Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza Salvatore Pugliatti

The aim of the course is to integrate basic legal knowledge with specialised skills, enabling the students to deal with issues related to the transnational dimension of the most diverse legal relationships. This approach clearly distinguishes this course from the other courses offered in the Law Department at the University of Messina, namely, the five-year Bachelor's Degree in Law, the three-year Bachelor's Degree in Labor Consultants and Legal Services Sciences, and the three-year Bachelor's Degree in Law and New Technologies.
At the end of their course, graduates who wishes to continue their studies will be able to get access to Master Degrees in different areas, such as law, economics, political science, and international relations).

The Course is innovative in its concept, since it is designed to meet the demands of an internationally oriented job market. It provides graduates with competences in transnational and European legal studies, by thus making their profile attractive to different kinds of employees, such as international organisations, private companies with an international outlook, and public institutions.
In consideration of the transnational focus of the course, during their studies students will be given the opportunity to carry out training periods abroad and access to placements in multinational enterprises and international organisations.

The first year encompasses modules introducing students to the basic legal notions declined in an innovative global perspective. In addition, with a view of ensuring the acquisition of basic linguistic notions in Legal English, in the first semester of the first year, students will be required to sit an exam in Legal English.
The first-year curriculum consists in the following subjects:
• Legal English (6 credits, 36 hours);
• Philosophy of Law and Legal Informatics (9 credits, 54 hours);
• Comparative Public Law (6 credits, 36 hours);
• Comparative Private Law (6 credits, 36 hours);
• Transnational Constitutional Law (9 credits, 54 hours);
• Principles of Private Law (9 credits, 54 hours);
• Informatics (6 credits, 36 hours).

The second year encompasses specialised modules in international and transnational legal subjects.
The second-year curriculum consists in the following subjects:
• History of Western Legal Traditions (6 credits, 36 hours);
• International Law (9 credits, 54 hours);
• Roman Foundations of European Law (6 credits, 36 hours);
• European Union Law (9 credits, 54 hours);
• International and European Labour Law (8 credits, 48 hours);
• International and European Criminal Law (8 credits, 48 hours);
• Tax Law or Economics (9 credits, 54 hours).

The third year too encompasses specialised legal modules with a particular focus on civil litigation and cross-border criminal justice, and transnational commercial and administrative law.
The third-year curriculum consists in the following subjects:
• Transnational Business and Insolvency Law (8 credits, 48 hours);
• Comparative Civil Justice (8 credits, 48 hours);
• Shipping and Aviation Contracts or Transnational Law and Religion (6 credits, 36 hours);
• Global and European Administrative Law (8 credits, 48 hours);
• Transcultural Criminal Justice 8 credits, 48 hours).

Students will be able to choose, from a set of options in different fields, two elective educational activities corresponding to 6 credits each.
They can either choose specific training activities offered by the Law Department or attend two courses selected among those taught throughout the University.
The training activities are aimed at
a) strengthening the graduate's knowledge in a transnational and cross-border perspective, by thus consolidating the general framework of the objectives and instruments of transnational law, and
b) enhancing the student's choices, by thus ensuring the flexibility of the training, which may be further specialised in areas already present in the characterising activities.

The Course in “Transnational and European Legal Studies” aims to train experts with flexible and interdisciplinary skills, suitable for obtaining access to the international market of the legal profession. This market is increasingly characterised by the demand for cross-sector knowledge and accentuated ability to self-adapt to changing work contexts.
Graduates in “Transnational and European Legal Studies” will possess advanced legal knowledge that enables them to navigate contemporary legal relations that are increasingly characterised by transnational elements. They will have acquired all the fundamental skills necessary for working in professional sectors that require deep knowledge in international law, such as industry, commerce, services, public administrations, and non-governmental organisations. They will also be able to cope with the transnational character of contemporary legal relations, both in the public and private sectors, which over the recent decades have undergone profound transformations in the ways in which they are organised and managed.
As a result, graduates in “Transnational and European Legal Studies” will be legal experts in European and transnational legal sciences able to
• operate in legal contexts that are increasingly conditioned by the demand for skills that make it possible to manage the risk associated with the global dimension of production and exchange activities,
• put forward efficient and innovative legal solutions
• plan legal activities by objectives
• solve specific problems in international relations, including the management of critical issues and the deflation of litigation.
In sum, by the end of the course in “Transnational and European Legal Studies” students will have achieved a high degree of specialisation, which will make their profiles attractive for prospective international employers.

The Degree Course in Transnational and European Legal Studies is offered at the Messina campus of the 'S. Pugliatti' Department of Law.
In order to carry out its activities at the Messina site, the Course makes use of all the classrooms, facilities and offices of the Department of Law.