The course introduces (a.) the legal phenomenon with respect to politics and society and (b.) the fundamental features of the European law, its sources and some of its most important branches (persons, property, obligations, procedures) considered in a historic and comparative perspective.

1. The law: definition and pourpose. Ubi societas ibi ius

2. Rules and boundaries. A crisis in the West?

3. Law and religion: coincidence, separation, interference.

4. The autonomy of the legal science.

5. The common roots of Western law.

6. Who produces legal rules and how.

7. Common Law and Civil Law.

No bridging courses required

Knowledge and understanding. The course aims to introduce the legal phenomenon and its interactions with society, culture, political forces and institutional structures, focusing on the characteristics and principles of Western and, in particular, European law.  It will consider institutes and procedures of both Civil and Common law.

Didactic approach: lectures, analysis of materials (documents from different cultural contexts and from different historical periods), audio-visual materials, seminar meetings with scholars and experts, discussions.

Applying knowledge and understanding. Students will develop the ability to offer a first interpretation of the rules, with a proper understanding of the legal and socio-political content, related to ideals and values.

Making judgmentents. Students will develop interpretative skills and the ability to give personal evaluations on the profiles considered during the course.

Communication skills. Students will develop the ability to express the knowledge acquired with a proper legal language and according to legal logic.

Didactic working methods through which we aim to achieve these objectives: students will be asked to interact with the teacher and colleagues, through questions, participating in discussions, presenting the results of personal research on subjects assigned by the teacher.

Learning skills. Students must have developed good learning skills, which allow them to extend and deepen the knowledge acquired during the course independently.

Didactic working methods through which these objectives are intended: lectures, analysis of documents from different cultural contexts and from different historical periods, audio-visual materials, seminar meetings with scholars and experts, discussions, personal research.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Classroom lectures, seminars and debates. An active participation of the students is required.

Attendance

The student shall attend three lessons on four in order to sit the exam as an 'attending student'.

Course books

Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, The ABC of EU law, Publications Office of the EU (latest edition available); you can download it for free: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/5d4f8cde-de25-11e7-a506-01aa75ed71a1

If you want to read more:

- Peter Stein, I fondamenti del diritto europeo. Profili sostanziali e processuali dell'evoluzione dei sistemi giuridici, a cura di A. De Vita, M.D. Panforti, V. Varano, Giuffrè, 1995.

During the course documents, papers, book's chapters will be assigned

Assessment

The achievement of the learning outcomes will be verified according to the following indication. The student will write a short essay about a topic analyzed during the course and he will discuss the essay in an oral examination.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of marks are as follows:

less than 18/30: competence level insufficient. The student doesn’t reach the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

18-20: competence level sufficient. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

21-23: competence level satisfactory. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding” and in “applied knowledge and understanding”.

24-26: competence level good. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”.

27-29: competence level very good. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “communication skills”.

30-30 with honours: competence level excellent. The student fully attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “learning skills”.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Course books

- Paolo Grossi, L'Europa del diritto, Roma – Bari, Laterza, 2016

and one of the two following books

- Umberto Vincenti, Diritto senza identità. La crisi delle categorie giuridiche tradizionali, Roma – Bari, Laterza, 2010

-  Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, L'ABC del diritto dell'Unione europea, Publications Office of the EU (l'edizione più recente disponibile); è scaricabile gratuitamente: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/5d4f8cde-de25-11e7-a506-01aa75ed71a1

Assessment

The achievement of the learning outcomes will be verified through an oral examination, in which the student will answer to questions about the content of the textbooks.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of marks are as follows:

less than 18/30: competence level insufficient. The student doesn’t reach the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

18-20: competence level sufficient. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

21-23: competence level satisfactory. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding” and in “applied knowledge and understanding”.

24-26: competence level good. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”.

27-29: competence level very good. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “communication skills”.

30-30 with honours: competence level excellent. The student fully attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “learning skills”.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The student can request to sit the final exam in English with an alternative bibliography.