Lectures.
The course sheds light on the basic characteristics of the common law model at the level of its system of legal sources as well as to the relevance of its legal formants in order to critically evaluate its style and its differences from civil law. The starting point is that civil and common law are two distinct versions of the same legal tradition, the western one. These two versions share the feature of legal certainty; at this latter's core lies the function of limit displayed from law vis-à-vis political power and individuals. Law primarily displays the role of limit at the level of the protection of the individuals' rights before courts. Legal certainty, at the heart of both civil and common law, is endowed with a different role from the narratives concerning the genealogy of these latter. Its achievement is pursued by distinct actors: in civil law, the law-maker; in common law, the courts. This situation accounts for the differences among the respective systems of legal sources. During the course, the issue will be raised if this narrative is able to convincingly explain the present times (in the English law, the dialogue among judges and scholars will be considered as a significant example).
U.Mattei, Il modello di common law, Giappichelli, 2018.