FACULTY OF LAW
Dean's Office, FL, Veveří 70, 611 80 Brno
tel. 41 321 297
fax. 41 213 162
Doc. JUDr. Josef Bejček, CSc.
Dean
Vice-deans:
Doc. JUDr Naděžda Rozehnalová, CSc.
Doc. JUDr. Dalibor Jílek, CSc.
JUDr. Jan Svatoň, CSc.
JUDr. Josef Fiala, CSc.
Chair of the Academic Senate:
Mgr. Vojtěch Šimíček, Dr.
Secretary:
Ing. Zdeněk Bednář
The year 1996 could be characterised as a period of change. A clear orientation of the Faculty to internationalisation of tuition and research was established and an emphasis was also placed on the scientific profile of the Faculty.
Scientific and research activity was developing in several concentric areas. The direct theoretical communication was through scientific conferences. A conference on professional ethics was held on 13-14 March 1996. The conference was attended by representatives of the John Marshall School of Law as well as judges of the Constitutional Court of the CR, Supreme Court of the CR and representatives from academic institutes. On 25 September 1996 there was a conference "Election Year 1996". The participants were prominent experts in constitutional law and political scientists from Prague, Bratislava and Brno. The Department of the Environment organised a conference on the status and perspectives of Czech co-operatives in the light of law. The workshop was held on 26 September 1996. The Faculty hosted the second conference on the theme "The Church and the State".
The second area of scientific and research activity was the application of research results to practice. The transfer of scientific findings into legal practice can be divided into three categories: expert activity for central organs, participation in the legislative process and presenting lectures. In 1996 the teachers made 60 expert reports and delivered 40 lectures in the Czech Republic.
Research results were communicated through post-graduate studies and studies for higher degrees. Twelve teachers successfully completed their post-graduate studies and 6 defended their thesis for an Associate Professor degree.
Another area is publications. The list contains 6 monographs and 144 articles and bulletin contributions. One monograph and 9 original studies were published abroad. Seventeen teaching aids were prepared. The teachers wrote 7 popularisation books and 49 popularisation products.
The curriculum underwent a considerable change and study rules became more strict. The first objective of the metamorphosis was to balance the load on students in the course of study. Another cornerstone was the contents of three study blocks. This was the basis for establishing comprehensive links between compulsory, optional and specialised courses. This enabled a greater choice of subjects within the programme of universal student profile. The system of block state exams emphasised their synthetic character which is necessary for integral thinking. Entrance exams were also modified.
Besides a conventional encyclopaedic test which comprises history, civics and general knowledge and a test of logic, a language exam will be newly introduced in the school year 1996/97.
Some changes also affected studies for a bachelor's degree which were designed as a specialised distance study without being related to studies for a master's degree.
International co-operation is characterised by active and passive liaisons of tuition staff and students. The number of teachers taking an active part in European conferences (15) or presenting lectures (7) at foreign universities increased.
The Faculty welcomed 54 guests who delivered lectures or attended international conferences. A new subject "European private law" became very popular. The lectures were presented by visiting professors from Jean Monnet Faculty of Law in Paris.
Eight students went abroad for long-term studies at the sister faculty in Dijon and at the European university in Frankfurt an der Oder. 16 students took part in short-term secondments.
The Faculty concentrated on raising the quality of the publications. The editorial board of the Journal for Legal Science and Practice introduced judgement of articles before publishing. Besides the quarterly journal the Faculty published a Yearbook of European Law and a yearbook of Roman law "Orbis Iuris Romani". Among the publications were also conference proceedings "Freedom of Expression and Press", "Papers of Professional Ethics" and "Church and State".
Upon the proposal of the Academic Council on 20 March 1996 Masaryk University conferred an honorary doctorate in law on dr. Rolv Ryssdal, chairman of the European Court for Human Rights.
At the end of the year 1996 a member of the Academic Council of the Faculty of Law Professor JUDr. Hynek Bulín, CSc. died at the age of 88. Professor Bulín was a distinguished teacher of the Faculty in pre-war and post-war periods and his tuition was of enormous value. From the year 1930 he published nearly 300 studies. He received an honorary doctorate in law from Masaryk University. He was a prominent personality linking the present with the past and will be greatly missed.
