ReCEPL
Research Centre in European Private Law

Focus Groups

Teaching Private Law

Coordinator: Prof.ssa Lucilla Gatt
Scientific commette: Prof.ssa Ilaria Amelia Caggiano, Notaio Stefano Cimmino.

Research Teams

Section "Legal Skills"
Person in charge: Ph.D. Avv. Maria Cristina Gaeta
Components: Ph.D. Avv. Paola Grimaldi, Ph.D. Avv. Anna Anita Mollo, Ph.D. Avv. Livia Aulino, Ph.D. Emiliano Troisi, Ph.D. Avv. Valeria Manzo, Ph.D.(c) Simona Ghionzoli, Ph.D.(c) Luigi Izzo, Ph.D.(c) Davide Silvio d'Aloia, Ph.D.(c) Avv. Chiara Vitagliano, Ph.D. Irene Coppola, Dott. Mario Triggiani.

Section "Drafting Legal Texts and Legal Design Skills"
Person in charge: Ph.D. Avv. Anna Anita Mollo
Components: Not. Stefano Cimmino, Not. Ph.D. Doriana De Crescenzo, Ph.D. Avv. Valeria Manzo, Ph.D. Avv. Livia Aulino.

The Research Group on Private Law Teaching, composed of academics and professionals belonging to the SSD IUS/01-Private Law, aims to provide students enrolled in the law course - five-year single-cycle degree (LMG/01) - with the knowledge and skills as identified and indicated in the annex to the decree of the Ministry of Education, University and Research of 25 November 2005, containing the so-called degree course declaratory:
"I laureati dei corsi della classe di laurea devono:
- aver conseguito elementi di approfondimento della cultura giuridica di base nazionale ed europea, anche con tecniche e metodologie casistiche, in rapporto a tematiche utili alla comprensione e alla valutazione di principi o istituti del diritto positivo
- aver conseguito approfondimenti di conoscenze storiche che consentano di valutare gli istituti del diritto positivo anche nella prospettiva dell'evoluzione storica degli stessi
- possedere capacità di produrre testi giuridici (normativi e/o negoziali e/o processuali) chiari, pertinenti ed efficaci in rapporto ai contesti di impiego, ben argomentati, anche con l'uso di strumenti informatici
- possedere in modo approfondito le capacità interpretative, di analisi casistica, di qualificazione giuridica (rapportando fatti a fattispecie), di comprensione, di rappresentazione, di valutazione e di consapevolezza per affrontare problemi interpretativi ed applicativi del diritto
- possedere in modo approfondito gli strumenti di base per l'aggiornamento delle proprie competenze."

In application of the ministerial indications, the Research Group aims to revise the teaching methodology of private law. In this perspective, attention and analysis was focused on:
1. the jurist's working method, which enables the learning of certain techniques proper to legal reasoning.
The fundamental stages of this process are:
- problematisation of the fundamental legal categories and institutes of private law;
- problem solving to encourage the learning and application of a method of analysis and case solving;
- modelling of typical activities of the legal professions;
- soft skills, for the development of transversal skills relating both to the digital world and to the sphere of personal and social relations;

2. learning private law by successive levels (so-called progressive teaching), starting from the first year of the course to reach the fifth year, based on: (i) the creation of legal problems based on increasing levels of difficulty, diversified for each year of the course; (ii) as well as the organization of supplementary seminar cycles focused on the drafting of legal texts in a broad sense;

3. introduction of new teaching, dedicated to the development of skills in the production of negotiated legal texts, including the course on techniques for drafting legal text (chair holders: Not. Stefano Cimmino, Prof. Roberta Metafora, Prof. Gaspare J. Sicignano; teaching assistans: Ph.D. Avv. Anna Anita Mollo, Not. Ph.D. Doriana De Crescenzo, Ph.D. Avv. Valeira Manzo);

4. creation of teaching materials and institutional texts which, while flanking the traditional textbooks, support the teacher in the process of passing on the techniques of reasoning on legal problems and the skills of drafting legal texts starting from negotiation texts, in this way applying the technique of Legal Design, i.e. the necessary simplification of the language and structure of contractual texts to make them more comprehensible, stable and transparent.

This methodology, differently calibrated according to an adaptive approach in consideration of the different degree of preparation of the learners with respect to the law degree course, is also applied in the postgraduate training courses (Masters, SSPL, Postgraduate and Higher Education Courses).

The Research Group on Private Law Teaching is also intended to provide an overview of the research projects, scientific proposals and initiatives and events on which the entire team is constantly working and is organized into the following activities:
- ReCEPL initiatives and events: Focus, Workshops, Conferences, Doctoral lectures;
- ReCEPL research projects and scientific proposals on issues related to innovation in private law education;
- Publications: by the scholars who are members of the research team on various aspects related to the development and innovation of legal and judicial activities;
- Useful links for information and updates on the topics of the private law didactics research team.