OVERVIEW

Diritto Privato Comparato A-L is organised in two halves. After a brief introduction on legal comparison, lectures will focus on principal legal orders of both civil law and common law areas. In each semester legal sources (especially judgments) will be studied in their own languages

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

form of comparative legal systems

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the lectures is to provide students with a general knowledge on foreign legal orders main characteristics and to give them the tools to properly understand those legal experiences. The course is intended to contribute to the education of a professional operating in a complex world marked by the constant need of a comparison between different legal orders and instances of harmonization. It will also encourage students to develop a critical attitude in approaching law issues and will enable them to interact with lawyers from different legal traditions. At the end of the year, students will be able to understand the legal sources of foreign countries (in their own languages).  Thanks to a proper case law analysis, students will also acquire the skills to research foreign legal sources and the ability to understand and make proper use of foreign legal materials. They will also have developed the ability of (critically) evaluating subjects of their studies.

Students will acquire a general knowledge on principal research paths and on how to use legal databases, so they will be able to update their legal research on their own.

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.

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: the student is asked to study the assigned material independently before going to the classroom; once the preparation is assured, the students, divided into groups, are asked to apply the notions learned to a concrete case (usually taken from the most recent case law). TBL is 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.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Part II shall be focused on the historical development of the law in continental Europe from the year 1.000 a.C. through the evolution of legal (and philosophical) studies leading Europe towards the XX century codification movement. There will be a special deepening on Code civil and BGB (French and German civil code). Part II will not be just about historical development, but there will be analysis of legal sources, legal thinking and legal arrangements of the countries object of the course. To complete the comparative offer, Chinese law and Islamic law will also be the subject of in-depth seminars held by guest lecturers who are experts in the subject. 

Finally, specific issues involving law, religion and culture, such as the Islamic veil, will be addressed from a comparative perspective and with the help of the Team Based Learning teaching method.

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

Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza

Part I

Attending students

V. Varano – V. Barsotti, La tradizione giuridica occidentale, vol. I, Testo e materiali per un confronto civil law common law, 8° ed., Torino, 2024, ch. I, III, and V (addendums excluded)

NOT attending students
V. Varano – V. Barsotti, La tradizione giuridica occidentale, vol. I, Testo e materiali per un confronto civil law common law, 8° ed., Torino, 2024, ch. I, III and V (addendums excluded)

R. Cavalieri (cur.), Diritto dell’Asia Orientale, 2° ed, Venezia, 2019, pp. 15-129

Part II

Attending students

V. Varano – V. Barsotti, La tradizione giuridica occidentale, vol. I, Testo e materiali per un confronto civil law common law, 8° ed., Torino, 2024, cap. II e IV (addendums excluded)

NOT attending students

V. Varano – V. Barsotti, La tradizione giuridica occidentale, vol. I, Testo e materiali per un confronto civil law common law, 8° ed., Torino, 2024, cap. II e IV (addendums excluded)

M. Lupoi, Sistemi giuridici comparati, Traccia di un corso, ESI, 2001, pp. 1- 172

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ANDREA FUSARO (President)

ANDREA ALBERTO BELLOLI

ENRICO DOMENICO ARONA (Substitute)

CARLA CARRASSI (Substitute)

ANTONIO FERRAIOLI (Substitute)

FRANCO LONGO (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

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

Class schedule

MODULE II RECURRENT ISSUES OF COMPARATIVE PRIVATE LAW A

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza

Attending students will take two written examinations, the first one – at the end of Part I – in December 2024 and the second one – at the end of Part II – in May 2025. The exam will be on the programs taught in class, included the arguments subject on an in-depth-studying and the materials used in class (on aulaweb). The final mark will be the arithmetic mean of the marks students got in the two written examination, but the teacher may still increase the final marks in cases of particular outcomings. 

If attending students do not want to take both of the two written examinations, they may take the (oral) exam at the dates fixed by the Department's schedule. In this case students must study the books indicated on the Manifesto (in this case, the exam is a whole and students must take it in one solution. 2nd year students must take the exam not before the end of the course, after the conclusion of the second Part, so from may 2025).

Attending students must attend at least 2/3 of the classes of the entire course. Attending will be checked by random roll calls. Attendance will last until autumn of the next academic year.

NOT attending students: They must take the oral exam in one solution at the end of the course, during regular session of examination) 2nd year students must take the exam after the end of the course, following the conclusion of the second Part, so from may 2025).

If there will be to many students enlisted for the oral exam, there may be a brief written multiple-choice test on aulaweb (for both attending and not attending students). Only students who will pass the multiple-choice test will take the oral exam.  

Please note: All the students that want to take the oral exam must register online (within 5 days from the exam's day) by following the University's specific procedures.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The aim of the exam is to assess student knowledge of foreign legal orders key elements. It is also to verify the achievement of a proper legal vocabulary and the ability to sort and understand sources of law specially those seen in class. Examiners will ascertain the skill of connecting different topics.

Exam schedule