Italian Private Law (university Of Texas At Austin Studies In Foreign And Transnational Law)

ITALIAN PRIVATE LAW The volume offers both a general overview and selected details of Italian private law and its transition from early twentieth-century legal tradition to a modern legal system based on constitutional values and geared towards European integration. Among the areas presented are family law, succession, legal persons, businesses and companies, property, contract, and tort. The volume takes into account not only the legislative system, starting from the 1942 Civil Code and highlighting the many and significant changes that have been made in the past six decades, but also the profound influence of case law and legal scholarship. The authors emphasise the eclectic but systematically solid foundations of Italian private law, which has been able to blend successfully the best of the diverse continental legal traditions and adapt itself to the ever growing pressure of EU legislation. The volume is addressed to legal scholars, practitioners and students who wish to gain first-hand knowledge of Italian private law in their research, professional or academic activity. Guido Alpa, FBA, is Professor of Civil Law at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’. Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich is Professor of Comparative Law in the University of Roma Tre. The University of Texas at Austin Studies in Foreign and Transnational Law General Editors: Sir Basil Markesinis and Dr Jörg Fedtke The UT Studies in Foreign and Transnational Law Series aims to publish books covering various aspects of foreign, private, criminal and public law, as well as transnational law. This broad ambition of the Series underlines the editors’ belief that in a shrinking world there is a growing need to expand our knowledge of other legal orders – national or supranational – and to publish books discussing comparative methodology and not merely describing foreign systems. Titles in the series: The French Civil Code J.-L. Halpérin, transl. T. Weir Judicial Recourse to Foreign Law: A New Source of Inspiration? Sir B. Markesinis and J. Fedtke International Negotiation in the Twenty-First Century A. Plantey, transl. F. Meadows Forthcoming titles: Human Rights in the Private Sphere D. Oliver and J. Fedtke (eds) (2007) The Protection of Human Rights in German and English Law J. Fedtke and M. O’Cinneide (2008) ITALIAN PRIVATE LAW Guido Alpa and Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich First published 2007 by Routledge-Cavendish 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge-Cavendish 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge-Cavendish is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2007 Guido Alpa and Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Alpa, Guido. Italian private law / Guido Alpa and Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich. p. cm. 1. Civil law—Italy. I. Zeno-Zencovich Vincenzo. II. Title. KKH500.A4876 2007 346.45—dc22 2006037175 ISBN 0–203–94505–0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 1–84472–051–9 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–1–84472–051–4 (hbk) Contents About the authors Foreword Chapter I: Introductory Concepts 1.1. Private law today 1.1.1. Private law, civil law and commercial law 1.1.2. Histor