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Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Online Sessions Link

To connect to the online sessions of this module please click on this link . You will be asked to register your attendance if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.

Meeting ID: 818 5922 5881
Passcode: 634769

Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes.

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

Lecturer/s  

Dr Carina Nagiah

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - Roman Law as the basis of our Civil Law

Following this session students will be:

• Made aware and familiar with the elements of Roman Law;
• Made familiar with Roman Law being the basis of the Maltese Civil Law
• Understanding certain Roman Law elements
• Acknowledging the principles of Roman Law which still underpin the Maltese Civil Law system

Core Reading List

• Lee, R., 1987. The Elements Of Roman Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell

Lecture 2 - Effects of Marriage, Personal Separation and Divorce

Following this session students will learn about:

• What are the implications of marriage on spouses and children
• The Grounds for Separation
• The Implications of Separation on the spouses and the children
• The Role of Mediation
• Divorce and its requirements under Maltese Law

Core Reading List

• Georgina Schembri pro et noe vs Dino Schembri (413/2000/1) decided 28th November, 2002
• AB vs CDB (184/2017AL) decided on 24th June 2021

Lecture 3 - Cohabitation and Matrimonial Regimes

Following this session students will learn:

• The elements of Cohabitation recognised under Maltese law
• The differences between the two acts which established cohabitation under Maltese Law
• The three Matrimonial Regimes established under the Civil Code
• Rights and Duties of Spouses under the three Regimes.

Core Reading List

• Cohabitation Act, Chapter 614 of the Laws of Malta

Supplementary Reading List

• Stalford Helen, Concepts of Family Law under the EU Law – Lessons from the ECHR – International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family

Lecture 4 - Filiation and Parental Authority; Minority and Guardianship, Interdiction and Incapacitation

Following this session students will learn:

• Principles of Filiation of children born in wedlock and out of wedlock;
• The importance of DNA testing
• Aspects of Parental Authority and rights and obligations of Parents
• Implications of Minority and the Role of Tutors
• Concepts of Guardianship, Interdiction and Incapacitation

Core Reading List

• Appell Numru 130/2013AL in the names Victor Buttigieg vs Direttur tar-Reġistru Pubbliku Et (decided 12th May 2022)

Lecture 5 - Ownership, Usufruct and Easements

Following this session students will:

• Have an understanding of four important aspects of the Law of Things:
  i. Ownership
  ii. Usufruct
  iii. Easements
  iv. Use and Habitation
• Appreciate the difference between these rights over properties
• See how these aspects are interpreted in the Maltese Case Law

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia, V. and Ganado, J., 1981. Notes On Civil Law. Malta: University of Malta

Supplementary Reading List

• 742/2008 Alan Vella u martu Doris Vella Grixti vs Stephen u Ramona konjuġi Borg (Decided 12th October 2009).
• 217/1997/1 Martin u Carmela konjuġi Xuereb vs Peter Paul u Marija konjuġi Camilleri (Decided 20th January, 2009).

Lecture 6 - Community of Property, Possession and Succession Part 1

Following this session students will learn:

• The principles relating to co-owners, the rights and obligations of co-owners, and how disputes will be resolved
• The rights relating to Possession of Property, and what actions at law, can protect such right
• The first part of Succession law, covering the types of succession under Maltese law, the types of wills, who can dispose under will, and the grounds of disherison.

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia, V. and Ganado, J., 1981. Notes On Civil Law. Malta: University of Malta

Supplementary Reading List

• 327/2016SM, Helen armla minn Joseph Zammit Et vs vs Madeleine mart Joseph Muscat (decided 5th October 2018)
• 193/2011JA, David Cachia u martu Catherine Cachia vs Godfrey Casha (decided 14th December 2011)

Lecture 7 - Succession: Part 2

Following this session students will learn:

• The Principles relating to the Reserved Portion under the Law of Succession;
• The Forms of Wills that one can make under Maltese Law
• How searches are carried out in Malta
• The role of the Testamentary Executor
• How intestate succession operates under Maltese Law
• The different types of guarantees and their relative ranking under Maltese Law

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia, V. and Ganado, J., 1981. Notes On Civil Law. Malta: University of Malta
• Caruana Galizia, V. Notes on Law of Guarantees & Minor Contracts: University of Malta

Lecture 8 - Law of Obligations (Part 1): Contracts

Following this session students will learn:

• Whether pre-contractual liability exist under Maltese Law
• The elements required to create a valid contract
• What constitutes a simulated contract
• Effects of Contracts on the contracting parties
• How contracts are interpreted

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia, V. and Ganado, J., 1981. Notes On Civil Law. Malta: University of Malta

Lecture 9 - Law of Obligations (Part 2): Quasi-Contracts, Torts and Quasi-Torts

Following this session students will learn:

• About the three other methods (other than Contract) in which Obligations are created under Maltese Law, that is:

1. Quasi-Contracts
2. Torts and
3. Quasi-Torts

• What is the difference between the three types of obligations.
• How responsibility under Maltese law, can be direct or indirect.
• What damages are contemplated under Maltese Law.

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia, V. and Ganado, J., 1981. Notes On Civil Law. Malta: University of Malta

Supplementary Reading List

• Pacifico Fenech vs William Ronald Murphy, Court of Appeal (decided on 3/11/2006)
• Mark Anthony Amato versus Charles Spagnol et, First Hall Civil Court (decided on 5/10/2001)

Lecture 10 - Liquidation of Damages

Following this session students will learn:

• How the Maltese Courts liquidate damages to victims both in:

1. Fatal Accident
2. Non-Fatal accidents

• • Which are the applicable provisions of the Civil Code, their implications and what are the interpretations of the Courts.

Core Reading List

• Meilak Joanne, Compensation for Accidents, A study of Recent Devlopments (unpublished LL.D. thesis)

Supplementary Reading List

• 180/2018LM, Lawrence Camilleri et vs Construct Furniture (decided 26th January, 2022)

Lecture 11 - Mandate, Deposit, Loan and Suretyship

Following this session students will learn:

• About four particular contracts recognised and regulated by the Civil Code, that is:

1. Mandate
2. Deposit
3. Loan
4. Suretyship

• About the rights and obligations of parties contracting such contracts
• About what is permitted and what is not permitted when parties are contracting such agreements.

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia n.d. Notes On The Contract Of Sale And On Other Contracts

Supplementary Reading List

• 792/2016 AF, in the names Oleg Anatolyevich Sklyarov u Maria Dolores sive Doris Sklyarov vs Anthony Mallia u Kristina Aleksandrovna Mallia decided 26th October 2020
• 959/2009 in the names Joseph Mamo (ID 274836 M) vs Nutar Rachelle Farrugia Buhagiar LL.D (decided 28th January, 2016)

Lecture 12- Lease

Following this session students will learn:

• About the various pieces of legislation which constitute the law of lease;
• About what constitutes a protected lease;
• About The functions and role of the Rent Regulation Board;
• About the newly amendments with respect to protected leases;
• About the recent Chapter 604 of the Laws of Malta with respect to new leases following the year 2020.

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia n.d. Notes On The Contract Of Sale And On Other Contracts

Lecture 13 - Sale and Prescription

Following this session students will learn:

• The major elements which constitutes the contract of Sale under Maltese Law
• What protections does the Law provide to the Purchaser
• What remedies does the Purchaser have under Maltese Law
• The notion of prescription under Maltese Law and how it can be used to release one from obligations or a means of acquiring a right
• Special articles which deal with specific prescriptive periods under our law

Core Reading List

• Caruana Galizia n.d. Notes On The Contract Of Sale And On Other Contracts

Supplementary Reading List

• 190/2017RGM, A E f’isimha propju u bhala kuratrici ad litem ta’ bintha minuri B D maħtura b’digriet datat 17 ta’ Awwissu 2017 vs CD (decided 12th December 2018)

Methods of Assessment

3 out of a choice of 10 assignment titles - 100% weighting

There will be 2 assignment titles for each of the 5 of the following areas:

The Law of Persons
The Law of Succession
The Law of Property
The Law of Obligations
The Law of Guarantees

from which 3 questions from different areas should be addressed.

Assignment

You have to choose 3 out of the 10 questions which will be made available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignments should be submitted by not later than Thursday 26 January 2023. The assignments have to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form.

Assignment Submission Form

If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.

We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded. For referencing purposes, as much as possible please use the Oscola Referencing Guide.

Submitting Assignment - Turnitin

The Academy will notify you that assignment questions are available through an email. Through another email sent to you by turnitin (probably on the same day) you will be notified that you have been added to a "class" where you may upload your assignment/s. Assignments should be submitted by not later than 23:59hrs of the assignment submission deadline shown on the Assignment Submission form and/or the "class".

At 21 Academy you can submit more than one draft of your assignment before the submission final deadline. The last version left uploaded at the submission deadline will be considered to be your final submission paper and will be the one which will be assessed. Make sure that your final submission does not go beyond 20% similarity when including direct quotations (the sentences in-between quotes).

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through turnitin - submitting a paper

To understand the similarity report generated by turnitin follow this 1 minute video - understanding the similarity report

Referencing Style

Oscola Referencing Guide

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