05505 - History of Modern Codification

Academic Year 2024/2025

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Legal Consultant in Business and Public Administration (cod. 9242)

Learning outcomes

Contemporary lawyers would be perhaps more willing to swear on the Civil Code than on the Bible, but aspiring jurists must bear in mind that Codification was not the inevitable outcome of History. On the contrary, Codification is an idea, developed in rather different fields: from civil law to criminal law, to constitutional law. Students are therefore called to understand that it is only a possible answer to the quest for legal certainty shared by every society.

Course contents

The course will focus on how the idea of Codification rose, triumphed and, perchance, declined, beginning with the crisis of Ius Commune in the 16th century and ending with the contemporary puzzlement of jurists. Codification will be dealt with as related to civil law as well as to criminal or constitutional law: the aim of lectures will not be short-sighted sciolism on loads of examples of codes, but the understanding of an idea. As such, attention will be especially paid to what codes and constitutions are not supposed to be.

The period of the Late Ius Commune - Italy in the early Eighteenth Century: 1) Neo-humanistic doctrines 2) Attempts to ractionalise law sources - Juridical Enlightenment in France and Italy - The era of reforms in Prussia and in Austria - Law during French Revolution (Intermediate Law and Justice, Intermediate Law and Family, Intermemdiate Law and Church , Intermediate Law and State) - The Constitutionals systems (English constitutionalism, American constitutionalism, French constitutionalism) - The Code Napoleon and its application in Italy (formative process and contents) - The Austrian codification (formative process and contents) - Italian pre-unification legislation - The unification of the different codes in Italy from 1865 to 1942 - The German codification - The juridical experience of Liberal State - The Fascist regime and law

Readings/Bibliography

The preparation for the exam is differentiated between attending and non-attending students.

1) Participating class students

For the class participating students the examination will be related to the topics treated during the lessons. For the exam preparation, the notes taken during classes will be sufficient.

In order to track class presence, the modality will be communicated directly during the lesson session.

2) NON participating students

For the students not participating classes, the examination program will relate to the following text books:

General Part

1) G.S. Pene Vidari, Storia del diritto in età contemporanea, Torino, 2019

Specific Part

2) M. Cavina, Lineamenti dei poteri paterni nella storia del patriarcato europeo, Bologna, 2017

Erasmus

Foreign sudents not attending classes that are participating in the Socrates-Erasmus program can take the exam by establishing a special program with the professor.

Integrating exams which students who have moved from other Courses

The programme for integrating exams which students who have moved from other Courses needd to take is planned with each individual student on the basis of the programme completed and on the CFU necessary.

Teaching methods

Teaching will be developed into frontal classes in which it will be discussed the systematic presentation of the topics covered by the Course.

Assessment methods

Assesment methods

The profit exam will take place in oral form. The test will focus on the topics indicated in the "Program and contents" section and the student must demonstrate to acquire knowledge of using critically historical skills, also into approach at issues of positive law and for the understanding of current assets of political Italian and European institutions.

The evaluation of the test will be carried out taking into consideration

  • the knowledge of the course contents
  • the ability to make connections between the different parts of the program
  • the ability to develop critical arguments
  • the articulation and accuracy of the exposure

Registration for the final exam must be done using the Almaesami application (https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm).

The exams withheld abroad in this disciplines category will be considered valid.

The thesis

The thesis, intended for a detailed study of institutes, people and precise moments from juridical modern and contemporary history, will be assigned to those students who show a clear interest in the historical-juridical educational path.

Requests from those students who decline to dedicate the necessary time to make thesis elaboration a constructive experience will not be accepted.

Teaching tools

In order to have a better preparation it is possible - indeed recommended - to download the teaching material that will be made available on the website of the course owner. Any seminars will be promptly reported in the lessons.

The lessons will be kept using notes and projected material, all made available to the students (http://campus.cib.unibo.it [http://campus.cib.unibo.it/] )

Office hours

See the website of Damigela Hoxha

SDGs

Good health and well-being Quality education Gender equality Reduced inequalities

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.