| Introduction to Common Law | Código: 73.561 : 4 |
This course offers an introduction to the Common Law systems and, particularly, the USA legal system -as a key example. The course covers the conceptual ground of the common law tradition and refers to its key features. The objective is to familiarize students with the concept of common law and its basic distinction from the civil law tradition.
The course will offer very practical guidance to any future lawyer and legal professional and will prepare him/her for a better understanding of judicial rulings and contracts coming from Common-Law countries.
In addition, it is advisable that the student has some previous knowledge of the basics of the law. Accordingly, it is recommended (albeit not required) that the student has already taken the following courses within the law degree:
6 Fundamentos históricos del derecho Derecho
6 Introducción al derecho Derecho
6 Política y sociedad Ciencias políticas
6 Sistema constitucional español Derecho
Nevertheless, it is only logical that the higher the student’s legal knowledge, the more he/she will be able to enjoy the course and draw parallelisms and differences about the civil and common law systems. For this reason, it is advisable that this elective course is taken during the final stage within the Law Degree curriculum.
The course covers the conceptual ground of the common law tradition and refers to its key features. The objective is to familiarize students with the concept of common law and its basic distinction from the civil law tradition, with a specific exam of the USA legal system.
By the end of this course, the student should be able to know and answer to the following:
- What is common law? How does the common law tradition differ from the civil law tradition?
- Which are the main characteristics of the current Common-law systems?
- What is the basic structure of the American (USA) Common law system?
- Which are the fundamental features of the main areas of private and public law in the USA?
Learning objectives:
- Identify the legal principles and the legal institutions of Common law systems.
- Interpret legal texts of Common law systems.
- Apply some basic Common Law principles to practical scenarios
After a brief introduction to the main characteristics, historical origins and development of the common law tradition, the student will be ask to familiarize himself with the specifics of the USA common-law system.
We will see how specific historical conditions in England resulted in the emergence of the common law tradition, which developed in parallel with but in a distinct manner from the legal organization of the continental Europe. Later, we will study how the English common law is exported to its colonies, most of them which currently form the "Commonwealth".
We will examine the current Common law systems existing nowadays and give a brief outline of each of them (historical facts) and its political regime, together with the basics of its government, parliament and judicial structure, as well as some key elements of the legal profession and judicial terminology and citation norms.
The second part of the course will be devoted to learning the basics of the different fields of private and public law in the USA, and applying some of the concepts learned in the first part of the course into specific scenarios.
The course materials consist of:
- an introductory module with the history and main elements of the Common Law systems, and which includes an annex with the most common legal terms in Common law;
- the book by A. Farnsworth, An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States;
- some additional readings, available online.
La Normativa académica de la UOC dispone que el proceso de evaluación se fundamenta en el trabajo personal del estudiante y presupone la autenticidad de la autoría y la originalidad de los ejercicios realizados.
La falta de originalidad en la autoría o el mal uso de las condiciones en las que se hace la evaluación de la asignatura es una infracción que puede tener consecuencias académicas graves.
El estudiante será calificado con un suspenso (D/0) si se detecta falta de originalidad en la autoría de alguna actividad evaluable (práctica, prueba de evaluación continua (PEC) o final (PEF), o la que se defina en el plan docente), ya sea porque ha utilizado material o dispositivos no autorizados, ya sea porque ha copiado de forma textual de internet, o ha copiado de apuntes, de materiales, manuales o artículos (sin la citación correspondiente) o de otro estudiante, o por cualquier otra conducta irregular.
La calificación de suspenso (D/0) en la evaluación continua (EC) puede conllevar la obligación de hacer el examen presencial para superar la asignatura (si hay examen y si superarlo es suficiente para superar la asignatura según indique este plan docente).
Cuando esta mala conducta se produzca durante la realización de las pruebas de evaluación finales presenciales, el estudiante puede ser expulsado del aula, y el examinador hará constar todos los elementos y la información relativos al caso.
Además, esta conducta puede dar lugar a la incoación de un procedimiento disciplinario y la aplicación, si procede, de la sanción que corresponda.
La UOC habilitará los mecanismos que considere oportunos para velar por la calidad de sus titulaciones y garantizar la excelencia y la calidad de su modelo educativo.
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Puedes superar la asignatura a través de dos vías:
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