The course has no specific prerequisites.

By the end of the course the students will be asked to know the fundamental 

features and legal styles of the common law and civil law legal traditions as well as 

the historical evolution of the two traditions. The aim of the course is to introduce students to the complexity of legal phenomenon, that is universal and contextual at the same time, through the use of legal comparison. From this perspective, the expected result by the students is the understanding of the different meanings of common law (such as common law as Anglo-American legal tradition, common law as English law, common law as system of justice, common law as system of sources of law) and civil law (such as civil law as written law, as jus commune, as code law) and their dependence on the context. 

The students will gain the legal competences to make macro-comparison in the 

western legal tradition, taking into consideration the legal context of different phenomena.

The course will be held exclusively in English and it will cover the following subjects: 

• Comparative law (origins and methods). 

• Law, History and comparison. 

• The theory of legal systems. 

• The common law tradition.

• The civil law tradition.

• Written and unwritten law.

• Law and judicial interpretation.

• Rule of Law and human rights.

A. De Luca - E. Ioriatti, Comparative Legal Systems. An introduction, Giappichelli, 2023, ISBN 9791221104936, pp.1-285.

Classes are conducted entirely in English.

• The lectures will be divided in eights different units, according to the subjects 

  mentioned above (see content of the course). Each units will be introduced by the teacher, using a power point presentation. At the same time the teacher will suggest readings to students. At the end of each unit, there will be a debate in class about the readings suggested, during which the students will be asked to comment and give their opinions about the readings, considering the issues investigated in class.

• The examination will be divided into two parts:

  First part (weight 70%): will consist in a written test, including 5 multiple choice questions (3 points each correct answer) and 2 open-ended questions about the contents of the classes (8 point maximum for each correct answer).

  Second part (Weights 30%): will consist in an oral exam, that is dialogue with the student on the topics of the written test, asking for explanations and insights into the answers given in the written exam.

  The final grade is based on a weighted average of the grades of the two examination papers, each of which has the aim to verify to the following criteria:

  • knowledge and ability to understand the text (60% of the total overall assessment); 
  • ability to make connections between the different topics covered in the syllabus (20 percent of the total overall assessment); and
  • ability to analyze and comment on theoretical issues through appropriate jurisprudential references (20%of the total overall assessment).

The course will be delivered exclusively in English

English