The general part of the course is aimed at the introduction and study of private comparative law, focusing on: (i) The evolution, goals and methodology of the comparative law approach. (ii) The classification models generally used to organise legal systems. (iii) The most distinctive characters of the common law tradition, analysing the English legal system and the United States legal system. (iv) The most distinctive characters of the civil law tradition analysing the codification process in France, Germany, Switzerland. (v) The sources of law in civil and common law, and similarities and differences among the two legal families. (vi) A brief overview of other legal families, i.e., Chinese law, Japanese law, Moslem law, Hindu law. In the special part of the course, students will deal, in a comparative perspective, with the essential aspects of the common law trust and its recognition in civil law systems according to The Hague Convention of 1985. The sessions are organised by alternating lectures and class discussions of cases and materials that will be uploaded on the LUISS Learn platform. To this end, students will be divided into groups to prepare presentations in class.

Knowledge and understanding: The course provides knowledge of the comparative law approach, and the main features of civil and common law legal systems, other legal traditions, and the common law trust to understand and assess similarities and differences through the examination of the evolution and the current structure of sources of law and their interpretation, the judicial system and the legal professions, the distinctive legal institutions (e.g., the trust). Knowledge is acquired through the attendance of lectures and seminars, analysis of case law and materials, exercises and presentations in class, and is verified through exams, intermediate tests or group works, discussions in class and case studies. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will use the comparative law method and the functional approach to identifies, with regard to a given problem, similar or different legal instruments used to solve it in various legal systems, comparing them. Students will be able to give a more objective evaluation of their own legal system and identify or promote the circulation of models. The knowledge is acquired through the attendance of lectures, the analysis of case law and materials, presentations in class. These skills are verified through exams, intermediate tests, discussions in class and case studies. Making judgements: Students will use the comparative law method and collect, interpret and apply multilevel sources of law in the main civil and common law systems, also with regard to specific legal institutions like the common law trust. Students will develop skills in critical thinking, problem solving, self-management, teamwork, relationships and communication, which will allow them to evaluate cases and materials autonomously, formulating their own critical judgement on the application of appropriate solutions to practical cases and problems submitted to their attention, even in a future work context. These skills are verified through intermediate tests, final exam, participation in discussions in class. Communication: At the end of the course, students will be able to master, with adequate terminological precision, the technical-legal vocabulary proper to comparative law and civil and common law systems. Participating in the various activities of the course (lectures, discussions in class, exercises, examinations, intermediate tests) students will learn to put into practice these communicative skills, written and oral, in different contexts, adapting the vocabulary to the target audience, acquiring rhetorical and argumentative skills essential for their professional career in a judicial and extrajudicial, national and supranational context. Lifelong learning skills: The technical-legal knowledge of comparative law will allow students to develop the ability to understand and interpret independently legislative, theoretical and case-law innovations referring to specific legal institutions (in particular the trust). Students will develop learning and in-depth study skills that allow them to continue to deepen autonomously the topics studied and undertake the post-graduate training courses. These skills will be verified through participation to the various activities of the course (lectures, discussions in class, simulations, exercises, mid-term reviews and final exam).

The course will deal with: (i) Comparative law: functions, goals, and methods. (ii) Western legal tradition and the leading civil and common law jurisdictions (their historical development, sources of law, interpretation, legal education, judicial system). (iii) An outline of the most typical features of other legal systems (Chinese law, Japanese law, Moslem law, Hindu law). (iv) The main features of the common law trust.

General Part: 1) A. De Luca, E. Ioriatti, Comparative legal Systems. An Introduction, Giappichelli, 2023, Chapter and appendix I, II, and III. 2) K. Zweigert, H. Kotz, An introduction to Comparative Law, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1998, Part I, sections V. Law in the Far East, and VI. Religious Legal Systems. Special Part: Readings and materials on the common law trust and the the Hague Convention of 1985 will be uploaded on the LUISS Learn platform. Additional readings, cases and materials that will be examined and discussed in class will be available on LUISS Learn platform and will be mandatory also for non-attendants students.

Frontal teaching and participation of students to the analysis of cases and materials, simulations and presentations. The final evaluation will be based on a written and oral exam. Activities carried out during the course and active participation of students will be taken into account.

In the final exam students will have to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles of comparative private law and the method of comparing legal systems, the fundamental elements of the civil and common law systems, as well as of other legal families examined, and the common law trust, and to apply them to cases submitted to their attention through the prospect of concrete examples. Student will have to learn and analyse the function and the juridical and economic advantages of dialogue and comparison between juridical formants. The student must also correctly use the technical-legal vocabulary of the subject, demonstrating that they have achieved the study method and learning ability necessary to continue the study of the subject independently. For the purposes of assigning a mark out of thirty, account will be taken of (i) the knowledge and understanding of the institutes and principles of the subject and the property of the technical-legal lexicon, (ii) the ability to apply the comparative method and consult and evaluate the relevant sources and the acquisition of the study method. For the purposes of the evaluation, the activities carried out during the course and the active participation of students will be taken into account. The presence of training gaps on one or more fundamental institutes or principles of a general nature will lead to an insufficient evaluation even in the presence of a basic knowledge of the subject.

Knowledge of the language of the legal systems studied is required.