WELCOME TO THE COURSE
Congratulations! It is with great pleasure to inform that you have been admitted to the course Rule of Law, Constitutionalism and Fundamental Principles at Umeå University. On this page you will find important information that will be useful, so please read it carefully. If you have any questions, you can use the contact form below. We wish you a warm welcome and hope that you will enjoy your period of studies here in Umeå.
The university has decided out of an abundance of caution to remain with online teaching for the beginning of the fall semester up until 29th of September for most students. Therefore, the course will begin with registration and an introductory lecture online on Monday, August 30th at 13.15 on Zoom. It is important that you attend the registration in order to keep your place on the course. Please contact course administrator anna.henriksson@umu.se if you are unable to attend.
CloseThe content of the course is primarily taught through lectures and seminars. As we will approach a complex field of law from both a national, regional and international perspective, the materials and approaches used will differ. This is reflected in the design of the teaching. While some topics may be introduced through lectures, the course includes a large number of 'discussion seminars' where we will jointly explore some of the most challenging issues. To be able to effectively discuss these vast and complex issues you will need to prepare by reading and considering the most up-to-date sources in the field. To support your learning and help you prepare you will be assigned to a group of students that can prepare for the seminars together. These discussions form an important part of the course, making it vital that you have prepared for the seminars in advance by reading the necessary materials and discussed them with your group.
There are a number of databases that will help you find materials necessary for the seminars. These will be further introduced once the course starts but you may want to acquaint yourselves with them if you are not already familiar with them:
www.hudoc.echr.coe.int – HUDOC: This is the case-law database of the European Court of Human Rights.
www.eurlex.europa.eu – EurLex: Here you will find both legislation and case-law from the institutions of the European Union.
The course will explore constitutional and rule of law issues using examples from many different jurisdictions around the world, but many examples and discussions will include the European context. As such, some familiarity with the European legal order (EU and European Convention law) is helpful. For students unfamiliar with this legal context, voluntary introductory lectures will be offered to familiarise you with concepts and functions we will refer to later on in the course.
Information due to covid restrictions
Lectures and seminars up until the 29th of September will be either held live on Zoom or made available as recorded lectures. Information and links to access these classes will be available through the Canvas learning platform that you will gain access to once you have been registered on the course. Our ambition is to resume classroom teaching in some form as soon as government restrictions and university rules allow. This means you will need to at least be prepared to return to campus and be present in Umeå for the mandatory course activities that follow after the 29th of September. More information about course activities after that date will be given at the course introduction in august.
CloseIn addition to the textbook, The Constitution of Freedom – An Introduction to Legal Constitutionalism, by András Sajó and Renáta Uitz (Oxford University Press, 2017), which you will be expected to acquire in advance of the start of the course, you will also be expected to read additional materials such as articles and case law, this material will sometimes be provided to you in advance of the seminars but you will also in many cases be expected to identify and read further relevant material made available to you through various databases. The course book will also be available as an e-book through the university library once you have been registered to the course.
The primary mode of examination on the course is an individual paper. To help you prepare for this writing task, there are a number of books on academic writing that may help you. A good place to start is Eugene Volokh's 'Academic Legal Writing', which is now in it's 5th edition (Foundation Press 2016). It is somewhat American in the approach to writing but contains good advice on how to find topics, structure arguments and present your findings. You can also find valuable information about academic writing on the website http://writingguide.se which is published by Swedish university libraries. Further and more course-specific advice on academic writing will be given during the course.
CloseDuring the course you will find everything you need regarding the course on a learning platform. You need to activate your Umu-id in order to log in there. More information about that can be found under "Activate your user account".
CloseChecklist for admitted students
Follow this simple list of things to complete your enrolment at Umeå University. It includes: how to secure housing, getting a residence permit (for citizens from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland), tuition payment (if applicable), travel directions and more.
To the checklist for admitted Students
CloseThe Student web
The website for current students has all sorts of information about services, support, legal and practical matters at Umeå University. You can sign in to the learning platforms, see your schedule and course overview, get a study certificate, apply for a degree or sign up for an examination.
CloseRecommended arrival times
International students are recommended to arrive at least a few days before the start of the regular semester, preferably prior to the Orientation. If you fail to arrive on time, you have to contact the study counselor as soon as possible, but no later than one week ahead of the course start, or you may not be able to register for the programme or course.
If you will have student housing through the Housing Office at Umeå University you will receive information about your arrival in your offer of housing.
Don't forget - Umeå has cold winters, so pack accordingly with a warm jacket, warm shoes, gloves and hat.
CloseOrientation
Moving to a new country with an unfamiliar language, culture and customs can be a challenge. We would like to help you and ease that challenge so that you can focus on your studies. Therefore, we would like to offer you the possibility to take part in our Orientation, which begins a few days before the start of the semester (Autumn) or the same day as the semester starts (Spring).
More about the Orientation this semester.
CloseWelcome Fair
Are you a new student at Umeå University? Visit the Welcome Fair – a perfect opportunity to learn what our university and Umeå can offer. The fair normally takes place in the beginning of each semester.
CloseActivate your user account
As a new student, you need to activate your user account approximately two weeks prior to the start of the semester in order to, for instance:
If you are a new student, you will automatically receive a user account when you are admitted, but you will need to activate it for it to function properly. You will not be able to activate it until approximately two weeks prior to the start of the semester.
I want to learn more about my user account (Umu-id)
For exchange students and tuition fee paying students
If you are an exchange student or tuition fee paying student, you will receive an email with instructions on how to activate your account.
Help! It's not working
If you are having problems activating your account or logging in, please contact our Servicedesk. You will find answers to common questions, and can submit enquiries.
Get your UmU card
When you are on Campus Umeå, Umeå Arts Campus or Campus Örnsköldsvik, you will need a UmU card. The card has the following functions:
To get the card, you need to apply for it. Here’s how to apply for the UmU card.
CloseJoin a student union
There are three student unions at Umeå University:
They are actively involved so that fellow students have a high quality of education, good working environment, and fun leisure time.
Become a member of a student union!
CloseAccess to Microsoft Office 365
Students at Umeå University have free access to the programmes of Microsoft Office 365. This means that you have access to Teams, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Whiteboard Forms, your student email and other services which can facilitate your studies and your collaboration with other students. To access Office 365 you need to activate your UmU-id.
Learn more about Office 365 and how to install it on your computer
Close