Education and Research in Roman Lawand Legae History 267 Until 1988, the universities fell under federal law. The curriculumat the law schools was regulated in detail by the law. In the first two years, the so called candidatures, relatively few juridical lectures were provided for. Next to legal history and Roman law, great attention was devoted to political history, philosophy and other human and social sciences. In the last three years there were mostly lectures in the different aspects of Belgian and international private en public law. In the last year, students could make a choice out of many different optional courses, among one at least should involve reflection on the law. Legal history was reckoned under this category in all Belgian universities. After the last phase of the federalisation of Belgiumin 1988 education became a concern of the Flemish and French speaking communities. In 1991, the legal provisions concerning the law schools’ curricula were abolished. The curricula did not alter all that much however, and changes were more radical in Flanders than they were in the French speaking community. In all Flemish universities, the change led however to an increase of strictly juridical courses in the first two years. In Gent and Leuven, the two most important law schools, constitutional law and contract law are now lectured in the second year. The amount of courses in philosophy and the amount of hours spent to Roman law and legal history were diminished. For these last lectures this meant an average decrease by about 25 %. In all Belgian universities anno 1997—1998, Roman law and legal history format least two different obligatory courses in the first two years of the curriculum. They total between 195 and 295 hours for these years, or somewhat 3 to 5 hours each week in each semester. This amounts up to some 15 to 25 %of the whole curriculumduring those first two years. It must be said that the situatic^n is somewhat better in the French speaking part of the country than in Flanders. All law faculties have a general course on Roman law. Some universities organize a general course in legal history. Others like those of Gent and Flemish Leuven divide in public and private law. In Liege there is only a lecture in private lawin the first year and a lecture on capita selecta of private lawin the second year. In some faculties of the French speaking community and at the Flemish Free University of Brussels there are obligatory or optional introductions into the history of Belgian political and juridical institutions. In most Flemish faculties students have one or two optional courses in the second year. The Gatholic University of Leuven offers the students among others a lecture on the Digest and a lecture on the History of Canon Law. The other universities in Flanders nor in the French speaking part have no optional lectures in Roman lawor legal history in the first two years, except for the ones already mentioned. It must be said that all Belgian lawfaculties still provide for at least one extra historical lecture in the first two years. It concerns an introduction into the
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