The course focuses on the legal systems of the world that are not part of the Western legal tradition, and on the interrelations between non-Western legal systems and Euro-Atlantic constitutionalism. Therefore, the course will start with the definition of the concept of tradition, which governs constitutional narratives in the different legal systems of the world. Thus, the constitutional narrative resorts to the concept and to the institutes that are typical of a specific legal tradition in order to confer legitimization to constitutional and legal changes in the different legal families. The course will also examine the relationship between Western law and non-Western legal tradition through the contact lectures will shed light on the non-Western legal tradition by examining the sources of law, the frame of government, and the protection of minorities.
The course will also shed light on a peculiar interrelation between non-Western legal systems and Euro-Atlantic constitutionalism, i.e., the relation between law and terror: whereas terrorism appears to take Western law and constitutionalism to its limit, the demands of counter-terrorism hold the cause of justice in contempt.
The course will be divided into three parts:
1. Comparative method and constitutional legal studies. The concept of legal tradition. Assessing of the Eurocentric classifications: the legal systems of the world. Legal systems, legal families, ethnocentrism and Euro-Atlantic constitutionalism: mutual interferences and legal borrowings. The role of legal linguistics, legal geography, legal anthropology in assessing the legal traditions of the world. The functions and forms of the constitutional designs in non-Western legal systems: protecting, overriding and legitimising the legal tradition.
2. African Law. Mixed jurisdictions. Islamic Law. Hindu Law. Hebrew Law. Far Eastern legal systems. The Russian area.
3. The relationship between law and terrorism as a peculiar type of relation between legal traditions: a pressing issue in contemporary jurisprudence. Terrorism appears to take law to its limit, whilst the demands of counter-terrorism hold the cause of justice in contempt. At this point the case for engaging alternative intellectual approaches and resources is compelling. The ethical and aesthetical dimensions of terror, and its historical, political and cultural foundations.
Bibliography
Students that will attend the lectures must study:
1) lecture notes;
2) A. Somma, Introduzione al diritto comparato, Roma-Bari, 2014
2) Two traditions of the world. These may be found in H. P. Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World, Fifth Edition, Oxford U.P., Oxford, 2014, Capp. 1-3 e poi 3 capitoli a scelta.
Students that will not attend the lectures must study
1) A. Somma, Introduzione al diritto comparato, Roma-Bari, 2014
2) Two traditions of the world. These may be found in H. P. Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World, Fifth Edition, Oxford U.P., Oxford, 2014, Capp. 1-3 e poi 3 capitoli a scelta.
3) I. Ward, Law, Text, Terror, Cambridge: Cambridge U.P, 2009
| Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN | Note |
| Alessandro Somma | Introduzione al diritto comparato | Laterza | 2014 | Lettura obbligatoria | |
| Ian Ward | Law, Text, Terror | Cambridge UP | 2009 | Parti da concordare con il docente | |
| Patrick Glenn | Legal Traditions of the World (Edizione 5) | Oxford UP | 2014 | due tradizioni a scelta |
For students not attending the course, there will be an oral examination; for students attending the course, there will be a written test.
ERASMUS students are invited to to contact professor Nicolini (matteo.nicolini@univr.it) at the beginning of the course in order to set teaching methods and assessment tests.
programma e testi consigliati (ita/engl)
(docx, it, 17 KB, 24/07/17)
