Università Roma Tre

Introduction to comparative legal systems
Course description:
The course cuts across traditional – and by now outdated – divisions between public law and private law, between substantive law and procedural law, and between the so-called civil law/common law divide. The course is focused on the Western Legal Tradition and explains the pitfalls of comparisons with non-Western systems.
The course is divided in eight modules with the following content
I MODULE: DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS
US presidentialism. - British parliamentarism. - Semi-presidential models. - EU concentration of powers. – Electoral systems.

II MODULE: VALUES
Constitutionalism. - Bill of rights, fundamental rights, human rights. - Constitutional adjudication. - Rule of law. - Universalism vs Relativism. - The religious factor

III MODULE: GOVERNMENT
The structure of Government. - Administration. - “Independent Agencies”. - Public participation in administrative procedures. - Judicial control over Government

IV MODULE: THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION
Private autonomy. - Legal entities. – Insolvency. – Regulation. - State aid

V MODULE: THE “WELFARE STATE”
Taxation. - Social services. - Labour relations and legislation

VI MODULE: REPRESSION OF CRIMES
Substantive law vs. Procedural law. - What is a crime? - Who establishes crimes? – Sanctions. - Investigation, prosecution, trial. - Offenders and victims

VII MODULE: JUDGES AND JURISDICTION
Status of judges. - Judicial organization. - Rules of procedure. - Judicial power. - Legal education. - Judges and/as literature

VIII MODULE: MODELS FOR A GLOBALIZED WORLD
International conventions. - Uniform laws. - Lex Mercatoria. - International institutions. – Comparative international law.

Course Learning Activities
The course consists of lectures on the main aspects of a legal system. Each module will be supported by seminar on specific topics, using legal material (legislation, decisions, statistical data, legal writings).

V. ZENO-ZENCOVICH, Comparative legal systems. A short introduction, Roma TrE-Press, 2017 (volume in open access downloadable form the Roma TrE-Press website)