OVERVIEW

This course introduces a general framework of European legal sources, institutions, juridical science and practice, from the Early Middle Ages to the Contemporary Age, with specific reference to the sector of the administration of justice.  It provides the student the basic knowledge and methodology for comprehending tha evolution of legal procedures, their applicationt to the solution of  concrete cases and the transformations that affected the judicial authorities delegated over the centuries to the exercise of jurisdiction and to the governament of the judiciary, with particular attention to the Italian and French area. With particular reference to this area between the Middle Ages and the contemporary age, the acts of some famous judicial cases will also be examined.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course proposal is to introduce the student to the study of historical dimension of the legal phenomenon, with specific reference to the theme of justice, that is extremely topical today as in the past. The various regimes that have succeeded each other at the helm of western European countries, from the middle ages to the present day, have periodically intervened on the administration of justice with reforms, in the awareness that these were fundamental for the construction of political and social consensus. These reforms affected both the procedural rites and the functioning of the judicial machinery, as well as legal professions, in particular the profession of the judge. This course therefore aims to help students understand how the knowledge of the historical evolution of procedural rules and the establishment and functioning of the courts is an important prerequisite for understanding those mechanisms that govern a fundamental sector of legal and social life.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of the course in question is to introduce the student to the study of the legal phenomenon in its historical dimension, with specific reference to a subject, that of the administration of justice, which is extremely topical today as in past eras. In this nerve center of state life, the various regimes that have followed one another from the Middle Ages to the present day, in Italy as well as in other Western European countries, have intervened cyclically with more or less effective reforms in the awareness of their role important of a good administration of justice for the construction of consensus. Since these reforms affected both the procedural rite, necessary to make the machinery of justice work concretely, and the discipline itself of the professional figures in charge of governing this machine, first of all that of the judge, the course aims to make understand to the students like the knowledge of the historical evolution of the rules relating to the process and the constitution and functioning of the judicial bodies is an important prerequisite for the understanding of those mechanisms that still govern a fundamental sector of legal and social life today.

At the end of the course, attendance, active participation in the proposed educational activities and individual study will allow the student to

- know, identify and distinguish the periods, legal institutions and the most important figures in the history of European law in the Middle Ages and the modern age (5th century AD - 20th century AD);

- understand, coordinate and interpret the complex framework of the related sources of law (custom, legislation, doctrine and case law);

- remember and appreciate the links between legal history and political, social and economic history;

and therefore of

- be aware of the importance of considering the phenomenon of justice and law, and above all that concerning the process and judicial systems, also from a historical perspective, perceiving and arguing for changes, processes of rupture and continuity.

PREREQUISITES

No special prerequisites are required.

TEACHING METHODS

Teaching consists of classroom lectures with video projection support, for a total of 36 hours. In them the concepts object of the Program will be exposed, clarified and exemplified, which the student must consequently acquire in his personal work. The slides projected in class will be made available, together with updates on the course and other teaching material, on the “Aulaweb” e-learning platform.

Attendance to lessons, measured according to the methods that will be explained by the teacher in the first meetings, is recommended.

During the course of the course, the student who is attending will have the right to take any written test, based on the lessons already held and the slides projected, limited to the part of the Program covered in the first module, with subsequent correction.

To facilitate learning, the student will be able to make use of the support of the teacher (as well as in class, at the reception on the days and times indicated below), the experts of the subject and the tutors.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

- Introductory notions on the history of the European legal experience between the Middle Ages and the contemporary age;

- The early medieval period. The law of the Germanic kingdoms, the early medieval process from the prevalence of formal evidence of an ordalic nature to the progressive return to objective evidence and the evolution of the role of the judge from "external" arbitrator to governing body of the proceedings, all in the light of the exposition of contemporary sources in which examples taken from concrete cases will be highlighted.

- The age of common law from the late Middle Ages to the end of the Ancient regime (12th - 18th centuries). Genesis and characteristics of the Romano-canonical process as a product of the “Medieval juridical Renaissance”; the phases of the civil rite and the transformations of the criminal trial from the prevalence of the accusatory model to the affirmation of the inquisitorial system as an ordinary rite in both ecclesiastical and secular courts; the system of legal evidence and judicial torture; the special jurisdictions in the secular context: the "courts of the Merchandise" and the summary trial "alla mercantesca": the special jurisdictions in the ecclesiastical context and the three models of Tribunals of the faith: the medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition and the Roman Inquisition through the examination of some inquisitorial manuals and examples of coeval procedural documentation; the Great Courts: characteristics and role in the standardization of law within the individual legal systems; the reforms of absolutism regarding the discipline of the judiciary, trial and justice, both civil and criminal. Legal enlightenment and justice reforms. The judicial systems of the italian states of the "Ancien Régime"; Judges, Courts and legal professions in the Republic of Genoa between the Middle Ages and the modern age.

- The revolutionary period in France and the age of codes: Revolution and reform of the judiciary: from parliaments to the Tribunal de Cassation; the election of judges, compulsory conciliation and justices of the peace, the indictment and trial juries; the failure to abolish the death penalty and terror; the "bourgeois justice" of the Napoleonic codes; from consulates to commercial courts; the Restoration between the Supreme Court and the Third Instance; the judicial systems of administrative monarchies; political unification and legislative unification between summary justice in the southern provinces and the launch of the first unitary judicial system (1865); the reforms of the left in commercial and criminal matters: the Zanardelli codes and the justice of liberal Italy.

- The legal twentieth century from liberal Italy to the postwar period: The reforms of the beginning of the century and the establishment of the first CSM (1907); Fascist regime and justice between code reforms and the establishment of special jurisdictions: the Rocco codes and the special court for the defense of the state; the Tribunal of the race; the Republican Constitution of 1948 and justice; the independence and self-government of the judiciary: the new CSM from institution to activation (1948-1959).

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For the attending student, in addition to notes and slides, the following textbook will be an integral and necessary part for passing the exam:

• P. ALVAZZI DEL FRATE, Giustizia e garanzie giurisdizionali. Appunti di storia degli ordinamenmti giudiziari, Torino, Giappichelli Editore.

• The text will be integrated with the teaching material indicated by the teacher from time to time, which can also be found online (aulaweb) in the manner that will be illustrated in class by the teacher.

For the non-attending student, the following textbooks will form an integral and necessary part for passing the exam:

• AA.VV., Tempi del diritto, Torino, Giappichelli, 2022 (chap. IV and chap. V)

P. ALVAZZI DEL FRATE, Giustizia e garanzie giurisdizionali. Appunti di storia degli ordinamenti giudiziari, Torino, Giappichelli Editore.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LORENZO SINISI (President)

FEDERICA FURFARO DEGASPERI

RICCARDO FERRANTE (President Substitute)

DANIELE COLONNA (Substitute)

MATTEO CARMINE FIOCCA (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

First semester

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

For attending students:

the final exam consists of an oral test before a special commission, based on the lessons, the slides provided and the texts indicated. The final grade is awarded out of thirty. To take the test, the student must register online for the chosen ordinary session. It is strongly recommended to unsubscribe, in case of renouncing to attend the exam.

During the course, the attending student will have the right to take any partial test, based on the lessons already held and the slides projected, limited to the part of the program covered in the first part of thr course (medieval and modern period). If the student successfully passes this test, the final exam will focus only on the second half of the program and on the book by P. Alvazzi Del Frate (Giustizia e garanzie giurisdizionali. Appunti di storia degli ordinamenti giudiziari, Torino, Giappichelli Editore).

The mark obtained in the partial test, expressed out of thirty, will remain valid for one calendar year. The final exam grade out of thirty will therefore consist of a weighted average of the assessments reported respectively in the partial and final tests. If, on the other hand, the student prefers not to take the partial test, does not pass it or is not satisfied with the grade obtained, the final oral exam will cover the entire Program.

For non-attending students:

the final exam consists of an oral test before a specific Commission, based on the texts indicated. The final grade is awarded out of thirty. To take the test, the student must register online for the chosen ordinary session. It is strongly recommended to unsubscribe, in case of renouncing to attend the exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The final oral exam will evaluate the student's learning and understanding of the indicated Program, through 3/4 questions addressed to the candidate by the appropriate Commission.

With any partial test, the learning and understanding gained by the attending student will be assessed in relation to only the part of the course covered in class up to then, based on the lessons already held and the projected images.

The student will have to demonstrate that he has understood the importance of the reforms in the justice sector that have taken place over the centuries, as well as the historical evolution of the rules relating to the process and the constitution and functioning of the courts, distinguishing periods, legal institutions and fundamental figures, coordinating sources of medieval and modern times, discovering the links between legal history and political, social and economic history, arguing for changes, processes of rupture and continuity. For this purpose, the quality of exposure, the correct use of the legal lexicon and especially the ability to reason critically on the contents studied will constitute evaluation parameters.

Exam schedule