Detailed examination regulations for
Master of Social Sciences in International Law, Economics and Management
at
the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School
Prepared by the steering committee for ILECMA and entered into force on 1 October 2009.
Amended by the Study Board for Master of Social Sciences in International Law, Economics and Management, December 2009
Part 1
Participation in examinations
Section 1. Under section 17 of the 2009 Programme Regulations for Master of Social Sciences in International Law, Economics and Management at the Faculty of Law of the University of Copenhagen and the Department of Law at Copenhagen Business School, the following regulations on written examinations for Master of Social Sciences in International Law, Economics and Management are laid down as an appendix to the Programme Regulations.
Section 2. Students are automatically registered for examinations and must participate in the planned examinations every quarter.
(2) Students may be granted dispensation from subsection 1 and postpone the examination in the event of exceptional circumstances.
(3) Students must have passed all examinations from the preceding quarter before sitting an examination in the following quarter.
Section 3. In the event of illness during the examination, the University must be notified before the end of the examination. Illness must be documented by a doctor’s certificate, cf. section 4.
Section 4. The student’s illness must be documented by doctor’s certificate. The doctor’s certificate must state that the doctor has examined the student during the period of illness and found the student ill. In the event of illness on the examination date, it must be stated on the doctor’s certificate that the student contacted the doctor on the date of the examination.
(2) The Faculty must have received the doctor’s certificate no later than three working days after the examination or after the deadline for registration or withdrawal.
(3) The doctor's certificate must be signed by the doctor in question. The certificate must be printed on the doctor’s official stationery/form and/or stamped with the doctor’s name, address and provider number.
Section 5. Oral examinations held on the basis of a written paper (synopsis) must be sat in the examination period in which the student prepared and submitted the paper.
(2) Students who have not submitted the synopsis cannot sit the examination.
(3) If the student withdraws his or her registration, is ill on the day of the examination or fails, the tutor shall decide whether a new paper must be prepared for the next examination.
Part 2
Practical examination arrangements
Section 6. The examination dates are published on the Faculty website for the spring semester no later than at the beginning of each quarter.
(2) Times and venues and other examination-specific information is published two weeks before the examination at the latest.
Section 7. Invigilated examinations and oral examinations take place Monday-Friday between 8 am and 6 pm.
(2) There are no examinations in the following periods/on the following dates:
• Autumn break (calendar week 42)
• Christmas (23 December - 1 January)
• Easter (from Palm Sunday to Easter Monday)
• 1 May
• Constitution Day (5 June) and other public holidays
• Scheduled examinations do not take place during the summer holiday (1 July – 31 August).
(3) No student shall sit more than one examination on any given day.
(4) The director of studies may deviate from subsections (1)-(3) to a lesser extent.
Section 8. Students must bring valid student ID cards or other photo ID when sitting an examination. If a student fails to do so, he or she may be barred from the examination.
Section 9. Examinations must be conducted in a quiet and orderly fashion. Students must observe the rules of conduct laid down in “Disciplinary measures towards students at the University of Copenhagen”. Or the Danish version.
(2). When sitting oral examinations, students must arrive at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time. Students who have not turned up by this time cannot expect to be examined in that examination period.
(3) When sitting invigilated written examinations, students must arrive at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the exam. If a blank paper is submitted, the student may leave the examination hall immediately after his or her attendance has been registered by the invigilators. Students may not leave the examination hall with their assignments, papers and any rough work until one hour before the end of the examination at the earliest. Conversation between students during the examination is not permitted until all students have submitted their papers.
Section 10. Papers must be submitted by the deadline stated and in the manner and form laid down for the individual examination, cf. Part 3.
(2) In connection with invigilated written examinations, papers must be submitted to an invigilator. It is not permitted to continue to write or to print out papers after the deadline for submission.
(3) The Faculty may refuse to accept a paper for assessment or bar a student from participation in an oral examination based on a written paper if the provisions of (1) and (2) above have not been observed or if the student submits a blank or academically completely unacceptable paper.
Section 11. Oral examinations are public.
(2) In oral examinations held on the basis of a written paper, students who have jointly prepared a paper may, however, not be present at each other’s examinations before they have sat their own examinations.
Section 12. The director of studies may lay down more specific rules for the practical examination arrangements.
Part 3
Formal requirements for assignments and examination papers
Section 13. Examination papers and oral examinations based on a written paper (synopsis) shall comprise a subject based on the syllabus for the course/module.
(2) Students must complete the assignment within the framework of the assignment text/subject.
Section 14. Papers must be written in English.
Section 15. Students must state the name of the examination and number each page of the paper consecutively. In connection with written examinations, students must also write the examination number on each page of the paper.
(2) Students must indicate the size of the paper on the first page. The size is to be stated as the number of pages in connection with invigilated written examinations, and the number of characters for take-home papers and papers for oral examinations.
(3) Students may not write their names or civil registration numbers on papers, neither on the cover page, if any, or on other pages.
Section 16. The size of a paper may not exceed the maximum number of characters laid down for the paper in question. There is no limit to the size of a paper prepared in connection with an invigilated written examination.
(2) The cover page, notes, table of contents, list of references, appendices and summary are not to be included in the character count.
(3) Students may not add notes, tables of contents, lists of references or appendices to take-home papers.
(4) Students may only in exceptional cases add appendices to a synopsis, provided that the appendix is significant to the paper. The internal and external examiners have no obligation to review the appendices.
Part 4
Use of aids, including computers, during examinations
Section 17. In all examinations, students may use assignments and own papers, notes, overview copies, etc. as well as all printed material, including the syllabus, supplementary teaching material and other literature and statute books and law reports of any kind whatsoever. Cf. section 19 on the use of telecommunication in examinations, however.
(2) In invigilated written examinations, students are not allowed to help other students with their papers; this includes borrowing materials from each other without permission from an invigilator.
(3) In the examination hall, printer paper is made available for computer users and manifold paper is made available for hand-writers. Students writing by hand in written examinations must use ballpoint pens.
Section 18. In invigilated written examinations, University computers must be used, cf. section 17, however.
(2) Students will be allowed into the examination hall at least ½ hour before the start of the examination. Examination papers are to be submitted electronically; a copy will automatically be sent to the email address assigned to the student by the University.
(3) The University provides services related to the technical use of the computer log-in and submission systems, but not related to the computer’s user programmes. If technical problems with a University computer prevent a student from completing his or her paper, the student will be moved to another computer. If no computer is vacant, the paper may be finished by hand on the special manifold paper.
Section 19. In invigilated written examinations where the number of candidates exceeds the number of computers provided by the University, randomly selected students may use their own computers and printers. In oral examinations with preparation time, students may use computers and printers in the preparation room, but not in the actual examination room. Cf. section 18 on the use of telecommunications in examinations, however.
(2) Students will be allowed into the examination hall to set up computers and printers one hour before the start of the examination. It is permitted to bring assistants to help set up computers and printers. All assistants must leave the venue 10 minutes before the start of the examination at the latest.
(3) Students must bring their own computers and printers and all necessary cables, etc., i.e. all the equipment required for the computer and printer to function when connected to power in the examination hall. Each student will have two live 3-pin plugs at his or her disposal.
(4) The Faculty will not offer personal technical assistance of any kind whatsoever. The student thus bears the risk related to having chosen to use a computer and printer in these examinations and bears the full responsibility for his or her own equipment during the examination, including any technical problems.
(5) If a student is prevented from completing his or her paper on the computer, the paper may be finished by hand. Students may at any time switch to writing by hand on the special manifold paper.
(6) Use of sound on computers and use of headphones is not permitted.
Section 20. No electronic telecommunication, including between a student’s personal computer and mobile phones, computers, internal and external electronic networks, is permitted in oral examinations and invigilated written examinations.
(2) In all examinations, students may search electronically for information in databases stored on the personal computer, cf. section 18(1), however.
(3) In connection with written examinations, mobile phones must be handed in to the invigilators.
Section 21. Checks will be carried out to ensure that no unauthorised aids are brought along. If, after the start of the examination, it is discovered that unauthorised aids have been brought along, or that electronic telecommunication has taken place, this may lead to expulsion from the examination and reporting under the rules on “Disciplinary measures towards students at the University of Copenhagen”.
Part 5
Examination and basis for assessment
Section 22. All examination questions and assignments shall be answerable on the basis of the syllabus literature and by using the assignment text and any material appended to the assignment in question. Knowledge of any supplementary literature shall not be a necessary prerequisite for answering the examination question or completing the examination assignment, but may enhance the student’s performance.
(2) Each student shall have a total of three examination attempts in all courses/modules, but the syllabus may change for the second and third attempts, however.
Section 23. All examinations shall be assessed on the basis of the current state of the law.
Section 24. In the assessment of papers it shall not be taken into account that students using computers may find it easier to structure and formulate their papers using word processing, spelling and grammar checks, etc.
Section 25. In the assessment of papers importance shall be attached to the degree to which any material appended to the examination question/assignment has been used as a basis for independent consideration of the issues raised in the examination question/assignment.
Section 26. In oral examinations held on the basis of a written paper (synopsis), the point of departure shall be the paper, its subject matter and the problem discussed. The paper governs the level and nature of the questions asked in the initial phase of the examination, but shall not limit the scope of the examination.
(2) The examination may include all a) subjects within the syllabus that are of relevance to the problems discussed in the paper, including the subject matter of the paper, b) subjects academically linked thereto or within neighbouring subject areas, c) subjects closely linked to the problems discussed in the paper, and d) subjects discussed in the paper itself. The examination may also include other subjects discussed in the paper that are not within the syllabus, provided the subjects in question are of major relevance to problems discussed in the paper.
(3) Oral examinations on the basis of a written assignment are individual, irrespective of whether the paper was prepared individually or as group work.
(4) For oral examinations students may bring - besides the synopsis - syllabus books and other material stated on the list of aids. Oral examinations are basically public. Students who have written a synopsis together or whose synopses are on the same subject may only observe each others examinations after they have sat their own examinations, cf. section 12 of ”Guidelines for written assignments for Master of Social Sciences in International Law, Economics and Management”.
Section 27. If a paper has been received for assessment, cf. section 9, but does not meet the formal requirements, cf. Part 3, the assessors must take this into account in the overall assessment.
(2) Any notes to the paper shall be disregarded by the assessors. This shall not apply to source references in notes, however.
(3) If a paper does not meet the formal requirements in terms of size, the assessors shall disregard that part of the paper that exceeds the maximum size.
Section 28. Students must comply with the rules on academic integrity as laid down in “Disciplinary measures towards students at the University of Copenhagen”.
(2) Academic misconduct and cheating are considered to occur if a student copies from others, falsifies, plagiarises, withholds evidence or otherwise provides misleading evidence of his or her own performance.
(3) Quotations must be marked as quotations. This applies to quotations from books, teaching material, the Internet, the student’s own previously submitted examination papers and contributions from other students or other people.
(4) The director of studies selects one of the following two types of examinations with a take-home paper: Modules using a take-home paper as examination method must choose one of the following models for such take-home paper in cooperation with the director of studies: 1) students may discuss the course and the assignment in their study groups and with their fellow students; however, it is left to the individual students to write the paper themselves, or 2) students are not allowed to communicate with others on issues that are directly or indirectly related to the examination during the examination period. Violation of (4), item 1 or 2, above is regarded as cheating pursuant to (1)-(3).
(5) The Faculty will check whether the rules on academic integrity have been observed.
(6) Attempts at cheating will be treated in the same manner as actual cheating.
(7) Complicity in cheating by inducing, assisting or urging others to cheat will be treated as if the student cheated on his or her own behalf.
Part 7
Special examination conditions for students
Section 29. In written examinations, students with physical or mental functional impairment or with equivalent difficulties may be awarded 15 extra minutes per hour.
(2) No time extension is granted for take-home papers as the student is not subject to the same time pressure as in other written examinations.
(3) Time extension due to pregnancy is granted from week 26 of pregnancy for written examinations that are not take-home papers.
(4) Time extension due to breastfeeding is granted until the child is six months old for written examinations that are not take-home papers.
Section 30. No time extension is granted for oral examinations.
Section 31. Applications for time extension must be filed at least one month before a written exam.
Section 32. The Study Board may grant exemptions from the provisions of Part 7 in unusual circumstances.
Part 8
Make-up examinations, re-examinations and extra examinations
Section 33. Students who have been prevented from sitting an examination due to illness are entitled to sit a re-examination during the planned re-exam period in the quarter in which the course was taught.
(2) Students who have received the grade -3, 0 or the assessment Not approved are entitled to take a re-examination during the planned re-exam period in the quarter in which the course was taught.
(3) For students who have submitted their thesis for assessment and who need to complete only one subject in order to graduate, examinations are held in one of the ordinary examination periods in either the spring or the autumn semester.
(4) To participate in a make-up examination, the student must have registered for the scheduled examination, but been ill at the time of the examination, cf. section 3.
(5) To re-sit an examination, the student must have participated in a previous examination and been awarded the grade -3, 0 or Fail.
Part 9
Commencement
Section 34. These regulations shall commence on 1 January 2010 with effect for ILECMA students enrolled under the 2009 Programme Regulations as from 1 October 2009.