Learning objectives
Knowledge and understanding:
The course aims at providing students with the necessary knowledge to understand the nature of the cooperation among BRICS countries, its role in the complex current geopolitical context, and the legal implications arising from this unprecedented form of collaboration (such as legal transplants). Additionally, the course seeks to provide an understanding of the main characteristics of the forms of state and government of the “founding” BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and the recent challenges they are asked to face (including populism, constitutional reforms impacting the form of government and the separation of powers, and the use of new technologies as tools for potential repression of dissent and fundamental rights). The ultimate goal is to enable students to develop knowledge and skills necessary to understand and conduct comparative legal research and analysis on BRICS cooperation and the five “founding” countries.
Application of knowledge and understanding:
By the end of the course, students should be able to understand and critically analyze BRICS cooperation, applying the comparative method, observing the various legal definitions provided, and studying and delving into the main characteristics and the most recent developments in the forms of state and government of the BRICS “founding” countries.
Judgment and Communication:
The course aims at promoting the development of skills such as understanding, independent research, and in-depth analysis of a given topic, as well as critical thinking through participation in class discussions and debates. The course also intends to enhance students’ ability to clearly present, explain, and justify the outcomes of their research and analysis using appropriate legal and technical language. Finally, the course seeks to provide students with the ability to compare legal choices and models.
Attending students will be actively involved through innovative teaching methods (see “Teaching Methods” for details) and will be expected to contribute actively through independent or group activities, oral presentations, and discussions.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
The BRICS cooperation (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) has experienced in 2024 a significant expansion, now including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. This unprecedented form of States’ collaboration is increasingly assuming a central role in the current complex geopolitical landscape, prompting legal scholars to explore its nature, ways and instruments of cooperation, and the implications in terms of legal transplants or mutual influences.
The present course therefore aims at exploring these multiple aspects through the use of comparative law methodology. To this end, the course is divided into two parts, closely connected and complementary.
The first part proposes an in-depth analysis of BRICS cooperation, considering the significance of this unique and unparalleled form of state cooperation, its objectives, and the concrete forms it takes. Specifically, this first part will cover the following topics: the origins of cooperation and its evolution up to the current “BRICS Plus” form; the definition and role of the BRICS cooperation in the current geopolitical context; the role of BRICS in existing international organizations; the New Development Bank as first form of “institutionalized” cooperation among BRICS countries; the challenges and potential of BRICS cooperation as a legal network.
The second part of the course, still applying the comparative methodology, intends to examine the main characteristics of the form of state and form of government of the five systems that make up the “original core” of BRICS cooperation. Following this necessary analysis – which will also help to better understand BRICS cooperation and its characteristics –, particular attention will be paid to the most recent challenges these legal systems are facing both in terms of the form of state and government and in terms of the protection of fundamental rights. Topics – studied also through the analysis of the most relevant case law – will include the rise of populism, tensions between state powers, and the use of new technologies as tools of control and potential democratic repression (e.g., internet shutdowns, biometric recognition systems such as facial recognition or innovative social scoring tools, systems for filtering and restricting access to social media and digital information).
Full programme
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Bibliography
Selected papers published in the open access law journal “DPCE Online”, within two monographic sections dedicated to the BRICS cooperation (these sections will be published in the n. 3 and 4 of the journal). Further details will be provided at the beginning of the course on the Course webpage on Elly platform.
Further materials attending students should read and study before interactive lessons or group works will be uploaded on Elly platform during the course.
Teaching methods
The course is divided into lectures and innovative didactic activities (36 hours).
The course is structured in face-to-face lectures, seminars with the participation of experts and interactive teaching activities. Students are therefore invited to actively participate to the different teaching activities provided during the course; in particular:
- Discussion on a specific case study or Court decisions: students are required to read in advance (pre-class work) the provided materials, in order to promote a fruitful debate during the lesson;
- Group work on a given topic;
- Produce a brief research essay on a given topic;
- Classroom presentation.
Specific materials and videos will be provided, on the basis of a specific request to be presented at the beginning of the course, to students coming from Public Administrations. Specific didactic materials as well as videos regarding innovative topics (such as the evolution of relevant forms the government in specific legal systems) will be provided on the Course webpage on the Elly platform.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam based. For attending-students (students participating to at least 70% of the lessons and actively contributing to the activities promoted during the course), the final grade will be determined by also considering the activities developed throughout the course (in particular, group work, classroom presentation and research essay). Detailed instructions will be provided in class.
Students will be assessed on their knowledge of the topics presented during the course. Students will also be tested on their capacity to examine and discuss case studies and case-law as well as on their ability to engage in independent thinking and personal considerations.
Attending-students will also be assessed considering their contribution to class debate, their ability to autonomously study and develop critical evaluations on a specific topic as well as their capability to present the results of their research.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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