Ateneo - UPO

The course will be monographic. It will be an investigation about property, possession and goods, conceived as major legal institutions and traced to critical approaches to the analysis of the legal experience. Such a methodology will build on the ecology of law, that is the attempt to address private law's categories and techniques (particularly property and goods) from a systemic and dynamic-relational standpoint. In this framework, a first part of the course will provide an overall focus on property and its sources. Then, a second part will deal with more specific issues. Classes will discuss the dialectic between national law and European forms of protection of property; the raise of commons and the institutional as well as concrete implications of such an increasing legal relevance; some contemporary topics, such as the legal regime for abandoned properties and the role of property and goods in digital markets.
Proposed contents will be integrated by focussing the importance of reading and understanding case law.

The suggested textbook for preparing the exam is A. Gambaro, La proprietà. Beni, proprietà, possesso. Seconda edizione completamente rifatta, Milano, Giuffrè, 2017, and especially the followings parts:
chapter 1;
chapter 2, sections I and II;
chapter 3, section I, II, III, IV, V and VI;
chapter 4, section I;
chapter 5, sections I, II and III;
chapter 6.
The case law shared with the students during the course are included among the suggested texts. Students aiming at going into depth on the issues dealt with during the classes will be provided with further materials (sometimes in English).

In general terms, the course will aim at introducing students to the methodology of the ecology of law (a theoretical approach which has been tested especially in the domain of property and goods by opening new legal perspectives). In this critical framework the course's more specific goal will be to allow students to have a critical understanding of the major and most innovative issues concerning property and goods, within the contemporary legal experience.
Lastly, the focus on the reading and comprehension of case law will aim at bringing students to deal with “law in action” through the analysis of specific legal texts, namely the judgments delivered by Courts. This will allow a more concrete understanding of the theoretical issues dealt with during classes.

A good overall mastery of private law is essential in order to deal with the topics addressed in the course. A revision of a private law handbook (at least for the parts relative to subjects and legal entitlements, property rights, goods) is therefore suggested. According to Art. 34 of the Regulation on didactics, having passed the exams in “Constitutional Law” and “Private Law Institutions” is requested in order to take any other exam (except for those planned in the first year).

The course will mostly consist of traditional face-to-face lectures. Active participation of the students will be encouraged in order to develop a dialogic approach to the topics at issue.
During the course reading and comprehension of case law will have a significant role. Students will be invited to read suggested judgments before each class. This will facilitate a critical understanding of such materials. Students that will choice one among the suggested judgments in order to present and comment it during a lecture could be provided with up to 2 additional points within their final grade.
Attendance is suggested but not mandatory. There will be no distinctions among students depending on attendance.

Meetings with students will be organised from time to time. Students are invited to send e-mails to rocco.albanese@uniupo.it.
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The exam will be an oral interview.

. Civil law and law as civilisation
. At the modern origins of property
. Focussing property. Discussion of the legal regime of the civil code. Modes of acquisition. Possession.
. Remedies protecting the right to property and the possession.
. Beyond the civil code. The sources of property. Constitution. Customs. European sources.
. The object of property. Goods, utilities, resources.
. From traditional views to the rise of new goods.
. The sphere of proprietary powers and entitlements
. The dialectic between national legal frameworks and European mechanisms for the protection of property.
. The frontier of the commons.
. Gender dimension: undestanding theory and practice of property from the standpoint of legal feminism.

The course is supposed to provide students with a stronger mastery both of the legal terminology and of some among the major categories within private law. Students will have profound knowledge of property, seen as fundamental legal institution and traced to critical approaches to the analysis of the legal experience. In particular, students will become familiar with ecologic approaches to private law by building on the investigation of commons as well as of some further contemporary legal issues. The study will be integrated and completed with the expected capability of critical reading and comprehension of case law.