Teaching code

4S003636

Teacher

Matteo Nicolini

Coordinator

Matteo Nicolini

Credits

6

Language

English

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

IUS/21 - COMPARATIVE PUBLIC LAW

Period

2° semestre (A), 2° semestre (B) - aprile/maggio 2020, 2° semestre (B) - marzo/aprile 2020

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and capacity to understand At the end of the course, the student should: - have a basic knowledge of the fundamentals of comparative legal methodology; - have a basic knowledge of both topics and methods of. comparative law; - have a basic knowledge of the distinction between legal traditions and legal systems; - have a basic knowledge of the non legal variables affecting legal change. Knowledge and capacity to apply understanding At the end of the course, the student should be able to: - propose legal reflections in terms of systems/traditions; - interpret non-legal variables affecting legal change; - apply the comparative legal method. Independent judgment At the end of the course, the students will have acquired: - the capacity to critically analyze non-Western legal traditions; - the capacity to critically assess the several issues arising in a globalised world, where economic, legal, as well as political factors interact. Communication skills At the end of the course, the students should be able to: - consciously use specific terms relating to comparative law themes; - speak precisely about the non-Western conceptions of the law; - Capacity to learn At the end of the course, the students should be able to: - identify and analyze the way in which the theme of constitutional narrative is dealt with in the principal phenomena linked to globalization; - find the necessary sources to develop an interdisciplinary comparative legal study.

Program

The course will be divided into three parts:
1. Comparative method and constitutional legal studies. The concept of legal tradition. Assessing of the Eurocentric classifications: the legal systems of the world. Legal systems, legal families, ethnocentrism and Euro-Atlantic constitutionalism: mutual interferences and legal borrowings. The functions and forms of the constitutional designs in non-Western legal systems: protecting, overriding and legitimising the legal tradition.
2. Legal change and legal systems: colonisation, numerical comparative law, terrorisms.
2. African Law. Mixed jurisdictions. Islamic Law. Hindu Law. Hebrew Law. Far Eastern legal systems. The Russian area.

Bibliography

Students that will attend the lectures must study:
1) Lecture notes;
2) Mathias Siems, “Numerical Comparative Law: Do We Need Statistical Evidence in Law in Order to Reduce Complexity?,” Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law, 13.2 (2005): 521–540;
3) Mathias Siems, “Malicious Legal Transplants,” Legal Studies, 2018, 1–17;
4) Ian Bruff, "The Rise of Authoritarian Neoliberalism", «Rethinking Marxism. A Journal of Economics, Culture & Society», 2013, vol. 26, n. 1, pp. 113-129.
5) Helena Alviar García, "Neoliberalism as a form of authoritarian constitutionalism", in H. Alviar García, Günter Frankenberg (eds.), Authoritarian Constitutionalism. Comparative Analysis and Critique, Elgar, Cheltenham – Northampton (MS), 2019, pp. 37-56;
6) H. P. Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World, 5th edn, Oxford, O.U.P., 2014 (a specific tradition must be chosen).

Students that will not attend the lectures must study either
1) Mathias Siems, Comparative Law, 2nd edn Cambridge: C.U.P., 2018, capp. 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.2) George Mousourakis, Comparative Law and Legal Traditions. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Springer, Vienna, 2019)
or
2) George Mousourakis, Comparative Law and Legal Traditions. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Springer, Vienna, 2019)

Examination Methods

For students not attending the course, there will be an oral examination; for students attending the course, there will be a written test.

ERASMUS students are invited to contact professor Nicolini (matteo.nicolini@univr.it) at the beginning of the course in order to set teaching methods and assessment tests.