OVERVIEW

The evolution of society deeply influences family law, often resulting in radical changes.The legal regulation of the family, and in particular the rights of the main actors, women and children, is constantly evolving: the course deals with individual issues that are most topical from a comparative perspective, taking into account the principle of the best interest of the child, that of gender equality as well as the intercultural aspect, also dealing with issues involving law, religion and culture, such as the Islamic kafalah or the Islamic veil.  his course adopts a comparative approach on examining some of these changes, considering statutory as well as case law, both at a national and supranational level. The course offers students the opportunity to deepen recent developments in family law in other jurisdictions, through lectures and specific subject follow up. Lectures may be held by judges, lawyers and scholars from other Universities, specialised on the concerned matters.

Erasmus students are kindly asked to contact the teacher at francesca.brunetta@unige.it  

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Personal and property relations in the family context and generally in couples of the European Union countries and the United States; jurisprudential and normative data.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the knowledge of the main issues concerning Italian and foreign family law, trying to provide them with the tools to correctly understand foreign legal systems. The course will help students in their training as professionals who work in a complex reality. A new reality that is characterized by the ongoing confrontation between different legal cultures and by the demands of harmonization of laws and legal traditions. The course will promote a critical approach on the issues that were addressed in foreign legal traditions.

At the end of the lessons, students will have acquired a basic knowledge of the main institutions and will be able to read and understand the sources of law (even in a foreign language) and to grasp the proper interactions between national and supranational sources of law. Thanks to in-depth studies and to case law analysis students will acquire the ability to research sources and to understand and use foreign law materials. Also, students will gain a basic knowledge on main research patterns and tools, like legal database, in order to update by themselves their knowledge in the comparative field.

In particular, thanks to their participation in the planned teaching activities, by the end of the course students will be able to: communicate effectively in written and oral form, adapting their communication to the context and using various sources and aids to this end. They will have developed critical thinking, as well as the ability to use, process and evaluate information, finally improving their argumentative skills (functional literacy). They will have developed the ability to identify their own abilities; they will have acquired the ability to concentrate and reflect critically on a task; they will be able to handle complexity; they will be autonomous in making decisions and carrying out tasks; they will be able to seek support if necessary and be resilient as well as being able to handle stress (personal competence). They will also have developed social competence, i.e. the ability to manage their own social interactions with a collaborative attitude, with constructive communication in different environments; the ability to respect others and their needs, willingness to overcome prejudices, to express and understand different points of view, conflict management, the ability to build trust, empathy. Finally, they will also be able to learn how to learn, they will therefore have awareness of their own learning strategies, organisation and evaluation of personal learning according to what they have understood and learned, understanding of their own needs and ways of developing skills, ability to identify and pursue learning objectives.

PREREQUISITES

Knowledge of at least one of the following languages: English, French, German.

Knowledge of the comparative method

N.B. please, check all the pre-requisites exames on the Manifesto

TEACHING METHODS

Teaching is carried out by means of lectures, also with the use of multimedia supports (videos and the Mentimeter platform), seminars held by lecturers from other universities, specialists in the subject matter and in-depth studies by students. To this end, various teaching methods will be used during the lessons to acquire transversal skills such as the Flipped classroom and Team Based Learning, a structured method of innovative teaching, which alternates individual and group work phases and encourages the development of skills such as problem solving and team working. Training tests (via Aulaweb quizzes and Wooclap) will also be offered througout the year.

Guidance for DSA students is published on the Aulaweb page of the course.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course deals in a comparative approach with some of the great changes in family law, including, for instance, the evolution of the institution of marriage, which has undergone a complete overhaul in recent years; part of the lectures are devoted to the legal regulation of unions between persons of the same sex, to the delicate issue of filiation, with particular attention to the recognition of the status filiationis read in the light of the principle of the child's best interest. An in-depth study from a comparative perspective will focus on the transmission of surnames to sons and daughters, an issue closely linked to the principle of equality between spouses. Part of the lectures will also be devoted to cross-cultural issues related to the family sphere and concerning questions involving law, religion and culture, such as the Islamic kafalah or the Islamic veil. In the context of equality, the rights of transsexual and intersexual persons will also be addressed. Individual lectures will be given both by fellow lecturers from other universities and by lawyers who are scholars and specialists in the specific issues (e.g. Islamic law). 

Students who have valid certification of disability or Specific Learning Desorders (DSA) on file with the University may request the use of compensatory measures during the exams (e.g. additional time, concept maps, modifications in the written/oral mode), following the guidelines (p. 5) published here. In any case, for further information, please contact the Department’s disability liaison: Isa.Fanlo@unige.it

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Attending students:

Materials showed in class, online on aulaweb (Diritto di famiglia comparato).

Not attending students:

E. Ceccherini e F. Brunetta d'Usseaux (a cura di), Best interests(s) of the child, Una delicata e controversa declinazione, ESI, 2023

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

FRANCESCA BRUNETTA D'USSEAUX (President)

ELENA ANNA GRASSO

ELEONORA CECCHERINI (President Substitute)

AGOSTINO BONAVERA (Substitute)

SERAFINA FUNARO (Substitute)

CRISTINA OTTONELLO (Substitute)

SIMONE PITTO (Substitute)

FEDERICO PONTE (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Class in the II semester will take place from February 10th to May 16th 2025

Class schedule

FAMILY COMPARATIVE LAW

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

At the end of the course (in may 2025)  attending students will take a written examination focused on the lessons, including investigations about specific themes, integrated by materials and case law discussed during the lectures (to be found online on aulaweb)

For non-attending students there will be an oral exam on the sessions indicated on the University web-page.

To attend the exam, it is mandatory to enlist yourself (at least 5 days before the date) following the on-line procedure as established by Ateneo.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Exams will test the knowledge of the main arguments analysed in class. It will test students' legal vocabulary, their ability to use and search legal sources (both Italians and foreign ones) and their capacity of connecting different subjects.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

The issue of gender equality is one of the goals of the 2030 Agenda