95783 - Roman Foundation of European Law

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide in-depth knowledge of European legal foundations, their origin in Roman law, and their subsequent development in Common law and Civil law. Under this framework, the Roman Law's heritage in modern legal systems will be investigated, working backward in search of the common legal bases on which the harmonization projects in the European law lays on. At the end of the course, students will understand the roots of the European legal traditions, and in particular, they will get the legal rationale of institutions such as contracts and obligations and their differences under various national contexts.

Course contents

Given the specialized nature of the course, the lessons will focus on specific themes deemed particularly useful to illustrate in detail the persistence of Roman legal culture in contemporary legal experience, with particular attention to methodological aspects and without claiming to be exhaustive.

The course aims to demonstrate the influence that Roman legal culture, through the Romanist tradition and the mediation of codifications, exerts on the laws of European states and the European Union, primarily on private law, but also on public, constitutional, and criminal law. The perspective will also be broadened to encompass the entire Western legal tradition, including the impact of the Romanist legal tradition on American legal culture.

In particular, the course will address the following topics:

• Private law: . Law of obligations: The Roman contractual system and subsequent traditions; The impossibility of performing an obligation: liability, supervening events, and contractual risk (periculum) in Roman, medieval, and modern sources. . Property rights: Methods of transferring ownership in the European legal tradition.

• Public law: The protection of public goods from the Roman experience to the economic analysis of law.

• Criminal law: Complicity in crime: Romanist models and contemporary solutions. The theory of status and the theory of crime between rhetoric and law.

• Roman law and the American tradition: The Roman constitutional model in the culture of the Founding Fathers and subsequent debates. The influence of Romanist private law models in American courts.

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students studying the slides and notes provided by the lecturer will be sufficient. However, the following readings are recommended:,

Reinhard Zimmermann, "Law, Contemporary Law, European Law", Oxford University Press (2001);

Reinhard Zimmermann, The Law of Obligations: Roman Foundations of the Civilian Tradition, Oxford University Press, 1996.

For non-attending students, the study of the following is mandatory:

Reinhard Zimmermann, "Law, Contemporary Law, European Law", Oxford University Press (2001);

Teaching methods

 

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of an oral test covering the entire course syllabus to assess the achievement of the educational objectives, and namely the acquisition, starting from the general principles of law, of the tools for approaching current legal issues, from the perspective of European legislation.

It is possible to agree with the teacher to replace part of the exam with the writing of a paper.

The purpose of the oral test is to verify the student's ability to apply their knowledge and to make the necessary logical-deductive connections. The final grade will be determined according to the following criteria:

Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course, limited analytical ability, overall correct expression → 18; Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course and independent analytical ability only on purely procedural issues, correct expression → 19-23; Preparation on a wide range of topics covered in the course, ability to make autonomous critical analysis choices, mastery of specific terminology → 24-29; Comprehensive preparation on the topics covered in the course, ability to make autonomous critical analysis and connections, full mastery of specific terminology, and capacity for argumentation and self-reflection → 30-30L.

Thesis

The thesis project will be discussed and agreed upon with the course instructor as needed.

Seminars will be organized for graduating students to illustrate the main tools of historical-legal research and their correct use for the thesis writing.

Office hours

See the website of Alvise Schiavon

See the website of Elena Pezzato Heck