48
Private Law
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
Knowledge of Private law institutions, with a comparative analysis of specific issues.
Making independent judgments:
By the end of the course, students will show adequate knowledge of the institutional concepts of private law.
Communication skills:
By the end of the course, students will demonstrate the ability to communicate on institutional issues of private law, expressing themselves clearly and by using appropriate technical terminology.
Learning skills:
By the end of the course, students will have acquired the critical thinking skills necessary to search for materials on private law topics, also in relation to future legislative reforms or case law developments.
Course Prerequisites
None.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminars on specific issues.
Lectures aim to provide useful insights into the institutional concepts of private law.
Thematic seminars, held during the course, aim to extend knowledge to comparative law profiles.
Assessment Methods
Oral exam.
Grading on a 30/30 scale.
Exam in Italian.
The following elements will be considered for evaluation: coherence, ability to analyze and summarize content, completeness of information, correct use of legal terminology, ability to apply procedures for analyzing legal issues, and methodologies specific to private law.
For attending students:
Attending students may divide the program into three parts, the first two of which will be subject to written partial exams, while the third must be taken to the oral exam.
The status of attending student is not stated according to a percentage of classes taken, and it is not checked; nevertheless, the written partial exams will be arranged according to the topics explained in the lectures. Therefore, it is very important to attend the lectures.
The three parts are independent of each other: if a student passes the partial exam, that part will not be taken to the oral exam.
Students who have not taken or passed the first exam may also take the second exam.
The partial exams will be held during the course, the first at the midpoint of the course, and the second at the end of the course, before the first exam session.
On the same day as the second partial exam, at a different time, the first partial exam, if not taken or passed, may be taken; however, the grade cannot be improved. The student may, of course, request the partial exam to be disregarded and take oral exam also for its content.
Partial exams will be valid until the last exam session for the academic year in which the course was attended.
Each exemption consists of three open-ended questions.
The time allotted for each partial exam is 45 minutes.
Grades are expressed on a 30/30 scale.
The two partial exams, if taken and passed (with a score higher than 18/30), will also be taken into account for the final grade when the oral exam is taken. These scores are not binding: even a low score can result in an excellent final grade, and vice versa. They are only a rough guide for the final grade.
The contents of the first partial exam, of the second partial exam and of the oral exam are as follows:
First partial exam:
1A) C.M. BIANCA e M. BIANCA, Istituzioni di diritto privato, 4a ed., Milano, Giuffrè, 2025: Chapters no. 1-8, 10-14, 16, 18-22.
Or:
1B) M. PARADISO, Manuale di diritto privato. Rapporti patrimoniali, 2a ed., Torino, Giappichelli, 2024: Chapters no. 1-9, 11-19.
Second partial exam:
1A) C.M. BIANCA e M. BIANCA, Istituzioni di diritto privato, 4a ed., Milano, Giuffrè, 2025: Chapters no. 24-29, 34-37, 39-47, 50, 52 (only paragraphs no. 5, 6, 7).
Or:
1B) M. PARADISO, Manuale di diritto privato. Rapporti patrimoniali, 2a ed., Torino, Giappichelli, 2024: Chapters no. 20-26, 28 (only paragraphs no. 1, 2), 30-38, 39 (only paragraphs no. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Oral exam:
1A) C.M. BIANCA e M. BIANCA, Istituzioni di diritto privato, 4a ed., Milano, Giuffrè, 2025: Chapters no. 53-54, 58, 67-70, 73-74, 76, 82.
Or:
1B) M. PARADISO, Manuale di diritto privato. Rapporti patrimoniali, 2a ed., Torino, Giappichelli, 2024: Chapters no. 40-42 and, for the topics Family law, parenthood, marriage, parentage, marriage, civil union, cohabitation, adoption, inheritance law and wills, please refer to the notes taken during the lectures.
2) G. AJANI, D. FRANCAVILLA e B. PASA, Diritto comparato, II, Il confronto common law/civil law, Torino, Giappichelli, 2023: Chapters no. 1, 2, 3, 6.
3) G. AJANI, D. FRANCAVILLA e B. PASA, Diritto comparato, III, Le tradizioni giuridiche asiatiche e africane, Torino, Giappichelli, 2023: Chapters no. 1, 2, 3.
Texts
1A) C.M. BIANCA, M. BIANCA, Istituzioni di diritto privato, 4th ed., Milano, Giuffrè, 2025, only the following parts: Chapters no. 1-8, 10-14, 16, 18-22, 24-29, 34-37, 39-47, 50, 52 (only paragraphs no. 5, 6, 7), 53-54, 58, 67-70, 73-74, 76, 82.
Or:
1B) M. PARADISO, Manuale di diritto privato. Rapporti patrimoniali, 2nd ed., Torino, Giappichelli, 2024, only the following parts: Chapters no. 1-9, 11-26, 28 (only paragraphs 1, 2), 30-38, 39 (only paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6), 40-42 and, for the topics Family law, parenthood, marriage, parentage, marriage, civil union, cohabitation, adoption, inheritance law and wills, please refer to the notes taken during the lectures.
In any case (readings):
2) G. AJANI, D. FRANCAVILLA, B. PASA, Diritto comparato, II, Il confronto common law/civil law, Torino, Giappichelli, 2023, only the following parts: Chapters no. 1, 2, 3, 6.
3) G. AJANI, D. FRANCAVILLA, B. PASA, Diritto comparato, III, Le tradizioni giuridiche asiatiche e africane, Torino, Giappichelli, 2023, only the following parts: Chapters no. 1, 2, 3.
The texts are the same for attending and non attending students.
The students which attended the course in the Academic Year A.A. 2024-2025 or before can keep their programme.
Contents
A. Introductory principles (lectures 1-4).
B. Legal persons (lectures 4-6).
C. Property rights (lectures 7-9).
D. Obligations (lectures 10-11).
E. Contracts (lectures 12-17).
F. Torts law (lecture 18).
G. Principles of family law and inheritance law (lectures 19-20).
H. Private law and sustainability (lectures 21-24).
1) Introduction to the course. Notion of law and private law. Function of a private law course in a degree course in Political Sciences.
2) Comparative legal systems. Islamic and Asian systems. Comparative study 1: the sources of Islamic law.
3) The legal rule. The sources of the law. The interpretation of the law. The application of the law in the time and in the space. Comparative study 2: the Law on civil transactions of Saudi Arabia (2023).
4) Legal facts and acts. Subjective rights. Natural person. Legal capacity and ability to act.
5) Fundamental rights. Personality rights. Comparative study 3: personality rights in the first Charters of rights (United States of America, 1776; France 1789).
6) Legal entities. The foundations. Associations and committees. Comparative study 4: IFAD and cooperation to State development .
7) Goods. Property rights. Means of acquiring and losing property rights. Comparative study 5: property in the Weimar Constitution (1919).
8) Community and joint ownership of buildings. Property rights on other people's property. Possession and detention. Comparative study 6. property in the law of the People's Republic of China.
9) The acquisition of movable property through possession in good faith. Adverse possession.
10) Obligations law. The sources of the obligations. The object of the obligations. The performance. Legal transactions. Freedom of contract.
11) Monetary obligations. Performance. Ways of fulfilling the obligations other than the performance.
12) Contract and freedom of contract. Classification of contracts. Comparative study 7. contract law in the People's Republic of China.
13) The parties. Representation. The formation of the contract.
14) The form of the contract. The content of the contract.
15) The general conditions of contract. The protection of the weak contracting party. The cause of the contract. The interpretation of the contract. Comparative study 8: the cause of the contract in the European legal systems.
16) The integration of the contract. The efficacy of the contract. Possible elements of the contract.
17) The invalidity of the contract. Termination of the contracts.
18) Contract liability. Tort law. Compensation for damages.
19) Family and kinship. Comparative study 9: the family in the laws of Islamic countries.
20) Inheritance law. The will.
21) Private law and sustainability 1: civil protection of the environment.
22) Private law and sustainability 2: consumer law and the circular economy.
23) Private law and sustainability 3: food labeling and new technologies.
24) Private law and sustainability 4: wine labeling: from the pyramid of quality to the environmental sustainability.
Course Language
Italian