Introduction to Law

The course is divided into 2 thematic modules.

(1) General part:
(i) Law and the State: private and public law.
(ii) Rules, principles, and families of legal systems.
(iii) Multi-level legal systems and sources of law.
(iv) National and international private law.
(v) European private law.
(vi) Soft law and transnational private law.

(2) Special part:
(i) Natural persons and legal entities.
(ii) Contract law (with focus on consumer law).
(iii) Tort law.
(iv) Property law.

The course provides an initial introduction to private law institutions from a transnational perspective, using English as lingua franca.
It therefore does not require any particular prior knowledge (there are no prerequisite exams), and it is exclusively dedicated to students enrolled in the Master's Degree In “Law Technologies and Society”, due to the specific nature of the course.

Attending students:
- General part: P. Sirena, Introduction to Private Law, 3rd ed., Bologna, il Mulino, 2021 (only the Chapters discussed in class).
- Special part: further materials discussed in class and made available on the e-learning platform.

Non-attending students:
- P. Sirena, Introduction to Private Law, 3rd ed., Bologna, il Mulino, 2021.
- J. Hage, A. Waltermann, B. Akkermans (eds.), Introduction to Law, 2nd ed., Cham, Springer, 2017.

The course is based on two kind of classes:
(i) general lectures, aimed at providing students with the theoretical foundations of the course;
(ii) seminars, aimed at providing students with a more interactive, and therefore more critical, perspective of the theoretical concepts.

Consigliata

The assessment method is based on a final written exam.
The written exam is composed by 3 open-ended questions: each answer is evaluated with a grade ranging from 0 to 10 points.
For each answer, the minimun pass-grade (6/10) requires proof of the fundamental language skills and substantial knowledge that are strictly necessary to provide a basic description of the legal doctrines under analysis. For each answer, the maximum grade (10/10) implies proof of exhaustive knowledge of the private law basics, excellent command of technical language and systematic view, showing full capability of linking together relevant principles and rules of the legal system, connected with the specific doctrine under analysis.
The exam lasts 60 minutes.