situation and ongoing evolution will be offered, including some suggestions for future developments. 1. Education in Roman law and legal history In Belgiumit normallv takes five vears at universitv to obtain a licentiate’s degree in law which allows you to practice as a lawyer or opens access to most other legal professions. After two years of study, the student can obtain the degree of candidate or bachelor of law. Each vear, the students are submitted to examinations of all different courses they attended during an academic year. These examinations take place during the month ofJune. Each academic year is subdivided in two semesters of each 15 weeks of teaching. There are normally no final examinations after the first semester. 1 ' Some vears ago a more detailed survey ot the situation of education in Belgium and the Netherlands was made. For Belgium: Paul De Win, “FFet onderwijs in de rechtsgeschiedenis aan de Belgische universiteiten” in: Daniel Lamhrecht, ed., Lopend rcchtshistorisch onderzock. Handelingcn van het tiendc Belgisch-Hedcrlandse Rechtshistorisch Colloquium (Brussel, 1990) 45-88. For the Netherlands: M. A. Beckcr-Moelands, “Hct rcchtshistorisch ondcrzvijs in Nederland” in: Daniel Lamhrecht, ed., Lopend rechtshistorisch onderzock. Handelingcn van hct tiende BclgischNcdcrlandsc Rechtshistorisch Colloquium (Brussel, 1990) 9-44.
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