Contracts and Sustainable Development in Comparative Legal Systems
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course introduces students to a transnational understanding of the issues posed by contract law in relation to sustainable development. It aims to provide students with the lexical, conceptual, and methodological tools necessary to conduct a legal analysis from a comparative perspective (not limited to the study of legal texts alone but attentive to the various components of the legal phenomenon). This approach enables students to fully grasp the scope of differences and similarities between legal systems and jurisdictions. The course also seeks to guide students towards a critical understanding of contemporary legal systems, particularly focusing on contracts and their dynamics within the framework of supranational processes of legal harmonisation and unification. Overall, the course promotes the transnational dimension of students' education and enhances their familiarity with legal realities beyond the Italian context, such as those of Latin American, Chinese, and Islamic law.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will have acquired legal and methodological skills (through lectures) and strengthened their communication abilities (through class participation and flipped classrooms). These skills will enable them to understand and address issues related to contracts and sustainable development in various comparative legal systems.
The knowledge gained through theoretical lessons and the examination of case studies will provide students with the tools to develop a critical perspective and form independent judgments on the legal phenomena arising from the current phase of globalisation. The ultimate goal is to train graduates equipped not only with legal skills applicable at a transnational level but also with a sensitivity that respects diverse legal cultures.
By the end of the course, students are expected to:
A) Conduct a basic comparison of legal institutions across different jurisdictions, with particular attention to contract law;
B) Critically and independently evaluate sources and documents, conduct bibliographic research, and use databases and search engines with a good degree of autonomous competence;
C) Prepare brief presentations on legal issues that arise from a comparative perspective on contract law.
The knowledge gained through theoretical lessons and the examination of case studies will provide students with the tools to develop a critical perspective and form independent judgments on the legal phenomena arising from the current phase of globalisation. The ultimate goal is to train graduates equipped not only with legal skills applicable at a transnational level but also with a sensitivity that respects diverse legal cultures.
By the end of the course, students are expected to:
A) Conduct a basic comparison of legal institutions across different jurisdictions, with particular attention to contract law;
B) Critically and independently evaluate sources and documents, conduct bibliographic research, and use databases and search engines with a good degree of autonomous competence;
C) Prepare brief presentations on legal issues that arise from a comparative perspective on contract law.
Lesson period: Second trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second trimester
Course syllabus
The following topics will be covered during the course: legal comparison, characteristics and problems of legal translation, the role and interaction of legal formants in different legal experiences; the main contemporary legal systems, with specific attention to Europe, China, Latin America, and Islamic countries.
damages from
The analysis of the comparative legal systems will be closely linked to sustainability issues in private law. The following topics will be explored in a comparative perspective: the programmatic value of the sustainability principle; the interrelations between unlawfulness, the object impossibility, and the sustainability of the contract; and sustainability issues in unfair commercial practices.
The above-mentioned topics will be explored regarding the role of the consumer in the market, especially taking into consideration: sustainable consumption and legal remedies; civil liability and compensation for eco-abuse damages; advertising, ethics, and green claims.
damages from
The analysis of the comparative legal systems will be closely linked to sustainability issues in private law. The following topics will be explored in a comparative perspective: the programmatic value of the sustainability principle; the interrelations between unlawfulness, the object impossibility, and the sustainability of the contract; and sustainability issues in unfair commercial practices.
The above-mentioned topics will be explored regarding the role of the consumer in the market, especially taking into consideration: sustainable consumption and legal remedies; civil liability and compensation for eco-abuse damages; advertising, ethics, and green claims.
Teaching methods
The course is carried out through traditional lectures and innovative teaching tools. It encourages the better learning of comparative private law topics as well as the development of students' argumentative skills. For each academic year, at least two seminars are organized with foreign guests to delve deeper into some of the topics covered in the course.
Teaching Resources
To prepare for the exam, students will have access to the learning material made available through the course's myAriel platform.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Oral examination for attending and non-attending students, according to the Faculty calendar of exam sessions.
Attending students will have the opportunity to take one written intermediate test with 2 open-ended questions. They will be able to take the final oral exam if the intermediate test is insufficient or if they decide not to accept the mark obtained in the written test.
The final oral exam is based on at least 2 questions for attending students who have successfully taken the intermediate test; instead, it is carried out through at least 4 questions for non-attending students or for attending students who have an insufficient mark or decided to refuse the mark obtained. In both cases, the answers are evaluated with individual scores from 0 to 30 for each question. Attending students can be awarded 1 additional point for the flipped classroom agreed with the teacher and carried out in a student group.
The oral exam is aimed at determining to what extent, on a scale from 0 to 30 (taking into account the propriety of language, the precision of the exposition and the breadth of knowledge), the student can highlight the comparative dimension of the legal phenomenon, the knowledge and the valorization of the supranational perspective of private law concerning the theme of contractual sustainability in comparative legal systems.
Attending students will have the opportunity to take one written intermediate test with 2 open-ended questions. They will be able to take the final oral exam if the intermediate test is insufficient or if they decide not to accept the mark obtained in the written test.
The final oral exam is based on at least 2 questions for attending students who have successfully taken the intermediate test; instead, it is carried out through at least 4 questions for non-attending students or for attending students who have an insufficient mark or decided to refuse the mark obtained. In both cases, the answers are evaluated with individual scores from 0 to 30 for each question. Attending students can be awarded 1 additional point for the flipped classroom agreed with the teacher and carried out in a student group.
The oral exam is aimed at determining to what extent, on a scale from 0 to 30 (taking into account the propriety of language, the precision of the exposition and the breadth of knowledge), the student can highlight the comparative dimension of the legal phenomenon, the knowledge and the valorization of the supranational perspective of private law concerning the theme of contractual sustainability in comparative legal systems.
IUS/02 - COMPARATIVE PRIVATE LAW - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professors:
Lanni Sabrina, Ragucci Gaetano
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
On Friday from 9.30 to 12.30 pm (in person or by microsoft teams). Students are kindly requested to make an appointment in advance via email.
Room N. 1