30428 - INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL SYSTEM - MODULE 1
Department of Law
PIETRO SIRENA
Class 14: ANDREA AMIDEI, Class 15: MADDALENA GINESTRI, Class 16: ENRICO AL MUREDEN, Class 17: VANESSA ANTUANETTE VILLANUEVA COLLAO, Class 18: GIORGIO FABIO COLOMBO, Class 19: FRANCESCO CASTRONOVO, Class 40: LUIGI BUONANNO, Class 41: FABIO SAGUATO, Class 42: MICHAEL WILLIAM MONTEROSSI, Class 43: FEDERICO MOTTOLA LUCANO
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
CONTENT SUMMARY
General part:
- Law and the state.
- National laws and private international law.
- Rules, principles, and (families of) legal systems.
- Civil law and common law.
- European law.
- Private and public law.
- Sources of law.
- Uniform law: the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
- Soft law and trends of supranational law: Principles of European Contract law (PECL), Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR), UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC).
Special part:
- Natural persons and legal entities.
- Contracts.
- Consumer protection.
- Torts and civil liability.
- Property.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- Illustrating the general principles and rules applicable to the most important branches of private law.
- Identifying the main differences in civil and common law of contract, tort, and property.
- Describing the relevant issues related to international contracts.
- Explaining the impact that legal rules can produce in the market and on the behavior of businesses and consumers.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- Using the terminology of civil and common law.
- Assessing legal rules from a social and economic point of view.
- Drawing up a document dealing with legal issues and presenting it orally.
Teaching methods
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Practical Exercises
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
- Interaction/Gamification
DETAILS
- Guest speakers will speak about their own field of expertise in class or give separate lectures.
- Exercises will involve research of printed and/or electronic legal resources.
- Case studies will be illustrated and discussed in class.
- Group assignments will consist in drawing up a memorandum supported by a PwP presentation.
- Interactive class activities will consist in discussing memoranda and peer evaluating them.
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
---|---|---|---|
|
x | x | |
|
x | ||
|
x |
ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Attending students must take two partial exams: partial and end-of-semester. Each of them consists of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions.
- The program of each partial exams for attending students is comunicated in class.
- The registered grade is the average between the grades of the two partial exams. For students who actively participate in classes, the average may be increased up to a maximum of 2/30 points for group assignments.
- Students failing to pass either of the two partial exams, have to take a general exam, consisting of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions.
- The program of the general exam for attending students is indicated in the section on teaching materials for attending students (see below). Exams are purported to verify that students have achieved a certain knowledge of: the general principles and rules applicable to the most important branches of private law; the main differences between civil law and common law of contract, tort, and property; the relevant issues related to international contracts; and the impact that legal rules can produce in the market and on the behavior of businesses and consumers.
- Group assignments are purported to verify that students have achieved the necessary skills and abilities to: use the terminology of civil and common law; assess legal rules from a social and economic point of view; and draw up a document dealing with legal issues and to present it orally.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
-
Non-attending students will be assessed based on a general exam, which consists of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. Student assessment will be grounded on the written exam and will gauge how well students understand and can illustrate the solutions and legal problems faced by legal systems that are taken into consideration within the program
-
The program of the general exam for non-attending students is the following: Sirena, Introduction to Private Law, 3nd edn, il Mulino, 2021, Chapters 1–11; P. SIRENA, 'The Contracting Parties' Choice of European Soft Law: Its Validity and Limitis', available on the Bboard platform. The parts of the text that are printed in a smaller font and indented, as well as the footnotes can be read for sake of information but must not be covered for evaluation purposes.
- The program of the general exam for non-attending students is also indicated in the section on teaching materials for non-attending students (see below).
- The exam is purpoted to verify that students have achieved the knowledge of: the general principles and rules applicable to the most important branches of private law; the main differences between civil law and common law of contract, tort, and property; the relevant issues related to international contracts; and the impact that legal rules can produce in the market and on the behavior of businesses and consumers
Teaching materials
ATTENDING STUDENTS
Attending students are responsible for the teaching material discussed in class and available on the Bboard platform, as well as for the following parts of P. Sirena, Introduction to Private Law, 3rd edn, il Mulino, 2021: Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 7 (paras 1–3.2), Ch. 8, Ch. 9 (only paras 1 and 5), Ch 10 (except for para 4.3), Ch 11. The parts of the text that are printed in a smaller font and indented, as well as the footnotes can be read for sake of information but must not be covered for evaluation purposes.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students are responsible for both the following textbooks:
- P. SIRENA, Introduction to Private Law, 3rs edn, il Mulino, 2021, Chapters 1-11. The parts of the text that are printed in a smaller font and indented, as well as the footnotes can be read for sake of information but must not be covered for evaluation purposes.
- P. SIRENA, 'The Contracting Parties' Choice of European Soft Law: Its Validity and Limitis', available on the BBoard platform.