19012 - General Procedure Law, Employment and Insolvency Procedure Law

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. outline and critique the fundamental principles of the Italian trial (including civil, penal and amministrative proceedings), with reference to the labour proceedings and to the bankruptcy procedure; 2. shows adequate knowledge of the Italian procedural system, not only regarding the process structure, but also passing through an extensive discussion about constitutional and general principles.

Course contents

A) GENERAL PROCEDURE LAW

1. General principles of the trial

The judicial system -Judicial activity - Independence and impartiality of Judges - Truth and due process - The Constitutional guaranty of trial - The civil proceedings - Alternative methods of dispute resolution - Hearings in chambers - The criminal proceedings - The administrative proceedings -Interim relief - Enforcement of a judgment.

2. The filing of the claim

The civil action - Action of first instance requiring adjudication of substantive rights - Complaint - Procedures of enforcement - Administrative hearing and trial - Criminal trial.

3. Defence

Systems for conducting a trial - The cooperation between parties and lawyers -The adversarial procedure – Defenses in civil lawsuit, criminal and administrative proceedings -Time - limits to the proceedings - Non preventive summary judgments - The grounds of judements.

4. The outcome of proceedings

The solution of the case: style and effects of judicial decisions - The preparation of the case at first instance - Type of judgments - The meaning of res judicata.

5. Law of evidence

The rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding - The burden of proof - The most common form of evidence.

B) LABOUR TRIAL

The Labour Court - Disputes concerning the rights or duties under an employment agreement or under the terms concerning the state of employment - The service of pleadings - The plaintiff and the defendant appearing in court .

C) BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS

Filing a petition (voluntary or involuntary) to declare a business or corporate debtor bankrupt - The duties of the trustee in bankruptcy - The process of liquidation - Debt restructuring practices.

Readings/Bibliography

RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS

A) GENERAL PROCEDURE LAW

G.F.RICCI, Principi di diritto processuale generale, Giappichelli, Torino, 6° ed., 2015. The study is limited to the following chapters:

Cap. I: §§ 1-4; 6-15; 21-24;

Cap. II: §§ 1-14; 17-19;

Cap. III: §§ 1-5; 8-12; 14-18;

Cap. IV – sez. I: §§ 1, 5,6; – sez. II: §§ 1-16;

Cap. VI: §§ 1-20.

Total number of pages: 277

B) LABOUR TRIAL

P. BIAVATI, Argomenti di diritto processuale civile, Bononia University Press, 3° ed., 2016 (chapter 4 only, par. 69- 72). Free updating available on www.bubonline.com.

Total number of pages: 30

C) BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS

E. FRASCAROLI SANTI, Il diritto fallimentare e delle procedure concorsuali, Cedam, Padova, 2° ed., 2016. The study is limited to the following chapters:

Cap. II – Sez. I: §§ 5 e 6; – Sez. III: §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.1, 4.2 e 5;

Cap. IV – Sez. I: §§ 1, 2, 3 e 4; – Sez. II: §§ 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 4, 5 e 6;

Cap. V – Sez. I: § 1; – Sez. II: §§ 1, 3, 5, 6, 7; – Sez. III: § 2; – Sez. IV: §§ 1, 2, 2.2, 4, 5 e 5.1;

Cap. VII: §§ 1, 1.1, 4, 5 e 6;

Cap. VIII – Sez. I: §§ 1, 2, 3, 5; – Sez. II: §§ 1, 1.1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 9.1 e 9.2;

Cap. X – Sez. I: §§ 3, 4, 5, 6;

Cap. XI – Sez. I: §§ 1, 3;

Cap. XIV – Sez. III: §§ 1, 2, 3;

Cap. XV: §§ 1, 1.1, 2, 4, 5, 5.1, 6;

Cap. XVII – Sez. I: §§ 1, 3, 5 [ lett. A), B), C), D), E) are not included], 6, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 8 [lett. A) e B) are not included], 9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7; – Sez. II: §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.1, 6, 7, 8, 9;

Cap. XVIII: §§ 2, 2.2, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 4, 4.1, 4.3, 5, 6.

Total number of pages: 169

Entirely number of pages: 476

Teaching methods

The course programme will be composed of lectures given by professor Brunella Brunelli (charged of the course) and seminars related to Bankruptcy proceedings given by assistant professors.

The course will be highly interactive. Theoretical issues will be confronted with practical cases in order to allow the students to understand and verify the complex mechanisms that govern the Italian proceedings.

Course attendance is not compulsory, but it is very much encouraged. The fundamental nature of the course rely upon student participation as an essential method for learning. Course are given into Italian language.

Teaching materials for regular attenders (slides, documents, bibiographical references) will be made available through the online platform AMS Campus.

Attendance will be recorded by signing the relevant attendance sheet (see Assessment methods).

Since the beginning of the course, students who are interested to attendance lessons and seminars are invited to enroll to the “teacher/studens” list of distribution brunella.brunelli.dirittoprocessualegenerale_2017/2018. So they will be enable to get foregoing theacher’s materials and receive any information about the course.

To enroll to the list students shall go to https://www.dsa.unibo.it and search the abovementioned list. Password will be provided during the course.

Only attending students enrolled as explained above will be enable to get thaching materials on Alma DL on line.

 

Thesis

Frequency is a preferential criteria: the argument will be chosen after a meeting with professor Brunella Brunelli.

Assessment methods

The final examination will take place exclusively in oral form. It can be taken only after passed exams of Private law and Constitutional law.

During the final oral examination (lasting circa 20-30 minutes) the candidate is asked to answer at least three questions to ascertain the knowledge of the topics covered during the course and it’s also aimed at assessing the topic’s comprehension level.

In order to sit for the oral examination all students are required to enroll into the electronic list through Almaesami system.

Attending students only can sit for a mid-term test, taking place at the end of the course, based on the topics of the whole programme.

NB1: “attending student” means student with at least 75% attendance of the scheduled course hours (including lessons and seminars). The attendance will be recorded by signing the relevant attendance sheet at the end of each lesson or each seminar. No exception will be allowed.

NB2: in order to sit for the mid-term test all attending students are required to: i) enroll into the electronic list through Almaesami system; ii) own personal electronic badge (or valid I.D. Card); iii) being in classroom thirty minutes before the test begins.

The mid-term test consists in an individual multiple-choice test, through computer system. Questions will regard topics examined during the lessons and seminars. Any attending student will be sit for a different mid-term test. Every question for each mid-term test will be randomly selected by computer system.

The mid-term test will consist in thirty questions. For each question will be provided from three to six possible answers, but only one of them will be correct. No answer given or more than one answer selected by student will be considered as a wrong answer. Students should complete the test in thirty minutes (maximum time limit).

Each test result depends from how many correct answers will the student give. Score: 1pt for each correct answer; 0pt for each question with no answer given; -0,25penalty pt. for each wrong answer.

Students will know the results of their test immediately at the end of it.

Only obtaining a mark 23/30 student will have passed the mid-term test. In that event, student will be enable to confirm that valuation as final mark in the first exam summer session (they have to enroll into the electronic list through Almaesami system again for the exam in summer session).

Students with a mark 18/30 (and less than 23/30) are not allowed to ask to confirm the evaluation but shall sit for a supplementary oral examination. The supplementary examination will be take place in one of the exam summer sessions and will consist in one or two other questions. Students shall enroll into the electronic list through Almaesami system.

Students with a result less than 18/30 fail the mid-term test.

Students with a minimum result of 23/30 are enable to improve it asking to sit for the oral examination at the first exam summer session. Even in this event, students shall enroll into the electronic list through Almaesami system.

Mid-term test is purely discretionary. In the event of attending student couldn’t or wouldn’t to sit for it, or in the event of attending student will fail it, anyway he will be able to sit for the final oral examination foregoing described.

Mid-term test, in fact, has the only role to encourage students, since the beginning of the course attendance, to a systematic approach to the course’s topics which enable them to extent of their knowledge, skills and methodological tools. At the same time, to sit for the exam at once at the end of the course.

The lessons are held in the second semester. Therefore, attending students of A.A. 2017-2018 will be enable to sit for the examination since May 2018.

Mid-term test’s mark has value only for the first exam session after at once of the course ending, that is only the exam summer session.

Teaching tools

Attending students will be supplied with tecnical schedules, and specific rules and regulations divided into distinct blocks.

All schedules will be available on Unibo website through a e-learning platform. Students shall enroll in a specific area in a e-learning platform that will be powered by the Chair.

Office hours

See the website of Brunella Brunelli