INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL SYSTEM I

CODE 30047, 30428 – BIEM – BIEF

CLASSES 15 16 17 18 21 22
WRITTEN TEST
Mock Exam 1st Partial Attending
DO NOT ANSWER MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS ON THIS SHEET.
PLEASE USE THE ANSWER SHEET ATTACHED HERETO.
THERE IS SOLELY ONE CORRECT ANSWER TO EACH QUESTION. IF MANY
AN ANSWER APPARENTLY SUITS, PLEASE TICK THE MOST APPROPRIATE
ONE.
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS ARE TO BE ANSWERED WITHIN THE LINES
DRAWN

1. According to legal positivism:

a) Law is an intrinsic part of the human nature
b) Rules are relevant for legal systems as expression of a principle of natural justice
c) Law depends on human normative production and enforcement
d) Law is universal

2. What the BGB?

a) The German Constitution
b) A series of civil law principles covering the German popular mentality (Volkgeist)
c) The French Civil Code
d) None of the above is correct

3. Comparative law:
a) Compares the efficiency of different legal rules
b) Settles conflict between different national applicable laws
c) Compares national laws
d) Is a branch of law widespread in common law jurisdictions

4. The Corpus Iuris Civilis:

a) Is a collection of Canon Law Principles
b) Is a textbook used in Ancient Rome to teach Law
c) Is a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence representing our legacy of Roman Law
d) Is a collection of statutes issued by Justinian I

5. Uniform Law:
a) Is the result of International Private Law
b) May be based on legal transplants
c) Cannot create legal irritants
d) Derives from Ancient Roman Law

6. The capacity to act:

a) Is normally denied to minors by means of a judicial decision
b) Pertains to the ability to perform all legal transactions, such as torts
c) Is entitled to all individuals
d) Is normally acquired at the age of majority
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7. Analogy:
a) Means that a case is adjudicated pursuant to dispositions pertaining to similar cases or to akin
branches of law
b) Does not involve any general principles of the State
c) Can be applied to exceptional laws
d) Is a unilateral juridical act that produces its legal effects despite the knowledge of any
addressee

8. In English Common Law

a) Equity is based on the rigid formalism of the writs-system
b) The principle of stare decisis cannot be applied to private law matters
c) The legal system is characterised by a precedence of statutes over judge made law
d) Judicatures Acts of 1873–1875 ended the dualism between common law and equity

9. In contract law:
a) Default rules apply, if the parties have not made any other arrangement
b) The parties are bound only to what the contract expressly provides
c) Mandatory rules may be set aside according to the will of the parties
d) Natural person may always enter into valid agreements

10. Legal gaps:

a) Within civil law legal systems, may be filled at judges’ discretion
b) May not be filled in
c) Within civil law legal systems, may be filled in by normative mechanisms designed to extend
norms which already exist to unregulated cases
d) Do not exist at all

11. In civil law legal systems, a donation is

a) A bargain
b) A contract
c) A deed
d) An exchange

12. Statutes of limitations:

a) Is fulfilled in 20 years in every legal system
b) Generally, does not apply to non-patrimonial rights
c) May apply to personality rights
d) Is a legal instrument directed to punish the debtor’s behavior

13. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
(‘Vienna Convention’ or ‘CISG’) is
a) A set of mandatory rules
b) Applicable to B-to-C sales of goods
c) Applicable to B-to B sales of goods
d) Part of the EU contract law

14. Which of the following statements is not correct?

a) Sources of law ascertain whether a particular rule is also a legal rule
b) Sources of law are secondary rules which govern the possible change of the primary ones
c) Sources of law stipulate what facts or acts are capable of creating new rules, or of amending
or repealing those already existing
d) Sources of law are legal rules that directly regulate citizens’ behaviours
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15. Soft law:

a) Is a set of mandatory rules operating at transnational level
b) Encompasses, among others: the Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts;
the Uniform Commercial Code; the Draft Common Frame of Reference
c) Encompasses, among others: the Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts;
the Principles of European Contract Law; the Draft Common Frame of Reference
d) Encompasses, among others: the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods; the Principles of European Contract Law; the Draft Common Frame of
Reference

16. The Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements:

a) Regulates B-2-c sale contracts
b) Regulates conflict of laws in EU law
c) Regulates International Arbitration
d) Regulates the question of jurisdiction in International law

17. European Union’s Directives:

a) Are not relevant sources of law in the Italian legal system
b) Are non-binding secondary sources of European Union law
c) Are addressed to the Member States, binding as to the result to be achieved
d) Are directly applicable in all Member States, binding in their entirety

18. Legal entities:

a) Never enjoy the privilege of limited liability
b) Can only act through the agency of natural persons
c) Have the capacity to act only when established to pursue for-profit interests
d) Are eligible to be holder of all the rights that may pertain to physical persons

19. The construction of contract could be defined as:

a) The process of interpreting the contract according to the historical will of the legislator
b) The process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and
analysis
c) The process of determining the meaning of ambiguous or incomplete expressions
d) The process of validating avoidable contracts

20. A credit is:

a) An economic, relative right
b) A subjective right enforceable erga omnes
c) A non-disposable right in rem
d) A non-economic, absolute right

21. Public law:

a) Deals with mutual relations between citizens
b) Is that part of the law in which the administration as such plays a role
c) Is made of default rules
d) Is applicable to all legal subjects and is therefore deemed as general

22. Implied terms in civil law:

a) Are based on a subjective criterion
b) Supplement the contract if they are expression of good faith
c) Are created by case law
d) Consist quite often in default rules which serves as gap-fillers
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23. A marriage:
a) Is mainly a non-patrimonial legal act
b) Is not a legal act
c) Is a patrimonial autonomous legal act
d) None of the previous answer is correct

24. According to the Westphalian paradigm:

a) The State’s sovereignty is limited by the power of other States
b) National states cannot be a cure for civil conflicts
c) The ancient ius gentium is the body of customary rules applicable by the state to non-citizens
d) State’s sovereignty entitles it to bind its own citizens with legal rules but not citizens of other
Countries

25. Which of the following statements is not correct

a) Constitutions may govern how legislative acts should be issued by the Parliaments
b) Statutes are sources of cognition
c) Regulations issued by public authorities are sources of law
d) Civil law jurisdictions are generally based on rigid Constitutions

26. Autonomous legal acts:

a) Are concluded through a declaration of will intended to perform a change in rights and duties
of the party
b) May be concluded only by conduct
c) May only be multilateral
d) Consist in negotiations between parties aiming at developing their own business

27. European Union law:

a) Is never mandatory for the Member States of the European Union
b) Cannot prevail on national legislation
c) Prevails on a national statute even if the second is posterior to the first
d) Is interpreted only by the European Court of Justice

CORRECT ANSWERS:

1. C 10. C 19. B
2. D 11. B 20. A
3. C 12. B 21. B
4. C 13. C 22. D
5. B 14. D 23. A
6. D 15. C 24. D
7. A 16. D 25. B
8. D 17. C 26. A
9. A 18. B 27. C
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OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

1) What is “The dilemma of unjust law”?

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OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

2) Define “Principles of law” and focus on their possible functions

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