Fall Semester (1 October - 22 December, 2022)
Course
Introduction to Law 2022
Prof. Francesco Mezzanotte
Classes start on Tuesday, October 11.
Class Schedule: Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday, h. 12,00-14,00
(The course is held in presence - Room 248, Via Ostiense 159, 2nd floor)
The course aims at introducing the basic concepts of jurisprudence, providing students with the understanding of the main problematic areas that law addresses not only at a national but especially at a supra- and trans-national level. The general part of the course focuses on the concepts and notions that are essential to tackle and discuss legal problems, gaining a good command of legal terminology. The special part of the course aims at sketching the basic features of private law in the Western legal tradition, moving from its historical roots and then focusing on the main similarities and differences detectable among the legal traditions of civil law and common law. A particular focus is dedicated to the process of Europeanization of private law, with specific attention to the rules aiming at regulating market transactions.
The course is divided into 2 thematic modules.
(1) General part:
(i) Law and the State: private and public law.
(ii) Rules, principles, and families of legal systems.
(iii) Multi-level legal systems and sources of law.
(iv) National and international private law.
(v) European private law.
(vi) Soft law and transnational private law.
(2) Special part:
(i) Natural persons and legal entities.
(ii) Contract law (with focus on consumer law).
(iii) Tort law.
(iv) Property law.
Course textbook(s)
Attending students:
- General part: P. Sirena, Introduction to Private Law, 3rd ed., Bologna, il Mulino, 2021 (only the Chapters discussed in class).
- Special part: further materials discussed in class and made available on the e-learning platform.
Non-attending students:
- P. Sirena, Introduction to Private Law, 3rd ed., Bologna, il Mulino, 2021.
- J. Hage, A. Waltermann, B. Akkermans (eds.), Introduction to Law, 2nd ed., Cham, Springer, 2017 (Chapters 7, 9, 11, 14 excluded).
The course is based on two kind of classes:
(i) general lectures, aimed at providing students with the theoretical foundations of the course;
(ii) seminars, aimed at providing students with a more interactive, and therefore more critical, perspective of the theoretical concepts.
Assessment tools
The assessment method is based on a final written exam. The written exam is composed by 3 open-ended questions: each answer is evaluated with a grade ranging from 0 to 10 points. For each answer, the minimun pass-grade (6/10) requires proof of the fundamental language skills and substantial knowledge that are strictly necessary to provide a basic description of the legal doctrines under analysis. For each answer, the maximum grade (10/10) implies proof of exhaustive knowledge of the private law basics, excellent command of technical language and systematic view, showing full capability of linking together relevant principles and rules of the legal system, connected with the specific doctrine under analysis. The exam lasts 45 minutes. For students who actively participate to a group assignment the final grade may be increased with a bonus up to 3/30, depending on the quality of their work.