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EUROPEAN UNION LAW
The European Union came into effect in 1992 by the “Treaty on European Union” generally called the “ Maastricht Treaty ”. The EU consists of 3 Communities:
I. The European Coal and Steel Community, II. The European Community III. The European Atomic Energy Community Treaty.
Two original objectives of the European Community were the development of a common market and a customs union between its member states. The single market involves the free circulation of goods, capital, people services within the EU, and the customs union involves the application of a common external tariff on all goods entering the market.
The free movement of persons means the EU citizen can move freely between members states to live, work, study or retire in another country.
Moreover another objective of the European Community was the creation of a monetary union, the Eurozone, established in 1999 and composed of 17 member states. The monetary policy of the Eurozone is governed by the European Central Bank.
The European Sources of law
The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law. The main sources of primary law are the Treaties, the most important of which is the “ Treaty of Rome ”.
Secondary sources which are based on treaties, include regulations, directives and decisions. Regulations are binding on all member states and have direct effect. Directives are binding on member states as to their result but do not bind individuals until they have been transposed into national law. Decisions are binding on those to whom they are addressed. Regulations, directives and decisions, however, are of equal value.
Finally supplementary sources of European Union include case law by the Court of Justice, international law and general principles of European Union Law.
The institutions of the European Union
The main institutions of the European Union which exercise the functions of the Union are:
The European Parliament The Council of the European Union The European Commission The European Council
The European Parliament
The European Parliament forms one half of the EU’s legislature. The 736 members of the European Parliament are directly elected by the EU citizen every 5 years. The European Parliament president and vice president are elected, instead, by the members of the European Parliament every 2 and a half years. The Parliament and the Council of the European Union pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the ordinary legislative procedure.
The Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union forms the other half of the EU’s legislature. It consists of a government ministers from each member state. In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
The European Commission
The European Commission acts as the EU’s executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the running of EU. It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state.
One of the 27 is the Commission president appointed by the European Council, the vice president too is chosen by the European Council.
The European Council
The European Council gives direction to the EU, and convenes 4 times a year. It
comprises the president of the European Council, the president of the European
Commission and one representative per member state.
The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreement over controversial issues and policies. However, the European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an internal organization independent from the EU.
A Trial
A trial may be defined as a judicial examination of the issues ( esame giudiziario delle questioni ) between the parties. Although some variations may exist, trials are usually held before a judge sitting alone ( le prove si tengono davanti un giudice monocratico ), a referee, or a judge and jury. The counsels for the prosecution and for the defence make opening statements to the jury ( rende note le dichiarazioni di aperture alla giuria ), outlining ( delineando ) what each sees as the nature of the case and what each hopes to prove as the trial proceeds ( come proventi di prova ). Next, the counsel for the prosecution presents his case by calling witnesses, questioning them, and permitting them to be cross-examined by the counsel for the defence.
The counsel for each side then makes a closing argument ( argomento di chiusura ) to the jury, summarizing the evidence in a light most favourable to their respective clients. The function of the jury is to determine the facts of the case, whereas the function of the judge is to determine the applicable law and to oversee ( supervisionare ) the parties presentation of the facts to the court.
After the judge has instructed the jury on the applicable law, the jury will retire to deliberate in private until it reaches a just verdict, which will then be announced in open court. The verdict of a jury terminates the trial ( processo )
Accident and injury: compensation and prevention
Accidents can happen in a variety of situations. Where there is a duty of care ( dove c’è un dovere di cura ), then the injured party has grounds for a claim. Modern insurance practice (moderna pratica assicurativa ) makes it easier to satisfy the injured without financially crushing the injurer ( schiacciare il danneggiante ).
This area of law covers a number of different aspects:
- DAMAGES : Damages, in a legal sense, are the sum of the money the law imposes for a breach of some duty or violation of some right. Generally, there are 2 types of damages: Compensatory Punitive The former are intended to compensate the injured party for his loss or injury; the latter are awarded to punish a wrongdoer ( sono assegnati per punire un malfattore )
- INSURANCE : In the absence of insurance, 3 possible individuals bear the burden ( sopportano il peso ) of an economic loss:
- the individual suffering the loss;
- the individual causing the loss via negligence or unlawful conduct;
- or a particular party who has been allocated the burden ( a cui è stato assegnato l’onere ) by the legislature, such as employers Workers Compensation statutes.
- PRODUCT LIABILITY : Product liability ( responsabilità di prodotto ) refers to the liability of any or all parties along the chain of manufacture ( catena di fabbricazione ) of any product for damage caused by that product. This includes the manufacturer of component parts (at the top of the chain), an assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler ( il grossista ), and the retail store owner ( il proprietario del negozio al dettaglio ) (at the bottom of the chain). Products containing inherent defects that cause harm ( un danno ) to a consumer of the product, or someone to whom the product was loaned or given ( era stato prestato o dato ), are the subjects of product liability suits.
- TORTS AND PERSONAL INJURY : Torts are civil wrongs ( illeciti civili ) that are recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit ( motivo per una causa ). These wrong result in an injury or harm which constitutes the basis for a claim by the injured party. The injured person may sue ( può citare in giudizio ) for an injunction to prevent the continuation of the tortious conduct or for monetary damages. Among the types of damages the injured party may recover are: loss of earning capacity ( perdita della capacità di guadagno ), pain and suffering, and reasonable medical expenses ( spese mediche ragionevoli ).
- WORKERS’ COMPENSATION : Workers’ Compensation laws are designed to ensure ( per garantire ) that employees who are injured or disabled on the job are provided with fixed monetary awards ( premi ), eliminating the need for litigation. These laws also provide benefits for dependants of those workers who are killed because of work-related accidents or illnesses ( incidenti sul lavoro o malattie ).
Searching for Equality
The position of women in the society has always been object of many discussions. Despite the fact that today the majority of western legal systems recognize men and women in a position of parity, the situation was very different in the past. So, we decided to focalize our attention especially on the English and Italian situation during the XIX century.
In England there was a legal doctrine called Coverture, according to which(“secondo la quale”), upon marriage, women’s legal rights were subsumed by those of her husband. By marriage, husband and wife were one person in the eye of law and the legal existence of women was suspended or at least incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband; from the principle of unity between husband and wife depended all the legal rights, duties and disabilities that either of them acquired upon marriage.
Even if Coverture was enshrined(“sancito”) in the Common Law for several centuries and through most of the 19th century , influencing some other common law jurisdictions, it wasn’t applied in Scotland.
human beings. The final change has to happen in the way the police force addresses women's request of help, that are too often taken lightly. Those are, for us, the basis to reach equality between men and women, ending the too long history of subjugation and disparity between them.
