Prof. Giorgio Fabio COLOMBO

Lesson n. 1

 In some African tribes, the shaman also serves as a judge  To determine if somebody is guilty or innocent of a crime, the shaman gives some poison to a rooster  If the rooster survives, the accused is innocent  If the rooster dies, the accused is guilty  Is this a proper way to do?

 Before giving the poison to the rooster, the shaman asks all the involved parties about their opinion  He listens to witnesses  He looks at evidence  Nobody else can check how much poison is actually given to the rooster. The shaman decides on the basis of his findings

 Is it radically different from this?

 Is my body «mine»? Can I dispose of it? ◦ Can I get a tattoo? ◦ Can I practice an extreme sport? Even if I risk my life? ◦ Can I sell my organs? ◦ Can I decide to die?  Where are the boundaries? Why?  Who should set the boundaries?

 The purpose of this seminar is to help you to think about law in different terms ◦ Notions like «law», «justice», «sanction», change according to the context  «Legal pluralism» and contemporary issues  Thinking about law «out of the box»  «Law is intellect without desire». There is no subject a lawyer cannot approach with a professional eye

 Sufficient command of English language ◦ Lectures, readings and debates will be in English; ◦ It is not necessary to be fluent  Active participation ◦ This seminar is based on the active participation by the students ◦ A significant part of the evaluation will be based on participation  Minimum attendance ◦ You are required to attend at least 70% of the classes

 The seminar will be composed of 13 lessons, starting from April 15, 2016 and finishing on July 22, 2016  Some lessons will require preliminary readings, and will be divided into: ◦ Teaching (first classes) ◦ Presentation by the students (volounteers) ◦ Debate, discussion

 This seminar is based on interaction between students and instructors  Students are required to take active part in the lectures  Comments to readings, contributions to lectures, questions, etc. will be used to evaluate students’ performance  70% of the evaluation will be determined this way

 As for the remaining 30%, the evaluation will be determined by the mid term and final tests  In case of group presentations, balanced allocation of work will be taken into account for that purpose  We do care about rewarding good students

 Lesson 1 ◦ Today  Lesson 2 ◦ Introduction to the subject (by the instructor): key concepts, basic theoretical framework  Lesson 3 ◦ Early works, Legal Ethnography (by the instructor)  Lesson 4 ◦ Social Rules, Legal Rules, Religious Rules (from this class onwards, presentation by the students)

 Lesson 5 ◦ Legal Sanctions, Social Sanctions  Lesson 6 ◦ Dispute resolution in context  Lesson 7 ◦ Mid-term Test  Lesson 9 ◦ The State as Educator  Lesson 10 ◦ Human Rights, Asian Values

 Lesson 10 ◦ Different Perspectives on Financial Law  Lesson 11 ◦ The State as Educator II  Lesson 12 ◦ Cultural Defence I  Lesson 13 ◦ Cultural Defence II  Lesson 14 ◦ Final test

Please introduce yourself

Please tell us what do you expect from this seminar

Prof. Giorgio F. COLOMBO