LEGAL TRADITIONS AND COMPARATIVE LAW
Harmonization of Law and Legal Traditions
Syllabus
EN
IT
Learning Objectives
The course, taught by Professors Riccardo Cardilli (6 CFU), Stefano Porcelli (2 credits) and Alessandro Francescangeli (4 credits) is primarily concerned with the study of: a) the Roman foundations of today's public and private law; b) the historical development and current framework of public law in Western democracies;
The course provides an introduction to the study of law in the global scenario. Through a historical and comparative approach, the course deals with the (i) legal systems and legal families, (ii) the Roman foundations of legal institutions, (iii) the fundamental concepts of law and their historical development , (iv) the private and public law fundamental institutions in the World, (v) the Chinese legal tradition, (vi) constitutionalism in the framework of the Nation State and the constitutional framework of contemporary democratic political systems, with a particular focus on the Italian experience (vii) the development of the European legal space.
The course is divided into two modules:
- 1st Module, Harmonization of Law, Roman Foundation of Private Law, Prof. Riccardo Cardilli (6 CFU) and Chinese Law Prof. Stefano Porcelli –2 CFU
- 2nd Module, Foundations of Public Law
Dott. Alessandro Francescangeli – 4 CFU
A 6 CFU module is on Legal Systems, Legal Traditions and Harmonization of Law. The first part aims to make clear the differences between Legal Systema and Legal Order, National Law, International Law and Supranational Law, National Power, International Power and Supranational Power, Fundamental Ideas as Equality, Liberty, Democracy and Republic. It also analyses the role of Roman Law in the legal History as a fundamental value of the legal tradition in the West and in the East. The second part aims to deep fundamental legal categories as: Persons and Family, Contract and Obligation, Property and their historical development, Heritage and Succession.
A 2 CFU module on Chinese Law will be provided. This module aims to provide an introduction to Chinese law and its history. It is thus intended to bring the student closer to the law of the People’s Republic of China by stimulating a critical thinking in order to read through the ideological knots of Chinese law by taking into account the dialogue with the European legal tradition. The module aims to offer students an introductory framework of the history of Chinese law and its encounter with the civilian tradition based on Roman law, up to the elaboration of the Civil Code of the Peoples’ Republic of China (2021) by showing how some elements of the 'legal grammar' outlined by the Roman jurists are interpreted in the light of the Chinese culture.
2nd Module
Foundations of Public Law
(Dott. Alessandro Francescangeli)
This 4-CFU module, dedicated to comparative constitutional law, aims to provide a legal, historical, and philosophical introduction to the development of constitutionalism and constitutions as legal norms. The first part of the course seeks to outline the essential features of Western constitutions, focusing on their main common aspects and the historical evolution of constitutionalism, from the revolutions to the twentieth century, through the liberal state. The second part of the course will take the Italian Constitution as a reference, using it as an example of a modern constitution and examining its contents in terms of fundamental principles, form of government, and rights. The module concludes with a focus on the European Union.
Learning outcomes
The course contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the degree course, in line with the professional profiles and the expected occupational outlets, providing students with notions useful for a in-depth and critical understanding of legal traditions, constitutionalism, state and supranational political institutions, and developing skills of comparative and historical-political analysis.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: At the end of the course, students will know and
understand: a) the legal systems of the Western world, the forms of government and the
jurisdictional models of Western countries and supranational organisations; b) the conceptual basis of rights in the West and the East currently codified.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The course provides the tools to
develop a historical and comparative knowledge of legal and political institutions.
After the lectures, students will consolidate their knowledge of the fundamental concepts of
public and private law and their ability to autonomously apply the knowledge acquired
to the critical analysis of the political and legal systems of liberal democracy and the propagation of the Roman system in the East and West.
JUDGEMENT: The ability to draw independent judgements and conclusions about political and legal systems is stimulated by highlighting the connections between the concepts developed during the course, the notions acquired in the other first-year courses, and the links between these notions and the main contemporary legal-political problems.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: By attending the course and interacting with the lecturer, students will develop their communication skills and their ability to organise and
share articulate reasoning, especially by developing historical competence and comparative analysis in the political and legal spheres.
LEARNING SKILLS: Students will acquire knowledge of basic legal vocabulary and will be able to independently investigate specific topics related to the course content.
The course provides an introduction to the study of law in the global scenario. Through a historical and comparative approach, the course deals with the (i) legal systems and legal families, (ii) the Roman foundations of legal institutions, (iii) the fundamental concepts of law and their historical development , (iv) the private and public law fundamental institutions in the World, (v) the Chinese legal tradition, (vi) constitutionalism in the framework of the Nation State and the constitutional framework of contemporary democratic political systems, with a particular focus on the Italian experience (vii) the development of the European legal space.
The course is divided into two modules:
- 1st Module, Harmonization of Law, Roman Foundation of Private Law, Prof. Riccardo Cardilli (6 CFU) and Chinese Law Prof. Stefano Porcelli –2 CFU
- 2nd Module, Foundations of Public Law
Dott. Alessandro Francescangeli – 4 CFU
A 6 CFU module is on Legal Systems, Legal Traditions and Harmonization of Law. The first part aims to make clear the differences between Legal Systema and Legal Order, National Law, International Law and Supranational Law, National Power, International Power and Supranational Power, Fundamental Ideas as Equality, Liberty, Democracy and Republic. It also analyses the role of Roman Law in the legal History as a fundamental value of the legal tradition in the West and in the East. The second part aims to deep fundamental legal categories as: Persons and Family, Contract and Obligation, Property and their historical development, Heritage and Succession.
A 2 CFU module on Chinese Law will be provided. This module aims to provide an introduction to Chinese law and its history. It is thus intended to bring the student closer to the law of the People’s Republic of China by stimulating a critical thinking in order to read through the ideological knots of Chinese law by taking into account the dialogue with the European legal tradition. The module aims to offer students an introductory framework of the history of Chinese law and its encounter with the civilian tradition based on Roman law, up to the elaboration of the Civil Code of the Peoples’ Republic of China (2021) by showing how some elements of the 'legal grammar' outlined by the Roman jurists are interpreted in the light of the Chinese culture.
2nd Module
Foundations of Public Law
(Dott. Alessandro Francescangeli)
This 4-CFU module, dedicated to comparative constitutional law, aims to provide a legal, historical, and philosophical introduction to the development of constitutionalism and constitutions as legal norms. The first part of the course seeks to outline the essential features of Western constitutions, focusing on their main common aspects and the historical evolution of constitutionalism, from the revolutions to the twentieth century, through the liberal state. The second part of the course will take the Italian Constitution as a reference, using it as an example of a modern constitution and examining its contents in terms of fundamental principles, form of government, and rights. The module concludes with a focus on the European Union.
Learning outcomes
The course contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the degree course, in line with the professional profiles and the expected occupational outlets, providing students with notions useful for a in-depth and critical understanding of legal traditions, constitutionalism, state and supranational political institutions, and developing skills of comparative and historical-political analysis.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: At the end of the course, students will know and
understand: a) the legal systems of the Western world, the forms of government and the
jurisdictional models of Western countries and supranational organisations; b) the conceptual basis of rights in the West and the East currently codified.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The course provides the tools to
develop a historical and comparative knowledge of legal and political institutions.
After the lectures, students will consolidate their knowledge of the fundamental concepts of
public and private law and their ability to autonomously apply the knowledge acquired
to the critical analysis of the political and legal systems of liberal democracy and the propagation of the Roman system in the East and West.
JUDGEMENT: The ability to draw independent judgements and conclusions about political and legal systems is stimulated by highlighting the connections between the concepts developed during the course, the notions acquired in the other first-year courses, and the links between these notions and the main contemporary legal-political problems.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: By attending the course and interacting with the lecturer, students will develop their communication skills and their ability to organise and
share articulate reasoning, especially by developing historical competence and comparative analysis in the political and legal spheres.
LEARNING SKILLS: Students will acquire knowledge of basic legal vocabulary and will be able to independently investigate specific topics related to the course content.
STEFANO PORCELLI
Prerequisites
No formal pre-requisites
Program
Proff. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Legal Families, Legal systems, Legal Areas and Legal Traditions in the World
Law and Globalization: Historical Universal Models vs. Nation State-Law
Harmonization of Law, Roman Law and Modern Legal Systems
Liberty and Democracy of Ancients vs. Liberty and Democracy of Moderns
Community Values vs. Legal Individualism: Towards a New Paradigm of Legal Thinking
The Law of Persons, Things, Property, Successions, Contract and Obligations
Chinese Law:
a) Traditional chinese law;
b) First modernization: Chinese law in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries before the Maoist revolution;
c) Maoist period and juridical nichilism;
d) Second modernization: 1978-2018 China's way to social transition using the law;
e) 2021: the new Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
f) Specific topics agreed upon with the students during the lectures
Dr. Francescangeli:
- Concept of the State and legal system. Sources of law in Western legal systems; criteria for resolving conflicts of norms (antinomies).
- Constitution and constitutionalism as legal norms and political doctrines.
- Constitutional review of legislation: models and comparative experiences.
- The historical development of Western constitutionalism: from the age of revolutions to democratic and social constitutionalism in the 20th century.
- The Italian Constitution as a case study in constitutionalism: in-depth analysis:
a) Constitutional history b) The basic principles of the constitution c) Form of government
d) Rights and duties in the Italian Constitution e) The judiciary and the Constitutional court
f) Institutional pluralism: regions and political parties
- The European Union: sources of law, institutional framework, and relationship with national constitutionalism.
Legal Families, Legal systems, Legal Areas and Legal Traditions in the World
Law and Globalization: Historical Universal Models vs. Nation State-Law
Harmonization of Law, Roman Law and Modern Legal Systems
Liberty and Democracy of Ancients vs. Liberty and Democracy of Moderns
Community Values vs. Legal Individualism: Towards a New Paradigm of Legal Thinking
The Law of Persons, Things, Property, Successions, Contract and Obligations
Chinese Law:
a) Traditional chinese law;
b) First modernization: Chinese law in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries before the Maoist revolution;
c) Maoist period and juridical nichilism;
d) Second modernization: 1978-2018 China's way to social transition using the law;
e) 2021: the new Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
f) Specific topics agreed upon with the students during the lectures
Dr. Francescangeli:
- Concept of the State and legal system. Sources of law in Western legal systems; criteria for resolving conflicts of norms (antinomies).
- Constitution and constitutionalism as legal norms and political doctrines.
- Constitutional review of legislation: models and comparative experiences.
- The historical development of Western constitutionalism: from the age of revolutions to democratic and social constitutionalism in the 20th century.
- The Italian Constitution as a case study in constitutionalism: in-depth analysis:
a) Constitutional history b) The basic principles of the constitution c) Form of government
d) Rights and duties in the Italian Constitution e) The judiciary and the Constitutional court
f) Institutional pluralism: regions and political parties
- The European Union: sources of law, institutional framework, and relationship with national constitutionalism.
Books
Dr. Francescangeli:
- D. Tega, G. Repetto, G. Piccirilli, S. Ninatti, Italian constitutional law in the European context, Cedam-Wolters Kluwer, 2023. Selected parts.
- Compulsory reading materials distributed during the lectures.
Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Textbook and Materials
- Pdf materials provided during the lectures.
- R. Cardilli, Roman Foundation of Legal Tradition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2025.
- D. Tega, G. Repetto, G. Piccirilli, S. Ninatti, Italian constitutional law in the European context, Cedam-Wolters Kluwer, 2023. Selected parts.
- Compulsory reading materials distributed during the lectures.
Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Textbook and Materials
- Pdf materials provided during the lectures.
- R. Cardilli, Roman Foundation of Legal Tradition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2025.
Teaching methods
The course is organized through traditional lectures by the teacher.
The lectures will provide the students with the necessary information and reading guidelines on the phenomena under study.
The lectures will provide the students with the necessary information and reading guidelines on the phenomena under study.
Exam Rules
Course assessment
The assessment of Dr. Francescangeli's part learning takes place exclusively through a final examination which consists of an oral exam, both for attending and non attending students.
For Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli, there will be a written mid-term Exam on Topics 1, 2 and 3 of the Syllabus. Later on, after a written exam on the Chinese law part, there will be a Final oral exam covering all the other Topics of the Syllabus. Notwithstanding the need to pass the exam on the Chinese law part, students who do not pass or take the mid-term exam will take the whole exam at the time of the Final exam.
The objective of the final examination is to verify the achievement of the course learning
outcome. In particular, the examination assesses the student's overall preparation, ability to
integrate knowledge of the different parts of the programme, consequentiality of reasoning,
analytical ability and autonomy of judgement. In addition, ownership of language and clarity
of exposition are assessed, in adherence with the Dublin descriptors.
Minimum score for passing the written test 18 out of 30.
After listening to the presentations, the lecturers communicate the results to the students
registered for the examination via the Delphi system.
Students may take the examination on all available dates. there is no roll-call jump.
The examination will be assessed according to the following criteria:
•
FAIL: important deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of
the topics; limited ability to analyse and synthesise, frequent generalisations and limited
critical and judgemental skills, the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate
language;
•
18-20: Barely sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible
generalisations and imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy
of judgement, the topics are frequently exposed in an incoherent manner and with
inappropriate/technical language;
•
21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of topics; ability to analyse and synthesise
correctly with sufficiently coherent logical argumentation and appropriate/technical
language
•
24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; Good analytical and synthetic skills
with arguments expressed in a rigorous manner but with language that is not always
appropriate/technical.
•
27-29: Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; considerable capacity
for analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgement. Arguments presented in a
rigorous manner and with appropriate/technical language
•
30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and thorough understanding of topics. Excellent
analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an
original manner and with appropriate technical language.
The assessment of Dr. Francescangeli's part learning takes place exclusively through a final examination which consists of an oral exam, both for attending and non attending students.
For Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli, there will be a written mid-term Exam on Topics 1, 2 and 3 of the Syllabus. Later on, after a written exam on the Chinese law part, there will be a Final oral exam covering all the other Topics of the Syllabus. Notwithstanding the need to pass the exam on the Chinese law part, students who do not pass or take the mid-term exam will take the whole exam at the time of the Final exam.
The objective of the final examination is to verify the achievement of the course learning
outcome. In particular, the examination assesses the student's overall preparation, ability to
integrate knowledge of the different parts of the programme, consequentiality of reasoning,
analytical ability and autonomy of judgement. In addition, ownership of language and clarity
of exposition are assessed, in adherence with the Dublin descriptors.
Minimum score for passing the written test 18 out of 30.
After listening to the presentations, the lecturers communicate the results to the students
registered for the examination via the Delphi system.
Students may take the examination on all available dates. there is no roll-call jump.
The examination will be assessed according to the following criteria:
•
FAIL: important deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of
the topics; limited ability to analyse and synthesise, frequent generalisations and limited
critical and judgemental skills, the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate
language;
•
18-20: Barely sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible
generalisations and imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy
of judgement, the topics are frequently exposed in an incoherent manner and with
inappropriate/technical language;
•
21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of topics; ability to analyse and synthesise
correctly with sufficiently coherent logical argumentation and appropriate/technical
language
•
24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; Good analytical and synthetic skills
with arguments expressed in a rigorous manner but with language that is not always
appropriate/technical.
•
27-29: Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; considerable capacity
for analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgement. Arguments presented in a
rigorous manner and with appropriate/technical language
•
30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and thorough understanding of topics. Excellent
analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an
original manner and with appropriate technical language.
RICCARDO CARDILLI
ALESSANDRO FRANCESCANGELI
Books
Dr. Francescangeli:
- D. Tega, G. Repetto, G. Piccirilli, S. Ninatti, Italian constitutional law in the European context, Cedam-Wolters Kluwer, 2023. Selected parts.
- A. Buratti, Western Constitutionalism: History, Institutions, Comparative Law, 3rd Edition, Giappichelli-Springer, 2024. Selected parts.
- Compulsory reading materials distributed during the lectures.
Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Textbook and Materials
- Pdf materials provided during the lectures.
- R. Cardilli, Roman Foundation of Legal Tradition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2025.
- D. Tega, G. Repetto, G. Piccirilli, S. Ninatti, Italian constitutional law in the European context, Cedam-Wolters Kluwer, 2023. Selected parts.
- A. Buratti, Western Constitutionalism: History, Institutions, Comparative Law, 3rd Edition, Giappichelli-Springer, 2024. Selected parts.
- Compulsory reading materials distributed during the lectures.
Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Textbook and Materials
- Pdf materials provided during the lectures.
- R. Cardilli, Roman Foundation of Legal Tradition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2025.
RICCARDO CARDILLI
Books
Dr. Francescangeli:
- D. Tega, G. Repetto, G. Piccirilli, S. Ninatti, Italian constitutional law in the European context, Cedam-Wolters Kluwer, 2023. Selected parts.
- Compulsory reading materials distributed during the lectures.
Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Textbook and Materials
- Pdf materials provided during the lectures.
- R. Cardilli, Roman Foundation of Legal Tradition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2025.
- D. Tega, G. Repetto, G. Piccirilli, S. Ninatti, Italian constitutional law in the European context, Cedam-Wolters Kluwer, 2023. Selected parts.
- Compulsory reading materials distributed during the lectures.
Prof. Cardilli and Porcelli:
Textbook and Materials
- Pdf materials provided during the lectures.
- R. Cardilli, Roman Foundation of Legal Tradition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2025.