B030883 - COMPARATIVE LEGAL SYSTEMS

English

Introduction to legal comparison and to the role of comparative law in the education of lawyers who intend to operate in a global context. In particular, the students will be exposed to the historical evolution and the main trends in the civil law and common law traditions, with a special focus on the sources of law.

For students regularly attending classes, the exam will be based on class notes and on the materials that will be available through the Moodle platform.
Students who do not attend classes should prepare for the exam using the following materials:
a) for the 6 CFU course (Scienze dei Servizi Giuridici)
A. De Luca and E. Iorioatti, Comparative Legal Systems. An Introduction, Torino, Giappichelli, 2023
b) For the 9 CFU course (Laurea magistrale), in addition to the materials under letter a)
M. Bussani, U. Mattei (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 257-276, 294-311, 344-365.

The course aims to provide an introduction to the comparative method and its role in contemporary legal education, 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 be able to understand and interpret correctly legislative materials, case law and doctrine of a foreign legal system in order to frame and solve legal problems through the comparative method.
Moreover, 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.
This knowledge, together with a familiarity with different languages and legal concepts, will be useful also in view of a future career in law firms or notaries specialized in international law issues, in international institutions, and in private profit and non-profit organizations.

In order to take the exam, students in the Master of Law programme enrolled until the academic year 2020-2021 and those in the joint Italian- German law degree programme must have passed the following exams: “General Constitutional Law” and “Private Law

Classes are thought mainly through lectures, alternate with workshop to discuss doctrinal and jurisprudential materials made available in advance. The teaching will make use of e-learning methodologies using the Moodle platform and the Student Response System tools, both as a mechanism for students' self-assessment, and during the workshops. Students are constantly encouraged to express their opinions and to compare the knowledge they already have with the new information acquired during the course.
The course syllabus, Power point presentations and the materials used for classes and workshops will be available to attending students through the Moodle platform.

Gli studenti che intendono frequentare le lezioni devono iscriversi entro attraverso la piattaforma Moodle entro la prima settimana di svolgimento delle lezioni.

Written examination consists of two parts. The first part is a multiple choic test. The second part cosiste of two short essays: 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 essay might be on a narrower topic and will deal with a different part of the program, in order to check the existence of serious gaps.
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.
For attending students, also the active participation in class, the contribution to the workshops and the capacity to make appropriate reference to the materials discussed in class will be evaluated.

The first part of the course aims at offering to the students an introduction to legal comparison, to its nature and goals, to the role of comparative law in the education of lawyers who intend to operate in a global context.
In the second part of the course, the students will be exposed to the historical evolution and the main features of the common law and civil traditions. The analysis will touch upon some issues which show how the two great Western legal traditions are gradually converging. Besides their formative period, the course will deal in some detail with such topics as legal education, the legal professions, courts and procedure, constitutions and judicial review of legislation, the role of legislation, case law and doctrine as sources of law.
The third part of the course, intended only for students taking the 9 CFU examination, 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.
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.

This course contributes to the realization of the SDG number 4 (Quality Education) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)