Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE CVL2009

 
TITLE Roman Foundations of the Civilian Tradition

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Civil Law

 
DESCRIPTION This unit aims to train students in integrating Roman law scholarship in their Civil law studies, with particular reference to the law of Persons, Property, Obligations and Succession. The provisions of the Maltese Civil Code and associated legislation dealing with these topics will be reviewed and analysed, compared to their Roman law antecedents and the historical development which has occurred will be investigated.

The enduring role of certain Roman law rules and principles will be highlighted and students will discuss how the analysis of Maltese law can be undertaken in a manner which reflects this inheritance.

Study-unit Aims

1) To introduce students to the study of Civil law in general and to the Maltese Civilian tradition in particular;
2) To train students in the science of interpreting legal rules according to a historically informed analytical methodology;
3) To integrate the study of Roman law and Maltese Civil law.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

1) Comprehend law as a logically integrated system of ideas and norms which has been developed and debated for over two millenia;
2) Comprehend general legal notions and principles such as good faith, culpa and dolus and latin maxims such as the res inter alios acta principle;
3) Comprehend the Roman law not as a dead and self-contained system but as a still fecund and ongoing tradition.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

1) Relate particular rules and institutes of Maltese law to their Roman antecedents;
2) Connect particular national legal doctrines in continental Europe to their Roman law matrix;
3) Access and apply doctrinal debates within the Civilian tradition to their interpretation of Maltese law.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Andrew Borkowski, 2002. Textbook on Roman Law, Blackstone Press.
David Johnston, 1999. Roman Law in Context, Cambridge: University Press.
Barry Nicholas, 1976. An Introduction to Roman Law, Oxford: University Press.
Franz Wieacker, Tony Weir and Reinhard Zimmermann, 1996. A History of Private Law in Europe: with particular reference to Germany, Oxford: University Press.
Reinhard Zimmermann, 1996. The Law of Obligations: Roman Foundations of the Civilian Tradition, Clarendon Press, Oxford: University Press.
Robert D. Melville, 2012. A Manual of the Principles of Roman Law Relating to Persons, Property, and Obligations: With a Historical Introduction, Classic Reprint.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Students taking this study-unit need to have a background in law.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM1 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit