PRINCIPLES OF ITALIAN AND EUROPEAN PRIVATE LAW
Course unit partition: Cognomi K-P

Academic year 2024/25
1° year of course - Second semester
Professor
Giuliano MATTACE
Academic discipline
Diritto privato (IUS/01)
Field
Ambito aggregato per crediti di sede
Type of training activity
Base
42 hours
of face-to-face activities
6 credits
hub: PARMA
course unit
in ITALIAN

Learning objectives

a. Knowledge and understanding: The course has six parts: the legal
system as "environment" of legal relations; subjects as holders of
interests, including non-pecuniary relations and faculty of action; goods
as objects of subjective legal situations; types of financial relationships
(real relationships, obligations and contracts) as legal instruments for
capital and other interests, outline of family law and inheritance.
b. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students learn legal basics for
working on the market or in private law regulating financial and
nonfinancial relationships
c. Making judgements: Students learn to make independent evaluations
of private law issues, particularly problems relating to contracts in firms
and entities operating on the market, and how to provide with solutions
d. Communication skills: Students learn how to communicate inside the
firm with other firms and end user firms and consumers, especially in
trading and purchase contracts, management of non-profit organisations
and civil responsibility
e. Learning skills: Students acquire an independent capacity to make
legal evaluations in the light of, and with the aim of, applying legislation.

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of private law.

Course unit content

The course provides students with the main foundations and laws
regulating italien and european private law, eith particular reference to law of the market.

Full programme

1. THE LEGAL SYSTEM.
1.1. Private law and public law.
1.2. Sources of domestic and Community law.
1.3. Legal “facts” and “effects”. Legal rules, interpretation of the law,
legal “facts”
and acts, subjective (individual) legal situations, the legal relationship
a n d i t s
events, circulation of legal situations, statute of limitation and
c a n c e l l a t i o n .
1.4. Disclosure of legal facts.
2 . S U B J E C T S .
2.1. Natural persons. Legal capacity, capacity to act, “natural” capacity,
t y p e s o f incapacity and guardianships, places in which persons carry on their activities and lay down their interests, cancellation of natural person status.
2.2. Personality rights. Overview and individual types.
2.3. Body corporates. Bodies as subjects of law. Legal status.
2.4. Types of body corporates: associations, foundations, committees.
3 . G O O D S
3.1. Goods. Notion and classifications.
3.2. Legal framework for circulation of goods.
4. LEGAL RELATIONS RELATING TO PROPERTY.
4.1 Legal relations relating to real property. Rights in ??**rem and their
characteristics.
4.2. Property in Community law, the Constitution and the civil code.
4.3. Means of property purchase.
4.4. Minor rights in rem.
4.5. Ownership. Possessory and petitory actions. 4.6. Contractual
(obligational)
relationships. The contract and its characteristics. Obligations of
performance and
obligations of protection. Contracts without performance obligations.
4.7. Events constituting the contractual relationship. Sources of the
c o n t r a c t .
4.8. Subjective and objective events modifying said contractual
r e l a t i o n s h i p .
4.9. Events terminating the contractual relationship. Fulfillment and other
m e a n s o f
terminating the contract.
4.10. Non-fulfillment of the contract.
4.11. The contract in general. Freedom of contract, legal transaction and
t h e
c o n t r a c t .
4.12. Structural profile of the contract. Definition and classifications. The
a g r e e m e n t
and procedures for forming an agreement, parties, content, form.
4.13. Flaws in the structure of the contract. Invalidity, nullity,
annullability, simulation
and cancellation.
4.14. Functional profile of the contract. Regulation of interests,
interpretation,
effectiveness of the contract, condition and terms. Resolution of the
c o n t r a c t u a l
r e l a t i o n s h i p .
Tipo testo Testo
4.15. Consumer contracts. Unfair terms.
4.16. Commercial contracts: subcontracting, late payment in commercial
t r a n s a c t i o n s .
4.17. Individual contracts: sale and purchase contracts, mandate (power
o f
attorney), commission, donation, lease, rental, tender, agency, leasing,
g u a r a n t e e s ,
independent financial guarantee contract, letters of patronage, contracts
a i m e d t o
compose and prevent disputes.
5. CIVIL LIABILITY.
5.1. Contractual liability.
5.2. Extra-contractual liability. Torts. Various forms of Aquilian liability.
5 3. Liability for violation of rules within a legal relationship having a
source other
than contract or tort.
5.4. Awardable damages – relating to property and otherwise.
5.5. Personal injury/loss: from physical to “existential” damage.
5.6. Compensation techniques.
6. FAMILY LAW AND SUCCESSION LAW.
6.1. Features of family law.
6.2. Features of succession law.
7. E-COMMERCE and new technologies

Bibliography

DI NELLA LUCA, Lessons of Italian and European
Private Law, Parma,
latest edition. The book comprises the complete
syllabus for the examination. Descrizione
As a support for the preparation we recommend
using the latest edition
of:
- De Nova (ed.), Codice civile e leggi
complementari, Bologna, Zanichelli,
latest edition
- Di Majo (ed.), Codice civile con la Costituzione, i
Trattati U.E. e le
principali norme complementari, Milano, Giuffrè,
latest edition
- latest edition of the Civil Code with the most
important UE law, the
Constitution and other civil legislation.

Teaching methods

Theoretical and practical classroom lectures lessons with information and
exercises by university teachers and specialists including overseas
experts
Acquiring knowledge – class lectures
Learning to apply skills – exercises and practice
Acquiring independent evaluation skills – case studies
Acquiring learning skills – description of topic and critical examination of
legislation applied
Acquiring technical language – legal terminology is explained during the
Course.

Assessment methods and criteria

The final assessment takes place through an exam
consisting of an online part and an oral part, both to
be carried out in presence. The online part consists
of answering a multiple-choice quiz that will be
made available on ELLY and which covers the
entire program. During the online test, the use of
any type of codes, regulatory texts, notes and the
like is prohibited. Only those who pass the online
test (evaluated with a score from 0 to 30 with one
point for each correct answer) achieving at least a
score of eighteen are admitted to the oral exam; the
result is communicated to the student directly by the
system, at the end of the quiz accessibility period (it
can possibly be communicated via communication
on ELLY). The score of the online part is used only
for the purposes of admission to the oral exam:
therefore, it does not contribute to the determination
of the mark. The oral part must be taken on the
specially fixed date which will be published on
ELLY; at the end of the same the outcome of the
test will be communicated with the formulation of the
vote. The test is evaluated by ascertaining
knowledge, the ability to apply knowledge, the ability
to communicate with appropriate technical
language, independent judgment and the ability to
learn. Up to a maximum of 6 points are assigned to
each of the five criteria, the sum of which gives the
final grade, to which honors can be added in case of
more than excellent performance. The oral exam is
evaluated on a 0-30 scale.
At the end of the course, a partial online test can
take place in presence, consisting in answering a
multiple choice quiz that will be made available on
ELLY which focuses on the first part of the program
(up to goods, properties, real rights and
possession); the test is evaluated with a score from
0 to 30 with one point for each correct answer and is
passed by achieving at least the result of eighteen.
The score of the partial test is used only for the
purposes of admission to the oral exam: therefore, it
does not contribute to the determination of the
grade. This test can be reserved for students who
have taken an active part in any activity organized
during the course. Passing the test will be
communicated on ELLY; the oral exam will take
place on the remaining part of the program (from
obligations and contracts to family and inheritance)
and can be taken within the last session of the
current academic year on the dates communicated
by the teacher via ELLY.
The regulation of the partial test and of any activity
will also be published on ELLY, which contains all
the indications in detail, as well as information on
the online test.

Other information

Additional seminars on topics covered in the course
may be held
according to the availability of external specialists.
See ELLY for supplementary material, including
material for the preparation of the exam.