30619 - HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LAW - MODULE 1 (CIVIL LAW)

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The course’s mission is to develop tools whereby students may identify relevant issues of civil law as a legal system in its historical evolution and to acquire critical skills of legal interpretation (iuris-prudentia), through an approach to normative and juristic sources, in order to mature awareness of the historical roots of civil law system, based on Roman law. In the context of a Bachelor in Global Law, the Roman legal experience offers the most solid example of the evolution of an entire legal system in an ever-expanding society, where professional jurists developed detailed rules of law, reaching highly sophisticated results. Indeed, the main scope of the course is to offer a reconstruction of the important role played by Romans in creating the very idea of a common legal culture.

The course aims at introducing students to the Roman foundations of contemporary civil law system and conducting a comparative analysis of some key institutions of the civil law system.

The following topics will be covered in the course:

• The historical evolution of Roman law and the origin of the Roman law based system (civil law);
• The legacy of the Roman legal tradition and its influence on the contemporary legal systems;
• The historical evolution of some key institutions of the Roman private law.

• have a solid basic legal-historical education, in order to better appreciate the origins of civil law;
• know the main sources of ancient Roman law on which the current civil law system was built;
• know the main institutes of Roman private law;
• know the historical evolution of Roman public law;
• value the importance of Roman law’s experience for the evolution of a modern legal system.

• recognize the historical origins of contemporary legal terminology and the general framework of the civil law system;
• interpret the rules in light of their historical evolution;
• build a legal reasoning that takes into account the origin of the norms;
• understand the genesis and the growth of legal science and institutions;
• acquire an insight into the universal principles of jurisprudence;
• value the importance of Roman law’s experience for the evolution of a modern legal system

• Face-to-face lectures
• Group assignments

Group assignments.

Attending students will be asked to write a paper on one of the lectures’ topics and to discuss it. The paper and the ensuing discussion will be evaluated as part of the final exam.

Discussion of a paper in a class oral presentation.

Multiple choice test as final written exam.

Oral exam on the content of the suggested textbooks.

The final exam will be based on the notes taken from the lessons and the material distributed by the instructor.

Integrative readings (copies of the books are available in the library):

Peter Stein, Roman Law in European History, Cambridge 1999

Paul J. Du Plessis, Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law, Oxford 2020;

Federico Pergami, Roman Foundations of European Law, Milan 2023.

Peter Stein, Roman Law in European History, Cambridge 1999

Paul J. Du Plessis, Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law, Oxford 2020;

Federico Pergami, Roman Foundations of European Law, Milan 2023.