CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Instructional goals
The course aims to provide the student with a general and systematic preparation of Italian constitutional law, understood as a basic discipline on the structure of state powers and other public institutions and as a framework teaching that opens up to subsequent specific in-depth studies that are the subject of other public law courses taught in the Department.
Along with the general outlines of the subject, the course aims to provide students with the essential tools of legal language and knowledge of how to document the normative sources, doctrine and jurisprudence most relevant to the field of constitutional law.
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding of the Italian constitutional system, placed within the framework of the institutional arrangements of the European Union.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the student, by acquiring knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of the functioning of the main institutions of constitutional law (the State, the State and the international community, the Italian Republic and the European Union, forms of state and forms of government, sources of law, constitutional guarantees, constitutional justice, constitutional organization, judicial power, constitutional principles on administration, territorial autonomies, freedoms and rights) will be able to construct more complex concepts in order to arrive at an overall view of the constitutional order in the EU and international context.
Autonomy of judgment: the student will be stimulated in achieving his or her own autonomy of evaluation and judgment on legal problems and the methodological tools useful for the collection, interpretation and application of normative sources, in order to apply them in an independent and original way to the analysis of problems he or she will face in a work context.
Communication skills: the student will be led to develop and master the legal vocabulary of the constitutionalist area, with terminological precision and appropriate rhetorical and argumentative skill.
Learning skills: the student will develop the ability to identify and interpret normative variations and new doctrinal and jurisprudential orientations, while also updating independently.
Course Contents
The first part of the course is devoted to the fundamentals on the legal phenomenon and the main partitions in the study of law, as well as focusing on the essentials of general legal theory (legal subjects, legal systems and norms, sources and criteria for the application and interpretation of norms).
This is followed by a discussion of the lineaments of state theory, with specific attention to both the institutional transformations that characterize the contemporary state, between infra-state autonomies and international interdependencies (beginning with the European dimension), and the main classifications with regard to the form of states and forms of government.
The second part of the course then focuses on the Italian constitutional system, starting with the Republican Constitution and examining both the most relevant principles concerning the relationship between citizens and public powers, and the structure and role of the constitutional and/or constitutionally relevant bodies provided for in the current system, with specific attention to the dynamics related to the separation of powers.
The final part of the course is reserved for constitutional justice.
During each week, part of the face-to-face teaching will be devoted to in-depth study of normative or jurisprudential case studies in order to provide applied knowledge.
Reference Books
R. Bifulco,Diritto costituzionale, Turin, Giappichelli (latest edition)
Additional teaching materials will be indicated in the course of the lectures.
Study of the textbook should be accompanied by constant reference to the text of the Constitution and the legislation covered.
Teaching Methods
Traditional teaching will be complemented by the analysis of case studies, through direct involvement of students on cases and normative and jurisprudential materials.
Assessment Method
The test consists of an oral examination where the students shall demonstrate to know and understand the institutions and principles of constitutional law. The student must be able to independently analyze the relevant sources and legal orientations of constitutional law and correctly use the technical-legal vocabulary of the subject, thus demonstrating that he or she has attained the study method and learning ability necessary to also independently pursue in-depth study of the subject.
For the purpose of awarding the grade in thirtieths, the following evaluation criteria will be taken into account:
- knowledge and understanding of the institutes and principles of the subject and ability to apply them to concrete cases (65 percent);
- ownership of technical-legal vocabulary, ability to consult and evaluate relevant sources, and acquisition of study method (35 percent).
The presence of educational gaps on one or more institutes or principles will result in an insufficient evaluation even in the presence of a basic knowledge of the subject.
Thesis assignment criteria
Marked interest in public law matters.
Week 1 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
The legal system.
the state as a legal system and forms of state.
Week 2 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Forms of government.
Introduction to the study of legal sources.
Week 3 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Criteria for resolving antinomies.
The sources of Italian law: constitution, constitutional revision law and constitutional law.
The sources of the European Union.
Week 4 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Primary sources: parliamentary legislation; executive legislation; constitutional bodies internal regulations; regional laws.
Week 5 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
The Parliament, the electorate and the election laws.
Week 6 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
The Government.
The administrative function.
Week 7 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
The President of the Republic.
Week 8 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
The judiciary and its organization.
The role of the Council of the Judiciary.
Week 9 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Regions and the other local levels of government.
Week 10 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Rights and duties in the Constitution.
Fundamental rights and the introduction of the protection of the environment and future generations in the Constitution.
Week 11 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Civil liberties.
Week 12 Contenuto sessioni on line e on campus
Models of constitutional review of legislation.
The Constitutional court: composition and functions.