Teaching code

4S01082

Teacher

Giovanni Rossi

Coordinator

Giovanni Rossi

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

IUS/19 - HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN LAW

Period

1° periodo lezioni (1B) dal Nov 6, 2023 al Dec 15, 2023.

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The course examines the sources of law in Modern and Contemporary Ages, in the wider area of political and institutional European history. The course goes through the gradual formation of the contemporary law experience, starting from the Enlightenment to the advent of the nineteenth-century codes and the formation of the European legal culture in the early twentieth century. The course aims at providing the necessary instruments to understand the essential historical law perspective, through the comparison between ancient techniques and disciplines, and contemporary values and principles. At the end of the course, students shall be able to understand the evolution of European Legal History and the deep influence of legal history on the contemporary legal experience, and to formulate judgments using appropriate terminology.

Prerequisites and basic notions

Prior knowledge acquired in the History of Medieval and Modern Law Course is required.

Program

PART I - CHARACTERS OF THE MODERN LEGAL EXPERIENCE
The first part of the course aims at investigating, with a diachronic approach, the structural features of European and Western society under the legal aspect, in the 16th-18th centuries, providing the fundamental interpretative lines of legal modernity.
PART II - THE ADVENT OF CONTEMPORARY LEGAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS FEATURES
The second part of the course will first focus on the radical critique of Ancient Regime law that developed in the late 18th century (the theories of the Enlightenment, Beccaria's "Of Crimes and Punishments") and resulted in the French Revolution. Secondly, it will address the typifying elements of contemporary legal experience: the rise of constitutionalism and the advent of modern codifications, an instrument of the legal absolutism typical of the modern State (according to the reading provided by P. Grossi).
Lessons will be devoted to an in-depth study of the above-mentioned topics, including, specifically:
- legal humanism
- the development of autonomous national rights with respect to the medieval 'ius commune
- the emergence of the 'modern State';
- the role of the European Grand Courts and their jurisprudence;
- the trend towards the rationalisation of the sources of law;
- the progressive centralisation of the production of legal norms in the hands of the sovereign;
- the secularisation and secularisation of legal systems;
- the characteristics of criminal justice;
- the persistence of mediaeval legal pluralism and the first attempts to overcome it.
- the political and philosophical attack on the Ancien Régime and the crisis of the old legal system;
- justice and law in Enlightenment thought (Beccaria);
- 18th century consolidations and modern codifications;
- the modern concept of the code;
- the French Civil Code of 1804 and the Austrian ABGB of 1811;
- code and interpretation: the (denied) role of legal science;
- modern property;
- contractualism and the protection of rights outside the medieval horizon;
- eighteenth-century charters of rights and freedoms on both sides of the Atlantic;
- modern constitutionalism: characters and periodisation;
The lectures will be supplemented by materials provided by the lecturer and analysed during the lecture and available on the e-learning platform.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The teaching method adopted consists of lectures.
Lectures will be recorded and made available in the course moodle.
Attendance status is only obtained by attending at least 80% of the class hours.

Learning assessment procedures

The examination is conducted orally. Attending students must demonstrate at least sufficient knowledge of the topics covered in the course and of the content of the texts recommended to support attendance. Non-attending students must demonstrate at least sufficient knowledge of the content of the texts recommended to support individual study. ERASMUS students are requested to make contact with the lecturer at the beginning of the course in order to correctly set up attendance and/or study activities.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths. The following will be assessed: 1) the ability to critically restate the topics covered in class or studied on the indicated texts; 2) the quality of the exposition, including the correct use of the Italian language and, in particular, of legal language.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The field is not relevant to teaching.

Exam language

italiano