Teaching plan for the course unit

 

 
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General information

 

Course unit name: Introduction to Business Law

Course unit code: 363656

Academic year: 2025-2026

Coordinator: Carlos Rion Tetas

Department: Department of Private Law

Credits: 6

Single program: S

 

 

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

 

Face-to-face and/or online activities

60
 

-  Lecture with practical component

Face-to-face

  

45
 

-  Problem-solving class

Face-to-face

  

15

Supervised project

40

(Face-to-face and distant, by appointment.)

Independent learning

50

 

 

Recommendations

 

Students are strongly recommended to attend all face-to-face sessions and make use of tutorial hours to ensure that they keep up with the course content.


Further recommendations

Students must have an up-to-date copy of the Spanish Code of Commerce, as it is required for classroom activities and individual or group work.

 

 

Competences / Learning outcomes to be gained during study

 

   -

Capacity for learning and responsibility (capacity for analysis and synthesis, to adopt global perspectives and to apply the knowledge acquired/capacity to take decisions and adapt to new situations).
   -

Communication skills (capacity to understand and produce spoken and written Catalan, Spanish and a third language, including the comprehension and use of specialized terminology/capacity to research and integrate information in these languages).
   -

To relate a market, company or institution to its social, legal or historical context.

Learning objectives

 

Referring to knowledge

  • Understand the concepts of legal norm, legal person, legal act and legal contract.
  • Understand the characteristics that define businesspersons and companies.
  • Understand the basic obligations of businesspersons.
  • Acquire a knowledge of the basic regulations that govern the organization of business activity and intangible assets.
  • Know the main fields of business procurement.
  • Understand the basic instruments of credit circulation.
  • Acquire knowledge of the specific laws that govern the different areas and the norms applicable to each instance and legal situation.
  • Be able to locate the laws and norms in question and understand their fundamental aspects.

 

 

Teaching blocks

 

1. General concepts of private law

1.1. Legal norms and hierarchies

1.2. Foundations and concept of private law: sources of private law, common law and special law

1.3. Legal personality: natural and legal persons

1.3.1. Start and end of legal personality and civil status
1.3.2. The civil, property and trade registry

1.4. Representation in private law

1.5. Private autonomy and protective measures

1.6. Legal transactions

2. Company regimes

2.1. Concept of commercial company

2.2. Types of business figures: individual and social

2.3. Responsibility, prohibitions, restrictions and loss of businessperson status

2.4. Legal statute

2.4.1. Accounting obligation: annual reports and advertising

2.5. Business collaborators

3. Right of competition and industrial law

3.1. Industrial invention and industrial design

3.2. Defence of competition

3.3. Disloyal competition and right of publicity

3.4. Distinguishing signs

4. General contract theory

4.1. Contracts in private law

4.2. Typical aspects of commercial obligations

4.3. Specific features of commercial contracts

4.4. Classification and types of commercial contracts

5. Securities

5.1. General theory of securities

5.2. Bills of exchange

5.3. Promissory notes

5.4. Cheques

 

 

Teaching methods and general organization

 

The course content is taught through face-to-face or online lectures complemented by practical sessions, coursework assignments, critical commentaries of selected news stories, and individual or group tutorials. It is important for students to attend face-to-face or online sessions and to complete the activities set throughout the course. In project-based learning (PBL) groups, teaching focuses on active learning, building students’ knowledge through the resolution of exercises. This methodology entails the use of different activities in face-to-face or online sessions to foster more effective directed and independent learning. All activities are geared towards the acquisition of knowledge and skills for solving specific problems in compliance with existing law and regulations.

 

 

Official assessment of learning outcomes

 

Continuous assessment is based on practical sessions, class participation and, if applicable, tests completed during the course. This option also includes a compulsory final examination on the date decided by the Academic Council.

The final grade is weighted between the average mark for continuous assessment activities (50%) and the mark for the final examination (50%). The lecturer of each group may decide to change this weighting. In this case, the weighting is specified on the Virtual Campus. Students must obtain a pass grade for the continuous assessment activities and the examination. Taking the final examination is compulsory.

Students in the PBL (project-based learning) group are entered for continuous assessment, and the overall mark obtained is the final grade for the subject.

Students are entitled to repeat assessment as long as they meet the general requirements set by the corresponding academic body, under the same conditions as the continuous assessment option.

 

Examination-based assessment

Single assessment consists of a final examination on the date set by the Academic Council.

Students may follow the continuous assessment option or request single assessment. To be eligible for single assessment, students must submit a formal request in accordance with the calendar and procedures established by the Academic Committee.

Students who sit the final examination are entitled to repeat assessment, under the same conditions as the standard single assessment option.

 

 

Reading and study resources

Check availability in Cercabib

Book

SÁNCHEZ CALERO, Fernando. Principios de derecho mercantil. 21ª ed. Cizur Menor (Navarra): Thomson- Reuters Aranzadi, 2016

  Students who would like to consult a more detailed work can read the textbook Instituciones de Derecho Mercantil, by the same author.

Versiķ en línia (29a ed., 2024)  Enllaç

BROSETA PONT, Manuel. Manual de derecho mercantil. 2 vols. 23ª ed. Madrid: Tecnos, 2016

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

JIMÉNEZ SÁNCHEZ, Guillermo J. Nociones de derecho mercantil. 10ª ed. Barcelona: Marcial Pons, 2016

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

LASARTE, Carlos. Curso de derecho civil patrimonial: introducción al derecho. 22ª ed. Rev. y act.  Madrid: Tecnos, 2016

Catāleg UB  Enllaç