Università Roma Tre

The course is intended to provide the students with notions and points of reflection, from an historical and juridical point of view, on the legal systems and sources of law in the medieval modern and contemporary Europe, moving from the direct examination of the sources of law, doctrines and application of law (which will be made available to the students and analysed together with them).

From the analysis of the systems and sources of law of the Early Middle Age the course will deal to examine the development of the statutory law (diritto comune) in Italy, Germany and France (Droit coutumier) until its crisis, in other words until that period defined “Ancien Régime” by Alexis de Tocqueville and which occurs before the season of the stabilization of the European laws of XIX century. The course will therefore the main phases whereby the current occidental legal systems based on codes and constitutions, evidencing the relevant doctrinal, political, social and economics recitals occurred during the age of the judicial particularism and according to the theory of modern natural law and rationalism.

Particular attention will be dedicated to the evolution of the ancient English constitutionalism, which deals with different theoretical and practical profiles with respect to those relating to the stabilization of French, German and Italian constitution experiences and which is not involved in problems characterising other Countries in Europe: the English law system based on the complex and articulated common law system, was not influenced by the theory of Sovereign State arising from French Revolution nor by the pushing to the need of the drafting of a written constitution.

Part of the course will be dedicated, in order to highlight from a practical point of view, the influence of the transition from the variety of the legal systems during ancient regime to the uniformity of the legal system of the codification, to the matter of the legal interpretation duly analysed by the most recent European doctrine.

For attendees students- in addition to the study of the notes – the following books are suggested:Tempi del diritto: età medievale, moderna, contemporanea, Giappichelli 2016; M. CARAVALE, Storia del diritto nell’Europa moderna e contemporanea, Editori Laterza, 2012, cap. IV, V, VI.