98350 - Legal Laboratory (Italian-Spanish Double Degree in Law)

Learning outcomes

The Workshop introduces students to the topic of legal reasoning through seven didactic units that are inherent to a theoretical-legal reflection prior to any course in positive law. Legal reasoning and legal interpretation, besides connecting conceptually and practically, are the prerequisite for any “problem solving” operation conducted within the legal system.

Course contents

The aim of the workshop is to activate key competences for the jurist-in-training: from text comprehension to interpretation, up to judicial reasoning, in the awareness that the modes and models of reasoning, before concerning law, invest the mechanisms of human thought in general.


The course is divided into 7 Units, each dedicated to a macro-theme:

1. What is meant by reasoning: deductive and non-deductive reasoning
2. The fallacies of reasoning
3. What is ‘judicial syllogism’
4. Evidential reasoning and its pitfalls
5. Justice and truth
6. Theories and techniques of legal interpretation7. Outlines of "predictive justice"

 

Readings/Bibliography

Lessons will be recorded and uploaded to Virtuale. In support of this material, the study of:

D. Canale, G. Tuzet, La giustificazione della decisione giudiziale, Giappichelli, Turin 2020. (The use of this text for study purposes will be clarified at the beginning of the course).

Teaching methods

The workshop teaching is conducted in blended mode.

At the end of each Unit there is a self-assessment test consisting of multiple-choice questions. The purpose of the test is to check learning of the basic contents of the Unit without influencing the final outcome of the course.

The workshop belongs to the Study Plan for students in the first year of the LMCU in Law at Bologna. The qualification obtained will therefore be recorded only for students in these conditions or for those who, coming from another university, are required to recover the 3 CFUs envisaged by the Course.

For students taking the course online, the lectures are presented in the form of videos, and will sometimes be accompanied by a series of slides capturing key passages from the lectures.

Assessment methods

The course ends with a final test, consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions and valid for the purposes of passing the examination (pass/fail). Each correct answer is equal to 1 point; each incorrect or not given answer is equal to 0 points.

Eligibility is achieved with a minimum score of 18/30.

If you fail the final test, you may take a new test one week later.

The student does NOT need to be present to take the final test, but it is sufficient to register for the examination, following the normal Almaesami procedure. If the test is passed on Virtual by 9.00 a.m. on the day of the appeal, the aptitude will be recorded. Verification will be done remotely, within two days from the date of the appeal. The grade will then appear on the CV.

ERASMUS STUDENTS: The workshop (3CFU) is not recommended for Erasmus students.

Teaching tools

See section: ‘Teaching Methods’.

Office hours

See the website of Silvia Vida