B028728 - COMPARATIVE LEGAL SYSTEMS

Italian

The course aims to provide an introduction to legal comparison, as well as the knowledge of the differences and similarities of the civil law and common law traditions, mainly through the study of the sources of law.
Students will acquire the capacity to understand the differences and similarities characterizing the two Western legal traditions and the awareness of the importance of culture in the shaping of the legal traditions that will enable them to adopt a critical approach to legal categories and gain a deeper understanding of society.
This knowledge, together with a familiarity with different languages and legal concepts, will be useful also in view of a future career in national and international institutions and in private organizations operating in the field of development cooperation, as well as cultural mediators.

The course aims to give students a basic knowledge and understanding of the main characteristics of the Western Legal Tradition and of its circulation, with particular reference to private law. Topics include historical development, sources of law, machinery of justice and methods of dispute resolution, current trends.

None.

Classes alternate lectures, organized in order to promote a constant interaction with the students, with moments of self-evaluation and consolidation of the knowledge acquired, using also e-learning techniques.

The course syllabus, Power point presentations and other materials will be available to attending students through the Moodle platform.

Oral examination in presence, since September, consisting of two or three questions. The first will deal with a broad topic, in order to allow the student to show her knowledge as well as the ability to connect the different parts of the program using the comparative method. The second question might be narrower and will deal with a different part of the program, in order to check the existence of serious gaps. A third question may be asked when the previous answers leave a margin of doubt about the evaluation to be assigned, for example because there is a significant difference in their quality.

The evaluation is sufficient if all answers are sufficient and there are no serious gaps or mistakes. The evaluation is excellent if all the questions are treated exhaustively, with a critical approach and a correct use of legal language and of the comparative method.

The course aims to provide an introduction to the main features of the Western Legal Tradition, mainly through the study of the sources of law.
After an introduction on the goals and methods of comparative law, the course will deal with the topic of legal families and then will focus on the two main families within the Western Legal Tradition: civil law and common law. After the study of their formative periods, the course will deal in some detail with such topics as the role of legislation, case law and doctrine as sources of law, legal education and the legal professions, the machinery of justice and methods of dispute resolution, constitutions and judicial review of legislation. The last part of the course is devoted to the study of how the Western Legal Tradition has affected other legal system such as India, China, Japan, Latin America, and Islamic Countries. Throughout the course particular attention will be dedicated to issues raised by the interaction between different legal cultures.
A syllabus with a detailed list of the topics and their distribution in time will be available on the Moodle platform at the beginning of the course.

V. Varano - V. Barsotti, La tradizione giuridica occidentale - Testo e materiali per un confronto civil law – common law, 6th ed., Torino, Giappichelli, 2018, appendices excluded. Namely: pp. 1-44 (Ch. 1), pp. 107-201 (Ch. II), pp. 249-348, (Ch. III), pp. 465-489 (Ch. IV), and pp. 501-572 (Ch. V).

Suggested reading for a first approach to law: P. Grossi, Prima lezione di diritto, Roma – Bari, Laterza, 2003.

In order to attend the course, students shall subscribe to the Moodle platform by the first week of classes.