The proseminar teaches the skills required to write a seminar paper and present it in a lecture. Participation in the proseminar requires a successful basic study programme with a fully passed intermediate examination.

The topic of the proseminar paper can come from a dogmatic subject or a basic subject. According to the curriculum recommendation (Appendix I of the study regulations), completion of the proseminar is recommended for the 5th semester. Depending on the organisation of the chair, the proseminar paper can be written in preparation for the proseminar course in the following semester or during the lecture period.

As part of a proseminar, a topic paper designed for a three-week period and a presentation with discussion must be successfully completed. Participation is deemed successful if both the topic paper and the entire proseminar performance have been assessed as at least sufficient (4 points); oral and written performance are each weighted at 50% in the overall assessment. If the presentation is not given as part of the proseminar, the entire examination is deemed to have been failed. The lecturer will issue a certificate of a passed proseminar performance, which also contains the assessment.

According to the Study and Examination Regulations 2023, the proseminar or the term paper to be completed in the corresponding course is one of the four term papers that will be required in the future (if you register after 16 February 2025) in accordance with Section 7 I No. 5 JAG NRW as a prerequisite for admission to the state compulsory subject examination. The proseminar could also be relevant for those who register for the compulsory state examination before 16 February 2025 as a prerequisite for the subsequent award of an integrated Bachelor's degree (although details are still being planned). However, the proseminar is above all a useful and important preparation for the later seminar performance in the specialisation area studies, the assessment of which counts four times. All students should therefore use the proseminar to practise writing a term paper.

If more students apply for a proseminar than there are places available, priority will be given to those who have achieved the better average grade in the intermediate examination on the basis of a ranking list. Information on the application procedure for a proseminar place can be found here

As part of the exercises for advanced students, a total of 3 written examinations (one in each dogmatic subject) and 1 term paper in the exercise in public law must be passed.

The SPB seminar performance can only be taken if one written exam from each of the three main subjects (Civil Law, Criminal Law, Public Law) and two basic exams (one from a basic course and one from a main course) have been passed as admission requirements.

The seminar admission letter is required at the latest to receive the seminar topic, which you can receive on request (by e-mail) from the Examination Office for Law if all the required main course certificates have been electronically recorded as passed in BASIS.

Students on the Bonn Law and Economics degree programme who are replacing the SPB seminar with their Bachelor's thesis will submit the certificates from the advanced exercises plus the two basic examinations by the time the specialisation area certificate is issued.

a) Exams

One written examination must be passed in each of the three advanced exercises.

Students who have passed the entire intermediate examination or at least the intermediate examination(s) in the respective dogmatic sub-area are eligible to take the written examinations.

b) Term paper

The prerequisite for participation in the term paper of the advanced exercise in public law is passing the intermediate examination or the three-hour ZP exam in public law.

The following applies to the term paper for the advanced exercise: As this is a preliminary term paper for the following semester in which the exercise is held, registration for the term paper must be made before the lecture-free period (in January for the preliminary term papers of a summer semester and in June/July for the preliminary term papers of a winter semester) during the registration period announced by the Examinations Office. In the event of technical problems with electronic registration via BASIS (e.g. ‘Prerequisite error’ message), the programme data usually still needs to be transferred to the Study and Examination Regulations 2023; in this case, please contact the Examinations Office pruefungsamt@jura.uni-bonn.de. The assessment is later also visible in BASIS, so that no further proof is required for admission to the Law Examination Office.

In accordance with Section 7 I No. 5 JAG NRW, the JPA must be provided with evidence of, among other things, four passed assignments when registering for the examination after 16 February 2025. The assignments passed as part of the intermediate examination in accordance with the Zw-PO 2015 are recognised. The third term paper is the one in the advanced exercise (according to the Zw-PO 2015 either Civil Law, Public Law or Criminal Law, according to the Zw-PO 2023 only Public Law) and the fourth term paper is the proseminar paper. Students changing their place of study must also complete a total of four assignments (one in each area of law, plus a proseminar paper); if assignments have already been completed at the previous university, these will be recognised in Bonn as assignments in the corresponding dogmatic subject, regardless of the stage of the degree programme at which they were completed.

c) Carrying out the exercises

According to the Study and Examination Regulations 2023, a prerequisite for participation in the tutorials is a passed intermediate examination or a passed three-hour intermediate examination in the dogmatic subject according to Zw-PO 2023 as well as prior electronic registration for the written examination (Pr.-Nr. 1500, 1600, 1700) and the term paper in public law (preliminary paper for the following semester, Pr.-Nr. 551) via the electronic examination account at basis.uni-bonn.de

The following applies to the advanced tutorial examinations: You can register and deregister via BASIS. For the registration and cancellation deadlines, please refer to the information provided by the chairs and on the Examination Office website under ‘News’.

You may register for all three practice examinations within one semester. However, if the practice exam in the dogmatic subject has already been passed, it is no longer possible to register or deregister in subsequent semesters!

In the event of technical problems when registering electronically via BASIS (e.g. ‘prerequisite error’), the transfer of the study programme data to the Study and Examination Regulations 2023 is usually still missing; in this case, please contact the Examination Office pruefungsamt@jura.uni-bonn.de. The assessment is later also visible in BASIS, so that no further proof is required for admission to the Law Examination Office.

Note for transfer students who have not passed the intermediate examination in Bonn must submit a certified copy of the intermediate examination certificate and the clearance certificate from the previous university to the University Examination Office at the beginning of the semester in which they wish to complete the first advanced exercise in Bonn (if they have not already applied for admission to the specialisation area study programme, for which these documents must be submitted anyway). In this case, a certified copy of the intermediate examination certificate and clearance certificate will be added to the examination file and do not have to be submitted again for subsequent admission to the SPB.

d) Remonstration

At the end of the completion period, a discussion of the assignment will take place as part of the advanced tutorial, which will be announced by the professorship (usually by means of a timetable for the tutorial). Remonstrations against the examinations and assignments are generally only possible and permitted within 2 weeks for those students who have attended this meeting.

e) Note for students from other universities

Transfer students who have not passed the intermediate examination in Bonn must submit a certified copy of the intermediate examination certificate and the clearance certificate from the previous university to the University Examination Office at the beginning of the semester in which they wish to complete the first advanced tutorial in Bonn (if they have not already applied for admission to the specialisation area study programme, for which these documents must be submitted anyway). In this case, a certified copy of the intermediate examination certificate and clearance certificate will be added to the examination file and do not have to be submitted again for subsequent admission to the SPB.

Certificates from advanced exercises at other universities, which prove the passing of a term paper and/or at least one written examination, can also be sent to the Examination Office for booking (please send a scanned copy by e-mail to: pruefungsamt@jura.uni-bonn.de. These can be accepted as admission requirements if:

• it is noted on them that it is a certificate from the advanced or major exercise course and
• the course dealt with German law and was supervised by a German lecturer.

Note on the recognition of foreign examination results:

This department is not bound by the recognition decisions of other universities. Here it is considered essential that the subject matter of the German state compulsory examination is covered by completing the advanced exercises. It is therefore not possible to recognise examinations to replace the Bonn exercises that do not fulfil the above requirements and therefore teach other skills.

You can find information on the specialization area studies here.

Successful participation in a foreign language law course is a prerequisite for admission to the compulsory state examination. You can find the lectures eligible for the examination in the electronic course catalog under

Law/Major Course of Studies/Additional Courses/Foreign Language Training/Foreign Legal Terminologies_Foreign Language Law Courses

Foreign legal terminology / Foreign-language law courses   
Information and contact details for acquiring the foreign language certificate can be found here: https://www.jura.uni-bonn.de/studium/lehrangebote/fremdsprachen/internationale-rechtsterminologien

In accordance with Section 7 (3) JAG NRW, the required foreign language skills can also be demonstrated through a legal internship abroad. For information on crediting, please contact the relevant judicial examination offices at the Higher Regional Court.

The Law Examination Office will issue a certificate of partial performance upon request. Please send an e-mail to the University Examination Office for Law (pruefungsamt@jura.uni-bonn.de), stating your matriculation number. To receive a certificate of partial performance, please also submit an informal application by e-mail, stating the purpose of use and your matriculation number.