Prof. Antonio Saccoccio, professor of roman law at the University of Rome 'Sapienza' & Deputy Director of the Latin American Law Research Center of University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', gave an online lecture on the Modern Conception of Real Contract between History and Dogmatics: The Example of the Real Loan Contract to the students at the invitation of the College of Comparative Law on the afternoon of 11 April, 2023.

The lecture was hosted by the College and co-organised by the Centre for Roman and Italian Legal Studies of CUPL and the Observatory on the Codification and Training of the Jurist in China in the Framework of the Roman Legal System of CUPL. Director of the Academic Committee of the College Prof. Fei Anling moderated the lecture. Prof. Liu Jia'an from the Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School of CUPL, A/Prof. Zhai Yuanjian from the College and A/Prof. Xiao Jun from the Koguan School of Law of Shanghai Jiaotong University were the commentators.

At the beginning, Fei made an opening speech and expressed her gratitude to Saccoccio for giving the lecture and to the guests for their active participation.

Professor Saccoccio pointed out that a supposed contract crisis was the unshakeable cornerstone of the theory of civil law system out of Roman law system. Citing the example of consumer lending contracts, he made a detailed introduction to how it was in the law of ancient Rome, the intermediate stage of Roman law, the civil codes of modern European countries, the drafts in the process of European integration, the law of Latin and the law of China. Saccoccio argued that the current trend towards the abolition of essential contracts is based on a misreading of the norm that 'the concept of a contract should revolve focusing on the idea that consent is the only element of debt'.

According to him, in some cases, the essential property structure of a contract is the only means to realise the function of the specific intention of the parties, and the abrogation of the essential property contract may lead to some unreasonable consequences. He said that contracts for the acquisition of goods cannot and should not be seen as a relic of past history, but rather as a practical need in life today, and that the legal system has the right and the duty to protect those needs.

During the discussion, Xiao Jun says that in Roman law the task of jurists was not to weave abstractions of popular terms, but to provide scientific solutions to specific problems. Zhai Yuanjian started the discussion from three perspectives, including "how to look at Roman law', "how to look at the civil law of other countries" and "how to look at the Civil Code of China". Liu Jia'an talked about the difference between ancient contract and modern contract.

At the end of the lecture, Fei once again thanked Petrucci, the guests and all the teachers and students present. Saccoccio also expected that more Chinese scholars would participate in the study and research of Roman law.