96349 - History of Modern and Contemporary Law

Learning outcomes

Knowledge of the historical development of the national and European legal systems, with particular reference to the decisive political and social turning points between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the following century, which marked the gradual but irreversible adoption of codes and constitutional charters.

Course contents

Course contents

General part

• The legal system before the codes

• The American Revolution

• The Declaration of Rights and of Independence (1776)

• The American Constitution (1787)

• The French Revolution

• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

• The Constitutions of 1791, 1793, 1795 and 1799

• Eighteenth-century legislative reforms in Italy

• The Napoleonic codes

• The Code Civil (1804)

• The other codes

• The Austrian General Civil Code (1811)

• Napoleonic Italy

• The extension of the French codes

• Administrative and judicial reception

• Anti-French constitutionalism

• The Restoration

• The pre-unification Italian codes

• Constitutional models

• Aspirations towards unification

• The constitutions of 1848

• The Albertine Statute

• The Kingdom of Italy (1861)

• Political and administrative unification

• The unified codes

• The Roman Question

• The codes of the late nineteenth century

• The Commercial Code (1882)

• The Penal Code (1889)

• The First World War and the post-war period

• The Fascist regime

• The “Fascist” and “ultra-Fascist” laws

• The codes

• The Italian Constitution (1948)

Special part — History of Labour Law

• Social legislation in the late nineteenth century

• Legal socialism

• Law no. 80 of 17 March 1898

• Social legislation in the early twentieth century

• The collective agreement

• Public and private employment

• Labour and law between the First World War and the post-war period

• Labour law in the Fascist period

• The Trade Union Law of 1926

• The Charter of Labour

• The protection of women and minors at work

• Corporative law

• The employment contract

Readings/Bibliography

The examination syllabus will be based on the compulsory study of the following texts:

General part

1. G.S. Pene Vidari, Storia del diritto in età contemporanea, revised and supplemented by C. Bonzo, P. Casana and V. Gigliotti, 2nd ed., Turin, Giappichelli, 2023, 228 pp.

Special part

1. P. Passaniti, Le origini del diritto del lavoro, in Storia del lavoro in Italia, vol. V, Il Novecento. 1896–1945. Il lavoro nell’età industriale, edited by S. Musso, Rome, Castelvecchi, 2015, pp. 393–444.

The essay for the special part will be made available to students on the course page, among the teaching resources on Virtuale.

Erasmus

Foreign students participating in the Socrates-Erasmus programme may sit the examination by agreeing on a special syllabus with the professor.

Supplementary requirements for students transferring from other degree programmes

For students transferring from other degree programmes, the examination syllabus is agreed on a case-by-case basis with each individual student, according to the syllabus already studied and the number of credits to be supplemented.

Teaching methods

Teaching will be organised through lectures, in which the topics covered by the course will be presented systematically.

During the lectures, normative and doctrinal sources relating to the relevant chronological period will be discussed.

Assessment methods

Please note that classes will be held in the first semester and that, therefore, students who obtain their attendance certificate in the current academic year will be able to sit the examination from the first exam session of the winter period.

The final examination will take written form and will consist of 12 multiple-choice questions covering both the general and special parts, and 2 open-ended questions on the general part.

During the examination, which will last 45 minutes, no aids or support materials will be permitted, such as dictionaries.

Further instructions regarding the examination procedure are available on the Virtuale page of the course.

The examination will cover the topics indicated in the “Programme and contents” section and will be designed to assess whether students have achieved the following learning objectives:

• critical knowledge of the cultural foundations, normative sources and institutions that historically define the late modern and contemporary periods, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century;

• in-depth knowledge of the origins and evolution of labour law;

• understanding of the importance of historical training in strengthening the skills of future legal professionals.

The examination will be assessed by awarding 2 points for each multiple-choice question answered correctly and up to 4 points for each open-ended question.

Registration for the final examination must be completed through the AlmaEsami platform: https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm

Examinations will be held in person.

Theses

The thesis, intended to allow students to explore in greater depth institutions, figures and moments in modern and contemporary legal history, will be assigned to students who demonstrate a clear interest in the historical-legal educational path.

Please note that requests will not be accepted from students who state that they are unable or unwilling to devote to the preparation of the dissertation the time necessary to make it a constructive experience.

Teaching tools

The course will be delivered entirely with the support of digital tools, through Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

For better preparation, students are advised to download the teaching materials that will be made available on the website of the course instructor: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/alessia.legnani/didattica/programma/2025/403491

Students with specific learning disorders, temporary disabilities or permanent disabilities are advised to contact the relevant University office in good time: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it . The office will be responsible for proposing any adjustments for the students concerned; these adjustments must in any case be submitted to the instructor for approval at least 15 days in advance. The instructor will assess their appropriateness also in relation to the learning objectives of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Lorenzo Maniscalco