95718 - PORT AND MARITIME LAW

Academic Year 2024/2025

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Civil Engineering (cod. 8895)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide the knowledge of the legal framework of port and maritime law under both public and private perspective. The course analyses port infrastructures and maritime services regulation, as well as the legislation on marine state property assets. Further investigation is dedicated to the main aspects governing maritime transport within a view to intermodality and integrated logistics. The student is able to discuss and apply to a particular case the most current sources of the doctrinal and jurisprudential debate regarding port infrastructures and marine state property assets management, as well as in connection with the activities of maritime transport.

Course contents

The Port and Maritime Law course will provide students with an introduction to the regime of ports, port services and transport services, from public and private law perspectives, also with a practical approach.

In particular, the course will cover the following topics, taking into consideration also other (compulsory or optional) teachings provided by the same Course:

  1. The evolution of the EEC/EC and EU Transport Policy;
  2. The regulation of transport markets;
  3. The provision of transport services and competition issues;
  4. Transport infrastructures and competition issues;
  5. The regime of ports and port services. The EU Regulation n. 2017/352;
  6. Intermodality, multimodality and integrated logistics;
  7. Public financing, State aids and public-private investments in port infrastructures, superstructure and services and in the shipping sector;
  8. The main EU law on maritime safety. The Flag State's powers and responsibilities and Port State Control;
  9. Environmental sustainability of the shipping sector, with particular regard to ports, especially under the EU law;
  10. Introduction to the regime of carriage of goods and passengers by sea.

Students will benefit from the exam of case studies, to be discussed together during classes.

Readings/Bibliography

Students can prepare for the exam on Prof. Orrù’s presentations and the materials uploaded on the course’s website on https://virtuale.unibo.it.

Further useful material for preparing the exam or deepening specific topics that could be of interest for the students, could be suggested during the classes also through notices published on the above-mentioned platform, which will be used also for communications addressed to all the students.

Students are therefore kindly invited to enroll in the course's website on 'Virtuale'. For this purpose, students have to log in the University website with their own personal institutional credentials and scroll the menu 'Online services' in the header of Unibo home page, above the website logo. The Unibo website provides students with instructions and tutorials for using the 'Virtuale' platform and other useful services.

The following book, available at the Unibo libraries, is also recommended:

Vincent Power, Eu Shipping Law, 3rd edn, Informa Law from Routledge, New York, 2019, chapters from 1 to 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, from 26 to 30, from 39 to 46.

Teaching methods

The course is held in English in the second semester, and consists of lectures performed with power point presentations with a dynamic approach, aimed at soliciting the discussion among the students and a critical approach to the topics discussed, also through the exam of case-law.

Students will be involved in the analysis and solution of case studies in order to improve the comprehension of the course's contents and their learning.

Workshops concerning specific topics and involving the participation of experts could be organized: students will be informed about them during the course and also through notices published on the professor's website.

Assessment methods

Students will be assessed by a 45-minute multiple-choice exam. The exam will consist of 31 questions, based on Prof. Orrù’s presentations, the recommended book, and materials that will be uploaded on the 'Virtuale' platform and recommended on its forum. Each question will have 3 possible answers, only one of which is correct. Each right answer will give one point, so that it will be possible to get the maximum score of 30 with honours, whereas each wrong answer will give no penalty. The score will be out of 30/30, with honours for the best students. The minimum score for passing the exam is therefore 18/30.

During the exam the use of aids, such as textbooks, notes, computer devices, is not allowed.

Teaching tools

Power point presentations and teaching materials, which will be uploaded on the 'Virtuale' platform, multimedia tools for interactive and dynamic teaching, books and papers meant to deepen some topics of the course.

Further technological materials, deemed useful to teaching purposes, could be used.

Disabled Students or with specific learning disabilities (SLD) needing compensatory tools, may inform the professors about their needs in order to be addressed to the School’s specific Services and agree on suitable measures.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Orrù

SDGs

Industry, innovation and infrastructure Oceans

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