COURSES AND SEMINARS (ES)

Spring Semester (March 1 - May 31, 2018)

Course

Introduction to Comparative Legal Systems 2018

Prof. Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich

7 CFUs – ECTS

The course starts on Monday, March 5
Class hours:  Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays (except public and academic holidays) from 4.15 pm to 6 pm
Classroom 5, Law School
Course description:  
The course cuts across traditional – and by now outdated – divisions between public law and private law, between substantive law and procedural law, and between the so-called civil law/common law divide. The course is focused on the Western Legal Tradition and explains the pitfalls of comparisons with non-Western systems.
The course is divided in eight modules with the following content
I Module: Democratic systems
US presidentialism. - British parliamentarism. - Semi-presidential models. - EU concentration of powers. – Electoral systems.

II Module: Values
Constitutionalism. - Bill of rights, fundamental rights, human rights. - Constitutional adjudication. - Rule of law. - Universalism vs Relativism. - The religious factor

III Module: Government
The structure of Government. -  Administration. - “Independent Agencies”. - Public participation in administrative procedures. - Judicial control over Government

IV Module: The economic dimension
Private autonomy. - Legal entities. – Insolvency. – Regulation. - State aid

V Module: The “Welfare State”
Taxation. - Social services. - Labour relations and legislation

VI Module: Repression of Crimes
Substantive law vs. Procedural law. - What is a crime? - Who establishes crimes? – Sanctions. - Investigation, prosecution, trial. - Offenders and victims

VII Module: Judges and jurisdiction
Status of judges. - Judicial organization. - Rules of procedure. - Judicial power. -  Legal education. - Judges and/as literature

VIII Module: Models for a globalized world
International conventions. - Uniform laws. - Lex Mercatoria. - International institutions. – Comparative international law.

Objectives
The course aims at introducing students, with a holistic perspective, to what a legal system is, what are the main differences between them, how to compare them. They main aim is that of showing the extreme complexity of contemporary legal systems and the continuous circulation of models between them.
Course Learning Activities
The course consists of lectures on the main aspects of a legal system. Each module will be supported by seminar on specific topics, using legal material (legislation, decisions, statistical data, legal writings).
Assessment tools
Student evaluation will be based on class work and class participation (representing 10 points of the final grade), oral presentations given during the semester (representing 10 points of the final grade), and a final written exam (representing 10 points of the final grade). The final exam consists in an essay on a choice of questions.

Attendance policy
Class attendance is compulsory. Students are allowed a maximum of one quarter of absences over the total class hours.

Course textbook:
V. ZENO-ZENCOVICH, Comparative legal systems. A short introduction, Roma TrE-Press, 2017 (volume in open access downloadable from the Roma TrE-Press website: http://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/ojs/index.php/CLS/article/view/1143/1134)

From March to May 2018 Professor Zeno-Zencovich receives students on Mondays from 3 pm to 4 pm in Room 239.

---