Università Roma Tre

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The course cuts across traditional – and by now outdated – divisions between public law and private law, between substantive law and procedural law, and between the so-called civil law/common law divide.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 nine 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.

IX Module: The Brexit Saga
Constitutional referenda – The Government-Parliament tug-of-war – The UK/EU Negotiations – In search of a parliamentary majority – The constitutional and administrative consequences of Brexit – The economic effects of Brexit

Class schedule
Lessons will be held, starting on Monday, March 2nd, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 pm to 6 pm, excepting public holidays and when academic activity is suspended, following the topics listed in the course description (above).

Course textbook:
V. ZENO-ZENCOVICH, Comparative legal systems. A short and illustrated introduction (second editon), Roma TrE-Press, 2019 (volume in open access downloadable from the Roma TrE-Press website: http://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/repository/3/pdf/411cd19a-ecff-457b-a14a-815988f7ada5.pdf)