BV2100 Law - Child protection law Course description

This course looks at the rules of the Child Welfare Act relating to work in the child welfare service and county social welfare boards, and rules relating to judicial review of the county social welfare boards’ decisions. Particular emphasis is placed on fundamental principles and due process guarantees in child welfare work and the importance of human rights in relation to interventions in family life. The course covers both material and procedural rules. 

Language of instruction is Norwegian.

The student must have completed and passed the first year of the Bachelor Programme in Child Care and Welfare.

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• has broad knowledge of the rules for working with notifications, investigations, and assistance measures
• has broad knowledge of the rules for care decisions, return of care, deprivation of parental responsibility, and forced adoption under the Child Welfare Act
• has broad knowledge of the rules on contact under the Child Welfare Act
• has broad knowledge of the rules for handling emergency cases and the particular legal challenges associated with this decision-making process
• has broad knowledge of human rights limitations on coercive measures

Skills

The student

• can apply legal methods to determine the legal rules applicable to the work in the child welfare service.
• can discuss and assess legal security in various child welfare measures.
• can apply the principles of legality and proportionality in the assessment of various measures.
• can distinguish between material conditions, procedural conditions, and the evidentiary requirements of the provisions.
• can write justifications for decisions, including distinguishing between facts and legal assessments.
• can document assessments of the child's participation and consideration of the child's best interests in the decision-making processes.

General Competence

The student

• can handle child welfare cases in accordance with the responsible conduct requirement and the obligations that follow from international human rights.

The teaching takes place with in-person attendance on campus, and the course is taught through lectures, self-study, group work, skills training with and without the use of filming, and other teaching methods as needed.

The following coursework requirements/compulsory activities must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework requirement 1: An individual written assignment and conducting a peer review on a fellow studends individual written assignment.

The coursework requirement must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam. If the coursework is not approved, the student will be given the opportunity to submit an improved version once by a given deadline.

• Coursework requirement 2: Skills training in writing and documentation.

The attendance requirement for compulsory teaching activities is 80%. If a student's absence exceeds 20%, a comprehensive coursework requirement is set to compensate. If a student's overall absence exceeds 40%, they lose the right to take the exam. 

Each student is responsible for ensuring that their attendance is documented. The length of the teaching days will vary, and it is each student's own responsibility to stay informed about the teaching schedule.

Compulsory activities must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam.

The exam in the course is an individual supervised exam of 5 hours.

The following aids are permitted:

• The exam modus of Lovdata Pro.

Grade scale A-F.

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.

Julia Köhler-Olsen